I received my kit, but I'm still waiting on some other items to arrive (tapered shock pistons, batteries, and a few other misc items), so I haven't assembled it yet.

I did a quick paint job tonight using XXXMain internal graphics and a couple cans of spray paint. It's not great, but it doesn't look too bad. It'll look better with some stickers. I had some bleed through in a couple of spots because I didn't take my time and prep (I'm terrible about being impatient with this kind of thing!). All these years doing RC stuff (when I was a kid, then about 7 years ago when I toyed around with a nitro on-road car, and this past year or so), and this is my first two-tone paint job! The internal graphics are very cool, but the vents on the sides of the body gave me a lot of grief. The graphics are wrinkled in that area, but you can't see unless you look closely.

I have a JConcepts HiFlow on the way. I'll have to take my time with it and see if I can get it to come out nicer.

I have a DuBro prop balancer that I used to balance the RC10B tires, and it looks like I can use it with the RC8Be tires if I machine a little adapter. I figure it's not worth the cost of buying a dedicated 1/8 scale wheel balancer. What do you guys use?

Any of you guys race in the Dallas/Fort Worth area? I wouldn't mind giving that a try...

I have a DuBro prop balancer that I used to balance the RC10B tires, and it looks like I can use it with the RC8Be tires if I machine a little adapter. I figure it's not worth the cost of buying a dedicated 1/8 scale wheel balancer. What do you guys use?

Just use a spare RC8 hub.

I got my kit a few days ago. Just finished putting it together today. Got the radio up and running. I only have some 1800 2sx2 packs I had in my MERV. So I haven't driven it except in the living room. But I'm looking forward to the Mamba Monster 2200. I'll post some pics of the build when I get on my desktop. I'm browsing from the phone now.

Gregg, did you disassemble your diffs to look at the o-rings? I received my kit from Tower on 12/28 (fresh off of backorder), and it uses the black o-rings inside the diff. I ordered the diff o-ring package as well (PN 89121) and it includes the updated clear o-rings. I'm planning to swap all of mine out. So it looks like the newer kits still use the black o-rings.

Thanks for the tip Billy, I didnt, and I havent even driven the car yet and noticed that the center diff is seeping. No drop but there is some dampness.

I will get this ordered when I order my new charger. Thanks for the heads up.

Edit: Did you order that part number? because in the tower hobbies picture they are black, and they aren't due in until January.

I did order the o-rings from Tower at the same time I ordered the kit. Their picture must not be updated.

Where is your diff leaking?

I built my diffs yesterday, but I'm waiting on some other parts to arrive to build the rest of the car. I just checked and the front and rear diffs look fine, but on the center diff, it looks like there is some weeping between the gear and the housing. I was able to get all 4 screws quite tight on the front and rear diffs, but on the center diff, two of them felt like they were stripping when I tightened them down. I know the housings are the same, but the front and rear diff gears are metal, whereas the spur gear is plastic. I wonder if the plastic is deforming when the screws are tightened causing the weeping. Either that, or the gaskets are junk since they're just paper. I could try some Hondabond, but not sure how well it would seal the plastic, especially since it'll come in immediate contact with the diff fluid.

The nitro RC8 uses a metal spur gear, right? I might buy one of those and give it a try if the center diff leaking where the housing and spur gear meet is common.

Anyone have any input on the Nova RC aluminum diff cup for the RC8? Unfortunately, I cannot post a link, but I tried doing some searching with no success.

EDIT: What kind of charger are you planning to order? I bought an Onyx 230 first (a few years ago), then recently purchased a Dynamite Passport Ultra. I like the Dynamite much more, although the fan is a bit annoying since it runs at 100% all the time.

does anybody know if the kit tires will work on hard packed clay ?

One other newbie question. What do you guys do to keep tires (like the stock ProLines) from ballooning? On my RC10B4, I just tape the inside of the tires, but the 1/8 scale tires have ribs in them that mate with the grooves in the foams, so I don't want to tape them. Perhaps 1/8 scale tires don't balloon as bad as 1/10 scale?

Yeah, mines leaking from the same place. I can't see the fronts because they are inside the cases. But the center is weeping from under the gear.

Not sure if the metal one fits or not. And as for a charger, I'm probably going with an iCharger 208B. It charges at 20 amps. I've seen it charge a 6S 5,000 mah pack in 9 minutes.

Here's my new shell for 2011.

Any new info about upcoming world's options parts and/or updates to the kit? It's about time for me to either buy a new kit or replace all of the bearings.

Recieved my kit about a week and a half ago, took 11 hours to build. This was my second kit ever. First was a FT sc10 which went smooth. The rc8be was a really, really smooth build. No hiccups or anything. BUT It looks like my center diff is leaking but i've taken it apart twice. When i originally built it i sanded all of the diffs. I just took it apart and sanded the center again, but it could just be my imagination haha. /: OH and don't run a 3cell with a 2050 haha there is no top end AT all.

Tekin rx8/t8 2050
15/46 gearing

Both buggies looking really good. Matt, did you paint that yourself? Colors are cool! And you're already ready for a new kit? Lol. Not doing it for you huh??

And culture, got it, no 3S. I'm planning on getting 4, 5 and 6S packs blue lipo in 40c @5000 138 in length.

no 5 or 6s, it would be ungodly fast unless you're just getting them for efficiency?

Yeah, I may try and run 5S just for that. 6S would be just for playing with some onroad tires. I can get a blue lipo 6S pack that fits 2650mah (mah doesn't matter because it's for messing around) they are like $40-$50. 4S would be the main track pack. Might get 2.

Where do u get these packs from blue lipo