If you are going to run the Skyline body, you are probably going to have to trim the wheel wells a little larger because of the extra wheelbase length. I have an Exotek GTZ body for mine as soon as I get a chance to paint it. That body can be trimmed for a stock length RC18, or the longer wheelbase of the SC18 (which is the same as the R18II Exotek chassis). Plus, its just a killer looking body:


*edit*
Since I have had the flu and have not had a chance to take this truck to the track (and while I wait for the GTZ body to arrive), I figured I would make the stock body a little more 'authentic' looking for a real short course truck:



*edit #2*
I got my GTZ painted and installed:

The GTZ body looks clean! Nice job.

I ordered 4 long AE RC18T/B/MT shocks to put on the SC18. It should get about .2inches more ride height...which I need for my outdoor track. Now it gets thrown off by every little stone/twig bigger than .2inches (stock ground clearance). Stock height would be great for carpet tracks though.

I will post how it works.

Jon

If you want to convert it over to a truck, all of the existing T arms, dogbones, etc will bolt right up.

I want to keep it SC style, but with just a little more ground clearance for our messy track.

...i don't do open-wheel

Nice body! I am also a huge fan of Fox Racing and Alpinestars!

Im thinking big bore shocks. Anyone make any that fit the 18R?

I put the NOVAK Mongoose 13.5T (~6000KV) brushless set in last night. The SC18 really moves now! 14 tooth pinion was the smallest I had....I will probably go smaller at some point as the top speed is way to fast for the little track we have....I estimate probably 25-30MPH...at least double the speed of the stock setup.

I am running Turnigy 2200 2S lipos, 25 C...and they just barley fit!!! But they do fit perfect. It is dealing with how the wires come out of the airplane lipo packs that makes it difficult. I have the wires coming out near the steering linkage...it works perfect! It goes for at least 30min...probably longer.

Hopefully Tower sends my set of 4 longer RC18 rear shocks this week.

Jon

Well I stripped the steering servo while running the track a few minutes ago. Driving this thing was a blast until it broke...handels really well! But I believe the damage was done last Friday when it arrived and my wife had a few full speed encounters with the brick wall (before I figured out the ATV knob to put the car in rookie mode)

After one of her crashes...i noticed i had to move the steering trim all the way left...and that was probably when the servo gears jumped/lost a couple teeth.

I want to find a digital Metal Gear replacement servo. any suggestions?

That sucks man. What kind of budget are you looking to stay in?

I will pay $50 if it will work well and hold up. I wonder if a person can fit the Hitec 5065 MG fit into the stock SC18/RC18 servo bracket? i think the 5065 is 1mm bigger in all dim than the AE 1016. Maybe someone makes an RC18 bracket for the 5065 servos? I will have to get the RC18 AE-Hitec servo saver as well and make it work with SC18.

I opened AE servo up and there are 2 teeth missing on the output gear...all other gears are fine. Looks like a nice servo.

I do have to wonder about the "wedge" style servo saver a bit. When I took mine apart...it was lined with dust/grit between the wedges...which has to have a big impact on the ammount of friction between the wedges. This could prevent the saver from working properly. Conventional servo saver won't have as much a problem with the dust/dirt.

I still blame my servo problem on driver training!

Smart thing would be to replace the gears in the servo I have..... while working this stuff out i guess.

You can get the Airtronics 94809 for less than $40. It is metal geared, has bearings and is digital. If you are not happy with the stock servo saver, try the Xray saver. I used this saver on all of my projects and its the ticket.

Thanks...that servo looks good and the price is really good! Just to confirm....the saver you suggested fits the Airtronics? Not much info on the site.

Jon

That saver comes with 3 different servo inserts so it should bolt right up.


I had a chance to today to take it to our local carpet track (36x80, pretty technical in the infield). I put a 2200 2S Lipo in the truck and everything else is stock except for a Spektrum RX. This thing rips! handling even with the stock tires is really good. It will traction roll if you push it too hard, but it will surprise you. Speed is good (especially with the Lipo) and run time seems like forever. After the first pack, I swapped out the stock SC tires for some regular RC18R rubber tires on white rims. I cleaned and doped them with Jack the Gripper and this helped handling even more. Even the LHS owner was surprised at how well the steering system worked over the previous system. Another new SC18 owner showed up and we ran for several laps on the carpet track and he was as shocked as I was at how well the stock tires worked. I swapped the stock body back and its a great look with the R tires. If you are looking for something that will run great out of the box, the SC18 is a great buy. I see Associated selling a BUNCH of these for spec racing.

I dont think it will fit. The Xray is for larger splined servos such as the Hitec 85mg. Your best bet is still the SC18 servo saver for sub micros servos like the Airt you are looking at.

Looks good!