Jeff Hoy, American » buggy

New Product: RC18T2/B2 Team Kit

Jeff Hoy — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 20:28:11 +0000

Here’s some awesome news from Team AE. They are putting out 2nd editions of their popular RC18B and RC18T, based on the new belt driven chassis that is used by the SC18 and RC18LM. The cool thing about this though is that it’s a kit and parts are included to build either vehicle. So you buy one box and you get two cars in it. You get to decide whether you want to build it as a truck or buggy, and switching between the two any time you want is easy. From the looks of it all you do is change the tires, body mounts, and body and you got yourself a new vehicle to race with. How cool is that?

Being a kit means that no electronics are included, so you have to provide the motor, ESC, steering servo, receiver and radio, batteries, charger, and glue for the tires. The MSRP is $199.99, street price will likely be in the $150s, and it should be available some time in March. Just a note, the news release doesn’t specify if this is a FACTORY Team kit, so all the hop-ups typically included with those may not be in this one. Here’s a link to the product page and the news release (PDF).

[Update: Tower, Stormer, and A Main all agree on a street price of $120. Your local hobby shop's prices will vary.]

Vehicle Specifications

Scale:	1:18
Power:	Electric
Length:	252mm
Width:	182mm
Weight:	500g
Wheelbase:	166mm
Internal Gear Ratio:	2.0:1
Drive:	4WD

The evolution of buggy racing?

Jeff Hoy — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 01:29:54 +0000

It’s no secret that the advent of the short course style trucks, like the Slash, Strike, and SC10, has changed the face of off-road truck racing. My first thought upon seeing these trucks was “when is somebody going to give 2wd buggies the same treatment?” Well, it’s finally happened, and Kyosho is the first one out of the gate.

Kyosho announced their new take on the 2wd off-road buggy with the new Ultima DB Desert Buggy. This buggy is intended to be a more realistic take on the full scale buggies that are raced along side short course trucks and baja trucks. It’s based on the Ultima SC chassis and uses the same realistic looking wheels and tires. It includes a very nice looking body with a tube roll cage and window nets. Also included is a complete radio system, 20 turn mild modified motor, lipo compatible ESC, and it is completely assembled as a Ready Set. The only requirements are batteries for the car (LiPo or NiMH), batteries for the radio, and a charger.

Read all about it and check out all the pictures at Kyosho’s Ultima DB product page.

[Update] Greg Vogel at RC Driver shares similar thoughts.

Did you get a new R/C car or truck for Christmas?

Jeff Hoy — Fri, 25 Dec 2009 23:00:08 +0000

Christmas has come and gone. The presents have been unwrapped with joyous glee. If you’re one of the lucky ones, then hopefully you unwrapped a nice, new radio controlled car or truck. Here’s some of my older articles about how to upgrade and hop-up your new R/C car.

Did you get a Losi Highroller for Christmas? Then you might want to check out a couple of my articles about it. I have written about mine a few times, highlighting some of the ways to make it faster and stronger. Check out my first article about upgrading the speed control to make your Losi Highroller ready to use LiPo batteries. I have also written about upgrading the motor to make your Highroller faster. And finally I’ve shown you three hop-ups to make your Highroller ready for a brushless motor.

If you got yourself a Tamiya Baja King then I’ve got you covered there, too. I’ve suggested some ways to make the Baja King handle better and more durable. I’ve written about how to make your Baja King faster by installing a better motor. And I’ve demonstrated some cheap or free upgrades to the Baja King that you can do with some common house-hold materials and tools.

I’ve also offered Highroller troubleshooting tips and suggestions in the comments to my Highroller review.

Now get out there and have fun.

Two (more) new RTRs from Associated, still no SC18…

Jeff Hoy — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 22:40:51 +0000

Team Associated announced two new RTR packages today. Both are based on the highly successful RC10T4 stadium truck RC10B4 off-road buggy with some changes and dubbed the RC10T4.1 RC10B4.1. One is brushed motor powered, the other is brushless. They both come with a new 2.4 GHz radio system as well. MSRPs are $339.99 $329.99 for brushed and $399.99 $389.99 for brushless. Street price would likely be closer to $250 and $300 (update: Tower and Stormer are showing street prices at closer to $200 and $250, your local hobby shop‘s prices will vary). They’re nice looking rides and the RC10T4 RC10B4 has been a dominator in the racing scene for a long time.

RC10B4.1 Brushed RTR

RC10B4.1 Brushless RTR

Still no news on the SC18 though. I’m a bit surprised that it’s not out yet considering it’s been advertised for three months now. I’m fully expecting it to ship with a 2.4 GHz radio now though, instead of the advertised 27 MHz.

