Typhon This is my Typhon. There are many like it, but this one is mine.

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Ghast

Fender-Deleter
Premium Member
Build Thread Contributor
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Location
South Florida
Arrma RC's
  1. Typhon 3s
  2. Typhon TLR
Hey y'all.

This build thread is to document modding and bashing my new Typhon 3s. Feel free to make mod suggestions along the way. The goal of this build thread to experiment and try different things for fun. Let's start.

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~~~ Here is the link to my Typhon TLR build ~~~
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Current mods:
  • Custom Typhon Body painted Tamiya PS-30 & PS-16, vented with scale window nets, and grille mesh
  • Polo Creations Light Bar, Spotlight, and & Tail Lights
  • Flush mounted air scoops by worldofprints
  • Hobbypark aluminum control arms
  • Wire tuck
  • Felony Hoons & Pro-Line Trenchers
  • 60wt/700cst Traxxas shock oil
  • Team Associated 10k Diff fluid / Lucas Red & Tacky for diff housing

List of breaks so far:
  • RL Shock Split in half after a jump
  • RR Wheel hub detached while driving
  • RR and FL Shocks broken on bad landing
  • FR Shock Split in half bashing on a rough track

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Here is the day I took the car home. I immediately took it for a run. I'm used to 2s powered 1:10 drift cars, so when I first full throttled this thing I was blown away at the speed, power, and control that it has. I ordered two more batteries shortly after this.

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The next day I took it right to the beach. I wanted to try using the car on different surfaces. It just rained prior to me arriving, so wet sand was my playground for today.

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Haven't had this much fun doing something RC related in years. Watching the car jump over small dunes at 30 mph and seeing all the suspension travel had me grinning ear to ear. I really should've bought a buggy years ago. But better late than never.

Took it home and cleaned it right up and drilled some holes in the body for extra airflow. Ready for the next bash.

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Look at how good she cleans up. I had to take a photo before ruining the wash again.

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Sliding this thing in the sand with real rubber tires is 1000% way more fun than using plastic tires to get a 1:10 scale to drift.

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Annnnd it's dirty again. But look how good it looks covered in mud.

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Next up I take the car to the track for the first time.
 
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It looks like you’re having a blast, and that’s what it’s all about. Watch your bearings and service them frequently if running in sand, including the motor bearings. Get a cheap temp gun too and monitor your motor and ESC temps, especially if you’re running multiple batteries.
Have a ball, dude!
 
Hey y'all.

This build thread is to document modding and bashing my new Typhon 3s. Feel free to make mod suggestions along the way. The goal of this build thread to experiment and try different things for fun. Let's start.


Current mods:
(Placeholder for now)

-------------------------------------------------------------

Here is the day I took the car home. I immediately took it for a run. I'm used to 2s powered 1:10 drift cars, so when I first full throttled this thing I was blown away at the speed, power, and control that it has. I ordered two more batteries shortly after this.

View attachment 301888

The next day I took it right to the beach. I wanted to try using the car on different surfaces. It just rained prior to me arriving, so wet sand was my playground for today.

View attachment 301893
View attachment 301894
View attachment 301897
View attachment 301895

Haven't had this much fun doing something RC related in years. Watching the car jump over small dunes at 30 mph and seeing all the suspension travel had me grinning ear to ear. I really should've bought a buggy years ago. But better late than never.

Took it home and cleaned it right up and drilled some holes in the body for extra airflow. Ready for the next bash.

View attachment 301907
View attachment 301906
View attachment 301900

Look at how good she cleans up. I had to take a photo before ruining the wash again.

View attachment 301901

Sliding this thing in the sand with real rubber tires is 1000% way more fun than using plastic tires to get a 1:10 scale to drift.

View attachment 301902

Annnnd it's dirty again. But look how good it looks covered in mud.

View attachment 301908

Next up I take the car to the track for the first time.
Congrats on your new obsession!! I bought a Typhon 3s as my 1st ever hobby grade rc last March. Broke it in half within 2 weeks, then bought a 6s. Little over a year later I have 3x 6s Typhons (man i love those buggies!) & 6 Arrmas total- beware, the addiction is REAL!!🥰😅
 
Nice photos. The Typhon is a blast.
Like @Dan B. said, if you're running in sandy conditions (and/or salty conditions), it would be worth checking the motor and clutch bearings regularly. This is to avoid damaging the components when the bearings fail.
 
It looks like you’re having a blast, and that’s what it’s all about. Watch your bearings and service them frequently if running in sand, including the motor bearings. Get a cheap temp gun too and monitor your motor and ESC temps, especially if you’re running multiple batteries.
Have a ball, dude!
Thanks Dan, I appreciate the advice. When it comes to servicing bearings should I be taking them apart and repacking them? How frequently would you say this is necessary with OEM bearings


Congrats on your new obsession!! I bought a Typhon 3s as my 1st ever hobby grade rc last March. Broke it in half within 2 weeks, then bought a 6s. Little over a year later I have 3x 6s Typhons (man i love those buggies!) & 6 Arrmas total- beware, the addiction is REAL!!🥰😅
I might be joining you there shortly. I want to attend some local race events on the weekend but I think it would be more fun if I got a 6s or TLR and used that specifically for racing, and I can keep my 3s for building, experimenting, and bashing.


