that angle aluminum you're using looks very thin.... there might be quite a bit of flex there..?

not going to use that...really was a tester i have think aluminum that ill be using but i want to place the motor above the center diff towards the rear and then have a battery on both sides i'll snap some pics of this in a little...but yes that L aluminum has way too much flex i could pull it back and forth lol

Motor over diff = easily do-able: Clicky

exactly i want to do that cause it'll be so cool

that's a clean install

The only issue I fore-see is that the rear chassis braces bolt onto the chassis right behind the center diff, so you may need a rather funky motor mount that bridges over that area, and bolts to the chassis with some new holes that could be drilled, then bolt it to the existing center diff too for extra security. Should be able to work something suitable out though, and I hope you do, since I really like the look of the Mantis too for a conversion....

A second way to place your batteries on both sides would be to turn your center diff by 180 degrees so that the spur now faces the front axle and place your motor on the opposite side of your steering servo. This might give you a better front/rear balance. But battery pack length will determine if you can do it this way (mine measure 135mm/5.31in lenghtwise).

Here are 2 pics how i started my Mantis conversion: pic1 and pic2

. I posted my conversion with videos of its maiden in this thread.
. A Video of the same setup running on snow with eagletree Data inserts can be found in this thread.

After having some issues with a loose endbell on my Neu 1512 motor i installed a Neu 1515/2Y motor which has even more torque.
. Video showing performance on asphalt
. video showing performance on gras
. Latest video driving on my favorite bashing space

After more then 220 runs with the brushless Mantis i can safely say it's a good brushless truggy platform but it has its weak spots like every car. I now run my truggy without rear wing because it can put too much stress (when cartwheeling or falling on its wing) on the weak shock tower mount. I already replaced it five times: pic1 (with german description), pic2 (broken piece)

Check your diffs and shim them properly. Brushless motors without a clutch put a lot of stress (instant torque) especially on your rear diff.

Looking forward to see your conversion pics. Your suggested brushless components will for sure be more adequate for a race track.

I'm thinking of doing the same thing with my hyper7, I'll give up a bit of the center of gravity to have an even balance and much cleaner setup...

othello i actully did that because while cutting the metal i cut too much off but had enough left width wise to mount and so the motor is towards the front!

pics:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...tFinalLayo.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...ctFinalL-1.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...ctFinalL-2.jpg

updates tommorow

yea o this truck is plagued by that...but since i've tried to sell/trade so many times without success i said i may as well do a brushless 1/8th since i've been wanting one and i've had the 10xl for a very long time i am hoping to have everything installed tommorow except for my steering servo which i'll have to wait a little on..but i wanna show it to my team mates even though i know they'll talk trash haha(you're weird.....get a jammin.....sell that....) haha things i always here! but yea more complete pics up tommorow

Looking good so far. Make sure your motor doesn't flex when pushing the rear end from left to right or top to bottom. Otherwise your pinion and spur will wear out quickly. What center diff bulks did you use? Still using the mantis center diff? You really have to secure the enbell of your Feigao (RCMonster heatsink for example). The endbell of my Neu 1512 loosened itself after some frontal crashes with the motor placed in the same position. The second drawback with this motor position is dirt/stones projected directly on the motor. You might want to think about some kind of mud guard to protect your motor (especially the bearing of your endbell).

Let them talk trash ... when they see it accelerating they might want to throw their nitro motors in the trash right away :mdr:.

haha yea i race nitro with them but i don't always feel like dealing with that...yea i need an rc monster clamp for the motor...and thanks for the tips and input...getting ready to go out there right now and put the finishing touches

oh almost forgot that's a jammin buggy center diff....don't have the original mounts anymore...i'll see how it works it might not go so well if that's the case i'll find a way to mount the 52 spur again...using the same bulks....

more pics:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...ctFinalL-4.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...ctFinalL-3.jpg

temporary layout for running arond the yard everything needs to be more secure for off-road...

this thing glitches going away from me but runs fine coming towards me..is that because of the fm(synthersized radio?)

Propably the way you have your wires ran, try getting the servo/esc wires away from the motor wires. Also move the antenna as far away from the esc/motor as possible. If that doesn't do the trick try putting a small capacitor (10v 330uf) on the power wires to a servo or if you have an unused 3rd channel port in your reciever and a spare servo connector you can build a "plug in" capacitor too.

I've never seen if fix a glitch but braiding the motor wires is supposed to cancel some of the RFI (radio frequency interferience).

if you were to get spektrum im sure everything would change.