Outcast My new Outcast 8s.

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John_

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Arrma RC's
  1. Notorious
  2. Outcast 8s
So I have a new Outcast 8s RTR which I ran today for the first time. Everything went well and nothing broke. Ran it to battery shutdown voltage. So my biggest question is there anything that can be done about the understeer under heavy throttle? It wants to push instead of actually turning sharp under hard throttle. Inspecting the front suspension, there is quite a bit of play (looseness) in the ball joints. Ditto the A arms gently pushing front tires fore and aft on the workbench. Fairly sloppy setup imo. Is there anything I can do to make the front suspension tighter, or perform better? Are RPM arms more precisely fitting on the pivot pins than the Arrma OEM parts?

Any recommendations or thoughts appreciated.
 
Depending on how and what you drive on will really show the slop. The truck is really a basher for flipping and general dirt and grass running. It's not supposed to act like a precision racer. That being said, the arms have something to do with it, but I found that swapping the steering links to the vitavon or any solid link setup getting rid of the slop on the end links will help. Also an underrated upgrade is the captured end links that scorched rc sells. I did both or those things and it tightened it up a bit without breaking the bank. The more you drive it and crash it, things will loosen up. It's the way she goes with the 1/5 scale bub...
 
Depending on how and what you drive on will really show the slop. The truck is really a basher for flipping and general dirt and grass running. It's not supposed to act like a precision racer. That being said, the arms have something to do with it, but I found that swapping the steering links to the vitavon or any solid link setup getting rid of the slop on the end links will help. Also an underrated upgrade is the captured end links that scorched rc sells. I did both or those things and it tightened it up a bit without breaking the bank. The more you drive it and crash it, things will loosen up. It's the way she goes with the 1/5 scale bub...

Thx for the input. I will explore the options you mentioned. I was running it today on a large mowed grass field. Its just comparing the Outcast front end versus my Traxxas Max on the bench, my new Outcast is like a car with 200k miles on the odometer. My Maxx (my only other rc vehicle) is way tighter, or perhaps more precisely manufactured, and less slop or deflection in the front suspension. I read here one guy ran 94 mph with his heavily modded kraton. He must have performed some serious mods on the front suspension for those kind of top speeds. I'm pretty sure the kraton 8s and outcast 8s front suspension components are similar, if not identical. Just a longer wheelbase chassis for the kraton.
 
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edit to above: searching again for the 94 mph thread is a Limitless. My bad, read so many threads searching here last few days.
 
So I have a new Outcast 8s RTR which I ran today for the first time. Everything went well and nothing broke. Ran it to battery shutdown voltage. So my biggest question is there anything that can be done about the understeer under heavy throttle? It wants to push instead of actually turning sharp under hard throttle. Inspecting the front suspension, there is quite a bit of play (looseness) in the ball joints. Ditto the A arms gently pushing front tires fore and aft on the workbench. Fairly sloppy setup imo. Is there anything I can do to make the front suspension tighter, or perform better? Are RPM arms more precisely fitting on the pivot pins than the Arrma OEM parts?

Any recommendations or thoughts appreciated.
Check my for sale thread...I have RPM A-Arms for sale in there for 8s kraton/outcast
 
So I have a new Outcast 8s RTR which I ran today for the first time. Everything went well and nothing broke. Ran it to battery shutdown voltage. So my biggest question is there anything that can be done about the understeer under heavy throttle? It wants to push instead of actually turning sharp under hard throttle. Inspecting the front suspension, there is quite a bit of play (looseness) in the ball joints. Ditto the A arms gently pushing front tires fore and aft on the workbench. Fairly sloppy setup imo. Is there anything I can do to make the front suspension tighter, or perform better? Are RPM arms more precisely fitting on the pivot pins than the Arrma OEM parts?

Any recommendations or thoughts appreciated.
Congrats, could I ask a huge favour and would you mind measuring the width of the roll cage, outside to outside, cheers massively, its for a custom build I'm doing, pics to follow when its nearly finished, cheers Ads
 
Congrats, could I ask a huge favour and would you mind measuring the width of the roll cage, outside to outside, cheers massively, its for a custom build I'm doing, pics to follow when its nearly finished, cheers Ads
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So after 3 full batt cycles, I was inspecting my O8s and found the pinion setscrew loose/useless (just as I have read here on the forum previously). Had it not been for the C clip, the pinion would have departed the motor shaft. Cleaned and blue Loctite'd.

Any O8s RTR owners have a short list from experience of "what is next"?
 
Clean the threads in the pinion and also the set screw and use red threadlocker.

Or just buy a better pinion( tekno) with bigger set screw and repeat the process again.
 
Clean the threads in the pinion and also the set screw and use red threadlocker.

Or just buy a better pinion( tekno) with bigger set screw and repeat the process again.
Well the blue loctite did not last 15 min run time today, pinion roaming once again north/south on motor shaft. So I went browse at the Tekno website for a better pinion but they don't list any specific for the arrma O8s, or for any Arrma vehicle for that matter. Can you point me to the correct one? I did not remove the stock pinion to clean the threads (I did clean the setscrew threads well tho) last time nor count the teeth. Do you know the OEM pinion tooth count? I read thru my manual and searched here for the OEM RTR pinion tooth count and came up with nothing.