Nice photos. The Typhon is a blast.
Like @Dan B. said, if you're running in sandy conditions (and/or salty conditions), it would be worth checking the motor and clutch bearings regularly. This is to avoid damaging the components when the bearings fail.
Thank you as well for this advice. I just took the car apart a couple of days ago and cleaned the sides of the bearings. Should I be disassembling them and re-greasing? How is this possible for some of the tiny bearings?
 
Here we are at one of my local tracks. I was looking forward to this as soon as I got the car.


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I had the course all to myself today. I showed up after everybody left I think.

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I had an excellent time, I've never jumped an RC car before so I took it pretty easy on the mounds at first.

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Then I sent it a bit too hard on one of the jumps. You can see the spring right next to the car that fell out. I snapped a shock in half after I cartwheeled about 4 times after landing incorrectly. Even though the car broke I was smiling and laughing. The jump was incredible, I wish I caught it on camera.

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Went to the hobby shop after and bought some new shocks. I also got some Traxxas 60wt shock oil to refill all the shocks with. Honestly when I was hand compressing the springs after the new fill I thought there was no difference, but as soon as I drove the car the difference was staggering. Much less body roll, less chassis slap, less squat and dive, and overall much more control.

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I refilled each shock. This was a fun (messy) experience.

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All done! Back up and running the same day. I went for a drive shortly after this for testing.

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So I read somewhere on the forums here that the Typhon differentials come with very little oil inside. I had to check if this was true. I didn't want a diff to fail prematurely because of lack of lubrication. I started to take the car apart, and it really needed a good cleaning ever since I took it on a few rainy fields

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Took the diff out and cleaned all the components. The smell of my open Red & Tacky bottle made me think I was working on a real diff for a second

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You guys weren't kidding. It was maybe 1/4 or 1/5 full. I cleaned all the old oil out and replaced it.

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Filled with Team Associated 10k Diff fluid. Supposedly the original fluid was 10k but it looked a little odd, I'll start with this TA 10k and see how that feels, and adjust as needed.

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Time to clean the rest of the chassis and apply the Red and Tacky to the diff housing

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Much better. Almost down to the bare chassis. This was actually a lot of fun. I wish it was this easy for real cars.

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Started reassembly and installed some metal control arms. I might immediately break these, but oh well. The point of this car was to experiment.

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Red & Tacky applied to the diff and metal control arms installed.

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Looking good. The under-chassis screws have been set with blue threadlocker and the car is ready to get its engine back

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I also installed a Headlight & Tail light bar from Polo Creations

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These look sweet. Install was pretty straightforward. The wiring took a little bit of time just because I wanted it to look clean.

Typhon3sGhast tl.png


Speaking of which, trying to fit a 4-to-1 adapter in the receiver box was not very fun. But it miraculously fit. Once I closed the receiver box almost all of the wires were hidden. I also re-routed the engine-receiver cable under the receiver box because it was hanging off the side of the chassis before. The lighting cables also were routed the best they could without being intrusive to any moving parts. I have an updated picture of this I will show later.

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It’s all Arrma diffs that should be inspected for mesh and volume of fluid.
Also, you won’t break those aluminum arms. You’ll break your plastic hinge pin holders and/or a bulkhead or two. Aluminum will transfer the shock to the much less robust plastic components, and they will fail instead. For a basher, it’s typical to recommend aluminum C-hubs/bearing carriers, aluminum hinge pin holders and/or bulkheads, depending on the model, and keep the plastic arms as they are easily and inexpensively replaced. You just went a bit downstream, but that’s good for the aftermarket. 😊 Enjoy the build, and keep having fun, man!
Just wait until you get your first 6s Typhon…. You’re going to have a freaking blast!
 
It’s all Arrma diffs that should be inspected for mesh and volume of fluid.
Also, you won’t break those aluminum arms. You’ll break your plastic hinge pin holders and/or a bulkhead or two. Aluminum will transfer the shock to the much less robust plastic components, and they will fail instead. For a basher, it’s typical to recommend aluminum C-hubs/bearing carriers, aluminum hinge pin holders and/or bulkheads, depending on the model, and keep the plastic arms as they are easily and inexpensively replaced. You just went a bit downstream, but that’s good for the aftermarket. 😊 Enjoy the build, and keep having fun, man!
Just wait until you get your first 6s Typhon…. You’re going to have a freaking blast!

