Senton Chronicles of a Senton Noob

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Greengaunja

Ise da by' dat burns da Senton........
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Durham Region, Ontario Canuckistan
Arrma RC's
  1. Senton 6s
  2. Senton 3s
Man, I bow to the Temple of ARRMA! Just got into this hobby in August and already feel like a veteran. Started out with a Redcat Blackout SC that I converted to Lipo brushless. Had a friend suggest my next RC be Armma and said I couldn't go wrong with Senton. As luck would have it, found this beaut on kijiji for $300! (He wanted $380 but accepted lower price along with a quarter of....errr...."seasoning")
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Man, I bow to the Temple of ARRMA! Just got into this hobby in August and already feel like a veteran. Started out with a Redcat Blackout SC that I converted to Lipo brushless. Had a friend suggest my next RC be Armma and said I couldn't go wrong with Senton. As luck would have it, found this beaut on kijiji for $300! (He wanted $380 but accepted lower price along with a quarter of....errr...."seasoning")View attachment 107955
Now I was faced with a dilemma..I LOVED the body and its discontinued. Heaven forbid I broke her.
So...being a contractor by trade, I thought long and hard about what I could do to reinforce it. Conventional methods(fibretape and Goop or Plastidip) seemed dumb as they really can't "strengthen" a thin plastic body. Fibretape has strength in "pull" and not "push". And it would be push forces affecting the body.
So looking around the garage for what I had on hand, a bright light of insight smacked me right in the head!
OVERKILL TIME!
Now I was faced with a dilemma..I LOVED the body and its discontinued. Heaven forbid I broke her.
So...being a contractor by trade, I thought long and hard about what I could do to reinforce it. Conventional methods(fibretape and Goop or Plastidip) seemed dumb as they really can't "strengthen" a thin plastic body. Fibretape has strength in "pull" and not "push". And it would be push forces affecting the body.
So looking around the garage for what I had on hand, a bright light of insight smacked me right in the head!
OVERKILL TIME!
NEWFIE-PROOF BODY:
I had heavy duty automotive repair mesh and lots of undercoating. Now this mesh is 1/8th thick pvc, decent "push" strength, and applied with an undercoat coating that dries hard, yet flexible. Should have did before and after weights, but even I cant think of everything. But depending on how often these bodies actually break, I might have stumbled upon the recipe for Kryptonite! You will see what I mean..

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Now I was faced with a dilemma..I LOVED the body and its discontinued. Heaven forbid I broke her.
So...being a contractor by trade, I thought long and hard about what I could do to reinforce it. Conventional methods(fibretape and Goop or Plastidip) seemed dumb as they really can't "strengthen" a thin plastic body. Fibretape has strength in "pull" and not "push". And it would be push forces affecting the body.
So looking around the garage for what I had on hand, a bright light of insight smacked me right in the head!
OVERKILL TIME!

Newfie-Proof Body:
I had heavy duty automotive repair mesh and lots of undercoating. Now this mesh is 1/8th thick pvc, decent "push" strength, and applied with an undercoat coating that dries hard, yet flexible. Should have did before and after weights, but even I cant think of everything. But depending on how often these bodies actually break, I might have stumbled upon the recipe for Kryptonite! You will see what I mean..
TOP SECRET METHOD TO NEWFIE-PROOFING ARRMA BODIES.1:
Now, Undercoating can get heavy, so I took great care not to build it up. And the mesh was too thick to apply everywhere, so the goal became making the body structurally sound.
Basically, I cut the heavy duty mesh into long 2 inch wide strips and ran them lengthwise and across(red 1st layer), cut 1 inch strips and did same(yellow/second layer), half inch strips across fenders and bumpers(blue/3rd layer). Now, this mesh isn't too flexible so I did remaining spots with regular fibretape(4th layer) and then cut heavy duty mesh to place in stress points(green/5th layer). EACH layer done only over the mesh(to hold in place) and applied with a 1 inch putty knife, scraping undercoat back off(basically only filling mesh pieces in.
Once it hardened, I added bling to my baby. And swapped out the transmitter and receiver for a Radiolink RC7GS. Used a dremel to cut out post and clip retainer holes. The undercoat is a brand I use for my RL SCT(lol). Motomaster and dries hard yet flexible.

