Hahaha. So I have been out of the hobby mostly for a while. Some how I ended up with a Mini Losi racer, and a couple of little helicopters. Owned everything under the sun from Gas Helicopters, to boats, serpents, ofna, Associated, well everything at some point. I won't lie things have come a long way since I haven't seriously messed with the hobby.
So the wife and I are in Hobby Town in Tyler, TX, browsing. The owner, is one of the most knowledgeable guys I have met behind a counter in a while. So my wife keeps pushing me to buy something and she digs the big car. So off I go with the car and a tuned pipe in hand. My first let down. Why in heck could Losi not put a charger in the box with this thing? I got home and was like surely it is just missing then read the online literature. Go to Hobbytown in Arlington and they have one charger that will work. I mean it is a nice charger but whew. Get home, charge the battery, fire it up and off we go. I live on a acre but with this thing it is still not enough.
First drive, I am just putting around, servos are lacking in my opinion a little, but hey it is fine. Starting to get dark and my yard is littered with landscaping and trees. So about a 1/8 or less of a tank in I catch a tree at 1./4 throttle. Yep, you guessed it, snapped a steering tie rod. Further inspection and my front A-Arm is not broken but wallowed out a tad. So I order a random set of parts including arms, a master set of tie rods, and the front end cups, rods, aluminum, just in case. I almost ordered aluminum upgrades but sometimes it is better to brake the cheap parts instead of damaging stuff more inboard. While I am at I order the Killer box covers, and lipos. Since I have read the stock servos should work for a while on them and really the body is a pain to pop off if you have to recharge them all the time.
Everything rolled in this last weekend. I rebuilt the nose pieces, charged up the new battery, snapped her all back together, and off we go. First thing I notice is the throttle servo is hanging at center. When it sticks I nudge it and off it goes. Once it stuck mid throttle, a second, and I center punched the tree again. Luckily it bounced off with no issues as the speed was low. After working the servo a bit, and driving it, no more issues with that one. Randomly while breaking it in it would die at super low speeds. As I got more fuel in it this worked itself out also. Got to my half a tank and started running it a little harder. I actually managed a light sideways flip coming out of the ditch. Still no damage. As I was running it around getting better at avoiding trees, I power slid it up around and into some light vines. I stopped it as it was going in so it was zero impact. I just had to drag it out. Well, the steering servo is dead now. I won't lie, coming from a Airtronics 8 back in the day, this system does look a little cheazy and makes me nervous. Pulled the body off and the snazy antenna had broken at the base also. I noticed suspiciously it was bent fairly well when I got it home the first day but I guess two runs knocked it out.
I will say this thing is pretty fast though, and a good time, it is just not liking me. I guess I will replace both servos while I am in there and maybe buy a better radio. Nothing like working the bugs out! The two speed also peaks my interest a little. Maybe after I get a few tanks through her. I do have 200 acres behind me I am going to utilize when the things settles out a little. I mean I was just trying to break it in. Not sure how I feel about the K@N filter either. I know for cars, there are better alternatives. Oh well, off I go to Ebay!
So the wife and I are in Hobby Town in Tyler, TX, browsing. The owner, is one of the most knowledgeable guys I have met behind a counter in a while. So my wife keeps pushing me to buy something and she digs the big car. So off I go with the car and a tuned pipe in hand. My first let down. Why in heck could Losi not put a charger in the box with this thing? I got home and was like surely it is just missing then read the online literature. Go to Hobbytown in Arlington and they have one charger that will work. I mean it is a nice charger but whew. Get home, charge the battery, fire it up and off we go. I live on a acre but with this thing it is still not enough.
First drive, I am just putting around, servos are lacking in my opinion a little, but hey it is fine. Starting to get dark and my yard is littered with landscaping and trees. So about a 1/8 or less of a tank in I catch a tree at 1./4 throttle. Yep, you guessed it, snapped a steering tie rod. Further inspection and my front A-Arm is not broken but wallowed out a tad. So I order a random set of parts including arms, a master set of tie rods, and the front end cups, rods, aluminum, just in case. I almost ordered aluminum upgrades but sometimes it is better to brake the cheap parts instead of damaging stuff more inboard. While I am at I order the Killer box covers, and lipos. Since I have read the stock servos should work for a while on them and really the body is a pain to pop off if you have to recharge them all the time.
Everything rolled in this last weekend. I rebuilt the nose pieces, charged up the new battery, snapped her all back together, and off we go. First thing I notice is the throttle servo is hanging at center. When it sticks I nudge it and off it goes. Once it stuck mid throttle, a second, and I center punched the tree again. Luckily it bounced off with no issues as the speed was low. After working the servo a bit, and driving it, no more issues with that one. Randomly while breaking it in it would die at super low speeds. As I got more fuel in it this worked itself out also. Got to my half a tank and started running it a little harder. I actually managed a light sideways flip coming out of the ditch. Still no damage. As I was running it around getting better at avoiding trees, I power slid it up around and into some light vines. I stopped it as it was going in so it was zero impact. I just had to drag it out. Well, the steering servo is dead now. I won't lie, coming from a Airtronics 8 back in the day, this system does look a little cheazy and makes me nervous. Pulled the body off and the snazy antenna had broken at the base also. I noticed suspiciously it was bent fairly well when I got it home the first day but I guess two runs knocked it out.
I will say this thing is pretty fast though, and a good time, it is just not liking me. I guess I will replace both servos while I am in there and maybe buy a better radio. Nothing like working the bugs out! The two speed also peaks my interest a little. Maybe after I get a few tanks through her. I do have 200 acres behind me I am going to utilize when the things settles out a little. I mean I was just trying to break it in. Not sure how I feel about the K@N filter either. I know for cars, there are better alternatives. Oh well, off I go to Ebay!
