What pinion and spur gear are you guys running with a fantom stock motor?

Which Fantom Stock are you referring to? Monster?

Ya monster

Well, depending on the size of the track and style. But my rollout is about 1.55 (27 pinion 100 spur. 1.85 tires). Let me know if this helps.

hey man, I used to run for Mark, great guy, makes some very fast motors, back when I ran for him, I was running his "P2K2" version motors in sedan, they were killer, faster then any of the monsters at our track.

here, this is for you guys that are running 12th scale, and running the Ko VFS-2000 or 2000J speedo

ill get the file on here tomorrow for the computer software

Hey guys,

My dad just bought a CRC Carpet Knife V3.2 Team Red edition of ebay. Its gonna be his first real RC car. Hes not the greatest driver, but hey, gotta start somewhere and watching the 12th scale cars run at the local carpet track got him all interested. :D

I know nothing about the cars, cept that a bunch of local guys race them and they're dang fast and seem to be pretty durable. Are there any specific parts that are common breaks that we should stock up on? Any vital upgrades? What pitch gears does it run? I have a few 48 pitch pinions since I use them in my XRay but no other ones.

Hey guys,

I'm thinking of getting into 1/12 but don't know anything about the kits, what's the best kit to get?

Thanks for your time guys..

12th Axle - Thrust Race conversion
 

Sorry Guys but I failed to borrow a camera at the weekend.

Here is a drawing of how the axle looks with the thrust race fitted

BigDogRacing

I have looked at the site posted by xxxgrumpxxx

The part number suggested by Thatdog is the correct size of thrust race.

Bob The Builder,

where do you get the reversed cone?

Kits... HUGE TOPIC, lol.

First thing to consider, T-bar vs. Side Links.

A t-bar car, like an AE rc12l3, or Trinity Relfex 12 uses a fiberglass plate shaped in a T, and the rear supenion pivots on that. The advantages are that it can have slightly better traction for mod, and is a little smoother. However, T-bars since they are fiberglass, can break, warp or get tweaked, the latter two wihtout you knowing, and can really make it impossible ot drive, without you knowing why. Also you have to tape in the batteries (except for the QUAD 12).

A side links car, like the Speedmerchant Rev. 3 or CRC carpet knife. The advantage is that nothing really breaks, no t-bar to mess up or tweak, the battires do not have to be taped and are held in by an o-ring (its very secure). They are also much easier for people starting out.

As far as which kits I recommend...

T-bar: IRS rug rat, Trinity Reflex 12, or the Powell Quad 12

Side Links: Speedmerchant Rev. 3

Althouh I highly recommend the Speedmerchant Rev. 3 over any t-bar car, and over its only real side link competition the CRC carpet knife.

The carpet knife does come with more annodized stuff, however the main disadvantages lay in...

The front end: The Speedmerchant uses the "old style" front end, which is very simple, doesnt break or tweak and is the best front end by far for stock. The CRC uses the dynamic strut front end, which is possibly the worst plastic parts to ever come out of AE's factory (almost all 12th scales besides trinty and corrally use and AE front end and rear pod assembly). The molds are all off, it is very difficult to properly adjust castor, it tweaks very easily, it can collapse springs very easily, and it takes forever to take the slop and binding out of parts. You can fit either front end on either car, however, its cheaper to just buy the correct parts to begin with.

Rear end: The speedmerchant uses adjustable rear links, instead of the straight links of the CRC (and it is instead adjusted at the base of the pivot uses the friction of clamping down a nut at the center of the chassis, instead of a turnbuckle at the outside on the Rev. 3). The speedmerchant's pivots freer, and is much more consistant, also it is adjustable in finer incraments.

As far as parts... All 12th scales pretty much run a AE front end and rear pod, and those are the only things you will ever need replace from breakage. So dont worry about local parts supplier (ie hobby shop).

Stormperson- I think you can get off your knees, Bruce is finished.:nod:


The side links on the back of the CRC car are a million times easier to use. You just pop them on, and it is done. Perfectly aligned. There are not adjustable because they do not have to be. Perfection does not have to be adjusted.

The front end of the CRC is not that complicated. It might be for you, but for most of the people out there, it works fine.


When purchasing a kit you need to look at everything. You really can't go wrong with any of the kits Storm mentioned. I prefer the CRC because it is a better value and the Customer Service is second to none. The speedmerchant car does not come complete, and you need to buy things just to complete the kit. With CRC, Associated, and Trinity, you just buy the kit, electronics and go racing.

Take a look at what the guys are running at the track you will be going too. See what brand of parts the hobby shop stocks. If you are new to 1/12th scale your best bet is to run what they do. It will make your life alot easier and your racing more enjoyable.:D

Tire traction compound application
 

I have a Q about traction compound application, traction rolling, and traction buildup in general.

I run on a non-permanent carpet track. But since the layout had been exactly the same for 5 consecutive weeks, traction did build up yesterday.
I made the mistake of applying traction compound onto 3/4 of the width of the front tires late in the day. Which is clearly too much. As a result the car grip rolled easily. 1/8 of the width was more like it.

Now my question is: there must be some guideline as to how much traction compound to use, as the track is raced on and the day progresses. Do you vary the width, or the duration of the application?

For the record, I'm running a box-stock RC12L3, 6 cells, 12 single D5 (yee-haw!), jaco Purple/Grey. I have ordered the .020 front springs and the .075 T-bar, I need those.

Oh yes; CS Yellow traction compound (www.cs-electronic.com)is excellent. It gives more grip than Jack the Gripper or LRP Top Traction, and it's completely odorless.

Jared Kirkwood

Use the standard kit part from the RC12L3 and turn it around.

Don't forget to file off the thin lip which locates the spring washer first.