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Nice. I am pretty sure a brand new Senton 3s will be 300 as well. Are there any upgrades?
Getting there. But brand new runs about 450-500 here(Canada)
 
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Now I was faced with a dilemma..I LOVED the body and its discontinued. Heaven forbid I broke her.
So...being a contractor by trade, I thought long and hard about what I could do to reinforce it. Conventional methods(fibretape and Goop or Plastidip) seemed dumb as they really can't "strengthen" a thin plastic body. Fibretape has strength in "pull" and not "push". And it would be push forces affecting the body.
So looking around the garage for what I had on hand, a bright light of insight smacked me right in the head!
OVERKILL TIME!

Newfie-Proof Body:
I had heavy duty automotive repair mesh and lots of undercoating. Now this mesh is 1/8th thick pvc, decent "push" strength, and applied with an undercoat coating that dries hard, yet flexible. Should have did before and after weights, but even I cant think of everything. But depending on how often these bodies actually break, I might have stumbled upon the recipe for Kryptonite! You will see what I mean..
TOP SECRET METHOD TO NEWFIE-PROOFING ARRMA BODIES.2:
OK, so while I'm waiting for the undercoat to dry hard(3 days), I fire up the Amazon app. Since I was given 2S batteries and having a blast with just that, there's this little voice in my head screaming,"WHAT IF!?!?!" A 3S rated ESC and motor deserve a 3S battery, right? About $400 later, Im the proud owner of TWO 600OMaH 60c 3S batteries, a decent Lipo charger, a motor fan, head/tail lights, chassis lights, and a Radiolink rc7gs.(Believe me, these are the CHEAP parts). The fan, receiver and light install goes well. And im feeling the NEED 4 SPEED!
Head Scratching Question:
So my Redcat is a 10th scale. My Senton is a 10th scale..Someone's lying here......

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Btw...I don't recommend Radiolink. Nice transmitter and I don't doubt the 600 meter range. Tested it and who the hell can see that far? So why not recommend it? It has MANY settings and the settings have settings and Im not even going pretend I understand any of them. Even hs a nice feature called a Gyro that is SUPPOSED to help with steering in the sense that, say, you get off work and go to a bar to find the drunkest person in there and get him to drive you home..
TURN IT OFF.
 
So, Yeah! Hardware is on. Undercoat is dry. 3S batteries charge. Time for fun!

SPEED TEST THAT BECAME A VERY EXPENSIVE QUALITY CONTROL TEST OF NEWFIE-PROOF BODY:

So after all that work, the first question always is, "How fast she gonna go?" So I have this GPS speedometer app folks in rc groups recommend that I used on the Redcat. I set it up, secure phone to box body pins with energy absorbing straps(ok ok, rubber bands). Takes me 3 hours just to get the truck to go straight(more later on this) At this stage and after the expenses, Im all in for science, shits, and giggles. Head to a parking lot late at night for the official "breaking in". Set her up and let her RIP!
MAN! SHE FLEW! *At this point of the story, I'd like to advise other Noobs that if your transmitter is capable of controlling the speed of the steering, SET IT LOW! Like NOW! Im currently running it at 20% TURN and 64% RETURN. Shouldn't take a genius to guess what it was that night*
Ok, where were we? Yeah. SHE FLEW. So fast I was intimidated. And I tried to turn it around. And so began a series of mistakes.
1.Guess what a 3s Senton 4x4 does at full speed with a 25 .07s servo(previous owner's upgrade) set to 100% TURN does?
2. She turned and momentum won. She flipped and cartwheeled 35-40 feet across asphalt, a grass boulevard, and almost halfway across a 3 lane one way road.
3. Im not young anymore. No business running like I did. But I was almost in tears...over a damn toy! But I ran(about 120 meters) to retrieve the truck before it was run over too. Lucky it was late night...
4. If any of this bores you, at least pay attention to this part. SET UP YOUR TRANSMITTER/TRUCK BEFORE YOU GET LOFTY IDEAS OF SPEED TESTS WITH YOUR PHONE ATTACHED TO YOUR TRUCK. Seriously.

