XJman's Rovan 5b build

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
XJman said:
I got this from a dude locally who orders them in bulk and sells them.

It was 23 bucks I'm not going to harass them over it. I bought this thing cheap and I'm ok with it having some flaws. I'm actually impressed with the quality of everything else. It isn't my xr5 but it's equal to what I've picked up from arrma and losi lately.

I tuned it yesterday and it absofuckinglutely screams. I'm quite surprised with that motor. The carb is a little iffy but I got it to a point of stability. I ordered a new air filter and velocity stack because that factory design sucks and a silencer although I'm going to need a better pipe design. This long ass thing will be at risk with the silencer on it.

What can people tell me about the symmetrical steering kit for them? I've heard people say it makes all the difference in it's cornering
Click to expand...
Well that's nice that you understand there could be problems and we sometimes just have to deal with them and move on. Some would be all over the place and ripping them a new butt hole so hats off to you for not falling into that category.

I have their shorty baja Q and that thing is also a fun little thing to drive and it actually has amazing power for what it is. The steering needs a little upgrading but it is what it is , can't really blame Rovan so fix it and move on.
 
smokinwheel said:
Well that's nice that you understand there could be problems and we sometimes just have to deal with them and move on. Some would be all over the place and ripping them a new butt hole so hats off to you for not falling into that category.

I have their shorty baja Q and that thing is also a fun little thing to drive and it actually has amazing power for what it is. The steering needs a little upgrading but it is what it is , can't really blame Rovan so fix it and move on.
Click to expand...
I long ago learned that budget products are budget products regardless of the price and you've got to deal with the bad.

I'm still going to get a bonafide HPI. I actually might get myself a marder to go with it. I've never been big into off road bashers but this thing is really bringing back some of the old rc10 days
 
I would go with the center steering set up and spacers to bring the wheel track out a bit.
The sky is the limit with these , not sure the bonafide HPI is much better , just more expensive .
Rovan have upgraded the wishbones and drive shafts from original.
 
Dunc2504 said:
I would go with the center steering set up and spacers to bring the wheel track out a bit.
The sky is the limit with these , not sure the bonafide HPI is much better , just more expensive .
Rovan have upgraded the wishbones and drive shafts from original.
Click to expand...
Is that the symmetrical steering I've seen mentioned? Are there any kits that don't shove the body up?
 
Yep .
Comes with a different cage front mount if I remember correctly , to clear the servo .
The body sits in the same position as with normal steering as the mounting post is the same .
Not had any issues fitting them , and they are standard on the shorty.

baja7.thumb.jpg.f71511502bc5b2e65cdab4661d713b10.webp
 
Dunc2504 said:
Yep .
Comes with a different cage front mount if I remember correctly , to clear the servo .
The body sits in the same position as with normal steering as the mounting post is the same .
Not had any issues fitting them , and they are standard on the shorty.

View attachment 109900
Click to expand...
Now that's an attractive 5b.

Is there a specific one you ordered? I've seen a half dozen of them and I'm guessing they are all the same or they are all clones of a clone.
 
So I threw on a velocity stack, spider comp filter, and a ddm muffler.

I am actually a little surprised that the velocity stack and filter made a difference to the performance but it did. As long as your in the power band it'll lift if it has enough traction now. I do think I'll eventually throw a g320 in it but this has the power I want right now. Its enough to trench out my yard.

The stock carb is meh. After the filter its a little easier to get stable tuning but it isn't super great. I think I may swap it later.

What I'm looking for now is a better exhaust. I know DDM has the fast dominator that is short and packed, but I don't think its silenced and thats kind of a must have for me. Are there other straight exit tuned options?

I'm still curious about what the best sym steering setup is. The steering on this thing is butt and I can't get it any tighter as it is.
 
So install of the sym steering kit went alright but the included links seem extremely short. I've had to extend them by a large amount to get just a touch of positive front toe. Sorry I don't have a large scale setup board yet for an exact measurement.

