Who has raced the monkey

[danny the elfman]

Hey, just want to ask who has raced the mad monkey and whats it like, is competitive against the more expensive cars like the b4? (im buying the kit not rtr) And what wheel fitting is it because i have loads of pin drive wheels?

[daz]

Ive run mine at rhr on a wednesday night in a few practice sessions and its just as quick as everything else. Ive changed the shocks to losi ones, fitted ceramic diff balls (this is a must). Ball raced it, titanium turnbuckles. And fitted Associated hubs so i can run B4 wheels. So its now not a cheap car, but you could probably get away with just doing a few upgrades to make it competitive.

[danny the elfman]

thanks, could you give me a link to the ceramic balls, And what wheel fitment was it?

[daz]

You will need 3/32" balls i got mine off ebay, look up budfish on here and he does them as well. As for the wheel fitment i only did this cos i have loads of Associated wheels and the parts needed to do the conversion. This is not really necessary as the Madmonkey wheels are just fine and can be bought cheaply.

[billyboy9002]

the wheel fitment is 12mm hex, budfish ceramic balls are very good as i use them in mine, or you could try rc bearings they do the bearings and ceramics balls for a good price

hope this helps

[danny the elfman]

how many diff balls does it use, rcbearings sells them one at a time at 99p, so i need to know how many to get

[billyboy9002]

....

[billyboy9002]

you need 12 buddy

[danny the elfman]

thanks mate. One last thing i promise, is there any alloy parts for it? Ive heard there not the strongest out of the box (but why would it be) What spec can i get it up to, because i know the madrat could be extremily modded.

[billyboy9002]

http://www.tcmodels.net/index.php?pa...hk=1&Itemid=71

check this site out, a lot cheaper than in the uk but postage is a bit steap so place a big order for stuff and it works out better, plus you normally get it in 4 days, also ask them to mark down postage,

the monkey is the same as the tco2 from team c

c hubs, front arm mount,servo mounts, hex hubs,front hinge pin,rear block, rear hub, f & r shock towers, turnbuckles, 28t gear x 2, big bores, motor mount, rear brace mount, rear arm mount, i believe all these parts will fit, if you want me to double check anything just ask

you dont need all this stuff, all i have in mine is ceramic balls, fully ballraced and losi shocks as the kit ones are cr*p

hope it helps

[racingdwarf]

Hi, I am starting to have a play with a mad monkey,It's a great car, but I had a b4 that I have used a lot of parts off, so far fitted FT shocks, FT turnbuckles,B4 front axels so I can run B4 wheels,replaced std diff balls. On the back I use losi drive shafts so I can share my 22 wheels.I have also replaced all the screws with better quality. On my home track it is very good but yesterday I tried it at a regional track that was more of and 8th track than tenth,broke a rear hub carrier first lap without hitting anything,then the Idler gear went....so I gave up.BUT the lap times it did do were faster than my 22...intresting.

TBH it's a false econamy, as to make the car work well and be strong enough you have to replace a fair bit,so realy better to get the X2C I think it is as it comes with better parts

you don't get champane at orange juce prices

[adamjimny]

i have raced a monkey and to start off just ball race it and upgrade the shocks if possible but try it and go from there i raced bog standard one and won a b final at my local club but melted the bushings so ball race it and test. iv never upgraded the diff balls just changed the grease and smooth as silk. the idea is its a cheap car to race rather than end up spending the same as a more expensive car.

tbh i prefer how the madrat/xpro handles as i didnt like the feel of mid motor but thats just me

[danny the elfman]

thanks for the replies again. That link for tc models, how many of those parts are specially for/ or fit the monkey

[billyboy9002]

all the ones i listed will fit, if you want me to check before you place your order pm me a list and the part numbers and i will double check for you

[danny the elfman]

cool, thanks mate

[Tom3012]

You have to remember its a budget starter car... The options are there as and when you feel the need for them... If you want to go racing then the bearings and shocks are a must IMO, ceramic balls are nice to have and will increase the time between diff rebuilds but are not essential.

Alloy -

While all the alloy options make the car look nice you have to remember that if you strengthen an area with alloy you make different plastic parts more suseptable to breaking.. So swings and round abouts here.

Ive been running the x2c now since around christmas and its been spot on.. Optional parts im using are as follows:

- big bore shocks
- alloy rear hubs
- custom rear tower (availability wasnt great when i broke it so i made my own)

All of these parts are just things i wanted rather than needed


If you have any questions please do drop me a pm and ill help in whichever way i can... Set ups etc

Regards, Tom

[Essexboyracer]

I've done a few meetings with my Monkey. I managed to win my last off-road meeting with it, but was a bit lucky my main competitor had a tire come off.

Anyway, all I've done so far is get a set of rubber sealed ball races from rcbearings, added a fair bit of weight centrally (50g or so?) and I've fitted my old schumacher shocks.

It seems to jump well, and apart from breaking one front wishbone (nearly full speed into a plank of wood.. doh) I have had no issues.

The only thing I'd like to upgrade is the idler gears, as I've seen fellow racers melt them. I have backed off the punch on my speedo slightly, and have had no issues so far, in fact I've not opened the gearbox since I've had it.

Finally, the diff seems to need to be slighty tightened from time to time but all in all, great car for the money!