Cheap Roller Build

[Steve Macdonald]

The motor I had in the Losi up and died on me (finally succumbed from the saltwater / sand intake back in July) and my original KM T1000A is still in pieces (that was the truck that actually went into the sea water). My X-Maxx jammed up the steering after a nasty collision (in for repair at local hobby shop). Even the little Arrma Fury BLX is out of commission after snapping the rear body mount bolster.

I'm returning my OBR motor to Sean for a rebuild. It ate dirt when the stock Losi air foam filter got tangled in the bolts that hold it in place.

So, I ordered a $349 KM Baja roller from Dan along with the "sidewinder" pipe. I had some of the upgraded KM steering and throttle servos already, along with a stock KM MT3D/MR3D TX/RX. I also had an orange air filter canister thing with a matching gas gap and hose that connects them (probably just a gimmick, but what the hey). I also had a Zenoah 320RC from DDM that I got cheap as a Deal of the Day. Other than that, I just added a pull start outerwear.

The build was pretty quick and easy (now that I've experimented a fair deal on my original KM T1000A). The motor just bolted right up without any issues. Haven't even put gas in it yet -- that'll be tomorrow. For now I think it looks pretty nice, and you can't beat the price. I can't run it anywhere except my "safe" zone (no chance of runaway -- surrounded by woods) because my kill switch hasn't arrived yet.

 

[Steve Macdonald]

This feels like the ideal balance to me. Definitely has that old-school RWD sports car vibe (427 AC Cobra maybe?) in that it has gobs of torque (320RC + that cheap pipe work incredibly well together) that can be used to break the back end loose with the slight flick of the throttle, but in a totally controlled/controllable manner. I've tried some other setups that were clearly over-powered. Wheelies might look cool, but too much power gives these little cars a twitchy hair-trigger feel that doesn't appeal to me.

My Losi has a totally different feel, of course. 4WD is fun in a different way, but frankly I think I actually prefer the dynamics of the 2WD HPI/clone Baja form factor. A well-balanced 2WD offers more fun in my opinion because you have such fine-grained control over the car's attitude using just the throttle.

I like doing mods and stuff, but these cheap KM/Rovan clones give you a whole lot of fun for minimum dollars even when they are in mostly stock form. This roller was in perfect condition when it arrived. Nothing leaking or loose, etc. (I've read the posts from several years ago when people had to basically rebuild these things from ground up on arrival).

 

[crankestein]

Thats the way to go, get a roller and build it from the ground up. Have some front A-arms, shocks, and wheels handy as thats what usually suffers been sp exposed and the heftiness of the baja.

I highly recommend all the chassis braces sold by DDM, mostly so the FW metal cover brace. Mine cracked in half. On the meantime swap to a one piece diff gear metal plate, along those lines shock limiters etc. To work on them easily do the roll cage mod, and the lower fan mesh mod to prevent pebbles from destroying the flywheel.


I like the dom pipe sold by Dan, works very well.
Something I never thought was going to make a big difference and was surprised by it, are the rear blue tire inserts, much better handling and easier to control.

I agree, 2WD is more fun in the ideal bashing spot. Although sometimes I take out my X2 and let it shred through the dirt and see how much it can take, or how deep in the power zone until it slides out. Both are fun in its owb way, but 2wd is one notch higher in the fun factor.

 

[pyroM!ke247]

Get some hard compound hostile mxt tires..Way better traction..THose stock tires are junk and might as well be slicks.. Cool rig btw.. Im bout to order a X2 Deluxe roller and build it up.