Brushless Associated Monster GT

[Batfish]

Has anyone seen/heard about someone converting an MGT to brushless?
I picked one up a couple weeks ago from a friend and am quickly re-confirming my dislike for nitro. I had it tuned just great and ran 3 tanks through it one night...the next time I tried to start it, it wouldn't start without adjusting everything again. :C:
Darn nitro...not to mention, I suck at keeping them going :)

From what I've read there are only 3 weak points to the MGT from stock:
1 - Engine needs to be upgraded; the stock engine is good and reliable, but not fast enough to be competitive. This one's irrelevant if I go electric, plus the guy I bought it from had already put a .26 in it, upgrading from the stock .21.
2 - Lower arms can break easily. This seems to be from the first factory run, which is where mine came from. Replacement arms are as cheap as any other truck, so that's not a problem at this point.
3 - Center CVDs wear relatively quickly. This is the only one I have any real concern with. Although I doubt they fail quick enough to bankrupt me, I'll still take a look to see if there's anything I can do to help keep them in good shape longer.

Has anyone heard anything else regarding faults with the MGT?

If nothing else, it will be an easy experiment in stock form since the gearing is already mod1. I figure I'll un-bolt the engine, exhaust, and fuel tank then see what room I have for batteries, and strap in a motor, ESC and battery packs. I'm sure I'll have to do some work with the tranny, but I'll see what it's like in stock form first. It'll also be a benefit to get the forward-only conversion kit as well, I'm sure.

Thoughts?

[supermaxx4190]

sounds like it would be pretty easy. the mgt has a ton of room on the chassis. you also may need a 1 speed for the tranny, and a FOC.

[RC-Monster Mike]

The MGT is a nice, stable, durable truck that is easy to drive and handles well. If i was converting it to electric, I would find a way to put the g-maxx single speed converted e-maxx tranny in it with a steel idler gear (I should have hardened steel idlers soon). Then, You could put a set of dogbones in the center (I can get custom made titanium dogbones made) and move on to the suspension arms. Here, you could go RPM or an aluminum upgraded arm set,

[Batfish]

Mike,
Using an MGM 12012 with 3s lipo, which motor do you think I'd do best with in this conversion? 9L? 10L? I already have the 8L, but I'm figuring the MGT will be a heavier truck than the 1/8th buggy I have the 8L in.
Yes, I'd like to go Feigao with the motor clamp (price-concious).

[Dafni]

I agree with Mike. E-tranny (possibly G-Maxx convert.) plus custom Ti Bones work flawless in my Revo. I got the very bones Mike is speaking of, btw. Nice pieces of workmanship.

The E-tranny solves your motorplate question, too. A nice by-effect;)

[Batfish]

Do we know that the MGT tranny isn't worth using? I understand the g-maxx tranny is built for this type of thing, but I'd like to make sure what I have isn't worthwhile before I look at investing in something to replace it.
What is the pricing like on the g-maxx tranny?

[RC-Monster Mike]

The 8L or 9L would probably be the choice for 3s Lipo. The MGT tranny will hold up for a little while with 11.1 volts, but if you go to a 12 cell/4s Lipo system in the future, my money says it will fail.

[Batfish]

My father's day present to myself was to pull the nitro engine out of the MGT and start testing the waters for brushless in it.
:)

http://www.rc-monster.com/coppermine...s.php?album=38

There's a few pics to let you see what I've done so far.

Mike - I'm now set up to run either 3s lipo or 4s lipo, in addition to 8 or 12 nimh cells. I assume the 3s lipo and 8-cell nimh would both be okay with the 8L. Should I get the 9L or 10L for the 4s lipo and 12-cell nimh? Second, which should I put in which vehicle (MGT and OFNA MBX)? I'm guessing the 3s/8-cell would be better in the lighter of the two, yes? It'll be the MGM 12012 on both, as you know.
Once I get them both configured, I'll weigh them and see where they stand.

Thoughts/comments?

[RC-Monster Mike]

The 8L can handle 4s Lipo, 12 cells or more even, but not with 1/8 buggy gearing(too tall). The 8L in the 1/8 buggy should work quite well on a 3s Lipo. For the MGT, I would probably go with a 9L and 4s Lipo.
It looks like you jumped right in on the MGT! It is a nice, big truck that should be pretty easy to convert. Just take it easy on the tranny!

[Batfish]

I'll probably be putting in the order for the 9L tomorrow during the day. Watch for an email on that, too.

I'll be putting an update on my 1/8th buggy thread, too.

I'm thinking about keeping the manual brakes on the MGT, so I have a question in regarding if I have the setup right in my head.
I assume I'll just program the MGM for forward-only operation and keep the throttle/brake servo plugged in with the ESC in a y-adapter. This way the motor will respond to the acceleration and not the brake, while the servo will move for both, but only be applicable for braking.
Is this right, or is there another "right" way to do it?

[RC-Monster Mike]

That is right, but I am not sure if the MGM can be set for forward only operation. I have to dig up the instructions, I guess.

[Batfish]

I looked at the manual and it doesn't look like there is an option for forward-only.
Maybe I'll get another 9918/9920 from you ;)

I'll see how it works out with the MGM first.

[Batfish]

Mike - I found the manual for the 12016 Expert on MGM's website and, although it doesn't specifically say it's for cars, it does have all of the settings one could ask for. It's even computer programmable. The manual says it's good for 7-24 cells nimh or 3s-8s lipo.
Are these available, or is MGM making a car/boat controller for 16 (or more) cells that's computer programmable?

[RC-Monster Mike]

The expert controllers sound good on paper, but they are not ideal in cars (they accidentally sent these to me at first and I sent them back after testing them and realizing that they were not set up for car/boat operation). The good news is that MGM should have a 16 cell 120 amp controller (not yet computer programmable) available any time, and I plan to get a few with the current order. I am not sure if these are programmable via computer, but they will have the "freewheel" option and should be ideal for "big" cars.

[Batfish]

Keep me in mind when those arrive, please :)

I'll hold off on buying another controller for now.