Saddle Pack LiPo
 

researching power sources for unmodified predators i have found what may be only BRCA race legal hardcased and predator compatible LiPo saddle pack -> Robitronics 4600mAh 35c, 68.8 x 44.8 x 23.3mm. washers or similar required to boost height of battery bars, and the 44.8mm width is pushing the boundaries slightly? nevertheless closest feasible from the BRCA list. calculated to 161Amp peak? microtechracing.com c.£73!

just mod it! ;p

YUK! NO!:thumbdown:

can yo use trakpower saddle lipos? i am using 3200's and 4800's . 3200's once you re-drill the chassis to move the post back . the 3200 will drop right in with out shimming the battery posts. i am only running the saddles because i have saddle lipos and no other car i have runs saddles.

The mods are worth it and are really easy. I would think about doing the mods and running a stick pack.

*fingers in ears, singing "i can't hear you!"*

modify your driving!

don't forget that the original predator was designed to have stick pack cells down one side of the car-the saddle pack setup was an evolution due to the weight of the cells.The original car was very difficult to jump well.

Stick pack lipos redress that un balance and the chassis is back being used as it was designed to be usednow.

Break out the dremel and do the mod-your car willbe better for it!

wouldn't a number of strategically placed weights also redress that unbalance? esp as with lipo weights are needed to satisfy competition regulations.

with the stickpack lipo ...

• the car is well balanced left-right
• ... well balanced front-rear
• the new (and much improving) steering parts are a straight fit in.
• it's easier to fit the electronics in on the left side of the car (IMHO)
• ... whenever the new stickpack-chassis comes out (I'm sure it will), there won't be no holes in the bottom of the chassis anymore ... = less dirt, moist, mud, rain, ... getting into the car
• the car has better cornering
• no extra wires, going from one side of the battery to the other side with additional chance of touching the driveshaft
• less chance of faulty wires and less chance of accidental short circuiting.

:)
MOD it! lol ;)

so yeah, not changing the subject at all, Columbo is on TV tomorrow afternoon...

yeah, I've read it too. It's the episode called: "the flying mod" if I'm not mistaken

lol, i understood it was to be the 'Murder by mod in Malibu'...

put your TV Times down, and get your pred modded.:thumbsup:

you know you want to.

demon power 4200 saddles fit (in an x10) if you dremel the front corners of the chassis a bit ... nice cells too. i use two strips of 3/32" x 3/8" brass to space away from the prop shaft.

cheers,

Ian

thanks redones. good to know, though those demons are apparently over a whole millimetre wider! was also looking at LRP 4800 40c which are slightly wider and longer than the robitronics, but c.17% more power!

to be honest the stick conversion only came about because at the time we tested lipos the only saddles that remotley fitted the car were the trackpower 3200 20c ones that were down on power to what stick packs were available. if i remember right adam converted his car first and found we could fit all the stick packs without issue and could still squeeze todays larger electrics in. 3 big + points were found at that point: 1 we had loads more power available to us so could use smoother motors:2 the car was better in the air as it flew more neutral:3 the car developed more mid corner pivot.

since then the saddle pack lipos have obviously improved a lot and may hold more improvments for the car but untill we get a chance to test them we wont know

Ive tried my pred with some corally saddles 4200 35c i think they are..

One thing i noticed straight away was that it jumps much better..

Im just waitng on a couple of bits at the moment to finish of converting the car to sticks.. the main reason for trying sticks is to try out the new orange steering parts...

What difference have people found they have with these new steering parts?? Im hopeing it will cure the lack of mid corner steering!!

Cheers

Nick
:thumbsup:

that is the whole point of the steering arms nick. they tend to smooth out the initial snatch on the car but give more mid corner as well. then you have more adjustment on the front arms rather than fully back no matter what

but if you like your sadle-layout i wouldn't convert the car for sticks, jsut for the new steering parts.

Eventually we had to mod the original steering parts to be able to mount them on the left side.
I guess you could easely mod those new parts to be able to mount them on the right side of the car ... and keep running with your sadle-lipo's

modding those steering parts is just a question of dremeling a bit of material away! no biggy

As most of the team drivers are running sticks as i might as well try it in stick layout?

Ive not got the car in front of me... but is it possible to run the orange parts as per kit in saddle layout.. or are the angles of said new parts in the o.e set up different to how they would be in stick set up?

Cheers

Nick
:thumbsup:

ah, so... if those corally 4200 35c (presumably the 2009 brca/efra legal ones) fit, chances are the LRP 4800 40c (192 Amp!? 280g) are good to go fit wise...!
:thumbsup:

the difference is that the new parts are meant to be mounted on the left side of the car, where ... when you drive sadle-packs, you have no room to mount a servo ...

unless you use a stickpack, on the right side of the car and thus mount all the electronics on the left side

Ive looked at the car, someone correct me if im wrong, but the orange steering parts will not work if mounted as the o.e set up, thats with the servo on the opposite side to the motor..

Cheers

Nick

That's right, to use them with saddle packs you would need to modify them.
They were design for the stick pack chassis.

Nick, if you read previous posts, you'll see that this is mentioned and explained allready previously

LOL! Thank you for that... couldnt see anything obvious im afraid.. well other than kevs post below which was just after yours.. lol thanks for confirming Kev :thumbsup:

Just to add though i dont think it would be possible to modify the orange parts (flipping arms over)..by trying to modify i reckon you would make the arms too weak by countersinking the little screws into the parts to clear the chassis.. If you just turned round, if you look at the side where the servo arm connects and then distance between the other arms it is different so the geometry wouldnt be right...??

tried a few rough mockups of possible fits, found the lrp 4800s to be a lil too wide - like 2mm! - because of the prop' shaft... :thumbdown: still thinking the robitronics are a go, same with non-brca-legal softpack lrp 5100s... gonna try realistic mockups to be sure though...

yup, I think so too.
and flipping over is indeed, not an option. The geometry will not be the same.
That's why, when I modded the original (blue) steering parts for use on the other side, I did not dremel a new countersink-part, or only a very thin part. I didn't want to weaken the parts, as you noticed.

The fact of not having the full "countersink" was not really a problem. The parts (ball, screw) were no tight fit as before but the are mounted firmly and without a problem.
And there were no issues in losing strength.

All I did actually was remove a part from the bottom-side, so that i was able to mount it on the other side of the car.
IMHO the same must be possible with the new steering parts.

http://www.ludodg.com/RC/albums/Pred...s/img_0990.jpg

Hope this can help you.