ruf, what are the wheels in the top right corner of the "parts" photo? You really need the 3racing motor mount seeing as you've blinged it up so much. The stock Tamiya one looks far too umm, functional is the nicest way to describe it I think.

yeah, but if you buy the 3Racing motor mount, you can't screw the heat sink plate on the bottom of the chassis to it... it then just becomes a plate...

I think they are JConcepts wheels.

JConcepts Rulux wheels for B44. I've been trying to adapt them to fit so I can run common wheels and tires with the XX-4, but no avail so far. Need to thin down the rear drive pins. I can't find any Tamiya front hexes in stock, so I can't tell if the fronts will work or not. The B44 wheels have deeper hex area. I may just run Tamiya wheels and be done with it. I'd like to keep the car TCS legal which also means building up a set of Tamiya turnbuckles later on for official races if the tech gets that serious.

I actually REALLY like the blasted/cast aluminum finish on the motor mount. Tamiya has a blue one and it's significantly lighter, but I don't think we need to lose weight in this car with the lipo.

Good build Ruf - more pics as you have them! :) The chassis is one part I'd like for mine.

The wheels are JConcepts rulux - I use these on my Durga but you DO need to drill out some B44 hexes which isn't entirely easy since they are easy to break whilst drilling. Once done it's all good though and I've run the JConcepts wheels on the durga and 501X

I screwed the rear wheels down tight - no problem. You posted before I'd finished my previous reply to the thread but to confirm - you need b44 hexes for the front wheels - they ARE better than tamiya wheels though, much stronger. I always run a oneway and it's nice to have such strong wheels that don't strip.

I'm just worried about the pins widening the slots in the wheels and making them loose for use on the XX-4. I figure thinning them down a little will be easy insurance.

edit: Just drilled the fronts and bolted the rears on. Works great! Figured there's more slop in the drivetrain than in the wheel pin.

Ahhhhh, I didn't realise that. I'm half way through my rebuild into a carbon chassis and have installed my.....3Racing motor mount :thumbdown: which I had in the car since January this year.

So I guess that's another part to throw in the box labelled "Spares To Keep In Case There's A Worldwide Shortage But Will Probably Never Use"

Cheers for the info anyway. Now, where can I get me the official Tamiya version?

I need a little refresher...

After another one of my spectacular high speed crashes which tear off a front arm and bend an arm shaft nicely, I'm usually changing an arm mount also since the plastic is somewhat 'torn'. I have them shimmed as well. If I was to get the aluminum suspension mounts, would they stay in pristine shape after such an impact, or should I just stick with 'A-tree' and 'damper stay' plastic mounts?

Great thread BTW, helped the most with my Durga.

The alloy mounts are on the whole a good idea. However, it depends on which end you hit at the time, speed angle etc. The front mount is covered by the bumper so it doesn't get scuffed (mine is OK after several smashes) and as the mount is the stronger part any impact gets passed down the line so it shouldn't get "torn" like the plastic kit one.

The rear one on my car has a few grazes from hitting the deck on hard landings as it is not as well protected by the rear bumperette.

As a compromise why not try the carbon reinforced A-parts? That way you get stiffer gearbox tops too. I have some and the suspension mounts seem a lot less flexible than the stock ones. Same for the M-parts but I am undecided on these so far. At present they are fitted to my car but I haven't raced with them yet and if I crash as heavily as last year off the jumps I fear the rear mount may shatter. The good (and bad) point about the kit part is that it flexes a little so it tends to withstand a lot of abuse.

the reason you tear them, is that the long brace bends on a heavy impact, so no matter how much shimming you got in there.... your going to pull that arm out. I am not saying you won't pull a pin on the Alloy mounts, but your going to need a much more significant impact.

Since fitting the ally blocks to Shorty's Durga he hasn't popped or broken an arm or any other part of the suspension.