I am having an issue with some of the screws backing out in the rear chassis where the rear half attaches to the front half. Even with loctite they came loose. This is the second major issue I've had with the blue loctite. I don't know if maybe it's been sitting on the shelf too long or something but any other ideas would be appreciated.
 
The steering systems are pretty much all the same , I would go with the alloy version .
Side pipe is the way to go if you want the best power . even silenced exhausts are not that quiet .
I have tried and made my own carbon silencers , but still noisy.
I would guess your loctite blue is well out of date.
Had this happen to me , put new slightly longer screws in with good loctite and torqued them in with new bit on a ratchet.
You may be able to fit half nuts as locking nuts under the petrol tank as well for extra security. I don't think nylocks will fit under.
 
Dunc2504 said:
The steering systems are pretty much all the same , I would go with the alloy version .
Side pipe is the way to go if you want the best power . even silenced exhausts are not that quiet .
I have tried and made my own carbon silencers , but still noisy.
I would guess your loctite blue is well out of date.
Had this happen to me , put new slightly longer screws in with good loctite and torqued them in with new bit on a ratchet.
You may be able to fit half nuts as locking nuts under the petrol tank as well for extra security. I don't think nylocks will fit under.
Click to expand...
I'll borrow some from work and see how it goes. We go through poop loads of it so it doesn't sit around on a shelf in home Depot for who knows how long.

I actually put the ddm silencer on the stock pipe and it's wonderful. It isn't quiet but it isn't ears ringing loud and that's good enough. Are the side pipes pretty protected in rollovers? That's my biggest fear honestly.
 
I just went through this steering link issue with my shorty baja. The replacements I bought are also short. Right now the adjustment is a little farther out than I would like but it has to be better than the badly worn plastic ones it came with. I have material here and will make up a new set if I need to.

The first set I got for a replacement were junk and even though they were metal ends they had more play than the ones I took off so back they went to Amazon.
Second set still a little short from GTB ( GT8? ) whichever it is but tightened it up nicely.
 
smokinwheel said:
I just went through this steering link issue with my shorty baja. The replacements I bought are also short. Right now the adjustment is a little farther out than I would like but it has to be better than the badly worn plastic ones it came with. I have material here and will make up a new set if I need to.

The first set I got for a replacement were junk and even though they were metal ends they had more play than the ones I took off so back they went to Amazon.
Second set still a little short from GTB ( GT8? ) whichever it is but tightened it up nicely.
Click to expand...
Yeah I can make some at work. They just won't be nice and chrome.
 
smokinwheel said:
Polished aluminum? I honestly like that look more than a true chrome part.
Who's better than us , make parts at work and get paid. Perfect!
Click to expand...
I don't know if aluminum would be strong enough. I tried aluminum links on a crawler years back and they bent pretty easily and I wound up having to run a sleeve over them.

I do have the power to make some pretty fancy poop.
 

Attachments

  • 20250930_125343.webp
    20250930_125343.webp
    203.4 KB · Views: 7
smokinwheel said:
Nice, I am lucky myself to have whatever I need at my disposal.
Certainly, way more than I need for this hobby.
Click to expand...
It makes some stuff nice. I've made a hodgepodge of things over the years or modified things to work. I just wish I had the equipment at home because hanging around work longer than I have to gets old.
 
Sym steering kit is in. I did a prelem run and it completely changes the nature of the buggy. The steering is tight and it brings the back around like crazy now. Highly recommend to everyone.
 
I had to extend my arms when I went for wide track wishbones , Cannot recommend increasing the track enough ! Really helps with making them feel planted. I got rid of the single wheel wheely bar on mine as well , the twin wheel makes it far more stable when it comes up. I run my shorty on a Rovan 36 single ring and high speed gearing , loads of fun.
Just about to change out the 36 for a chinese 32 reed case motor .
 

Attachments

  • short2.webp
    short2.webp
    280 KB · Views: 4
  • short4.webp
    short4.webp
    327.9 KB · Views: 4
Back
Top