That makes sense. It looks like for the Typhon here the hinge pin holders are a part of the chassis. So a complete teardown essentially if it breaks. Fun!

I really think a TLR or 6s will come soon. This has become incredibly addicting. I think I've already set up my 3s for failure at the track with the metal arms, so I might do a TLR soon as a dedicated track car, and maybe a 6s in the future for extreme bashing. Bahaha!
 
Started painting a Typhon body. I think the Typhon body is absolutely beautiful but I wanted to see what it looked like with real windows and vents.

Originally I wanted to race with this, but after putting a ton of work into it I think I might just keep this as a street thrashing/display body.

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These reveals are always incredibly satisfying.

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There are some small errors. But I think this is the third body I've ever painted.

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I started carving out where I imagined the engine cover vent holes would be on this car.

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Added realistic looking ducts on the side of the Typhon. I also cut out all the windows and added racing net behind them.

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Added vents on the front fascia. I mounted these from the bottom, almost like a shaker. These were 3D printed.

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These were probably some of the hardest cuts on the car. The plastic is so thick in this area that it took almost an hour each side.

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It's started to look how I imagine it. I wanted to make sure I took pictures of this before I put the race livery on it, and possibly ruin it in a crash.

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Flush mounted.

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I added a grille over the engine cover holes, the silver really brings out a nice contrast.

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Here is the body on the car. It's starting to shape up.

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Started painting a Typhon body. I think the Typhon body is absolutely beautiful but I wanted to see what it looked like with real windows and vents.

Originally I wanted to race with this, but after putting a ton of work into it I think I might just keep this as a street thrashing/display body.

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These reveals are always incredibly satisfying.

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There are some small errors. But I think this is the third body I've ever painted.

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I started carving out where I imagined the engine cover vent holes would be on this car.

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Added realistic looking ducts on the side of the Typhon. I also cut out all the windows and added racing net behind them.

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Added vents on the front fascia. I mounted these from the bottom, almost like a shaker. These were 3D printed.

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These were probably some of the hardest cuts on the car. The plastic is so thick in this area that it took almost an hour each side.

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It's started to look how I imagine it. I wanted to make sure I took pictures of this before I put the race livery on it, and possibly ruin it in a crash.

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Flush mounted.

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I added a grille over the engine cover holes, the silver really brings out a nice contrast.

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Here is the body on the car. It's starting to shape up.

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Nice work brother!!😍👍🤘🤘
 
After a week of constant rain, the weather cleared up and I head out to the track. But first, a stop at the LHS for a wheel/tire upgrade.

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Much better. Someone at the track last week specifically recommended these.

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Another gorgeous day out here. I was alone again, most people were occupied with the on-road track. It looks like 1/10 on-road gets a lot more attention than off-road does around here.

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Getting much more comfortable with jumps. I feel like the first time I was here I was flipping over the car every lap, now I only had to go pick it up a few times.

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Sending this thing through the air has got to be the most fun I've ever had with RC stuff. Drifting was satisfying. Flying RC planes is satisfying. But launching a car off a ramp and controlling it in air for a soft landing is immensely satisfying. It might have something to do with the risk associated. Knowing a bad jump or bad landing can break the car keeps you on your toes.

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Speaking of breaks. Landed a little rough and snapped two shocks. These stock plastic shocks really don't appreciate track racing. I think I'm finally starting to see the limitation of the 3S. I love this car and this chassis, and it can take a whooping on the jumps, but if it lands wrong it is pretty fragile. I'm going to keep racing it however.

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I went back to my LHS and we fixed the shocks. One is still slightly bent, but at least I can keep driving. I think this car is going to need some Pro-Line shocks in the future.

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I took it back out and had another successful run. No breaks. The car did great.

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And what do we have here?

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Achievement Unlocked: Break all 4 Original Shocks on a 3s Typhon

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Pretty hard hit to the FL Shock. Ended up breaking the screw and we had to extract it out.

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Miraculously we were able to salvage the original shocks and rebuild them with new springs and some other parts. I think if I break these shocks again I'm going with the Pro-Line replacements.

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Amazing journal, really enjoyed reading it. and what an amazing track! you're lucky

I wonder if it's the metal arm that brakes all these shocks. I rarely break shocks on my typhon
 
Amazing journal, really enjoyed reading it. and what an amazing track! you're lucky

I wonder if it's the metal arm that brakes all these shocks. I rarely break shocks on my typhon

Thank you! and I appreciate it. The track is wonderful, I am grateful to have one so close to me.

I broke a couple shocks before the metal arm swap, but it is entirely possible. The way the gentleman at the hobby shop explained it to me is that the control arms on the 3S do not have a limiter on how low they will drop once the car is lifted in the air. What is stopping the travel of the control arm is the end of the shock arm. So any yanking motion, such as what would be experienced in a cartwheel, is enough to pull the shock arm out of the retainer, and possibly bend the rod as well.
 
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