Need pre-op setup suggestions, new Nero with brain arriving today

[Combatjeep]

Contact Arrma support they are pretty good about replacing failed parts (or at least they have been for me), but it might take a few weeks for you to get the replacement part. I broke a lower rear suspension arm on my first run with my Big Rock. Arrma replaced it at no charge, but it took 4 weeks for the part to arrive. I ended up buying a set at my local hobby store so I could get the truck back up and running faster. Which wasn't a big deal for a $10 part, but a steering servo is more expensive so it might be worth it to wait for that. I am not sure what your plans are for the truck, but if you plan on putting larger wheels and tires on you might just want to get a better servo anyway. The stock servo works, but like I said before it's a bit under powered for any kind of surface that is really loose or soft. I have not replaced mine yet, but that is probably the next upgrade I will do to my truck. I think I will probably go with the Blue Bird BLS-H50B, it is rated for 620oz-in @ 6.0V and 0.12sec operating speed and the price seems really good for the specs. @Havoc put one of these in his Nero and said it was a good servo except that it got water damaged which is the one thing that is kind of weird about this servo. Some post say it's waterproof others don't say anything at all. Anyway, there are a number of other forum threads that people talk about the servo's they have upgraded to if you just look through the Nero, Big Rock & Fazon threads. A lot of people like the Savox servo's. @BigSilly450x went with the ProTek 370TBL, which is probably my second choice if I don't go with the Blue Bird. The ProTek is a bit more pricey though.

I can't imagine what could have gone wrong without even running it. My first run went fine, then I put the skids on and poof.... One direction steering.

 

[Combatjeep]

So, I said f it. I ordered the waterproof Savox sw-1210sg. Bit pricey but I'm pretty sure it's going to be able to handle what I can put it through and accommodate future wheel/tire upgrades. Still gonna collect on my warranty for the stock servo so I'll have a spare.

 

[chevyrumble]

So, I said f it. I ordered the waterproof Savox sw-1210sg. Bit pricey but I'm pretty sure it's going to be able to handle what I can put it through and accommodate future wheel/tire upgrades. Still gonna collect on my warranty for the stock servo so I'll have a spare.

My center diff servo did something similar. I had my truck apart working on a couple of different things, installing some new parts and figuring out my LED setup for about 3 weeks. The whole time I never even plugged a battery into the truck. Once I got it all back together and went to take it out for a test run and all of a sudden the center diff servo was making all kinds of weird noises. I contacted Arrma told them it had failed and a couple weeks later I had a new center diff servo to install. I think I would have rather my steering servo go out though. The center diff servo is kind of a pain to get to and replace. Plus I ended up over tightening the slipper clutch while putting everything together and warped the slipper clutch spring. Which set me back a couple more days while I waited to a new spring to arrive.

The Savox SW-1210sg seems to be a very popular servo for 1/8 & 1/10 scale vehicles. I have seen a lot of people in the forums that say they have upgraded to that servo and they all seem to be happy with it. Once you get it installed you will have to let us know what you think.

 

[PPS-RC]

Contact Arrma support they are pretty good about replacing failed parts (or at least they have been for me), but it might take a few weeks for you to get the replacement part. I broke a lower rear suspension arm on my first run with my Big Rock. Arrma replaced it at no charge, but it took 4 weeks for the part to arrive. I ended up buying a set at my local hobby store so I could get the truck back up and running faster. Which wasn't a big deal for a $10 part, but a steering servo is more expensive so it might be worth it to wait for that. I am not sure what your plans are for the truck, but if you plan on putting larger wheels and tires on you might just want to get a better servo anyway. The stock servo works, but like I said before it's a bit under powered for any kind of surface that is really loose or soft. I have not replaced mine yet, but that is probably the next upgrade I will do to my truck. I think I will probably go with the Blue Bird BLS-H50B, it is rated for 620oz-in @ 6.0V and 0.12sec operating speed and the price seems really good for the specs. @Havoc put one of these in his Nero and said it was a good servo except that it got water damaged which is the one thing that is kind of weird about this servo. Some post say it's waterproof others don't say anything at all. Anyway, there are a number of other forum threads that people talk about the servo's they have upgraded to if you just look through the Nero, Big Rock & Fazon threads. A lot of people like the Savox servo's. @BigSilly450x went with the ProTek 370TBL, which is probably my second choice if I don't go with the Blue Bird. The ProTek is a bit more pricey though.