1/8 electric is real…

Jeff Hoy — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 20:49:54 +0000

Kyosho, OFNA, Losi, Associated, and HPI all now have purpose built electric 1/8 scale buggies. The products are out there and people are buying them. When every major player in the market has a product out then it’s safe to say that product’s time has arrived. The naysayers are changing their tunes, 1/8 electric is real, here, and now. 1/8 scale electric short course is starting to show up. Truggies will soon follow.

My nearly complete restoration of a JRx-Pro

Jeff Hoy — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 00:42:53 +0000

BEHOLD!

It’s got a set of temporary electronics in it. And I’m still looking for some original wheels for it. I know where to find a front set, but the rears still elude me. I also need to get a couple new tie-rods to replace a couple bent and broken ones.

I have run it with the temporary stock motor, it’s pretty slow. I used to hate the thought of owning a car that I never drove. But the difficulty I had in sourcing parts for this has made me reconsider. It’s going to be a shelf queen and I’m very likely only going to take this out to drive it on special occasions.

HPI’s Brama 10b…

Jeff Hoy — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 06:01:00 +0000

…looks like a winner for those interested in an entry level 4WD buggy. RC Driver has a positive review in the March issue, calling it “fun on a budget.” Zero RC also has a quick overview with some general info. HPI is bringing on the competition for Tamiya’s Baja King. The only problem I see with the Brama is that it’s a RTR. The price point is dead on as well. You get everything (yes everything, even a sport battery pack and charger) you need to get started except batteries for the transmitter for only $170 online. Check your local hobby shop first though. It’s definitely an attractive looking car. I’d love to get a hold of one of these to see how it compares to my beloved Baja King.

The official video from HPI is after the break, it’s autoplay so beware.

Pictures of my JRx-Pro…

Jeff Hoy — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 07:01:00 +0000

…in it’s dirty, neglected, busted up state. This is what it looked like when I received it. The cleaning and rebuilding has begun. Parts are starting to come in from the ebay sellers. The shocks have been cleaned and rebuilt, along with the transmission and rear suspension components.

Three must have upgrades for your new Baja King…

Jeff Hoy — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 06:01:00 +0000

So you got a Tamiya Baja King for Christmas or you just bought one for yourself. Congratulations, it’s a great car. Welcome to the Baja King Owner’s Club. You may have assembled it already or you could be waiting until you have a little more free time. But if you’re anything like me you’re spending all your waking moments away from your new Baja King thinking about it. Thinking about how fast it’ll go, or how high it’ll jump, how good it will be at chasing away your neighbor’s dog, you just can’t wait to start driving it. And maybe start upgrading it.

The Baja King is a decent performer out of the box. It could use some help though, and boy is there a lot of help out there for it. Tamiya is well known for supporting all of their vehicles with tons of hop-ups and the Baja King is no different. Being based on the TL01 sedan chassis, pretty much every accessory made for that chassis is compatible with the TL01B chassis that the Baja King is built on. Not all of them mind you, but most. Everything from carbon fiber drive train components to titanium screw sets is out in the wild. You aren’t going to need all those upgrades, but there are a few out there that are, in my opinion, must haves for the Baja King. So without further ado, here’s my top three must have hop-ups for your new Tamiya Baja King.

1. Oil filled shocks
The stock bouncers do not provide any type of real suspension dampening at all. They are pretty much useless on anything but the most smooth surfaces out there. If you want to run on a gravel driveway or unprepped dirt surface you are going to need a set of oil filled shocks to help smooth out those bumps and ruts. The performance difference will shock you (haha, I made a pun!). On my Baja King I went with Tamiya’s top of the line Super Low Friction Dampeners, you can find those online for around $60 for a set of four. They are machined out of metal and coated with Teflon to make them super smooth. The set doesn’t come with shock fluid, so you’ll need to buy a bottle or three of that which will set you back another $12 or so. I recommend starting with the medium weight set and going up or down from there depending on your surface conditions. But if you don’t have the money to spend on those fancy pants super duper shocks you can go for the slightly cheaper CVA Mini Shock set. They’re priced at about $20 for a set of two, so $40 for all four corners, they also include shock fluid in the pack. I would actually buy this hop-up before anything else. The difference they make is just astounding.
2. Ball bearings
Ball bearings will make your Baja King run faster and longer. They are also a key ingredient to cutting down on maintenance and parts replacement in the long run. The Baja King comes stock with plastic and bronze bushings all over the place. Plastic bushings in particular aren’t very durable and wear out quickly, creating slop in your drive train that reduces efficiency. When it comes to driving with electricity, efficiency is the key. The easier it is for your electric motor to turn all the gears and drive shafts and axles the faster your car will go and the longer it will run. Bushings create a lot of friction between parts, even when they are greased and oiled. But bearings, they just roll with the flow, like a fat dog on ice. Ball bearings help all your pieces and parts break lose of that friction more easily making the job of running it all easier on your motor. You can pick up a full set on the internet for about $30 if you buy the kit by DuraTrax, that’s what I’ve been using and they’ve been great so far. The official Tamiya kit is more expensive and a little hard to come by. I HIGHLY suggest buying these before you assemble your kit for the first time, and put them in where ever the instructions call for bushings, it’s just easier that way.
3. Hardened diff cups
This is another one of those “in the long run” maintenance items. The stock diff cups are very soft and the dog bone axles will start to make divots in them very quickly, reducing drive train efficiency. Unless you’re wrecking a lot or still using bushings these will probably be the parts you replace the most. The hardened cups will resist the wear and tear and last a lot longer than the stock pieces. They’ll run you about $10 a set so $20 total for both ends of the car. Just make sure you don’t lose the o-rings in the front cups when you go to swap these in for the stock pieces, you need them to keep the front axles in their proper place.

