Baja 5b SS - new owner - need help and advice please.

[Wibbles]

Hey there, hope you are all well.

I recently bought a used 5b SS - it needs a bit of attention and I want to do a few upgrades.

All the shocks seem to be leaking oil - what is the best solution for that? rebuild kit? replacements?

Rear lower arms and front upper arms are broken - should I replace with HPI items or are the alloy arms worth going for?

Hydraulic brakes - I'd like to upgrade the brakes to discs all round, or at minimum the fronts - what is the best kit to get please?

(any links for the above parts would be greatly appreciated - I'm based in the UK)

Thanks for any advice.

 

[John Parks]

Start with Taylor rc, they are UK based

Ditch the factory shocks, get IRC shocks. They are by far the best for a baja, heavier duty, better and heavier spring rates etc.

You can just replace the arms with factory ones, or upgrade to the extended alloy FLM arms. FLM arms are very strong well worth the upgrade. Don't believe the BS that people say about going alloy arms. Ive had dozens of bigbore bajas that are HEAVY with good luck and so have many others on here. Keep your front hubs plastic, and shock tower risers plastic and they will almost always absorb the impact and not break.

Hydraulic brake, not necessary if you go rcr brakes to replace the factory ones. But if your dead set on them, mecatech are the best of the best but pricey. Chinese ones are decent, but from what I've seen lack longevity

 

[spents]

what john said above fella ,

go irc for the shocks,
a arms decision is personal choice, whether you go wide arm or stay stock,
RCR brake set is a decent upgrade over the stock brakes as john said,
leave bulkheads plastic especially if you do go alloy a arms,
hydraulic brakes can be hit or miss, they can be a pain to bleed all the air out as well,
also on the front they tend to lock up easy cos of the front end of the baja being so light,
also get yourself an IRC front under chassis brace if your's doesn't already have one,
post up a few pics of your baja and that will give us all some idea of exactly what you have ,
and as above, taylor rc and also rcmodelz are the main go to for spares and upgrades over here in the uk

 

[Ferrebee88]

Let's see some pictures!

 

[Wibbles]

Thanks for the replies!

Added a couple of photos - it's in decent shapebut needs a bit of love.

Can someone provide me with a link to the IRC Shocks so I don't buy the wrong thing please?

Are these the right brakes?

https://rc-car-online.de/en/y1129-M...nd-many-more-incl.-brake-bleeding-set/y1129.0

Is there a UK based supplier?

The Brake/Throttle is weak and slow - any reccomendations?

Thanks for all the help

 

[Ferrebee88]

https://taylorrc.co.uk/search?type=product,page,&options[prefix]=last&q=IRC+baja

 

[Wibbles]

Out of stock at Taylor RC - thanks for the link though

 

[Ferrebee88]

That's just the name of the game right now. Alot of out-of-stock parts.

 

[spents]

Out of stock at Taylor RC - thanks for the link though

keep checking taylor rc every few days fella,
mike taylor is waiting on fresh stock of various parts coming in

 

[Wibbles]

are the brakes the right ones for my car and what about the servo?

 

[spents]

are the brakes the right ones for my car and what about the servo?

no mate, those brakes will NOT work with the baja,
the ones you linked are for an fg, fg's have a square hub the baja has a 24mm hex hub,
so the brake discs/rotors and calipers will not fit ,
i think you may struggle to find mecatech brakes for the baja,
other makes are around but some of em can be a bit crappy when it comes to bleeding em,

the RCR brakes that just replace the stock brake discs/rotors and pads are linked below,
https://taylorrc.co.uk/products/hpi-baja-rcr-brake-upgrade-kit

the servo is gonna need a bit of searching for as well,i take it you are using an nimh 6v battery and not a lipo,
it looks like you have a stock hpi throttle/brake servo on yours and they are pretty weak at around 8kg if i remember right,
i use a savox servo on my own nimh powered bajas, i forget the servo number at the moment, and am unsure if they are still available,
a suitable servo will be available but its just a matter of searching around for one

 