Arrma surprised me. My first day out with my Big Rock, I broke a universal joint, and exploded a tire. I called them up and they shipped replacements.

With my Big Rock, I had a serious issue with exploding tires. It was mostly my fault I guess by going nuts with it (i still feel like the stock tires shouldn't ever be at risk for explosion on a stock power plant). What I did was bake the tires off the wheels, gorilla taped the tires, punched holes in my tires, plugged the holes in the wheels and then balanced them. It was a ton of work but way worth it. The tires no longer balloon and they no longer explode (I popped 3 of them in my first week!)

As for the bluebird servo, the hd50b was a beast! But it was water damaged, even with filing the gearbox with grease. When I took it apart to grease it, I seen the all aluminum case was o- ring sealed, and I took it for granted. I did not plastidip the servo to finish the job off and that's what did it in when I did my water crossings.

Also, order some spare axle pins today! Its easy to forget the diffs are locked, and if you do you'll break them. I break one about every third battery pack. I'm pretty forgetful.

 

[Combatjeep]

Arrma surprised me. My first day out with my Big Rock, I broke a universal joint, and exploded a tire. I called them up and they shipped replacements.

With my Big Rock, I had a serious issue with exploding tires. It was mostly my fault I guess by going nuts with it (i still feel like the stock tires shouldn't ever be at risk for explosion on a stock power plant). What I did was bake the tires off the wheels, gorilla taped the tires, punched holes in my tires, plugged the holes in the wheels and then balanced them. It was a ton of work but way worth it. The tires no longer balloon and they no longer explode (I popped 3 of them in my first week!)

As for the bluebird servo, the hd50b was a beast! But it was water damaged, even with filing the gearbox with grease. When I took it apart to grease it, I seen the all aluminum case was o- ring sealed, and I took it for granted. I did not plastidip the servo to finish the job off and that's what did it in when I did my water crossings.

Also, order some spare axle pins today! Its easy to forget the diffs are locked, and if you do you'll break them. I break one about every third battery pack. I'm pretty forgetful.

Can you give me the part numbers for those?

 

[Fiery]

Can you give me the part numbers for those?

Traxxas 5145

 

[Combatjeep]

Right, I also forgot the kind of mounting the ESC. On my Big Rock the ESC was loosen after 3 runnings, but in wintertime.
I made an plate from aluminium like the original from hobby wing for the max8. 4 screws from below into the ESC and 2 into the chassis.
Now the ESC will never go it´s own way!
I have no separate pic, just mounted.
View attachment 9607

Hey, lonee,
Just went back to your post showing your aluminum ESC mount. I'm assuming you did that CNC. When I went to move my shocks, my ESC was mounted a tad bit forward and I had to angle it up to get to the shock screw. Do I just carefully peel it up and off to completely remove it or is there something else holding it besides the double tape? Was also wondering if you made more than one of those aluminum mounts. I'd love to purchase one from you. Looks hella sturdy.

 

[lonee]

Hey ,Combatjeep,
You are right, it is well sturdy and it also lifts up the ESC a little so that you can reach the shock screw underneath easier.
But loosing two screws to unmount the ESC is also not much work.
Check you´re ESC from underneath, there are four holes for mounting that on a plate.
If you look on the area where the ESC is mounted, you will find two mounting holes. One in the area of the RX-box and the other opposite.
Mainly it is enough to take a 3mm aluminium plate, cutting and drilling six holes in it an you have that "Adapter".
I heard that hobby wing has also such kind of plates but the holes for fixing in the Nero did not fit exactly and you have to widen them.

