Dread's Fury(Mega)

[Dreadstar]

I picked this truck up at the beginning of the month,just the box stock RTR because,A) It was cheap,B) I've been watching youtube vids on it since Jang reviewed the truck back in 2012.

The first thing that I did on receiving the truck was, to replace the wheels/tyres with Fastrax Bloc Buster SC wheels/tyre combo. The interesting thing here is that the off-set used by Fastrax is a perfect fit,giving a front width of 295mm and a rear width of 300mm. Although quite worn now,I've been using them on a 4WD truck,they are a soft /medium compound which was slightly sticky when new,but they really hook up on most surfaces,Grass/Tarmac/gravel. I don't know how they'll perform on a groomed track,something that we don't have over here,or Astro,which I haven't tried them on yet. They are a massive improvement over the kit tyres though,and they weren't very expensive either.(£9.00/pair)
My next task was to strip out the 48dp gearing,(which I personally hate),and replace it with the 57T/32dp spur gear. I stripped out the motor & esc and replaced them with an INIX 60A esc and a SKYRC Toro 3200kV motor, with,and it's a tight squeeze,a 17T pinion. This is as high as you can get,unless you can find one of the elusive 54T spur gears. I had been running the truck on a 16T pinion,as I originally thought that the 17T just wouldn't fit,but being me I gave it another try,and low and behold it slotted in there,with just the correct amount of slop.
Next it was a case of replacing the lower front 'skid plate' with the aluminium upgraded part and making a brace for the front shock tower,which I'm hoping will allow me to add an extra upper mounting hole for the shocks,which will stand them up a bit more.
The only other mini-mod that I've done is to add foam washers to the top of the body posts,to cut out that annoying rattle that you get from the shell.

Fastrax Buster Blox'

3200kV motor

Inix 60A esc

New skid plate

Front shock mount brace

side view of front brace

 

[Unusual RC]

You have been busy with the car, looks great!
Indeed the wheels are the first thing to upgrade, what a difference that can make!

How is the motor performing? Sounds a bit to light for the 57/17T 32p combo?
I have that combo too on my BLX Fury/Mojave, but only on 3S on concrete. I cannot find a space big enough to go flat out (without flipping)

 

[Dreadstar]

I originally had this combo in a 4wd Maverick Strada Sc EVO running a 17/50 ratio with no problems at all. Temp readings were barely over 100 degrees F,even after two full 5000mAh packs. I'm not interested in just speed runs,I prefer racing,hence the lower kV rating.(2s only,I don't have or need 3s).

 

[Dreadstar]

For those of you who are wondering as to the number 60 on the truck,that's when I was born,it's not my age.

 

[Dreadstar]

Not knowing in advance what oil was in the shocks,I removed them and drained the oil,replacing it with 40wt(front) and 35wt(rear). This has been my go-to set-up for years,from 1/8th Nitro all the way down to the RC10B4 &T3. Spring wise I've generally run on blue fronts and silver rears(Associated),Blue (f) white(r) Kyosho's. Unfortunately,neither of these springs fit the Arrma shocks properly,so I'm having to run just the stock ones.

I can now mount my front shocks in one of two upper positions.

 

[Dreadstar]

Now call me nuts if you wish,but I decided to put the kit wheels on the truck,just to see how bad they really are. Remember,I've changed over the link mounts on the rear hubs,which have given me quite a pronounced negative camber on the rear.
I must admit,I was pleasantly surprised at the lack of rear end spin out,though granted,this was on dry Tarmac. I'm going to head out to the park today and try and get some driving footage of the truck. Please bear in mind,that I'll be shooting and driving simultaneously,so the quality won't be all that great.The roads may be dry,but you can bet your bottom dollar that the grass won't be...mud bath,here we come.

 

[Unusual RC]

Default shock oil is 350wt. I also have 400wt and 450wt, but I have not tried those yet.

Let us know about the stock tires. I have driven them this weekend against the Media Pro tires I have, and the difference on loose dirt is huge.
Really the difference between a hard to drive and easy to drive car.

 

[Dreadstar]

Well,she's been suitably baptised in mud and water,but when I went to film a Tarmac run,I somehow managed to lose a wheelnut. I've replaced all of the kit ones for the more reliable nylock type. Anyway here's a little short vid to keep you all amused,boy,do I love trees.

 

[Unusual RC]

Nice video!
But grass is one of the worst surfaces to drive on with a 1:10 scale car, in despite a SCT is almost a 1:8 buggy sized.
Did you try dirt?

 

[Dreadstar]

There isn't really anywhere around here that isn't either grass or tarmac. Those paths that are of a dirt nature,will be mud paths due to the amount of rain that we get here. Not unlike you own country Unusual.

 

[mrbelloso]

Dreadstar you should be careful when driving close to the trees because they like to jump at your RC

 

[mrbelloso]

Dreadstar could you show us a photo of the switched link mounts in the rear?

Thanks

 

[Dreadstar]

Aye,you're not kidding

 

[Dreadstar]

As requested a pic showing the new position of the rear link arm,the second one shows the amount of camber that this imparts. Please excuse the state of the truck,but I find it easier to clean once the mud has dried. You cannot leave the ball-end on the inner hole on the rear hub,as this imparts positive camber.......rollin;,rollin', rollin'.......

DON'T forget to swap the links over to the other side of the chassis from whence they came.

 

[mrbelloso]

Thanks for the photos, I am changing the links during the weekend and see how the car goes. Maybe we should upgrade to the BLX links in the future

 

[Dreadstar]

I've also tightened up the upper front a-arms,to give me a very slight negative camber. I'll be glad when I can get the turnbuckles,so that I can adjust the front toe angle and reduce the amount of camber on the rear.

 

[Dreadstar]

I'm going to try and get some footage of the truck running on tarmac today as it's actually dry this morning.

 

[Dreadstar]

Very poor video today,it was colder than I thought and driving in a smaller area makes keeping the truck in view of the camera whilst filming rather difficult. At the end on the clip,you can just hear a pattering rattle,which turned out to be a popped steering link.
I'm going to have to strip down the diff and fill it with some 7000wt oil in place of the 'grease' that's in there,as the truck didn't seem quite as fast today for some reason.

 

[Dreadstar]

I have just ordered up a set of front ally shocks c/c 80mm, and a set of rear ally shocks c/c 100mm from rc-tech-uk(ebay seller), for the princely sum of £15.73 inc p&p for the two sets.
I don't have a problem with the kit shocks yet,but it's better to be prepared.

 

[Dreadstar]

Got my alloy shocks through the post today,needless to say,I just had to throw them on the truck. 80mm front and 100mm rear.