He did break a rear stub axle at the F3's but that probably had more to do with the gorilla grip mechanic...:blush:

you ham fisted grease monkey :woot:

Thanks for the thoughts. The latest order is for some carbon 'A' trees, so that should take care of breaking the diff cover (only happened once so far) when using the regular uprights I think. Kind of peeved as I lost one of my metal suspension balls in the last crash, kind of expensive vs. the A tree ball. I'll see how the carbon suspension mounts stand up to my driving, I dont want to spend a lot on aluminum mounts and then have them messed up. Of course not having 45mph crashes into fixed objects might help some too :woot:

Ouch!! But then I'd like to see a B44 or an XX4 that hit a solid object at full chat to see how it compares. Hmmm, I wonder if there is a category for RC cars in the EuroNCAP tests :lol:. Durga would get a 5 star rating me thinks.

My front suspension mount (behind the bumper) has broken twice so far on the track. Both times it was due to head on collisions. The first was the stock plastic mount, the second was the carbon reinforced mount - So my latest purchase was the aluminum mount. Hopefully this will do the trick.

On the plus side; no other parts were affected or damaged when the suspension mounts broke :lol:

I almost lost a stock suspension ball after the last crash. Amazingly, I was able to find it on the dirt track. Talk about needle in a haystack.

I'd be curious how a carbon fiber car would hold up also. Those B44's seem to have a stout drive train, but the Durga's plastic seems like it would last longer with impacts, so I'll keep it.

Speaking of missing suspension balls...I had to make one out of a shock mount ball that came with my aeration damper kit. Silly me tossed out the origional plastic balls thinking "now I'm set, I got the metal ones". Not when it goes flying, lol.

I remember someone posting that the TA05 hingepins were longer? They are 3x46mm, the same as the DB01 front hingepins. The DB01 rear hingepins are 3x48.5mm. I just ordered some 3x49.7mm titan coated hingepins. Might have to shave them a little.

For those people that have changed the locknut in the diff's; Did you get the tamiya blue ones, or another make all together?

Are people having issues with the diff locknuts?

I can't find anything about a Tamiya Hop-Up motor mount anywhere and I neeeeed to see one (sorry if I seem to be obsessed, its because I am!!!).
Where can I find one please.

Wossa blue locknut then? I've got loads of the stock kit screws and locknuts, didn't realise there was any problem with them other than potential weakness due to the weedy size. I wouldn't have thought an anodised nut would help there at all. It really ought to be a thicker setscrew like the one off a B4 or something IF it is a problem.

More rebuilding tonight and I had crossed my fingers that my kit rear diff was going to be salvagable but only the screw, spacer, spring and thrust bearing could be reused. The diff rings have been badly scored by the balls which have in turn chewed into the pulley and the outdrives have torn into the plastic sideplates too :(. I didn't realise a 5.5 brushless could inflict that much damage, especially with a slipper being fitted. On the upside the front diff is like new :drool:.

I'm pretty sure I got my Durga fairly bulletproof and high-speed controllable after the last few days of running it around. Powered by a GTB/5.5r/lipo. Ceramic diff balls, slipper at 4.5mm using Associated pads and spring (lots quieter and more grab), 501x belt 'tensioner', and the aeration shocks. I'm sticking with kit-sized tires, going with some Proline Dirthawgs resulted in a ripped belt (the extra 10mm or so diameter and added grip is too much it seems on the drivetrain when on clean asphalt). I also shimmed the steering where needed (center link), along with some O-rings on the joints to rid the thing of any slop. And to make sure random bumps on the road dont send it on a cartwheeling trajectory, a Futaba G190 gyro takes care of better driving than I am capable of :lol:. (it really does work too, the only thing is you need to max out the radio EPA to get full turns while moving)

Now here's the issue...I want it faster! I'm geared at 17/91 for 11:1 ratio, right on Novak's recommendation for this motor. I tried 18/91, went a bit faster it seemed, but also seemed a bit soft as well along with maybe hotter after running it (finger-powered temp guage). Didnt bother testing out 19/91, seemed like 18/91 was already going the wrong way.

I'd go with a 4.5...but the speed calculator I'm using only says about 4 or 5 miles per hour more using Novak's gearing recommendations of 12:1 for that motor, which I'm inclined to follow for the time being.

So that leaves a Velociti 3.5r, a smoking 10500kv motor, the speed calculator says it should be good for around another 10 mph assuming a 13.3 gearing using a 14 tooth gear, and sort of follows the Novak gearing progression.

