Anyone interested in the new Redcat KAIJU MT 1/8

[kage]

I made a quick (actually kinda long-ish) video of a steering issue I'm having. As well as a (one-sided) conversation about some parts I have on order.

 

[Megasty]

I made a quick (actually kinda long-ish) video of a steering issue I'm having. As well as a (one-sided) conversation about some parts I have on order.

I had the same steering problem out the box. The plastic nut would loosen & tighten itself all the time. I glued it in place then the spring ate into the nut as well, so I put a shim it the nut. The locking solution solved all that. Also the plastic Ackermann flexes like crazy when it gets worn in. I pestered Redcat for an aluminum version for months before they finally told me they were making one. I'm fairly hard on these trucks. Running it half to full throttle on 6s will completely destroy the stock truck even w/o jumping it . . . & it's finally to the point where it can survive a full throttle ground run. The stock components simply can't handle 6s full sends. Even perfect landings bend & break stuff.

 

[kage]

I had the same steering problem out the box. The plastic nut would loosen & tighten itself all the time. I glued it in place then the spring ate into the nut as well, so I put a shim it the nut. The locking solution solved all that. Also the plastic Ackermann flexes like crazy when it gets worn in. I pestered Redcat for an aluminum version for months before they finally told me they were making one. I'm fairly hard on these trucks. Running it half to full throttle on 6s will completely destroy the stock truck even w/o jumping it . . . & it's finally to the point where it can survive a full throttle ground run. The stock components simply can't handle 6s full sends. Even perfect landings bend & break stuff.

Interesting, support at Redcat seem to think this issue is isolated and seems only be an issue with my truck. Maybe the locking clamp upgrade will actually help solve the problem, I bought it on impluse because my stock servo saver was so damn tight and the next time I take it off, im not putting it back on.

Once those aluminum upper arms come in I'll pick up that aluminum ackermann too. As of right now, I only run a single 4s pack. I feel like it's basically perfect on 4s. I have the punch at 2 and the brakes at 50% and it feels pretty easy to control and after the punch adjustment - i don't end up on the roof anymore.

My new problem is the pinion keeps coming loose, even with loctite and im hearing a very faint ringing, like some very teensy metal part is just a tad loose. My parts haul should arrive tomorrow and I plan on digging in to the diffs and swapping out the pinion and spur gear and a bunch of other goodies.

 

[KnowAir]

I gave up on trying to center the steering, it's a Redcat..never had one that would track straight?
I also locktite'd the pinion before I ever ran it. Didn't matter, came loose anyway. Thankfully the pinion can only walk so far before hitting the gearbox housing.
I went down a tooth on the pinion to hopefully cool the motor,which it did, but the motor mount didn't have enough adjustment to get proper mesh. I took the mount plate out and hit it with a die grinder. Mesh is good now, I left the button head screw out since it seems to hinder motor adjustment.
This truck is Redcats best in 1/8 scale to date IMO,but.. by the time you get it where it needs to be(for me), I coulda bought pretty much any other 1/8 basher for the time and money spent.

I built an MT410 for about $750. If I buy all of RC's aluminum bits, I'm at $700..

No regerts for me as I truly enjoy making it better/stronger with my own hands.

 

[slick2500]

I gave up on trying to center the steering, it's a Redcat..never had one that would track straight?
I also locktite'd the pinion before I ever ran it. Didn't matter, came loose anyway. Thankfully the pinion can only walk so far before hitting the gearbox housing.
I went down a tooth on the pinion to hopefully cool the motor,which it did, but the motor mount didn't have enough adjustment to get proper mesh. I took the mount plate out and hit it with a die grinder. Mesh is good now, I left the button head screw out since it seems to hinder motor adjustment.
This truck is Redcats best in 1/8 scale to date IMO,but.. by the time you get it where it needs to be(for me), I coulda bought pretty much any other 1/8 basher for the time and money spent.

I built an MT410 for about $750. If I buy all of RC's aluminum bits, I'm at $700..

No regerts for me as I truly enjoy making it better/stronger with my own hands.

That's nothing, some of us have quad digits into our Arrmas, for that price I could have built a Tekno.

 

[KnowAir]

Funny thing is that I have more fun running the Kaiju than the Tekno.. I mean sure the Tekno is tougher and much more controlled overall,but the Kaiju is just plain fun to bash!
The turning radius of the Tekno is kinda pathetic.. needs a football field to make a circle?
Oh, and I DID build a Tekno for less than a fully upgraded Kaiju would cost with all thier aluminum bits.. I'm @$670 with my 410, but still grab the Kaiju first?

 

[slick2500]

Funny thing is that I have more fun running the Kaiju than the Tekno.. I mean sure the Tekno is tougher and much more controlled overall,but the Kaiju is just plain fun to bash!
The turning radius of the Tekno is kinda pathetic.. needs a football field to make a circle?
Oh, and I DID build a Tekno for less than a fully upgraded Kaiju would cost with all thier aluminum bits.. I'm @$670 with my 410, but still grab the Kaiju first?

That doesn't seem right for the steering, first I have ever seen anyone complain about that.

I'm currently building a ET48.3 and so far I'm in right around $400, by the time I'm done I'll be right around $900.

