SO I finished it the other day, ran like a bat out of hell. I have some bald tires I use for concrete, turns out this thing has a little too much power, or the Raze was cheap for a reason... Like I said above I am not too worried about the life of this buggy so... Live and learn. I already ordered the upgraded steel helical diff rings and pinions for this and the rear diff, figured I would do both since this will most likely just reoccur in the rear next time I fire her up. Pretty fun though, geared pretty lightly and she screams on a straight with 4s. I like the set up, runs cool, and I haven't even added the motor heatsink/fan that was included yet.

Pics:
http://img01.imagefra.me/img/img01/2...2m_b54c290.jpg
http://img40.imagefra.me/img/img40/2...3m_72c3d0b.jpg

And the shredded diff and pinion:
http://img39.imagefra.me/img/img39/2...7m_47f569f.jpg
http://img02.imagefra.me/img/img02/2...8m_68a7c44.jpg

Good carnage ! Same thing happend to me after I bought a used mbx-5T. Forgot to check the diffs for propper shimming...shame on me..stock diffs were fine for nitro, but then I go ahead and add a 5s 2200kv ccneu powerplant and they stood no chance.

is that sand or metal shavings in the diff cases??? you might want to pick up some RTV and seal those up as well

I thought I had it shimmed pretty well but apparently something still gave.

Those are definitely metal shavings. Haven't been in any sand yet. All the grease you see is marine grease. I placed it around the bearings and diff ring/pinion to prevent sand and water entering.

I heard somewhere that these rings might be cast aluminum they seem pretty hard though but that might have been part of the problem.

I have also read that the Duratrax Raze is almost a clone of the Ofna hyper 7 so perhaps I have access to some stronger parts with the Ofna line if needed.

Your were probably reading my thread. :)

the raze diffs are pot metal- go with the hyper 7 gears and you wont have to worry about it.

:)

-Ben

I went with this:
http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXMKJ5&P=7
http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXMKJ4&P=7

Do you still have that outrunner raze?

Finished her this morning and spent a full charge on it with out a single problem. Was a bit wet outside so it made it fun for lots of drifting on the bald tires. Next up, sand!
http://img37.imagefra.me/img/img37/2...8m_28f1863.jpg

Thats cool! My son runs a converted raze with RC Monster motor mount, homemade battery tray. Hes 6 years old. Hes running the 1900kv Hobby City motor on 3s on my backyard track.

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y11...C/IMG_8985.jpg

LOL I need an updated picture because I now have a traxxas slash radio box glued down instead of the rubber dart.

He hasnt blown up any diffs yet but when he does, Ill go with hyper 7 gears.. Thanks for that info! Nice build and keep us updated on how it does in the sand.

Looks good. I like the set up, more room with the battery up front for the ESC. I thought about that for a while but ended up sticking with my origonal set up. It is also nice to see that there are others out there with converted Razes. They were pretty popular for the price.

I imagine that you won't be needing to replace the diff ring any time soon only running 3s. 3s is probably the right speed for your little boy though anyway so more power to you.

Got any pictures of it with the body on?

I got one of those mini cams from HobbyPartz.com and took some video of the maiden sand voyage. Hope you like the buggy going back and forth otherwise don't bother watching...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IH8qcTQohS4