XT8 & MMM - 1st Impressions
 

Well, I got my MMM from Mike yesterday and got right to work. First I had to build a platform for the MMM and I did that out of CF as shown in the first pictures. Then soldered everything together before heading to the track - here's what it looked like:

http://i189.photobucket.com/albums/z...PLatform02.jpg

http://i189.photobucket.com/albums/z...Platform03.jpg

http://i189.photobucket.com/albums/z...8/IMG_3480.jpg

http://i189.photobucket.com/albums/z...8/IMG_3479.jpg

http://i189.photobucket.com/albums/z...8/IMG_3478.jpg

http://i189.photobucket.com/albums/z...8/IMG_3475.jpg

So, after getting it all set up and programmed - we went to the track to test it out. The results were excellent. I'm running a 6s NeuEnergy pack and a Neu 1515 1100kv motor and it ran perfectly. My gearing doesn't allow for the 40mph speed I was after, but it got up to about 35 or so on the track. Still pretty good and easy to fix.

Now for the downside. After a few crashes here and there we heard something loose inside. Here's what we saw when we pulled it off the track:

http://i189.photobucket.com/albums/z...8/IMG_3482.jpg

http://i189.photobucket.com/albums/z...8/IMG_3481.jpg

I put it back together and even put a couple spots of super glue on it, but it kept happening. Last night I took it out and did a full bead of super glue around the contact points so I think it will work fine now - we'll see. Just something for you all to be aware of in your planning.

Your truck looks nice. A lot of people complain about ESC being in a bag and all, but sometimes it makes sense. I would've thought Castle would also secure it with screws so situations like this won't happen. When you run it again, wrap some electrical tape where the 2 halves of the case meet. A zip tie or Velcro would also work if you can get it under the ESC tray you have there.

Thanks - I have to say I love the XT8. It's way better than my old CRT. Turn in and handling are incredible.

And about the electrical tape or velcro, actually the base tray of the esc stayed put. It was the separation of the MMM casing that was the problem. Hopefully my superglue job on the casing last night will take care of it.

Looks great! Glad to hear it is running well. If it continues to separate wrap a zip tie around it, it will not come off again.

If you look closely at this picture you can see the black zip tie I put around mine.
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y17...M-Day/mmm3.jpg

Yeah, I suppose I could do that. However you would think that the casing would hold it's integrity together - more like the MM. I feel pretty good that the superglue will do the trick, but I'll keep you posted.

Thanks for the compliments!

glad to see it's finally worth the wait! speaking of waiting, i still don't have mine back yet for the conversion - but hope to soon. i bought the kit back in november 07. :lol:

i see you added the aluminum rear chassis brace - did you get a chance to run the stock brace first? just curious about how much it changes handling.

Why did you take the labels off? There are 8 snaps, but the label helps keep everything together in hard impacts...

I meant to say use the electrical tape on the Monster's casing to hold it together. Superglue works too :lol:.

Actually no - I bought it from a guy that had run it just a few times and it came with that as well as all of the other upgrades. Things like the aluminum hinge pins and captured conversion, aluminum uprights and steering blocks, hub extenders for 0 offset, and a few other nice touches. I love this truck!

Hey Patrick! Well, the reason I took it off was because the adhesive on the sticker and the texture of the plastic casing were not a comfortable fit for me. The sticker comes off very easily and I didn't feel it would be a good contact surface for holding down my investment.

See, I was going to use servo tape on the bottom of the MMM casing to the CF tray I built. And when I investigated the sticker that wrapped the bottom of the casing it wasn't a really firm adhesive. A bond is only as good as the surface it's applied to, and it just wasn't comfortable for me.

Hmm, that's not good... those labels should bond REALLY well to the polycarbonite case. I'll have production check to make sure there isn't any release agent on the cases we have in stock.

Yeah, I peeled mine off very easily and it left no adhesive on the plastic. Wasn't strong at all. Otherwise I would have no problem keeping it on there. I was worried that in warm weather it would get even worse. Anyway, thanks for being accessible here Patrick!

Hey Sower...that there sig line of yours is out of date. :yes:

I suppose you're right!! I'll get right on it :yes:

Don't let lincpimp see your picture, he might add a dress on the photo :lol:. Great looking NSX.

Actually he was talking about my "Monster Max Soon" part. It's changed now.

Sorry :lol:.

Great looking XT8, what kind of runtime are you getting? and also, what is your gearing?

Thanks!:mdr:

So the casin'gs polycarbonite? Nice! As long as the two halves hold together well, then that should really take a beating. I just received my MMM in the mail today, and I'm very impressed with the quality of the casing.

Sower, it's good to hear that your Monster's running well! Seems that everyone who's run one so far has commented on how cool and smooth it runs. Can't wait to run mine. :-)

I was actually impressed as to how well the sticker was stuck on my MMM. I have some incredibly strong 3m double sided tape which can be an absolute pain if you stick it in the wrong spot. Anyway I was pulling my esc off my truck which was held down by double sided tape and I honestly thought the MMM casing was going to break. I kept using more force (a stupid thing to do really) and finally the sticker gave. It took a huge amount of force though. The sticker didn't rip either which was also fairly impressive.

Thanks - my gearing is 15/48 right now. Haven't tested it enough to know run time. First time out was just a test of all the components. When the casing issue started to happen I called it quits and haven't been back out yet.

I had the same problem with my Sidewinder, I took the labels off because all the double sided tape I tried did not stick to the labels. I posted questions about this with no responses. I don't want to CA the two halves because if I have to send it in for repairs it will probably void my warranty on my Monster. Any other ideas Castle Engineers? Zip ties it is, and some strapping tape.

Zip ties work pretty well. :)

The Sidewinder labels weren't strong enough, so we changed the adhesive on newer Sidewinder labels and on the Monster labels. The new adhesive is supposed to work better.

Patrick

looking good sower.

Thanks for the compliments rschoi_75.

And as much as I would have liked to keep the sticker on it just didn't feel right. Maybe I'm being too critical though. Either way, I doubt CC would void my warranty from two pieces of plastic being glued together. Hopefully I'll never find out! :mdr:

My MMM has the same adhesive issues, I figured it was release agent on the case. A zip tie keeps it down anyway.

Well, I spoke too soon on testing the warranty. I'll be sending mine in tomorrow. I tried to hook everything back up and there was nothing. Opened up the casing and found that a wire had released from the board. I'll try to post photos tomorrow or something.

Nah, sower is not my type...

I prefer "exotic foreign" types!

Good friend of mine had a nsx and I drove it often. Interesting car but not one of my favorites. A bit pricey too. Not really fast enough considering its looks. I prefer turbo cars, like the 3rd gen rx7, or a 3000gt. The nsx does look good though, no denying that!

:lol:

Thanks for the info.

Bye:mdr:

Yeah, exotic and foreign is definitely not me. Unless you count German/Irish mix as "exotic and foreign" :lol:

By the way, you guys know that NSX on my blog isn't mine, right? I wish it was but it's not. Just saw it here in Boise and took a few photos. Also saw a sweet Aston Martin Vantage V8 the other day. Those are gorgeous. Too bad I couldn't get a few shots of that one.

Ok, so here's a few shots of the orange wire that detached inside the casing:

http://i189.photobucket.com/albums/z...8/IMG_3508.jpg

http://i189.photobucket.com/albums/z...8/IMG_3507.jpg

http://i189.photobucket.com/albums/z...8/IMG_3505.jpg

I sent the package off to CC this morning. Hopefully they can get it back to me soon!