Iron Track/Himoto/Atomik 1/18 general thread
 

Ok, so a few of us have one of these:
http://ep.yimg.com/ca/I/yhst-1419739...6_11080715.jpg
http://ep.yimg.com/ca/I/yhst-1419739...6_11279819.jpg
http://ep.yimg.com/ca/I/yhst-1419739...6_11473527.jpg
http://ep.yimg.com/ca/I/yhst-1419739...6_11673513.jpg
http://www.atomik-rc.com/18th_500_dirt.jpg
http://www.atomik-rc.com/9101-HTML-6.jpg
Review:

+ YouTube Video

This thread will be about what and what not to buy for these, mods, and repair help for new guys.

Which to buy
If you already have a radio system with cheap receivers like a FlySky, go and get one of the Brushless BND models. This will give you the best value. If your receiver costs more than $30, you may as well get an RTR and save yourself the trouble. The brushless RTRs come with a lipo and slow lipo charger, and the brushed models get an nimh. The BNDs do not come with a battery, but something like the Gens Ace 1550 is a perfect fit, save for cutting a notch in the battery tray to let the wires out.

Tires and Wheels (list will be edited as more members contribute)
I have tried both the Iron Track buggy/sc treads and the MT tires. It's a bit conflicting. Primarily running on the street, the buggy pins wore quickly and got less than optimal traction with the ballistic BL system some of these come with, and burnt off quickly. The MT tires have provided the best versatility for me, but they are rounding out the D-shaped hole in the wheels. This is a problem.

Durability mods

TheJANG abused his quite a lot, as shown in the review. These are tough little buggers, with one exception: The dogbones. These are plastic with only little bits of metal on the ends, and these like to snap. This did not happen for me with buggy tires, but I suspect that was because of their lack of grip. If you take a tumble with the throttle on, you have a high probability of breaking them. The aluminum upgrades are a must. Also, as mentioned in the tire section, the D-shape in the wheels is not the strongest. Set your wheel nuts so they are not too tight (wheel should spin freely), but not too loose, and lock in place with blue loc-tite.

Will add more later.

Bump!
 

I am considering a Deegan Fiesta Rally. Can get one today, just don't know if I should :D

Where can you find these in stock?

Good evening to all you guysTthe himoto 1/16 truck I find it very quick and tough. What about the differentials though? Is there any replacement for the plastic gears as I keep wearing the gears out? Could I possibly use metal gear diffs from another model? Thanks for any help.

1/16... I own three 1/18 Iron Track Himotos... Mastadon, Centro, Tyronno. There are a bunch of upgrades.. Just go to Himoto Racing website and click on "upgrade parts" (on the left side of the home page)and then choose your vehicle.

For my 1/18's my only problems encountered were after I upgraded to brushless and LiPo the stock plastic dogbones snap when I run them hard on my grass lawn (too much traction?). I installed aluminum dogbones and the cars are near indestructible.

Radio Range
 

I am only on my second charge with the Iron Track Mastadon and the radio range is now around 15 ft. The first pack radio range was over 100ft. I have replaced the transmitter batteries with fresh alkaline batteries and also tried newly charged nimh batteries.

Also, it's almost impossible to center the steering servo. The steering seems to have a mind of its own, stopped it's centered, moving it turns left. I've centered the servo and reset the servo arm but this car always seems to favor the left. Plus the 3700KV motor doesn’t have enough torque to pull the truck over the smallest of obstacles. It goes pretty fast but is way underpowered or over geared from the factory.

It was a gift and with shipping time the time it spent in a wrapped box the 30 day return exchange period expired. NRCX ticket support responded in a timely matter but would not budge on the 30 warranty. When told the RT at NRCX my Futaba is still working after 24 Years their response was a condescending “Once again I apologize for the inconvenience”.

The truck looks tough and well built but I can’t really drive it far enough to find out. I can’t say one way or the other about the durability of the vehicle but I can tell you the NRCX is probably not the place to buy this vehicle.

Hope this helps!

6 months later -- have you found some fixes to your issues ? Receiver range and motor power ?

I just ordered a couple of the Iron Track BL buggies and the Himoto aluminum dogbones, both should arrive before this weekend. Amazon had these. Since the drive cups mate up to the same size bearings as the RC18B's, any reason not to swap in AE 21095 drive cups & 21096 pins for other wheel & tire options?
I'd also like to investigate using RC18B front and rear camber turnbuckles, 21387 & 21343. I'll have to see if our LHS has them in stock for fit.

I know it's old, but if you haven't resolved it, I'd suggest calling Himoto about the receiver issues. I've dealt with them some, and it's been surprisingly pleasant. They have been very helpful and we've now got 3 more of these running identical setups with:

1) the 2200mah 40-80C batteries from HK
2) Himoto Heat Sinks
3) Himoto Aluminum Motor Mounts

Mostly we race on the street, dirt, and short grass, but my immediate neighbor has very deep bermuda grass (as deep as the top of the truck, it almost disappears other than the rooster-tail of grass). Against my suggestions he's run his around his front yard for multiple minutes straight, mostly at full throttle. It still did NOT get excessively hot

We are having a BLAST with them :)

Are 1,2&3 above for the himoto mastadon E18 1:18?
If so, do you simply change the cars battery connector to match the upgraded battery's? Are any other upgrates to the mastadon needed (aside from the above)?

I'm just getting into R/C again and want to upgrade my mastadons battery. Thanks, I know its been a while since the last post.

I look forward to thoughts/recommendations.

Yes 1,2, and 3 are for the Himoto Mastadon E18MTL.

Yes, I trim off the "high resistance" micro-molex and solder on the Traxxas HC Connectors.

The only breakages we have had yet have been the overheated motors before the heat sinks and motor mounts and we often strip the plastic diff outdrives. Some of us upgrade to the aluminum diff outdrives.

Thank you very much for helping out a noob! Much appreciated!

I contacted the retailer and they were no help. They told me to buy a new TX for $30 and didn't offer any suggestions on the motor. I was out of the warranty period because this was purchased as a gift more than 30 days in advance of the box being opened. Just to let you know I no longer do business with ...rcx or any of the sister companies.

Battery upgrade
 

I'm doing the upgrades myself, but they no longer make the turning nanotech 2S 2200mah 40-80C 7.4V.

Can you recommend an equivalent battery that I could add an traxxas HC connector to and drop in my brushless mastadon?

Thanks for helping out a noob yet again. Cheers, D.

Spare parts for Himoto RC
 

You have lots of spare parts for Himoto RC in this European online store,
Factorhobby, I am looking for information about the Nascada and I'll probably will buy it from them, good and friendly staff and very good customer service.
Just look for "factorhobby" in google and you'll find the web.
They have Himoto but also other brands like rovan, wltoys, Ninco, jamara... but they are quite big stock and seller for Himoto.