Project:speed

[THE EDJ]

If there's ever been one thing I'm a fan of, it's going fast. And if I can't go fast, I like making stuff that does. Basis for this project started out with a Micro-T I bought over a year ago, which died, and was ripped apart, and then sat for a really, really long time. Well Christmas time rolled around and I had a little bit of spending money, and I found my old Micro-T. I've got a great local hobby shop, and they had a lot of parts for the little truck so I went shopping. I came home with a 7.2v lipo, a brushless esc and motor, 3-wire servo, DT chasis, DT body, threaded front axles and that's about it. I'm currently using the radio from my AE RC18R, which is in rough shape and needs to be replaced. Future upgrades will likely include CF chasis, rear threaded axles, suspension, camber links, and a few aluminum bits.

[Spoon_Tuner]

I want one of those so bad!

The hobby shops in my town have so many parts for those its insane. I don't know about them that much, I am sure I will know more when I get one.

How much did that set you back?

[THE EDJ]

They are pretty simple... so far I've got about $200 into it, but it's an ongoing project. Maybe I can get a video of it sometime soon, but first I need to get a new gear box (this one is screwed).

[snowboi1289]

What are you going to do with the micro-t chassis? Make it into a scream machine (something that goes really fast)?

Good preoject.

[THE EDJ]

Thanks! The problem is that it doesn't really steer worth a crap... I sorta glued the servo arm onto the servo a little crooked, and I can trim them straight, but it's still not 100%. And the steering arms that break all the time... have been replaced with short pieces of fairly thick zip-tie, and needless to say, it's nearly impossible to get the hole symetrical with the tools I have. And like I said, the diff is completely screwed, so I can't even run the thing right now...

[THE EDJ]

BUMP.

I took a few more photo's. The last one shows what I picked up at the Hobby Shop last night. A micro screw driver, a bearing set, new transmission, and a 3Racing carbon fiber chasis! More pics to come as I update the build!

[fieldfairy2]

looking good. lucky, my lhs doesn't have aftermarket micro parts... just losi. Make sure to get a video up. i'll watching for the final product.

[clintr79]

They look like they would be fun brushless.I have a normal micro t and it is fun.I thought about making one red to match my brushless mini t.

[THE EDJ]

I've finally gotten it all assembled, but I seem to be having an issue with the ESC. It only runs for a few seconds and then stops working. The ESC still has power at that point because the "power" light is still on, but there is no throttle response. I'm not sure if the voltage is spiking, or if it's too low, and that's making the automatic cut-off actuate. I also notice a little issue on the ESC board; there apears to be a sloppy solder joint that connects the negative terminal in from the battery and the negative terminal out to the receiver. I'm thinking that may have something to do with it, but it came from the factory like that and I'm not sure I want to mess with it too much in case I might void the warranty or something like that. Anyways, updated pictures. Video to come, if I can sort out the ESC issues.

[THE EDJ]

BUMP. Just a little update.

I ordered some things from atomicmods.com that I couldn't get at my local hobby shop.

Being a mechanical designer, everything I do has a purpose, and the purpose for the this project is to make it as fast as possible. Every modification has been made under that consideration. At this scale weight makes a huge difference, every ounce counts, and every ounce lost results in higher top speed. I've also taken the handling into consideration because anything moving as fast as I'm hoping this will needs to be kept under some semblance of control. Here's a summary of the project thus far. Please feel free to comment!

Go Fast Bits:

Carbon Fiber Chasis(installed): less structure, less weight, more strength over stock (and looks great)
Front Spindle Set (installed): maintenance! Easily remove front wheels with threaded axles.
Sealed Bearings (installed): Lower rolling resistance, allows wheels to spin faster than with plastic bushings.
Aluminum Dogbones (ordered): Lower rotational mass resulting in better acceleration and top end speed.
Aluminum Motor Mount (ordered): Replaces the steel one, aluminum is 1/3 the weight of steel. Also doubles as a heat sink, increasing motor effeciency.
10250 kV brushless motor, brushless ESC: No internal friction, ultra high speed, powerful, brushless is the way to go.
7.2 V LiPo: More power! Makes the motor turn faster, resulting in higher top speed.
AE RC18 Receiver and Radio: A brushless esc requires at least a 3 channel receiver.
S185 High Speed Super Micro Servo: Better control, lighter weight, and also required if running a brushless motor.

