BigSquidRC.com

Just a few thoughts one the Losi LST. This is a great truck for Losi’s first venture into the Monster Truck field. As with all “First attempts”, there are a few drawbacks, most of which are credited to Losi not anticipating the power output of the Dynamite Mach .26, and the efficiency with which the transmission puts that power to the wheels.

For starters, the original LST’s had a problem with blowing out CVD axles. I have blown out one axle, and have seen another go on someone else’s truck. A quick call to Losi had this problem taken care of. No red tape, no transferring back and forth on hold. The call took all of 10 minutes, and the next day, there was a package on my doorstep from Losi with the upgraded CVD axles. Great customer service keeps customers.

The stock plastic diff housings are a little on the weak side, but replacement aluminum housings are cheap ($10 for silver, $13 for blue), and very easy to replace. There are only 6 screws to remove, and the diff slides right out.

The stock arms a little on the skinny side. As long as you land your jumps clean, and don’t crash hard into anything, they will last. Again, the suspension arms are very easy to replace, 5 screws, including the shock screw, then pull the hinge pins (no e-clips), and replace the arms. Maybe 10 minutes per corner. Aluminum arms are available, but the stock arms will only set you back $10 for two sets (2 uppers/2 lowers, front and rear are interchangeable).

On to performance. The Mach .26 is a great engine for this truck. Take the time to break in the truck properly, and you will be rewarded with a very good engine. I am running 35% Trinity Monster Horsepower fuel, and am very pleased with the performance. The LST is a heavy truck (14 lbs.), but the Mach has no problem pulling the front wheels of the ground, and often flipping the truck over, if you get enough traction. The stock tires are heavy, and have quite a bit of side roll to them, but this is easily remedied by switching to smaller “Maxx sized” tires. The hub hex is the same size as the Maxx and Savage trucks, so any wheel/tire combo will fit. You will lose a little top speed with the smaller tires, but there is plenty of speed on hand, so you will probably not miss the speed you lose.

The included pack in radio (JR XS3 FM) makes this truck a great value. You will definitely want to upgrade to a good Rx pack, since the LST uses 2 high torque servos for steering, one for throttle/brake, and one for reverse. Before you start running the truck, take a few seconds to re-center the steering servos (usually, just loosen one of the set screws, let the servo center itself, then retighten). Out of the box, the steering servos are slightly fighting each other, which will burn through a battery pack pretty fast.

Very nice review man!

I think I'll go buy an LST now

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Gabe, Texas Boy, Trip

Nice Review man, just how we like it. Short, to the point, what's good, what's bad and we move on! Thanks!

I can't believe your runnin 35%! I'm afraid to go to 30! Although I just got the new OS 18 for the truck, so the day before I take out my tired, poor 15, I'm gonna see what 30% would do for it.

20, I got 20, do I hear 30? Ok I got 30.. can I get a 35.. 35 from the man with the LST, do I hear 40%?


Brian

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Brian(at)BigSquidRC.com
http://www.BigSquidRC.com

Funny you should say that, I was looking at the White lightning 40% at Leisure Hours the other day. It's the same price as the 35% Trinity I'm running....

As for the OS.. I think Michowski is running the 33% Traxxas in his OS, and loves it...


Thanks for the compliments Tex and Brian...

yup i got the os .18 for the revo the second is became available and i love it. I only ran 33% in it and its awesome. Temps are a good 200 to 240 on average with tons of power. maybe 50% would be better

now you have to post up your speeds.

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Official Big Squid Bash Crew

Good point.... Running the stock motor, Traxxas sporttraxx tires, Trinity Monster Horsepower 35%, We took the truck out to the street for some Radar Runs. Through about 8-10 passes, the LST was turning consistant runs of 45 MPH, with one 48 and one 49 MPH pass. There were 2 bad passes that only hit 35-38 MPH, but it was obvious, by listening to the engine, that the engine wasn't up to RPM on those runs.