What is the best baja clone?

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simon67

simon67

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Liverpool
Was just wondering has anybody had any experience with any of the other clones.
I have a hpi baja 5b 2.0 and got my son a km baja 2.0, i was originaly going to buy him a shengqi baha but did a bit of net. research and discovered the km version and when we saw the alloy on the 2.0 we fell for it, it looks gorgeous.
i heard there are a couple more clones out there and was wondering which was best or more to the point did i choose right buying the king motors over the shengqi.
Heres a few pics. of my cars;-

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hi and welcome, the sq is a lot like the base model k,m , my baja started life as a sq and it did have its problems from day one but saying that the dzy 23cc motor the come with is very good, k,m are a good choice well priced and amazing spec,
 
thanks for that i wondered what the shengqi was like, sounds like i would have done alright which ever one i got.
For me the spur gear on the km is a bit tight but mc greggor tells me this will loosen up.
 
i went for the shengqi (only because i didn't really try hard enough to find a KM i suppose), plus the ShengQi was a bit cheaper. the car itself is great, i have a thread about it on here, probably back on page 2 or 3 now on this part of the forum ("it's arrived.."), it explains everything i experienced with it anyway. the thing i like best - when i first started looking to buy a baja (the one covered in HPI stickers) its price just killed off any ambition of buying one... after some searching around i came across the other manufacturers. for what i spent on buying the SQ (which to be fair, is a good buggy out of the box!), and buying all the hop up parts, i haven't even come close to spending that initial £755 as i would have done on a HPI.

which ever buggy is chosen, irrespective of price and make, you're going to have hours of fun with it!
 
Thanks for your input

t2boats said:
i went for the shengqi (only because i didn't really try hard enough to find a KM i suppose), plus the ShengQi was a bit cheaper. the car itself is great, i have a thread about it on here, probably back on page 2 or 3 now on this part of the forum ("it's arrived.."), it explains everything i experienced with it anyway. the thing i like best - when i first started looking to buy a baja (the one covered in HPI stickers) its price just killed off any ambition of buying one... after some searching around i came across the other manufacturers. for what i spent on buying the SQ (which to be fair, is a good buggy out of the box!), and buying all the hop up parts, i haven't even come close to spending that initial £755 as i would have done on a HPI.

which ever buggy is chosen, irrespective of price and make, you're going to have hours of fun with it!
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I think i recall seeing something of what you wrote a couple of days ago when i googled , what is the best baja clone, it was very informative and one of the better reviews i've read .
I was in a simillar boat to you after i bought the hpi baja, my son wanted one, so we sold his motto x bike but only had £500 and so had to look into something a bit cheaper, hence the km.
I wonder which is the better out of the box with the standard km 001 and the shengqi, i would love to see them side by side.
I have to say the hpi baja runs quite a lot smoother but i have been told the spur gear takes a while to seat in.
Also the km seems a fair bit heavier this plus the tight spur gear may acount for it seeming a wee bit slower, we'l see how it pans out. :rolleyes:
 
having never seen a KM in the flesh, so to speak, i can't really comment on their differences. i've only seen pictures n video really. generally speaking i suppose the KM is practically almost the same as the SQ, then there's the aluminium version (the 2.0 is it?), looks a really good spec. i haven't fitted aluminium wishbones to mine, only because a few years back we saw a fairly good reason not to when racing at our club. one fella had an FG - fully kitted out with everything aluminium. after a smash with another car, it bent a few wishbones on the front, that was him knackered! i'd sooner have the flex of the plastic, of course, everything has its limit, but plastic's more forgiving i find.
the only gripe i had with the SQ was the rear shock struts, there was too much slop when the car was being used, everything leaned over when cornering :( so by fitting the aluminium hubs and rear/front shock struts has eliminated that movement. it's alot more sharper now and responsive.

as for the tight spur gear, the car may have slightly higher gearing, one more tooth than standard (i forget what the stock gearing is now), i changed mine to 19/55, makes a nice difference :cool:
 

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Re: the tight spur gear on km. Mine was the same, far too tight
I found the gear plate was partly to blame - the hole the pinion sticks through isn't quite right and it ends up pulling the pinion and spur together. I filed the pinion hole a bit larger which helped.
 
nice comments

t2boats said:
having never seen a KM in the flesh, so to speak, i can't really comment on their differences. i've only seen pictures n video really. generally speaking i suppose the KM is practically almost the same as the SQ, then there's the aluminium version (the 2.0 is it?), looks a really good spec. i haven't fitted aluminium wishbones to mine, only because a few years back we saw a fairly good reason not to when racing at our club. one fella had an FG - fully kitted out with everything aluminium. after a smash with another car, it bent a few wishbones on the front, that was him knackered! i'd sooner have the flex of the plastic, of course, everything has its limit, but plastic's more forgiving i find.
the only gripe i had with the SQ was the rear shock struts, there was too much slop when the car was being used, everything leaned over when cornering :( so by fitting the aluminium hubs and rear/front shock struts has eliminated that movement. it's alot more sharper now and responsive.