Handling Bits:

Oil Shocks (ordered): Adjustability, great dampening, and superb handling.
Lowering Spring Set (ordered): Tuning options with different spring weights, lower ride height for greater stability and control.
Carbon Fiber Steering Links (ordered): High strength, stiff, precise.
Turn Buckle Set (ordered): Further tuning options!


Future Mods:

Wheels and Tires: Lighter than stock wheels would be great, reducing rotational mass and increasing acceleration and top speed.
Threaded Aluminum Rear Axles: The rotational mass thing, along with ease of maintanence.
2.4 GHz Receiver and Radio: The one I have is in rough shape and needs to be replaced.
11.1 V LiPo Battery: More power! I wish I had seen this battery a few weeks ago...

Aside from that, I want to keep as much plastic on the truck as possible (it's much lighter than aluminum), so unless I'm having issues breaking suspension arms, mounts, etc., everything else is going to stay stock.

So far the total cost is around $450 CAD... too bad the real expensive stuff still needs to be purchased...

[fieldfairy2]

At this scale the atomic grease shocks are the best the oil shocks leak all the time. but since the new atomic oils have never been used(so far) i don't know of any reviews. I have the grease shocks and they are great,so are the lowering springs. everything sounds great can't wait for the end.

[TripleXmodder(akaXXX)]

I WANT your micro-T.... that is hot. will you take $50.00. Just kidding, make a video.

[THE EDJ]

Haha, I don't think $50 will cover it haha, unless I charge $400 for shipping! Video will come once all the stuff from atomicmods.com comes in.

[taiwanesekid05]

Wow, peas and rice... If I only had that much money (or a job at least...) All I did to my Micro-T was add one piece of aluminum and put in a BB 2 motor...

Are you going to get a different body, or are you keeping the DT body?

[mytitan]

hey i have a question, i was wondering how your keeping it on the ground with all this speed?,my stock micro r is doing extreme wheelies right out of the box, and thats with the battery under the chassie. and my brothers miro t has a lipo and with a pull of the triger it flips right over.

[amorton94]

Originally Posted by mytitan

hey i have a question, i was wondering how your keeping it on the ground with all this speed?,my stock micro r is doing extreme wheelies right out of the box, and thats with the battery under the chassie. and my brothers miro t has a lipo and with a pull of the triger it flips right over.

are your micro's dt's? the desert trucks have a longer chassis, thus more stable and harder to make wheelie.
awewsome project so far i would love to see this thing in person, and take it for a test spin . i still need to fix mine

[mytitan]

well no i dnt have the longer dt chassie but trust me, a dt wnt wheelie stock,but with all the stuff he has in it it'll flip if u bearley hit the trigger lol i guess u just have 2 b able to control it well and have slow take offs or something. but u realy have done a good job on this project.

[Stampedekid]

Nice job EDJ! I'm sure you won't need too much aluminum because mine is ultra tough with all stock plastic(except the steering spindle by Golden Horizons). BL is great I'm sure you love it as much as I do with mine(until I killed the Transmission.) If you don't mind I'm gonna post a video of mine with BL taking tons of abuse(don't mind my friend and his camera shake, he was worried about dropping my camera.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rh6zSqngR44
*Watch in HD*

[THE EDJ]

I've had it running a couple times, but I still need to fix the sloppy factory solder joint on the ESC (it shuts itself down if I go full throttle... lame). It still does wheelies like crazy and flips over if I turn too fast, but I'm hoping the new suspension and steering components will help take care of that. I've been through one transmission already, so I'm probably gonna grab a couple spares from the LHS to keep as back ups. I need to find a place to race this little sucker, otherwise, whats the point? haha

[THE EDJ]

BUMP.

My parts showed up today, watch this post for updates later this evening (maybe even a short video).