Flipside6900

iTrader: (41)

Hey everybody! So here's what I'm looking at doing. I have A Durango DEX8 ebuggy that has been sitting on a shelf unused for more than a few years now (along with a DNX8, and DESC10 so more of these conversions may come soon if this works decently), and was looking at running the 8th scale class at my local parking lot tracks summer series. I know that the top GT8's have evolved into more of a bigger version of a shaft drive 1/10th tc, but want to see what I can do with what I have and used Serpent GT8's are expensive lol. I know the Arrma Infraction/limitless/felony platform is very close with the same gearbox design and shocktower mounting. They have shorter shocks available, and tires and a body are relatively easy to take car of. The Durango chassis being a pillow ball design doesn't have a ton of kickup so so spacing the rear of the gearbox up should help with some geometry issues. It's just figuring out how to best do that with a reliable and durable design, and not mess up the steering geometry at the same time that'll be fun. The rear seems much more straight forward, I just need to figure out what I'm going to do about the chassis brace (also an issue on the front) and hope that I can still get decent roll center angles.
I already got a set of stock Arrma infraction towers off of the bay for less than $10 shipped, and a set of aluminum "upgrade" shocks for less then $50. I figured if the car works decently I can get some Serpent/Xray/Mugen shocks later. I need to take some pictures and I'll be posting them here later.

Flipside6900

iTrader: (41)

Please feel free to give me and of your suggestions, ideas, concerns. I forgot to mention in the first post that the stock Arrma chassis for theses cars has a raised front and rear section under the diff cases to get the chassis lower and keep the suspension level.

chumanji

I just recently got into GT8. I would highly recommend a 6S, 1900kv setup. The kickup is a big issue with buggy conversion.

Flipside6900

iTrader: (41)

We actually have a gentleman's agreement to keep them at 4S. I was planning on just using an old 2050 Tekin and RX8 gen one I have that hasn't been used in a while. As far as the kickup, I was hoping that spacing the rear of the front diffcase/suspension mounts up more than the front would help get a more onroad friendly caster angle.

Johnson40

We race a lot of GT8's at our club. We limit the battery packs to 4S and they have more than enough speed. Up to 97 KM/H (we have a speed trap). From experience I know it is very costly to convert a buggy into a GT8. Especially if you take into account the parts and work is needed to achieve the correct geometry. It's cheaper to go for a HoBao (HYPER VTE ON-ROAD ELECTRIC 80% ARR) or a Serpent Serpent 600044 - Cobra GT-E - Brushless Raceroller 1/8 GT. These are very capable platforms for not too much money. Just add your own electronics from your buggy and you're good to go. I drove both and prefer the Serpent. Now I'm racing the SRX8 GT from Serpent. It's an absolute blast to race these cars.

Rick Vessell

iTrader: (10)

I've put some thought into a conversion like this with the DEX8 before. The lower arm mount inserts allow for you to remove most of the kick up in the front and raise the pins a bit also. Same in the rear but will retain a small amount of anti squat which you will want on paved surfaces. The Infraction shock towers will work well and lower the CG a tough too. I would start with those changes first to avoid issues with the braces and steering geometry. Taking some caster out of the upper arms will be the biggest gain to steering but also require cutting or modifying some pieces. Stick to 4S, the tires and driveline will thank you later.

Flipside6900

iTrader: (41)

It's just an open 8th scale class right now so there may be a guy running a nitro truggy, there may well be someone show up with a fully blinged out SRX8E WC... This is just a few regulars that all agreed to throw something together on the cheap. I would totally go all in and get an MGT7eco, or SRX8gte if it was a serious thing. It's honestly just not needed. That's actually what I've done. The car has been torn down and rebuilt with the new towers and shocks along with new more onroad friendly pills in the arm mounts. With the Infraction towers I do lose the upper arm adjustment on the front. Without using limiters in the front shocks, installing shorter or cut springs, getting on the droop screws, or making custom pieces to relocate the lower shock mount, the ride height in the front is already too high. If you look at the side by side of the front towers, the orignal tower might not be a bad option to reinstall. I'll get the car down lower, and also I'll get to keep the front upper arm adjustment. I've got to get all the electronics installed and figure out what I want for a battery, and then I'll see how the ride height is with the weight. I'll take it to the local school and blow off the corner of the parking lot and then see how it drives (I definitely think I'll need more caster out of it) before cutting up the arms for less caster.

Here's a few pics if the before and after, along with the current state.

fat500

iTrader: (51)

That looks awesome!!!! Nice Job. You will be surprised How well that will handle. You will have nice steering with the pb ft end. Try 2.4 ft sway and 2.2 rear and keep it soft springs in the rear and 1 step harder in the front. 10mm ride ht rear and 9mm ft. with 800-1000 cst in the shocks f+r. I use the ride gt springs purp and grey. The Grp Tires from the bay are Great. M2 rear m4 ft or if hot like 85 deg. + the m4 rear m5 front. Good luck Gt is my fav class......

fat500

iTrader: (51)

so did you get this running

Flipside6900

iTrader: (41)

Oh yeah. Ran it the entire summer of 22 with great results. Was generally the fastest car all around out there, just would get tangled up with some of the guys that were missiles out there. I didn't have anything crazy as far as motoring it. Just an old 1700 KV on 4s. The track was big, but not big by 8th scale onroad standards.
Tires were the biggest issue. A slicked out clay compound was the best handling, but I could only usually get two race days out of a set of used tires and I wasn't about to throw a set of new tires on it. I tried to set of soft GT8 tires and it lacked overall grip with the extremely hard inserts they have and our very bumpy parking lot. This was just kind of a fun extra class on top of VTA and TC so I didn't put the best stuff in it and had two failures that summer from old servos. Of course both were in the main.
With one race to go that summer I found a guy selling serpent srx-8 GTe WC with new electronics and enough parts to almost build another car plus quite a few sets of tires. I threw that down in the last amain of the last race day and just blew the field away by something like 6 laps even with way too hard of tires and way too stiff of setup on the car. Racers being racers three of my buddies picked up similar cars and started a GT8 class last summer. A few other guys either converted older ebuggies, or had older 1/8th late models laying around so we had plenty for a class. I was able to do well at the start of the season before everyone got their heads around these monsters and was able to win the summer point series. I think we had five consistent cars and every race day and I believe three or four more guys are getting them for this coming summer.
The HobbyTown USA we race at also moved last summer and has a much larger and much nicer paved parking lot to race on now. So GT8 it is now. It was good because it let the guys that are out there just trying to have fun with their 8th scale buggies have a much more open track and not have to worry about a few fast guys diving for the inside of the corner every lap.

fat500

iTrader: (51)

What Hobby Town are you guys running GT8 at?