E-LST2 Conversion Build Thread
 

I finally decided to bite the bullet and convert my LST2 from nitro to brushless.

This was a great decision I think. This is my first bout with electric, I've always been nitro to the bone. A few weeks ago I went out and had nitro related troubles that killed my day. Fuel tank cracked in half on my LST and the ROSS starter on my Ten-T decided to say "fk you!" and not work.

So I decided to just do it and convert. The power is amazing, I've never seen anything so crazy in my life, lol.... Diff maintenance is sure to be interesting with this setup but I can live with that for how well this system runs.

Conversion parts:
-Castle Mamba Monster ESC
-Castle 1717 1580kv Motor
-RC Monster 24T Pinion
-RC Monster Battery Tray
-The Dude Racing Motor Mount
-Losi Single Speed Hub w/ 63T Spur
-Traxxas MERV RX Box
-Zippy 6S 40C 5000mah LiPo's
-Hyperion 0730i NET3 Charger (30a/550w)

I think the total completion time if it were all bundled in to one lump sum ran between 7-10 hours including rebuilding of the diffs and some other random truck maintenance that took place during the conversion.

A few pix along the way:

Buhbye nitro!
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3134/...3c4bc823_b.jpg
IMG_0118 by 10 Gauge, on Flickr

Mounting up the MERV RX box on some plexiglass @ the rear
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5279/...2f850cbf_b.jpg
IMG_1660 by 10 Gauge, on Flickr

General idea of how things were to be laid out in the rear
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2753/...e708705f_b.jpg
IMG_0122 by 10 Gauge, on Flickr

ESC mounted, motor mounted, single speed installed
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3477/...863b7ec2_b.jpg
IMG_1666 by 10 Gauge, on Flickr
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2405/...3536586a_b.jpg
IMG_0125 by 10 Gauge, on Flickr

Now to do something about that battery.... I left the throttle servo mount in place and added a servo mount back to the forward/reverse servo mounting hole and then cut a couple piece of aluminum stick to span across the servo mounts and bolted them down. Then I drilled 2 holes in the middle of each of the aluminum pieces to mount the battery tray to them. Everything fit like a glove!
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3207/...dd3e188e_b.jpg
IMG_0126 by 10 Gauge, on Flickr
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5120/...b67ba91a_b.jpg
IMG_0127 by 10 Gauge, on Flickr

Now the battery is secure!
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2115/...9bcea3d5_b.jpg
IMG_0129 by 10 Gauge, on Flickr
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1395/...4afa7f03_b.jpg
IMG_0132 by 10 Gauge, on Flickr

And now she's ready to bash!!!
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5192/...a87c8b50_b.jpg
IMG_0134 by 10 Gauge, on Flickr
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5032/...80f4d9bb_b.jpg
IMG_0138 by 10 Gauge, on Flickr

:tire::tire::cool::tire::tire:

MANY MANY THANKS GO OUT TO MY FRIENDS @ LSTFORUMS FOR GIVING ME GREAT IDEAS AND ADVICE FOR THIS PROJECT!!!

Looks great man!! I knew you would come around....lol :nod:

Thanks Kylar! This truck is absolutely 100% ridiculous now hahaha.

Make sure the spider gears in the diffs are shimmed correctly(not talking about the ring/pinion shimming that goes on the outdrive cup bearing)or they wont last very long.

Well done mate, Your gunna love this thing:nod:

@ntrain: Noted!

@millzee: Thanks for your help on this build sir. :)

Just make sure you shim those spider gears when they are clean and dry, the instant torque of those breshless motors will slightly flex the composite cups and the gears will spread and you can easily strip em out on the top bevel. Even with my LRP/Picco engines I had to put 2 shims behind each spider gear for correct lash. Stock diffs normally come with one(and in some cases some have come with none)which many times is not correct or enough.

Currently they are unshimmed, however upon assembly they were nice and tight with no play. I will have to wait to get more drive time on them before determining if I will need to shim them up. Thanks for the info.

If you didnt check em bone dry and clean your not going to be able to tell. Id be really shocked if they were tight with no lash with no shims. Check those spider gear pins too to make sure they aren't starting to groove. I find I need to replace em every 3-4 gallons worth of use. I believe they exibit the same potential wear issues the new SCTE displays, instant torque brushless power will probably wear em quick. If those pins are showing wear, then those spiders aren't going to last very long regardless of shimming, especially if your using heavy diff fluid at or over 10k.

I rebuilt both diffs with brand new parts so the diff pins are nice and shiny and new for the time being, the ones from my old diffs still looked good though which no noticable grooving or deformation. I also used the HPI hardened pins on the outdrives to try and minimize pin shattering in that area. I definitely plan on keeping a close eye on the diffs now that the truck is brushless as this is certainly going to be the weak link of the whole setup.

Sounds good to me.

Yeah, the pins and spider gears will need to be looked at on a semi regular basis, id check around whatever the runtime would be equal to around 2 gallons in a nitro setup. The fact that now you only have a slipper and no clutch and a ton more low end torque is going to put wear on em. The spider gear diff pins look very similiar in size to the SCTE, Ill have to get out the calipers and check, but if they are the same a set of "chrispins" might be a good cheap investment........Im still waiting on my set from him for my SCTE, but Im gonna check the sizing when I get em, or possibly inquire if he can make some sets for the LST platform.

PLEASE let me know the outcome of your finding on the Chrispins. Either if they will fit as they are, or if he can get some fabbed up because I will definitely order more! Actually I have a spare set of pins for my Ten-T which would be great if they were the same pins but I am pretty sure the LST's pins are larger, I can do a side by side comparison when I get home to see if they are visibly different, if they look the same I'll leave the mic'ing up to you. :)

Yeah, if you can do that when you get home that would be great, if they are in fact different sizes, then I will find out the exact sizing of the LST pins and PM Chris. :)

Yeah, just got a PM back from Chris, sounds like he can make em, just asking for measurements if they arent the same size as the TEN-T/SCTE. :)