Thinking of nitro

All discussions about 1:18 scale and up nitro on & off road RCs.
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crazydave
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Post by crazydave »

For some reason I'm getting the impression that if you hear one bad thing, then you don't want it. If that is the case, you're gonna have to get over that hang up. On cars like these, things are gonna break. Many companies purposely design a weak area that can be cheaply replaced. If you thrash it, its better to just have to replace one cheap part, than say like the whole front end.


I sure the Jammin' CRT RTR is as of high quality, if not higher quality than the HPI. Its also cheaper which allows you more money to invest in other areas to make your first nitro experience a happy one. Something like say... I don't know, maybe a failsafe? It would really suck to watch your new toy scream off into the distance at 40+ mph, until a wall or something worse stops it.
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Sasquatch
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Post by Sasquatch »

Well, it all depends on what the bad thing is on that vehicle, maybe it might just be one thing, but it may be something I don't want to deal with. I mean, who wants a vehicle that has problems, no one of course, but we have to deal with it anyways. Like front end durability, I need all I can get when I start jumping, because I know I am not that good at it.

The Jammin has chassis flex (easy to fix, Z-Brace, whatever that is, and mono motor mount, weak rear diff outdrives (easy to fix, hopups), and the stock bearing for the clutchbell fell apart (replace with stronger bearing) Sure the X1-CRT has problems, but they are easier to fix over the Hellfire, plus A-Arms are on backorder everywhere and the front brace is having breaking issues to.

Believe me, I still would like the Hellfire, I haven't completely ruled it out. I'll still talk with one or two locals (whenever one gets on MSN and I get the other's e-mail) to see which they think will work better up here.

That's another reason why I'm leaning more towards the Jammin, it's cheaper so either I can upgrade the radio (I'm thinking Nomadio Sensor, more model memory than DX3 and is PC upgradeable :-o ), or get a failsafe.

The stock tires are too nice on the X1-CRT, so I'm changing to the Hellfire tires on Maximizer 17mm hex 1/2" offset beadlocks. Then when I get some stock wheels to dye black I'll put on some Moabs. That way I can bash onroad and offroad without too much worry of tire wear. :-o
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Post by crazydave »

The front end is only gonna drop when you jump if you let off the throttle. Usually a 4wd vehicle is bit nose heavy, so you just stay on the throttle.

I'm not sure what you're so nervous about jumping for, I never really considered it a skill. :???:


Have you had any experience with any hobby grade RCs larger than Mini-Zs or 1/18th scale? These cars are really much more durable than I believe you think they are. I used to just sit and pop 7ft air with my Stampede over and over again. It would only strip the cheap plastic outdrive cup after about 10-15 runs of that. Sure I could've got the steel ones for $10, but I just kept buying the plastic ones for $3, kept spares in my pit box. I used to break steering knuckles, but only because I would nail curbs at top speed because I was too lazy to walk 30ft to put it on the sidewalk, and it looked cool as hell. The guy I first sold it to, decided to play demolition derby with the neighbor kid's Tonka truck. Of course the Tonka truck won. I bought it back, and only had to replace the steering knuckles, and servo.

I mean come on, demolition derby with a Tonka truck? This shit is tough, and I'm sure a high end 1/8th scale nitro buggy is gonna be tougher than my Stampede was, but that's what I was telling you about cheap weak parts being designed in.

You mention the chassis flex in the Ofna, and that's exactly the kind of thing I was trying to tell you about. A little chassis flex not only makes it an easier more forgiving car to drive, but allows things to flex, rather than break. If you've never driven this type of car before, and you're worried about just taking a jump, I'm not seeing how you're gonna be driving at a pro level right off the bat, so you shouldn't worry about having the pro set up. I'm trying to tell you this because I spend hundreds of dollars to learn the hard way.

Honestly I'm not sure why I keep coming back to this thread. :roll:
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Sasquatch
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Post by Sasquatch »

It has too much chassis flex, up to the point you are in the danger zone of stripping gears. Thats what I mean by chassis flex, otherwise I would've cared. I saw the ad for the new Xray luxury touring car and you can adjust flex to the terrain, which is very impressive. At one time I really wanted an HPI MT2, but after talking with a local who had several, and reading from forums, it had such bad chassis flex, that you could see it twist from driving. Thats not good, it would eat gears like it was going out of style, all from the stock puny weak engine. Plus the diffs exploded too. Thats what I don't want to get into, even when the MT2 was hopped up it was still not that great.

So far I've only driven 18th scale, I have an 18T with Mamba 8000 and it's a hoot in the alleys, but sucks out in the dirt unless it's prepared. Either my jump isn't the greatest, or I really am that bad. I either nose dived or landed too rear heavy. I couldn't quite control it mid-air yet, it would nose dive, so I'd get on the gas a bit, either it made it flip onto the rear bumper, or didn't work. I didn't practice a whole lot, so thats one reason, but I couldn't level it off if I wanted to.

I just don't want to dish out money for crashes, thats all. Being 16, going to school and can only manage to work only one day week doesn't necessarily bring a whole heck of a lot of dough, plus I don't sell dope like many other teenagers in my school, but I don't drink, so that saves me money (not because I don't want to, because I'm not popular enough to know where all the parties are until after they are done, plus I don't see the point of getting drunk).

I have my 18T which is virtually indestructible, save for the servo arm. Dumpsters, parked cars, walls, poles, moving cars, people, trees, multiple 30ft.+ drops, cartwheels that have last for at least 50ft and hitting the walls at the carpet track. Only damage so far, 2 sets of CVD's all around, bent up the front end of the chassis, so now I have some caster, and 8 or so servo arms. Otherwise she still drives like a charm.

I'm sorry if I'm getting you a little annoyed, but I live in an area where there is "too much to do" for everyone, so R/C is basically unknown here other than RS and Source. The place to do R/C is all about an hours drive from me, and thats where all the nitro people live and hangout, plus they head out even farther out away from me for their tracks and bashing spots. Plus it's kind of hard for to talk to them and learn, so forums is where I get all my info. Basically I'm jumping in blind, but I'm trying to get as much info as I can along the way. I can't necessarily just take a bus ride for 3minutes to the LHS and expect to get help, I got to rely on you guys.

Don't worry, I don't expect to be at a pro-level, hell I expect myself to make a really dumb mistake on the first day of owning a nitro vehicle. I just have to get used to the speeds, then I'll be fine and I'll be able to tag along without too much trouble. Just give me about 30 minutes to get used to the track and to find a setup, and I'll be consistent, I won't be fast, maybe not keeping up, but I'll be there. I have no problems driving, but with tuning the engine, oh boy!

If I'm going to be dropping $600 just like that, I expect to have quality, and performance. I don't like cheap crap. I was just hopping I wasn't getting too ahead of myself.

Sorry CD, I know I am getting a bit...argh into everyone, but I'm pretty much finished now. I read up a lot in the past week, and you and payaso gave me some pointers which helped a lot. Just want to say sorry for being annoying and thanks for helping. Feel free to add whatever, I can take it.
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Post by crazydave »

I guess I did get a little annoyed in my last post. I just felt like the title of this thread should've been, "I'm getting a Hellfire, and just you try to talk me out of it." :lol:


Sorry I got annoyed, its all cool. :-)
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