First tune ups for stock B4 rtr

[farmboy]

Hi !

I have an RTR B4 and was wondering that the first things to change / hop-up should be? I've changed the tyres for spikes which made a massive indoors at the York club. What should be my next priority?

[Col]

You don't need to change anything else straight away.
Sooner or later the electrics will need changing for better stuff, and probably the driveshafts as well, although I might be wrong on that.
Good luck Jerry and enjoy a proper buggy!!

[jhammond]

As Col said, the main thing to consider is Electronics, this is normally where the most noticeable gain comes.



Julius.

[sparrow.2]

Your first investment if you want to race should be a spring kit and maybe some damper pistons and a selection of shock oil in 25wt, 30wt and 35wt.

If the car has bushings these need changing to ballraces as all parts will last you a lot longer.

The only other things you might want are cheap stuff like sticky-backed lead weights to balance the cars handling and maybe a bigger rear wing which can come in handy on some tracks if you're struggling to find grip.

Apart from that just run it and keep it clean, it'll last you longer then.

[b4pete]

If its an RTR, you NEED the FT Shocks (someone has some for sale on here)
Even tho im crap, I got some and the difference is incredible! (plus you have more scope for adustments
Then all you need is battery strap thumbscrews (the r clips keep falling out of mine, due to the amount of wipe outs probably!) and you want an alloy front wishbone pin brace and bulkhead.
when movin on to electrics, the first thing for the bin should be that servo, its pants!

[sparrow.2]

The R clips are fine, just screw in the mounting screws some more so you have to push down the strap a little to put the clip in. You could also try turning the screws so the clips go in from the side instead of from the front or back. Stops them coming out if you ram loads of stuff

As for the shocks, they will be just fine for the time being with the money better spent on tyres, a decent speedo/motor combo and 2 or 3 good lipos and the charger to go with the lipos. The only real "advantage" of the FT shocks is they look trick and might last a little longer between rebuilds.

The aluminium front brace is not really a necessary upgrade really either. Without the aluminium your bulkhead is more likely to break, with the aluminium your wishbones are more likely to snap. The bulkhead is cheaper

Not much point in pimping out an RTR in my opinion as you can pick up a decent team car (one down from the FT) for as little as 50 quid second hand, which is a fiver more than what most people want for they FT shocks.
You could then break up the RTR for spares or sell it on when the time comes.

Don't spend money on bling that doesn't make any difference to the cars handling. Getting you basic setup right and practising your nuts off will make you a hell of a lot quicker than tossing money at your car!

[Mike Hudson]

There' s no need to buy anything for it just yet... best thing to do is come down to the club and see what setups & extras the more experienced drivers are running, I'm more than happy to help with that I'm there most weeks and ran a B4 plenty there

The only things you might find is the standard steel turnbuckles tend to bend quite easily in crashes so most upgrade to the factoryteam titanium versions.

The standard driveshaft dogbones tend to pop out sometimes aswell so getting the cvd driveshafts will elimate that problem if you come across it.

Anything else like factoryteam shocks are just for ease of setups & you don't need any of the alloy bits unless your having alot of breakages or like to be pimp

As said above the electronics make the most significant difference when upgrading bits like a faster servo & more powerfull speed controller & motor.

[rob m]

i ran a rtr then got a cheap ft version second hand,used the ft thinking itl be better,couldnt say i noticed,only things id change on actual car is swap steel turnbuckles for ti ones(steel ones snap easy),swap bushess in diff for bearings,and upgrade drive shafts,if you pop a rear balljoint its a pain finding standard drive shaft,as for electrics upgrade as driving improves, oh and when you upgrade servo make sure its metal gear one as you will find with time the servo saver is a bit naff.

[farmboy]

Blimey! Thanks for the all the replies. It'll take me a while to read them all but the overall gist seems to be that straight away I don't need to worry too much and should just get used to the car before starting to tinker.

Thanks very much for the advice!

[TonyM]

Having recently started I made the stupid mistake of swapping shock towers etc for aluminium (bling). Don't do this they just bend. I've now gone back to the good old plastic parts.

The one big difference I found was when I swapped my brushed for brushless setup. Much smoother and no maintenance.

[b4pete]

Originally Posted by TonyM

Having recently started I made the stupid mistake of swapping shock towers etc for aluminium (bling). Don't do this they just bend. I've now gone back to the good old plastic parts.

The one big difference I found was when I swapped my brushed for brushless setup. Much smoother and no maintenance.

The only thing if going brushless in the RTR, i would say change the bushes in the gearbox for bearings...hang on, i best order some

[Richard Lowe]

Lots of good advice so far

The main thing when you first start is getting round the track without mistakes, then you can start thinking about making the car faster

I'll be at York this week if you need any help, I don't bite!

[MantaMan76]

Hello TonyM,

What Brushless set up have you got in your B4????

[TonyM]

In my B4 I'm currently running Losi Xcelorin S with 6.5T. Very good and reliable.

However, I've recently bought a B44 and for that installed the LRP SXX TC ESC. I was very pleased with its very low profile and so have just bought an SXX Competitiion ESC for my B4 and this week I reluctantly sold my Losi gear.

If you want a good brushless set up for less thn £140 you can't beat the Losi Xcelorin. A SXX Competition + X12 motor will cost almost double that but the main advantage for me is the very low profile ESC - not nudging the roof of the body and not requiring a fan.

[MantaMan76]

Which is better for off road sensored or sensorless?

[TonyM]

I've never run sensorless, so can't judge. The more experienced drivers at my club always state that for off-road sensored is the way to go to eliminate cogging issues (stuttering on acceleration) - so I've just followed their advice.

[MantaMan76]

Thanks TonyM!