 

[KnowAir]

I'm exaggerating of course,but driving one then the other 410 to Kaiju. The Kaiju turns much tighter. I'd guess it's the 100k fluid Tekno specs for the front diff? I did a double take at the instructions while building the 410 but figured Tekno knows better than I,so I went with it.
Should have went with my own experience and put say 7 or 10k in it.
Conversly, I put 50/100/10 rear, center, front in the Kaiju and not sure I like it. Lost some of the steering it had before..

 

[Megasty]

The turning radius of the Tekno is kinda pathetic.. needs a football field to make a circle?

That's the one thing that keeps me from running it too often. That steering was made for small buggy tires. Translated to 3.8 Badlands & it may as well be a dump truck. Give me pillow balls any day. The Vitavon stuff I just put on my K8S & EXB rank as the 2 most expensive rigs I have with the K8S costing more than a typical beater - but I would have to blow it up to break it which is a far cry from the mildly upgraded beast that got busted up on a big rock . . . & I still have to do the same to my O8S, still in the box, still undriven. If it saw the abuse my K8S can take, it would probably be broken right out the box like my X-Maxx was

I'm running 100k, 1mil, 30k in my Kaijus'. They push in corners enough to not flip but they're wide enough to side out if they push too hard. It's still kinda amazing to see them do that considering they were rolly-polly as hell out the box.

 

[razorrc]

OK, here's the beefed up inner upper arm on the front:

 

[KnowAir]

OK, here's the beefed up inner upper arm on the front:

View attachment 115381

Thanks for posting the pic. I'd have to dig out the stock arms that my truck came with to verify, but I'm guessing I probably have the updated parts already..great to know that RC is actually continuing to develop this truck.
Hopefully they can address the underlying problem which I believe is the lower arms..just too much flex for the axles to take. IMO.
It's a balancing act between rigidity and flex..

 

[Megasty]

Thanks for posting the pic. I'd have to dig out the stock arms that my truck came with to verify, but I'm guessing I probably have the updated parts already..great to know that RC is actually continuing to develop this truck.
Hopefully they can address the underlying problem which I believe is the lower arms..just too much flex for the axles to take. IMO.
It's a balancing act between rigidity and flex..

The lower arms definitely needs beefing up. I made the mistake of boiling the first set & ruining them. I was able to bend the arm into a perfect U I'm surprised RC didn't go the full aluminum route of arms, shock towers, & bulkheads. I would shell out for the last 2 instantly & even be willing to try the aluminum arms, especially if they're 7075, but only if I had the 7075 towers & bulkheads - otherwise the hinge pin holders would rip out on the slightest tumble. I haven't had any steering issues since I changed out the plastic parts & upped the servo.

 

[KnowAir]

The lower arms definitely needs beefing up. I made the mistake of boiling the first set & ruining them. I was able to bend the arm into a perfect U I'm surprised RC didn't go the full aluminum route of arms, shock towers, & bulkheads. I would shell out for the last 2 instantly & even be willing to try the aluminum arms, especially if they're 7075, but only if I had the 7075 towers & bulkheads - otherwise the hinge pin holders would rip out on the slightest tumble. I haven't had any steering issues since I changed out the plastic parts & upped the servo.

For sure the towers and bulkheads? Just adding more material to the plastic arms would fix them. I generally avoid aluminum arms as they tend to be too rigid. I added the bits to them since I haven't found a feasible alternative.
Currently awaiting the aluminum front knuckles so I can continue abusing my Kaiju?
USPS is even slower these days than usual these days?

 

[Megasty]

Kaiju!!! Stop it, you're driving like a Kraton

 

[razorrc]

The turning radius of the Tekno is kinda pathetic.. needs a football field to make a circle?

Did you build the Tekno MT410 diffs with 100k/50k diff fluids? That viscosity is just bonkers, I built mine to 40k/20k, it turns really well.

 

[Megasty]

Even more . . . I got this one in just before the weather dumped.

 

[KnowAir]

Did you build the Tekno MT410 diffs with 100k/50k diff fluids? That viscosity is just bonkers, I built mine to 40k/20k, it turns really well.

I did? One of the few times I ever follow DEstructions?
To be clear, I'm not suggesting the MT doesn't handle well, just that I find the turning radius to be bigger than I expected.
I have not done any tuning since I built it. It doesn't really bother me, I just grab the Kaiju cuz I can.. well could, until it broke like usual?

 

[Engineer]

OK, so I picked up a set of the Extreme RC Precision cup covers that come in a set of 5 ... it's obvious where the first four go .. where does the fifth go? It is too big for the front diff input cup and while it fits the front center diff cup, the plastic tunnel on the chassis is too narrow to accommodate it.

Always love it when stuff doesn't come with instructions or diagrams.

What am I missing?

 

[kage]

OK, so I picked up a set of the Extreme RC Precision cup covers that come in a set of 5 ... it's obvious where the first four go .. where does the fifth go? It is too big for the front diff input cup and while it fits the front center diff cup, the plastic tunnel on the chassis is too narrow to accommodate it.

Always love it when stuff doesn't come with instructions or diagrams.

What am I missing?

the out drive on the center diff.

I just picked up some up too, and i'm having lots of problems with them. two were way to loose, 2 were ok and pressed in nicely with a c-clamp, and one was way too small. I also cant get a single dog bone in. The pins in the dog bone are taller than the inside diameter of the sleeves.

It feels like one of the parts has changed since the measurements were taken.

this was after taking 1/16th off each side.

 

[kage]

Parts are in!
I did some diff stuff and put in the metal spur and 11t pinion.

Here's the parts haul:

I'll be making a rip video today or tomorrow.