Recently we posted some news about the Caster Racing USA ZX1.5R and that it would be shipping in December. Well, we just received a bunch of new pictures of the vehicle, so I’m guessing Caster Racing is getting ready to start shipping them! Enjoy the pictures.
Last weekend I stopped out at the Leisure Hours Raceway track to check out a little impromptu rock crawling action and take some pictures. A bunch of guys showed up to brave the weather and just have some fun on the LH RC Rock Crawling Course. It was a good time, and there were all sorts of vehicles. Everything from the big scalers to the new Mini Losi Crawler.
Bernie has been working on getting some bigger rocks as well, so it was time for a little king of the mountain. It was great meeting a few new people that were fans of the site, and always cool to see people with Big Squid RC stickers on their vehicles before I even hand any out. Make sure to keep your eye on the Rock Crawling Forum for any future crawler bashes. Also, make sure to check out the forum for a new RC Rock Crawling Poll! Leisure Hours is wondering if there would be an interest in setting up an indoor course for the winter. So make sure you head over to the Rock Crawling Forum and voice your opinion!
Here is a new picture for the Fan Pictures section, and to enter the Big Squid RC Contest.
Remember, we only have two drawings left, and someone is going to win a brand new Duratrax RT-X27!! Make sure to head over to the Big Squid RC Contest page for all the details! Good luck!
We just recieved word that the Caster Racing USA ZX1.5R has an official ship date of December 10th, 2008.
The ZX1.5R is lighter then it’s previous model and has 16 different upgrades. It also now comes in KIT form. It’s been tough to get RC’s as a kit lately, and sometimes a lot of the fun is putting it together yourself. (As long as there are good instructions!) Head over to the Caster Racing site for your pre-order goodness.
Last week I cover the weak links of the Traxxas Slash. All though few; the Slash has them. Last week I talked only about the shocks, because it’s the one thing that needs to be fixed right out of the box. They will pop off just tooling around the drive way. All of the items that I am going to talk about in this report are things that don’t have to be replaced; unless you plan on strapping in tons of brushless/lipo horsepower.
The c-hubs, steering knuckles, and axle carries are all a point of interest and can be fixed in the same way. The strongest option is of course aluminum. The aluminum will keep these areas from breaking as long as it doesn’t get run over buy a car. There are two problems with the aluminum. First is of-course price. With the aluminum parts ranging from $20 to $30 it’s not really worth it. Second is that they are so stiff that they will make other parts break. The one other option that you can consider other than just keeping spares is RPM products. RPM parts use a very flexible nylon plastic that will bend, but not break. With the parts running about $9 they are a lot cheaper than the aluminum parts and week links won’t be created down the line. Only problem that might end up happening is that some tracks won’t allow the aluminum or the RPM parts. So be sure to check the rules at your track.
One other problem only happens in really dusty conditions or really high horsepower. The spur gear in the Slash is a really tough chunk of plastic, but it can be destroyed. In dusty conditions the huge hole in the stock spur gear cover allows a lot of dirt to eat up the spur gear. The cheap fix is just a simple little piece of tape. This works good, but you’ll need to replace it often, because it will fall off. A more permanent set-up is the RPM gear cover. The RPM gear cover has no hole and is made of the same nylon plastic as their arms, axle carriers, c-hubs, ect. So you know that it can take a beating. When running brushless and lipo the will even get pushed past its limits. To keep from striping the teeth right off the gear just simply loosen the slipper clutches nut till the slipper will slip for about a foot or two. If you have enough power it should pull a nice little wheelie and keep your spur gear intact.
All of these points don’t really need to be hopped up. Its all about how hard you are going to drive your Slash. If your just tooling around your drive-way then you may never break anything. However; if you plan on strapping in tons of power and getting 25 feet of air at I-Hobby. You’re going to want to a little bit of modifying. Till next time. Keep it rolling.
Jason Annis
There’s something about a big conversion like this that I really dig. This is the Exotek Racing R14 Team Associated RC18R Conversion. It takes your RC18R and makes it a 1/4th scale on road power house. It’s got all sorts of carbon fiber goodness, lower CG, 1/10th scale sedan style front bumper, some new aluminum parts like server mounts and center bulkhead, and comes in blue or gun metal! All this for under $150. Sweet. For all the details, here is the direct link to the Exotek Racing R14 Conversion.
