Best trick is to search this thread for previous posts... lots of good shock setup tips here & on rc-mini.net. Basically, shorten the rods substantially with internal spacers(same specs on height apply to all shocks on a mini), & dont get carried away with pre-load as that will make the car bouncy & tend to tip over if enough grip is available. Keep the threads clean. Once you cross thread a perch due to tiny pieces of grit jamming between the threads, they are going to be a royal pain to adjust.

Gosh.... all this talk about which shocks to use and where to find them is crazy. The car is not a Ferrari.:lol:

I just use the 5mm spacer trick on the kit's shocks and I am done with it. I'd rather just race my Mini or paint some extra bodies for it instead of spending time and money looking for elusive parts. It seems the more simple I keep the car, the better it performs. It's easier for ME to adapt to the car... instead of trying to get the car to adapt my driving style.:nod:

If I want to play around with setting up a car... I will mess with my HPI Pro4... which has been gathering dust since I bought the Mini a few years ago!:lol:

The Pro4 will likely be sold... and it's electronics transplanted into one of these;):
http://www.tamiyausa.com/images/prod...ader_58400.jpg

A commendable attitude Sir! Sometimes it's all too easy to get carried away!
When all you really wanna do is DRIVE!!!! :lol:

Well it was a simple question, in the end i got the shocks at a really good price so it was not a hard choice ($15 dollars different to be exact)

In the future i will use caution when asking a simple question:lol:

Here ya go...

http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXGL65&P=7

:eek:MY MINI CAUGHT ON FIRE!!!:eek:

I just got done running the Mini up and down the street on some test runs and decided to clean the car off with some motor cleaner. Apparently my old age kicked in, I got sidetracked to do something else and came back to the Mini and started give the car a little bath in motor cleaner..... and I forgot to turn the damn car off!!!!!:o: :lol:

As you can see by the pics below, the fire started at the switch and spread pretty quickly to the battery. I think some arcing in the switch probably started the blaze. The car was a flaming hulk for about 45 seconds..... I drove it into some wet weeds to help put the fire out. Notice that the sticker on the battery says "Fireball":lol: The receiver is kinda melted and so is the Futaba speed control. I have more than enough spare parts to rebuild it... but I think it's time to buy a whole new kit.;) Tonight I will tear this thing down and see what's salvageable for spare parts. The body was off the car at the time so it incurred no damage.:)

http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b2...INIFIRE009.jpg

http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b2...INIFIRE013.jpg

Thats quite impressive and amusing. For others obviously not for you ;)

At least it looks like most it is probably salvageable. :)

Motor spray is probably not the best cleaner for cars (not just because of the flames) but it can leach oils out of the plastic and make them more brittle, probably better option is air, or brush.

If you dont have a compressor, at Home Depot or places like that you can get a 6 pack of air dusters (basically compressed air in a can) for about $10 from memory and they are perfect for cleaning RC cars. Wish we could get the same thing here for the same price.

tp

If you go to supercheap in Melbourne...you should be able to get a compressor for about $100...I got one on the Gold Coast for that price and that included a 5 piece air gun kit

Yeah I know about those but they are noisey as, I got them to crank one up in the shop to check the noise and I was just to much.

Also not as convinient when your at the track.

tp

:lol:MINI FIRE UPDATE::lol:

Well...
I just finished completely tearing down the car and the most damaged items were:

Radio Receiver- antenna wire & case melted bad. The plugs are stuck in it. Not worth saving.
Speed Control- some melting on case, plug & switch melted. Possibly salvageable.
Gray Chassis- melted badly & warped on front & rear section.
Hubs- A little melted, look kinda warped.
Battery- toast!

The motor looks okay... no binding or char marks & it spins fine. I will test it when the car is rebuilt.
Bearings, shocks, arms & gears all in excellent shape, no plastic stuck to them.
While I had it apart I tore down the diff to inspect the wear... it's in beautiful shape... virtually no wear on any of the gears for the car being 4 years old and only raced about once a month. I cleaned & re-lubed it and put it back together.

Now the real question...
I have enough spare parts to rebuild this beast, brand new gray chassis, and the B & C parts trees sitting here staring me in the face.....

....although,
I would rather have a brand new black chassis Suzuki Swift with the redesigned front end and ESC included in the kit

Hmmmmm.... decisions, decisions!

Might just have to take a trip down to the lhs.......;)

Actually, I was quite impressed and amused on how the flames flashed up out of nowhere to almost 3 feet high!!!:lol: I didn't have anything near me at the time to put the fire out, so I reached into the fire and threw the car on the ground and drove the flaming mess into an area of tall, wet grass. The battery was nearly dead, so the silly car took it's own sweet time getting there... and then I smothered the flames with some wet leaves. When the fire was out I tried driving it, but the speed control's LED was out and all the wires were melted together.

It was funny because I was complaining earlier this weekend that I was bored and had nothing to do. I guess I found something to keep me occupied.:lol::nod:

scionbox
 

Brave man to reach into the fire. In terms of the black chassis, the black chassis's are hard to get separately, speedtechrc has a listing for them but non in stock. The suspension pieces for the swift can be purchased separately for about $8- TAM51238.

MINI FIRE UPDATE #2::lol:

Well, I just got done ordering a new Suzuki Swift kit, new radio gear and batteries from Tower to replace the charred Mini. It will ship from their Reno NV warehouse which is not that far from me. It should be here by Thursday.:nod:

:D:D:DI will be back up and driving by the upcoming weekend!:D:D:D

Now I am off to the sporting goods store to find a nice tacklebox to put the salvageable spares from the burned Mini in!:lol:

Tony, what are your thoughts on swaybars? yea or nay?

There's no black and white when it comes to sway bars.

For us they really aren't necessary most of the time, but on a high grip track (carpet etc) that's when they start to become useful.

Also sometimes a rear one will assist a car that isn't turning in very well.

My personal theory is 'try to get the car to work without them first, and if you can't, thats when you try them'