Carbon fiber driveshaft on these heavy, powerful trucks I think would be a bad idea to save a few grams. No way it would last. My 2cents

Batteries
 

So, I have Turnigy Nano-tech 6000mah 65-130C batteries and if I run more then 8-9 minutes they get hot and puff up....

I want to get away from cheap Asian batteries. However, I also can not spend a fortune on batteries at this time. So, having said all of that :-) and also realizing that this is a heavy truck and I have a wicked strong amp sucking Motor and ESC powering this baby (Gen2 RX8, Pro4 HD 4300) what is a recommendation for an affordable battery that is "race quality" (though I am not)? I am looking to invest in 1-2 batteries, but I am looking at the 100 dollar price point each, or less is better :cool:

I'm not looking to run forever, but would like to be able to get in around 10 minutes of practice at a time if possible without becoming "Puff the magic dragon" on the track.

yea can't go wrong with Makita My main cordless drill is the bigger version of that, but that ryobi is about $30 if I remember correctly and is all you need for just driving screws (vs. drilling etc.)

SMC 7200 race formula: http://www.smc-racing.net/index.php?...product_id=115

$65

I can get about 12mins of practice out of them at 3.0v cutoff per cell and have only been in one 10min main with it and made it though, but due to having two short motor wires the end bell of the 4300 came off and I had to coast into the finish line. I'm not sure how the motor was still functioning but can't say for sure if I was losing any punch or not.

SMCs. Great performance great customer service.
Great price point.

Thanks guys!

Ok final question for the day...and it's another totally opinion based one :batman:

If I were to go into Teknorc and order all of the lightened optional parts including CF towers, how much am I really saving on weight? With this weight savings does it make the truck any better? I love the truck because it is a beast, but I know a lighter rig is also less damaging to parts and electronics, let alone improved run times per battery. Thoughts?

I like the CF towers for the stiffness. I bent up my stock rear tower last weekend but front CF one is still just fine. This was due to casing a 30ft gap upside down so not a common case.

Weight is not the issue. The steel and aluminum both bend under high rpm. Carbon Fiber will not and is much stronger.

Cars use them and they are handling 1000++++hp. No reason a scaled down one wouldn't work on a Rc car.

There's a google doc on the 1st page with a list of the light weight parts vs stock weight comparisons. Not sure how complete it is, not signed into google right now so I cant open it.

I don't know guys, $35 ryobi vs $120-130 makita? I can understand longer battery life but no one is wrenching for that long to warrant paying extra $80 in my mind. Looks like a good driver but would never pay that $

Thanks, I will check it out. I am also interested in the opinion of those who have gone the "light" route to see what their experience has been in the deference between the 2. I also have the CF towers already, well the rear one snapped in half a few weeks ago....my bad :-)

+1 I have the Ryobi and it has plenty of battery life to put this entire kit together with one charge. Also, it charges fairly fast when it is low. Although a drawback could be that it does not have an adjustable chuck so you will need to buy tools that will fit the 1/4 hex. It is also small and will easily fit in your pack.

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Ryobi-TEK...w#.Uh43GT-fUXc

I run the TrakPower 6500 MAH 50c runs for about 15 minutes of racing and they run $84.99. Solid battery with no issues.