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THE AFTERMATH:
Took a half hour to find the phone, which was so traumatized it refused to come on. Still hasn't.
That cartwheel was INSANE! If I wasnt all panicked over the damage, I'd seriously be like,"Whoa, dude. That was friggin' awesome!" I don't know who the patron saint of the R/C world is, but they were watching over a certain Senton that night. The bumper part was the only thing broken and im leaving it alone until I find a TBone bumper. The following pics were taken tonight, a week and god knows how many more cartwheels/flips/and crashes later.
Makes me question why folks say the ARRMA stock parts suck. Im impressed because I run mine in the woods
"SENTON, SENTON
SENTON of the Jungle,
Strong as she can be.
(Ahhhhhhhh)
Watch out for that tree!"

and in paved parking lots.
"I live my life a cartwheel at a time"

Like I said, I'm a Noob. I dunno how long these bodies last or how much beating they take before needing to be replaced. You be the judge.

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HONOURING THE FALLEN:
HONOURING THE FALLEN:
 

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TOEING THE LINE:

Another head scratching moment:

Ok, as mentioned above, I had serious issues getting my truck to travel a straight line. When I got it, it was set up with rear tires toed in and front tires toed outwards(first pic). My initial thought was I would have to adjust it but it worked and responded perfectly. So while waiting for the body to dry, I installed a new receiver for the new transmitter. And spent three hours trying to just get it to travel straight. It was horrible. No matter how I set the EPAs on transmitter or turned gyro off and on, it would NOT travel straight. So I then tried setting the front toes dead straight. No go. It was in fact, worse. For a laugh, I set the toes inwards and FINALLY, it would travel straight(second pic). Its now set up that I have decent control low or all out with speed.
Im just curious what factor effected this? I thought speed at first, but it was the same high or low. Then I thought ballooning of tires, but that should only be a concern at high speed, right? Any thoughts that anyone can contribute will be appreciated. I have new belted Badlands ordered and wouldn't like to destroy them prematurely with the new toe setup. Could the real effect be the inwards toe at the rear?

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TOEING THE LINE:

Another head scratching moment:

Ok, as mentioned above, I had serious issues getting my truck to travel a straight line. When I got it, it was set up with rear tires toed in and front tires toed outwards(first pic). My initial thought was I would have to adjust it but it worked and responded perfectly. So while waiting for the body to dry, I installed a new receiver for the new transmitter. And spent three hours trying to just get it to travel straight. It was horrible. No matter how I set the EPAs on transmitter or turned gyro off and on, it would NOT travel straight. So I then tried setting the front toes dead straight. No go. It was in fact, worse. For a laugh, I set the toes inwards and FINALLY, it would travel straight(second pic). Its now set up that I have decent control low or all out with speed.
Im just curious what factor effected this? I thought speed at first, but it was the same high or low. Then I thought ballooning of tires, but that should only be a concern at high speed, right? Any thoughts that anyone can contribute will be appreciated. I have new belted Badlands ordered and wouldn't like to destroy them prematurely with the new toe setup. Could the real effect be the inwards toe at the rear?
Front toe out and rear toe in is perfect for dirt. If you are running on pavement or some other high grip surface then you need to adjust your suspension and set it up differently. Toe out on asphalt will not stay straight because one wheel will determine direction and it will change as weight shifts when you turn. A slight toe in is a more predictable setup for pavement and it will scrub the tires a bit, but it will stay straight and it won't "hunt" when you are trying to make small corrections at speed. I would set the rear to dead straight for pavement running. You probably also want to lower ride height as much as you can and run some preload on the shocks as well as leaning the shocks in more to have a more progressive rate with a little more roll.

All of this presumes your suspension is reasonably snug and doesn't have a pile of slop in it. Check your servo saver as well and snug it up a bit to be sure.
 
Front toe out and rear toe in is perfect for dirt. If you are running on pavement or some other high grip surface then you need to adjust your suspension and set it up differently. Toe out on asphalt will not stay straight because one wheel will determine direction and it will change as weight shifts when you turn. A slight toe in is a more predictable setup for pavement and it will scrub the tires a bit, but it will stay straight and it won't "hunt" when you are trying to make small corrections at speed. I would set the rear to dead straight for pavement running. You probably also want to lower ride height as much as you can and run some preload on the shocks as well as leaning the shocks in more to have a more progressive rate with a little more roll.