There you have it. Three must have upgrades that you should be shopping for right now. But be warned, Baja King ownership becomes a sort of illness after a while. Once you’re bitten by the bug there’s no turning back and you’ll be spending every last cent you have buying new toys for your baby. If you haven’t already, go back and read my posts on my Baja King here, here, and here.

All the links I’ve provided are for illustrative purposes. I have no affiliation with Tower Hobbies. Buy your hop-ups from where ever you’d like, you might want to consider shopping at your local hobby shop first.

Hacking my Baja King

Jeff Hoy — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 05:32:33 +0000

I spent some time today looking at my Baja King and trying to find ways to improve it. I’m not at all dissatisfied with it’s performance right now, it’s fast, somewhat agile, and a blast to drive. But I wanted more. But other than putting in a faster motor what else could I do to improve it? How about a weight-loss program and patching up some of the intentionally made holes?

The Baja King is based on Tamiya’s old TL01 sedan chassis. Basically all they did was swap out the short suspension arms and drive shafts for long ones. They also took out some extraneous parts that weren’t conducive to off-road driving. They left all the mounting holes and whatnot though. The first thing I did was take my dremel (I use a craftsman rotary tool, but it’s the same thing) to all those mounting positions for sedan body posts and electronics trays that I don’t need. I didn’t take any measurements but I shaved at least a few grams from the chassis. I also got some acrylic glue and used it to seal up empty screw holes from the missing parts.

The suspension arms are two pieces each, held together with screws. I took the suspension arms apart and used CA glue to stick them together and ditched the screws. Dropping eight screws from the unsprung weight of the car can’t hurt. I’m only doing this as a trial right now, to see how well it holds together. If it fails miserably then it’s back to the screws.

Next the dremel went into the battery compartment. I had to sand it out a little bit with the drum sander so that my LiPo batteries would fit easily. Once that was done, the open nature of the battery compartment had me a bit concerned that my expensive LiPos would be damaged by a stray rock or something else striking them at high speed. They’re hard cased racing LiPos, any damage would most likely be purely cosmetic, but sometimes you never know and it’s better to be safe than sorry. So I improvised a solution and made a underbody out of the plastic of some clamshell packaging I had in the trash. I cut, creased, and glued (again with CA glue, in hind sight I probably should have just used servo tape) the new underbody to the chassis. I may put some adhesive backed foam on the tray to further increase protection, but right now it’s sturdy enough and big enough to protect the batteries from most hard knocks, but at the same time it’s also flexible enough so that a good whack won’t break it or rip it off the chassis. It also tucks neatly under the body. I also used some of the extra plastic to make a cover for the drive shaft. More than once I’ve found pebbles and other debris stuck in the recess for the shaft, it’s marred my graphite shaft and I’m really suprised the shaft hasn’t broken. So I cut a narrow strip of the plastic long enough to run the length of the recess and again I CA glued it to the narrow lip above the recess. One last use for the trash bound plastic was to create a cover for the large hole on the right side of the chassis. Hopefully this will cut down on the amount of crud that builds up in the chassis during runs.

That’s the summary of my latest round of modifications for my Baja King. But in other r/c news my new Losi HighRoller (it’s a RTR, but it looks so cool) should be arriving in the next couple days, along with the parts to finish off my JRX-S and give my resurrected PureTen GP a test run. And my ThunderTech Pro-2 should be here in the next few weeks. I’m really looking forward to running all of them and will be writing full reviews of all the new ones after I’ve had time to break them in sufficiently.