I have a .tap and a .crv file. If you want, I can upload them.

 

[Combatjeep]

Hey ,Combatjeep,
You are right, it is well sturdy and it also lifts up the ESC a little so that you can reach the shock screw underneath easier.
But loosing two screws to unmount the ESC is also not much work.
Check you´re ESC from underneath, there are four holes for mounting that on a plate.
If you look on the area where the ESC is mounted, you will find two mounting holes. One in the area of the RX-box and the other opposite.
Mainly it is enough to take a 3mm aluminium plate, cutting and drilling six holes in it an you have that "Adapter".
I heard that hobby wing has also such kind of plates but the holes for fixing in the Nero did not fit exactly and you have to widen them.

I have a .tap and a .crv file. If you want, I can upload them.

Sweet. I'd appreciate it. Thank you very much sir.

 

[Combatjeep]

Received the Savox SW-1210SG servo today. It came with a 25t aluminum steering horn. Looks much different. I'm not certain if I should use this horn or the original Arrma 25t. Thoughts?

Received the Savox SW-1210SG servo today. It came with a 25t aluminum steering horn. Looks much different. I'm not certain if I should use this horn or the original Arrma 25t. Thoughts?

 

[chevyrumble]

I would go with the aluminum horn it came with. It is stronger and designed better than the plastic stock horn. Plus with all the weight in these trucks the the aluminum horn is much less likely to strip out under stress.

 

[Combatjeep]

I would go with the aluminum horn it came with. It is stronger and designed better than the plastic stock horn. Plus with all the weight in these trucks the the aluminum horn is much less likely to strip out under stress.

Thanks for the info. I also went with an upgraded aluminum bellcrank and mount as well as the aluminum servo saver mount. Hopefully I have no issues with steering after all of this other than the likely hood of the steering rod ends breaking occasionally.

 

[Ole Fart51]

Buy as many as you can afford of shock ends and rod ends. Tap the new rod ends and put shoe goo on the threads, they last much longer if you do this.

 

[Combatjeep]

Buy as many as you can afford of shock ends and rod ends. Tap the new rod ends and put shoe goo on the threads, they last much longer if you do this.

What's the thread size on the rod ends and size of the ball joints? Maybe I can possibly find some aluminum ends close enough to spec I could redrill and tap. Wouldn't mind finding some sturdier aluminum shock caps as well.

Think I found an answer to one of my earlier questions on waterproofing the open ends on the lipo battery balancer cables. Found this extension kit super cheap. Gonna pull the pins on a couple of the female ends and seal them up to make removable caps to keep the water out.

 

[Combatjeep]

Ok, spoke with Arrma and they're sending me a new steering servo. I don't mind having a spare since i already bought the savox. So I took out the damaged steering servo, Opened the receiver box to the mess of crammed in wires and unplugged the s-servo wire (wish we had a bit larger box for brain diff models). So, with checking fitment and assessing wire routing for the new savox servo, it looks like the wire is going to be right on the driveshaft. The wiring comes out of the middle of the savox (right inline with the d-shaft) instead of the bottom edge like the original. Anyone installed this servo SW1210SG on their Nero that can shed an experienced light or has a pic of their wiring route? don't wanna let my d-shaft chew up the wires.

 

[chevyrumble]

It looks like that is was the servo cable mount is suppose to take care of. It one of the pieces in the Arrma AR320265 Cable Routing Set, it's the piece that looks like an upside down "T". This isn't the greatest picture, but it's the best one I could find to show how they route the stock steering servo wire. You can't see the plastic servo cable mount piece, but it is there holding the servo wire tight to the bottom of the servo and away from the drive shaft.

 

[Combatjeep]

Got the steering servo done finally. Figured out the wires and they're safely tucked away. Wanted to test it but lucky me, it's raining. Centered up the steering and drove it slowly through the house. Hopefully the electronics stay working and I can move on to tuning things.