But Novak doesnt recommend a 3.5r in a 4x4 buggy...why? Is it heat or a lack of torque, or just they are assuming that a real racer might be using it and not some guy that wants to see how fast he can make his car fly? What do you guys think about my 3.5r idea in a Durga? Seen any 3.5's and how did they run? My main goal is something that can be run all the time and capable of ridiculus speeds, not just a gear it up until it blows and thermals all over the place type of machine.

$80 :o

All of a sudden I like the stock mount a lot more than I did before. $50 max I could stand, $80 is just crazy.

The gearing thing on the Durga is always fun :thumbdown:.

I ran an LRP Vector 5.5 which they recommend is run at 13:1 on high grip tracks and 14:1 on low grip. According to the helpful oOple gear chart, on a 91/37 spur/dif combination there is no exact match but a 14 or 13 tooth pinion should get the job done. It didn't for me, I ended up with a motor too hot to go near let alone touch. I had started on a 16t originally and worked my way down. To be honest I may have an iffy motor. I've given up with it now and gone to a 12 x 2 brushed motor and I'll see how that works out.

I run a 5.5 on 9.8:1 and that worked fine!

What's the internal ratio for the Durga anyway? Anyone?

2.056

Cheers for that.

Hmm, I guess I could throw in that 19T in there to test it out. Worth 5mph and I think I should be able to see more clearly if there is an issue or not compared to 17T as it is a larger 'step' up in the gearing compared to the 18T I tried.

Motor Mount
 

Just wait a bit for the part to appear on Ebay or keep an eye on www.stellamodels.net. They have some of the best prices on DB-01 hop-ups I have found. It will likely be half the cost of Tamiya's full retail price.

The other option is the aluminum Motor Mount from 3Racing: http://www.stellamodels.net/catalog/...oducts_id=3309

Not sure how it compares to the Tamiya part, but most people I have talked to said the 3Racing parts are very good quality except for thier DB-01 shock kit. Stick with the Tamiya TRF shock kit if you are going to upgrade the shocks.

I think you've come onto the post a bit late dimblum, or perhaps I was a bit non-specific. I've already got a 3Racing mount and true it is very nice, especially for the price I paid from Stella back in January. The "but" is - as I learnt from DCM's post a page back - you can't bolt the Tamiya plate type heatsink to it (when using the carbon chassis). It's only got one hole missing and I suppose if I had the tools to drill and tap it I could but I don't so I can't :thumbdown:.

Looks like 19T pinion with a Novak 5.5R might actually be good, if the ambient temperature is not too high. I broke down and purchased a half-way decent IR thermometer, threw in the 19T pinion, and did some beating on the car behind work (dusty/clean asphalt). Mostly full throttle and accelleration, max end temp after making a 5000mah lipo go somewhat soft was 175F. Ambient temp of 74F. Still need to check out a couple passes at my top speed testing area to see how much faster it seems and temperatures, but I think it should be ok.

FWIW, those new tires I put on arent so new anymore :D

glad it worked out there for you fella, gearing wise.... I think the companies are gearing on the side of caution, but with the motor revving it's tits off all the time, it really builds up the heat!

Add one more vote for getting CVD's on this car. After the suspension fell apart after some speed tests (a home-made temporary suspension ball failed) it was refreshing seeing the CVD actually attached to the car after it dragged itself back. Sure was nice not going a block away to hunt the dogbone, glad I just got them :thumbsup:

Diff question
 

Eeeeek, run out of Tamiya ball diff grease after building one diff, would it be OK to use normal silicone grease for the other one????

how did you manage that?? I have done about 6 diffs and got plenty left

Er, I think I used a bit too much? Not sure how much you are supposed to use, I suppose someone will say you only use a tiny amount huh?

I have scraped a lot of surplus off with my knife but not enough for another diff, so is silicone grease usable?

I guess you could reuse it. You don't want excess lube, it just attracts dirt. I just squeeze a little into the bag holding the diff balls and maybe a light coat on the rings.

yes, use your other silicone grease. Don't put too much on (!) because it could well fly off and 'infect' your belts with the dreaded slipping disease.