Will a better Tekno pinion bolt right in? Or will I have to re-set a proper gear mesh spacing/tooth pattern? Heat and loosen/remove the motor mount screws it seems most guys here end up stripping and then cutting a plain screwdriver slot in order to loosen or remove.

Rather disappointing aarma can threadlock the motor mount screws secure yet cannot install the pinion setscrew properly, or at least properly affixed for say 25 hours of actual runtime.

edit: deleted the hyperlink to the Tekno website. I guess I still need a mod approval for a hyperlink insertion here.
 
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Clean the threads in the pinion and also the set screw and use red threadlocker.

Or just buy a better pinion( tekno) with bigger set screw and repeat the process again.

Well the blue loctite did not last 15 min run time today, pinion roaming once again north/south on motor shaft. So I went browse at the Tekno website for a better pinion but they don't list any specific for the arrma O8s, or for any Arrma vehicle for that matter. Can you point me to the correct one? I did not remove the stock pinion to clean the threads (I did clean the setscrew threads well tho) last time nor count the teeth. Do you know the OEM pinion tooth count? I read thru my manual and searched here for the OEM RTR pinion tooth count and came up with nothing. 2nd pass thru manual, illustration shows a 17T in the disassembly pics. Be nice if they simply spelled it out in the text or specs.

Will a better Tekno pinion bolt right in? Or will I have to re-set a proper gear mesh spacing/tooth pattern? Heat and loosen/remove the motor mount screws it seems most guys here end up stripping and then cutting a plain screwdriver slot in order to loosen or remove.

Rather disappointing aarma can threadlock the motor mount screws secure yet cannot install the pinion setscrew properly, or at least properly secured for say 25 hours of actual runtime.

I posted a link/ similar post a few hours ago to a Tekno pinion on amainhobbies to see if that one was indeed the correct for my O8 but my orig attempted post says "waiting for mod approval". I'm guessing I can not post a hyperlink with my low post count yet, without approval.
 
Actually I just looked at arrmas website and it seems like they have updated the shaft on the 1250kv motor to 8mm instead of the original 5mm.
If that is the case then tekno pinion will not fit because it is 5mm bore.

If it is 8mm bore buy saga pinions. They are extremely high quality.

https://www.sagacustomrc.com/store/p87/8mmboremod1pinion.html

Pretty sure the stock pinion is 19T that comes on the motor and included speed pinion is 23T that comes in the bag.

Make sure to clean the grub screw threads with wire brush and alcohol and dry it in a paper towel until no black oil is left. For the pinion threads I used torch to burn the oil and use alcohol and q tips to clean the hole and let it dry before applying threadlocker.

Make sure to use RED threadlocker and let it dry over night.

You might have to reset the mesh but that is super easy.
 
Pretty sure the stock pinion is 19T that comes on the motor and included speed pinion is 23T that comes in the bag.

Mine was in a sealed box from HH and nowhere was a second speed pinion included, least in mine. I guess I will disassemble again and remove pinion to make sure its a 5mm shaft, and the tooth count for sure. And order the tekno at amain. Read the reviews there and one guy used it in his K8s and was very pleased. Much better/larger setscrew as you mentioned earlier above. For $20 shipped, do it right and be done with it. Thanks for your quick reply and input.
 
Just make sure is the correct size first. This is from HH website. D8 means 8mm motor shaft.


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yeah I have red loctite on my shelf too. Along with vibratite for my gunsmithing needs. Red it is.
I also put some red threadlocker inside of the pinion and of course on the grub screw also.
 
It is amazing to me how inconsistent pinion securing is. I have some that never let go and others that like to dance! I only use blue loctite though.

@John_ Don't feel too bad the pinion popping off is common across all brands. I agree it's annoying. You have to admit the SafeD clip is a good idea.

I tend to not enjoy my K8S as much on grass (same steering issues). When I get it on the street and terrorize neighbors though oooey! (kidding of course about messing with the neighbors 👀)
 
@RCbuzz Overall I am not impressed with my O8s. If I could sell it tomorrow for 550 cash and carry with the batteries, I would. Sure its huge and heavy, and runs pretty fast. Wheelies nice too. But the steering under 3/4 or full throttle is absolutely terrible. It will turn as tight as 8 feet (a full 180 turn) at low throttle. But under heavy throttle that swells to 25 or 30 feet easy. And I spent some time tightening up the front end slop (ball joints) and re-aligning it before yesterday's run. Its a letdown compared to my Maxx I purchased a few weeks prior. Add in the pinion issue right out of the box. Prob my first and last Arrma. My Maxx is way more fun, and drives way better, not a single issue with it yet either. I may very well list my O8 on craigslist locally and see if I can sell it. There is a reason why HH is abandoning the current O8s RTR. Low sales at full retail most likely. Companies do not terminate models which are selling well or are a really hot item. I'd be willing to bet the O8 EXB and perhaps the K8 model continued new sales long term is questionable. The O8 EXB will prob survive given that guys who purchase it will build out with their own selected equipment, servo, electronics, motor, esc. The full custom money pit. I bet HH does very well on the EXB profit wise.
 
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