b5m build
I built a b5m over the weekend (took about 5 hours total) and these are my suggestions:
1) use super fine synthetic steel wool pads (about $5) to polish the ball ends, shock shafts, and the front inner hinge pins (simply put the item into a dremel, spin it up and then polish with the pad for a few seconds)- this is especially true for the front inner hinge pins because the front kick up block is very tight.
2) in the gearbox, use 1 .1x10mm shim to take slop out of the diff, and 1 .1x5mm shim to take slop out of the top shaft (between the top shaft gear and the aluminum spacer)
3) use 3 .3x4mm shims to remove play from the rear arms. in my kit, the rear left arm had twice the play of the right, so I put 1 shim at the back of the left arm, and then 1 shim in front of both arms. this removed all play.
4) the turnbuckles are way too long. they used the same ones as the b4, but since the ball cups are longer, you go past the threaded area by quite a bit. I had some 43mm turnbuckles laying around and they worked perfectly. don't forget to put chapstick on the threads.
5) the diff went together fine, but the stock diff rings are not flat. I had to sand mine to get them flat.
6) if you are using a novak ballistic motor, the motor shaft hits the gear cover. I simply used a reamer to open a hole where the shaft made an indent in the cover.
7) take your time with the gear box screws, they are tight.
8) the stock wheel nuts are junk. when you go to take them off, 2 of the nylon inserts got jammed in the threads. i just used regular 4mm serrated nuts
9) the only part my kit was missing was one of the 3 hole plastic rear hub inserts (go opposite the blue aluminum one.) Aside from that, the 8 year old putting the box together did well.
Other than those issues, the build went fine. It really is a nice car, and I especially like the reasonable prices. Even though many will get the hopups as they are released, you really don't need them.
Good job team associated.
Last edited by billjacobs; 03-10-2014 at 07:21 AM.