Working on a electric RC this winter? Blue Groove RC Concepts has these 11″ Battery / Utility straps to help secure your stuff to your ride. They are made from nylon with a plastic buckle to help prevent shorts, and have a velcro type inside to keep things closed. Their press release also says they make a cool watch strap. Hmm.. I think I know what I’m getting Cubby for X-Mas!
For all those that are doing a little holiday shopping for that special someone into RC (yea.. you!), Futaba has their winter Rebate Program going! You can get cash back, or a bigger merchandise certificate on most of their newer radios systems. Make sure to head over to the Futaba page for all the details.
Ewwww! I recently got a hold of some of this stuff myself. It’s a high end blend of synthetic oils similar to the oils in your nitro fuel. It can also be used as an assembly oil and help parts resist corrosion. Head over to the Blue Groove RC Concepts site to check it out. Don’t forget to bring a hanky!
Seems that I started a little firestorm last week with the announcement of my “Cubbies” awards. So to simplify it for those that went into full panic mode (self promotion mode?), here’s the low down. Instead of getting 100 emails with 100 different suggestions (usually the person writing said email) who the “man of the year” is, I’m throwing in some good early suggestions. Of course you can still “write in” anything you want, but here are some good starting points for Car/Truck of the year and Man of the year-
08′ Car/Truck of the year- Traxxas Slash- they sold a billion of them, Hot Bodies D8- the buggy that changed the face/price point of 8th scale racing, Axial AX10 Scorpion- the truck most responsible for the crawling boom
08′ RC Man of the year- Carlton Eppes- head man at RC Pro Series, the most progressive racing organization in the biz, Shawn Palmer- perhaps the best “marketing” type person ROAR (and Schu) has had in decades, Mike Jenkins- the man behind Traxxas and their huge selling trucks
I’m not going to touch the other categories right now. They are probably left wide open for interpretation.
Brian has been really busy posting up all the press releases this week. A lot of new gear and buzz was going down last week. But here is one piece of info that’s been under tight wraps- one of the aftermarket companies is Really close to releasing their AE T4 and Losi XXX-T short course conversion kits. These kits will basically make a T4 or XXX-T look and drive like a Traxxas Slash does. The kits allow for the proper mounting of the Pro-Line short course bodies, use big bumpers, and allow the use of Slash type tires. From what I’ve heard they are uber trick, but will they make it to market before AE gets out their own electric short course truck? Will they make it out before Losi re-designs their “desert truck” to use a full width body? We’ll see in time of course, but it sounds like the aftermarket conversion kits will be announced just after the first of the year.
That’s all for this week ya crazy rednecks. Support your local hobby shops and tracks!
Your Cub Reporter
Reedy has just announced a new 35C 5100maH hard case competition saddle pack LiPo battery. The hard case is there to protect the pack, which is a great idea. I can see these things taking a few hits on the front of my crawler or something. The come ready for you to install your favorite connector. The price seems a little high at $189, but I’m guessing it will be much less then that when it hits your LHS! (Local Hobby Shop)
Team Associated has just announced the new RC8T-RS 1/8 Truggy. It comes fully assembled and ready to run with a Team Associated Pro .28 engine and XP3D Digital FM Radio. The ‘Big-Bore’ shocks come pre-filled so the vehicle is ready for the dirt right out of the box.
It also comes with their Pro-Start hand held system, metal gear steering servo, 3mm aluminum shock towers and steering rack and sealed radio box. Ship Date is January 2009.
We got a chance to put the Buku Performance pipe on our Traxxas Slayer and see what it could do. We were very surprised with the results, so if you are in the market for a tuned pipe, head over to the RC Reviews section or click on the picture to check out the full review!
HPI Blitz
Tactic 2.4Ghz Radio
HPI Savage Flux
Novak HP Pro Brushless Conversion
Tekin RS Pro Redline
Team Overdose Car Stand
RC Lights - LED Combo
Traxxas Slash 4x4
Team Associated - SC18
All Other Reviews HERE!
May 28-30th, 2010
NO LIMIT RC!
June 4-6, 2010
LargeScaleRC.com POWER JAM 2010
Your Event Here!
Midwest RC Drag Racing