All of this presumes your suspension is reasonably snug and doesn't have a pile of slop in it. Check your servo saver as well and snug it up a bit to be sure.
Sound advice. I keep trying to set up as I would with my Canyon. I've been an off-roader for years.
I agree about the low profile on pavement, but found I had to do the opposite to tighten the shocks up. Previous owner put new servo, saver, and front/rear shocks on just before I bought it(I have the old parts).
Im thinking of getting new seals for the old shocks and experimenting with oil weight(the new ones have 30w in all 4). I wonder if this is what is making the shocks too soft in dirt/pavement, hard cornering was making it lower too much and harder to control. Im hoping to hit on a happy medium between pavement and dirt. Maybe I should try another shock? Currently I'm getting best results with 2 big and 1 medium spacer in rear and 1 big/2 medium in front shocks. But like you said, it raises the height and not very effective on pavement but great on jumps and dirt.
Gonna check out the servo and saver, but was also thinking maybe the aluminum HR steering linkage might eliminate the "play" in the stock linkage.
 
Great story .been there done that.stock on 3s they scream.turn the punch up to 5 an WOW.they go airborne bout 50-55 from air getting under body.(PARACHUTING effect).with 100%stock senton 20t with 2.8 banditos & big rock body 60mph.i have video on UT.(100% STOCK SENTON ON 3S)....SOUNDS LIKE YOUR HOOKED.WONT BE LONG TILL YOU HAVE A 6S.LOL
 
Now I was faced with a dilemma..I LOVED the body and its discontinued. Heaven forbid I broke her.
So...being a contractor by trade, I thought long and hard about what I could do to reinforce it. Conventional methods(fibretape and Goop or Plastidip) seemed dumb as they really can't "strengthen" a thin plastic body. Fibretape has strength in "pull" and not "push". And it would be push forces affecting the body.
So looking around the garage for what I had on hand, a bright light of insight smacked me right in the head!
OVERKILL TIME!
Newfie-Proof Body:
I had heavy duty automotive repair mesh and lots of undercoating. Now this mesh is 1/8th thick pvc, decent "push" strength, and applied with an undercoat coating that dries hard, yet flexible. Should have did before and after weights, but even I cant think of everything. But depending on how often these bodies actually break, I might have stumbled upon the recipe for Kryptonite! You will see what I mean..
 
The Senton Saga Continues;
Many cartwheels later:

Ok OK I've neglected my thread so time for an update to the Newfie-Proof body method. I've been running it on pavement each night at our local mall lot. This is holding up VERY well in my opinion. I neglected ONE drawback. The bond of the undercoating hardens in winter and separates from the polycarbonate body. Mine hasn't come off. Its just Ive finally managed to crack the body while the undercoat/mesh reinforcing remained partially intact. Already have several ideas for a winter project on how to better reinforce a body.
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During my long layoff, I experienced my first "DARK DAYS AWAITING PARTS". A couple weeks back, I had funny accident. Took my son with me and we built a ramp on the spot(a simple one) and we're letting them rip off it(him, in "his" redcat) off on nice jumps. 3 times i screwed it right up and flipped or cartwheeled down the lot. But my 4th pass I nailed it full speed dead on..Landed beautifully on all 4 tires and...
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All wasnt lost though. Help was on the way in the form of ordered belted badlands. They showed up 4 days after the "incident". Nice tires except they were not belted nor the 17mm which I ordered and had hexes for. Regular sct Badlands in 12mm hex. Package came in morning and never noticed until I rushed through my workday to get home to install and let rip..I almost cried because LHS and Great Hobbies were closed. Contacted the seller, who offered to send "free of charge" 17mm hex wheel hubs. I said no, because I still never had belted tires and even refused "refund of retail price differece". Said no because it took away what I could use to actually BUY belted tires and threatened to go to Amazon. They refunded and said to keep the tires.
Now... these were free and couldn't get the 17mm hex hubs locally or anytime soon. So I grabbed 12mm hexes and put 'em on.
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Now, I had concerns regarding traction. But even my LHS said I would LOVE them. And man, Badlands GRIP where needed and slide when wanted! Awesome tires except I don't want to use them on pavement.. Then I found myself some belted Trenchers(4-$80) and now I have backups. Im still on the fence about effectiveness as it was a wet day when I ran them, but even then they performed admirably
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