as for the tight spur gear, the car may have slightly higher gearing, one more tooth than standard (i forget what the stock gearing is now), i changed mine to 19/55, makes a nice difference :cool:
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i think on my sons km its a 57 tooth spur, am not sure what the drive gear is, but it makes sence what your saying, i think i may put the same as yours on it, it has a 29cc fuely motor so should be well able to handle the higher gearing, thanks for that.;)
Regarding the alloy, bearing in mind that my hpi baja uses plastic parts, i would have to say i'd tend to swing toward metal being stronger than plastic, although i do see your point as regards to the give in plastic, i'd still say overall metal will be stronger, but i think it will transfer the damage to a weaker part, ithink the answer is to pick the correct locations for youre alloy parts, so as to transfer the impact to an in expensive part.
I also have a savage with standard parts and have no interest in putting alloy on it, nor will i with my hpi baja, but when the 2.0 was only £100 dearer than the base model, i just thought why not and a 29cc motor to boot.
Would love to see your shengqi go man.:D
Have you got a tuned pipe on it, if so which type.
 
cheers

Rory said:
Re: the tight spur gear on km. Mine was the same, far too tight
I found the gear plate was partly to blame - the hole the pinion sticks through isn't quite right and it ends up pulling the pinion and spur together. I filed the pinion hole a bit larger which helped.
Click to expand...
I have put a bit of thick greece on the spur gear and it does seem to have loostend up, that plus me running it in.
 
yeah the metal parts option is stronger, you have the same train of thought as all of us on here really - that metal part would transfer the impact somewhere else, an we have to picky where we choose to fit them lol.. my line of thinking was to leave an easily accessible break point (which is cheap too). which reminds me i must buy some spare wishbones for when or if they do go beyond their elastic limit and snap!

i use mine on a track fairly often, and on the farmers field behind the house so it takes a good test each time, so far (touch wood) it hasn't broken any wishbones..

i've taken a few short vids of mine, trying to get some more footage and compile a video. i bought the tuned pipe which comes with HPI's SS, won it cheap on ebay, brand new too so i was chuffed. i fitted a zenoah 29cc engine, with a walbro 813 carb, denso iridium plug, and the hostile 19/55 gears, it goes like the clappers! seen as you have the extra cc, definately look into the longer gears as the cc will cope with it.
 
nice suttle point wishbones are quite cheap!

t2boats said:
yeah the metal parts option is stronger, you have the same train of thought as all of us on here really - that metal part would transfer the impact somewhere else, an we have to picky where we choose to fit them lol.. my line of thinking was to leave an easily accessible break point (which is cheap too). which reminds me i must buy some spare wishbones for when or if they do go beyond their elastic limit and snap!

i use mine on a track fairly often, and on the farmers field behind the house so it takes a good test each time, so far (touch wood) it hasn't broken any wishbones..

i've taken a few short vids of mine, trying to get some more footage and compile a video. i bought the tuned pipe which comes with HPI's SS, won it cheap on ebay, brand new too so i was chuffed. i fitted a zenoah 29cc engine, with a walbro 813 carb, denso iridium plug, and the hostile 19/55 gears, it goes like the clappers! seen as you have the extra cc, definately look into the longer gears as the cc will cope with it.
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And it makes me ask myself, would i replace them if they broke with more costly alloy or just buy some cheaper plastic ones, answer is i'm not sure, it would depend how much dearer the alloy was as like i've said not realy an alloy buyer myself, but my god you have to admit the 2.0 realy looks smart with that orange alloy.
Hey you've realy gone to town on that shengqi, it must be like the dogs gonads.lol:w00t:
 
here's 2 pics of what the SQ looked like out of the box (just ignore the Proline wheel/tyre set, and the top handle bar)

i meant to say, not sure if you know of it but there's a gear chart for the baja, hopefully it's attached too!
 

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nice 1 pal

t2boats said:
here's 2 pics of what the SQ looked like out of the box (just ignore the Proline wheel/tyre set, and the top handle bar)

i meant to say, not sure if you know of it but there's a gear chart for the baja, hopefully it's attached too!
Click to expand...
Youre baja looks sound strait out of the box, did you find your spur gear was quite tight on the drive gear or is it just a km thing, i hope i haven't got to change the pinion to run the same spur as you.
Thats it now after seeing your car i'l have to get down the park and finnish running in my sons km.:D
 
yeah i think the alloy KM looks great!

the meshing was OK on mine, the gears are still like new as i fitted the hostile pair after only around 3 tanks. i forget what the tooth count was now, i'll have to count em again, sure the pinion's 17?? but with everything i've done to it, it's now a superb machine, very quick and handles rough terrain and bends with ease :)
 
hi,

im to looking to purchase a 1/5 scale and not sure which one to get and where from. i have noticed Dan is quite well respected for excellent service but he will not have them in for approx 3 weeks and i need one now.....

where can i get a km t1000 2 speed black or white truck from either white or black?

thanks alot

Z
 
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