[Wibbles]

no mate, those brakes will NOT work with the baja,
the ones you linked are for an fg, fg's have a square hub the baja has a 24mm hex hub,
so the brake discs/rotors and calipers will not fit ,
i think you may struggle to find mecatech brakes for the baja,
other makes are around but some of em can be a bit crappy when it comes to bleeding em,

the RCR brakes that just replace the stock brake discs/rotors and pads are linked below,
https://taylorrc.co.uk/products/hpi-baja-rcr-brake-upgrade-kit

the servo is gonna need a bit of searching for as well,i take it you are using an nimh 6v battery and not a lipo,
it looks like you have a stock hpi throttle/brake servo on yours and they are pretty weak at around 8kg if i remember right,
i use a savox servo on my own nimh powered bajas, i forget the servo number at the moment, and am unsure if they are still available,
a suitable servo will be available but its just a matter of searching around for one

Appreciate the reply fella - I'm sure all these questions have been asked before by other noobs, so your patience is greatly appreciated!

I'm using the stock NIMH battery but I fly RC Heli's so I'm no stranger to Lipo batteries - I think I'll replace both servos with high voltage versions - any recommendations?

Regarding the brakes, I've seen a set of FID brakes but they are probably made out of chinesium and will disintegrate.

 

[Wibbles]

Also - regarding my factory dampers, what oil should i use?

 

[one2boost]

Also - regarding my factory dampers, what oil should i use?

It actually depends on what pistons you have in these shocks. There are different types, 12, 16, 2 or 3 hole pistons.

Most will say use the fancy silicone stuff. I'm a cheap. I don't chase a plastic trophy on the weekends. I just bash. So I use everything from engine oil, hydraulic oil and different transmission oils. On my mostly aluminum wide 5t, I have 50 wt engine oil with 3 and 2 hole pistons. On my el cheapo 5b, I have some 10 wt hydraulic oil with the 12 and 16 hole pistons. Now on my 5ive B, I have whatever shock oil came with the kit.

 

[Dunc2504]

The FID brakes are the best of the crop , I had GTB brakes fitted , but changed to them on my Baja and they are great. Need a 40kg or better servo to lock them up though. Buy the master cylinder with the screw on cap for easy filling .

 

[spents]

as above fella , fid brakes are good ,
also as above i've had gtb brakes as well, in fact i still have em, but a pain to bleed and they always seem to get air bubbles back in the lines as well,
shock oil the stock baja shocks always came with mineral based oil, thats all i've ever used in stock baja shocks cos was always unsure whether silicon oil would make the o rings swell or not, and 35wt all round is a good place to start,
i-rc shocks use silicon oil from the get go though,

 

[Wibbles]

I'll get the FID brakes ordered along with some alloy arms and new servos - current servos are HPI for the steering and a Hitec for the throttle/brake.

When the i-rc shocks come back into stock, I'll get those, till then I'll use some AE Slime to seal the current shocks for some basic running.

thanks for all the advice, will post some more pics later.

 

[horatio]

The IRC shocks are very heavy duty, but personally I don't recommend very heavy rate springs. Unless your rig is very heavy, stick to the lower rate springs.

Umbrella seals are very robust and less likely to leak, but they're not as Uber smooth as the shocks you find on typical 1/8th rigs.

I really like the turtle racing one piece brake mount.



Put a decent throttle/brake servo on, and the rear brakes will be strong enough to break traction on any surface.



Front brakes - I've heard excellent things about GTB Racing hydraulic brakes - and they're reasonably priced.

Decent fuel lines really help.


As does a velocity stack air intake.

A decent push/pull dual linkage, centre servo helps. Highly recommended.

Turtle quick diff is an awesome upgrade..

As are the Bonehead carbon parts and pin braces - they save a lot of weight and make the rig much stronger.



Of course, there many different paths to choose when upgrading the Baja.

And it's quick, too!



Not bad for a 16 year old CY Fuelie 26cc. Enjoy your rig!

 

[Wibbles]

Awesome!

 

[Wibbles]

Been cleaning up the Baja, waiting on parts at the moment