Been a long time!...Need some Guru input.

[JEFFRO503]

Hey guys!! Been about 4yrs since I posted here....about 6rs since I've even drove an RC car! Got out of the driving aspect and into the Flying thing for quite a while......but looks like I'm getting interested in this stuff again.

Got a couple questions about some "New" stuff....and some "Old" stuff.

New stuff : I'm narrowing down my choices on a new 1/8th scale buggy...and one of the buggies I've been looking at is the new Serpent 811E....nice looking buggy. Thing is....I'll want to run an electric truggy as as well.....so I was checking out the RCM brushless conversion for the 811 buggy.....and wanted to know if you guys think it would work on the Truggy? I'm about 99% sure the kit would fit.....but I don't know if the center diff housing will work....do I need a bigger drive gear for that truggy? I want to run the same truggy as I am the buggies to keep it more simple.

Old stuff : If you were to go back about 5 - 6 years and look at some of my older posts , you would see I was going to do an electric conversion on my all time favorite buggy " Mugen MBX4-XR works".......well , I bought a motor mount from here , but it looks like the design changed compared to the one I have here now. i " Think" the old mount only accepted 540 motors......the new mount here >> http://www.rc-monster.com/rcm.php?filter=mbx4 is something I think I'll need. Also....need advice on a battery tray as well.

I couldn't ever get myself to sell the old Mugens. The damn thing is tough as nails....and besides I have enough parts and so forth to run that thing for probably 10yrs! 4 rolling chassis....and more parts than you could possibly imagine! And no....none it's for sale!


BTW.....glad to be back here again. This place brings back a lot of memories and I consider it THE ORIGINAL electric conversion site! Place rules!

[magman]

Welcome back. Much like you I am partial to Mugen....have 4 of them which are all converted to BL. The new buggy/truggy are a lot lighter than say 5yrs ago and more nimble as well. My mbx6 is amazing....tough, fast, etc...My mbx5 I converted to an on road rocket and it does fly. The mrx-3 I have is ridiculous on 6s...almost uncontrollable. That one is in pieces as I needed its servo, esc for another project. Besides, the area I really need to run the mrx3 is great and there is just not that many places around me. The mbx5 onroad is a blast to drive and much, much more forgiving that the mrx3 as far as stones not breaking belts and pulleys, etc..

Serpent, Xray, Mugen, Losi, AE & Hot Bodies...you really cant go wrong with any as the kits now are just so good. The HotBodies line is amazingly beefy and quite a bit less than the other mans. A lot of people here run those and really like them. Even the owner, Mike runs one, or at least used to, and he likes that line.

[JEFFRO503]

Originally Posted by magman

Welcome back. Much like you I am partial to Mugen....have 4 of them which are all converted to BL. The new buggy/truggy are a lot lighter than say 5yrs ago and more nimble as well. My mbx6 is amazing....tough, fast, etc...My mbx5 I converted to an on road rocket and it does fly. The mrx-3 I have is ridiculous on 6s...almost uncontrollable. That one is in pieces as I needed its servo, esc for another project. Besides, the area I really need to run the mrx3 is great and there is just not that many places around me. The mbx5 onroad is a blast to drive and much, much more forgiving that the mrx3 as far as stones not breaking belts and pulleys, etc..

Serpent, Xray, Mugen, Losi, AE & Hot Bodies...you really cant go wrong with any as the kits now are just so good. The HotBodies line is amazingly beefy and quite a bit less than the other mans. A lot of people here run those and really like them. Even the owner, Mike runs one, or at least used to, and he likes that line.

Thanks for the reply Magman! I have been looking at the serpents for sure....but honestly it's between the Serpent and the Mugen MB6 Eco. Common sense tells me I should stick with Mugen , and coming across parts for the buggies and truggies are a lot more plentiful compared to the Serpents.

I think I'm going to go order that RCM motor mount and a battery tray and get this old Mugen a little breath of life since it's been sitting on the shelf for 6yrs.

BTW.....I think the old MBX4's and MBX5's had pretty much the exact same diff's front , rear and center......anything different on the MBX6 line of buggies and truggies? I think the F/R conical gears are different ( not sure )....but what about the internal diff gears and diff housing?

[magman]

The mbx6 is lighter buy a pound than the 5, a bit longer and the chassis is a bit narrower. On my 6 I essentially made my own eco version with the RCM kit, eco rx box...internal gears are the same. I don't think the conical gears are different but not 100% sure of that. Shocks are much better on the 6 than 5 with adjustable spring tension built into shock body. Mine has the 5mm longer chassis which is an upgrade. I also put on the TBone front bumper which I have on all my rigs...a must have IMO.

If you need to get new electronics for it...go w/the Tekin RX8 system....sensored setup is so smooth . If you've been away for 6yrs. a lot has changed as far as electronics go. Li-po's are a lot cheaper...GensAce batteries are very popular and are very reasonably price wise while giving great performance.

Here's a couple of shots of my mbx6...looks just like the eco version.

[_paralyzed_]

The serpent buggy and truggy use the same motor mount. The spur gear is sometimes larger in a truggy, but the front and rear diff gear ratio is changed to compensate for the larger tires.

The difference between older Rc-Monster mounts and new ones is simply in the gear mesh, newer ones have a better system for setting the mesh. Your old mount would have worked fine.

Well, that's the only difference as far as motor mounting is concerned. (you mentioned thinking the old mount could only accommodate 540 motors- not true) Newer mounts also have access channels for allen wrenches, some have provisions for mechanical brakes, and other neat little touches. Monster Mike does some awesome R&D.

Welcome back! If you stick around you will see a lot of me

I apologize in advance

[magman]

Originally Posted by _paralyzed_

Welcome back! If you stick around you will see a lot of me

I apologize in advance

Apologize...don't lower you standards, you have a reputation to uphold!

[JEFFRO503]

Thanks guys for all your input. First thing is first.....and that's to pick up the parts I need to convert my old Mugen MBX4 buggy to electric. I have to figure out what motor/ESC package to run....and then figure out what battery tray I may have to use. I'll probably try to pick up a used 2200KV mamba setup and run a 4S battery to keep things simple on the old Mugen. I see RCM has battery tray's for sale.....just not sure which one to go with.

And paralyzed : are you sure my old mount will work? I may pick up one of the newer mounts anyways because I could always use it on another one of my MBX4 chassis's.

Also....I could use some help on trying to figure out what gear mesh I'm supposed to use with the Mugen center diff's....anyone remember what they are? And are they the same gear mesh between the MBX4 , MBX5 and MBX6? They look the same....but not sure. I don't know where to even look for pinion gears for this thing.

[_paralyzed_]

I'm sure the mount will work.

Gear mesh = the space between the pinion and spur gear, how the teeth of the two gears "mesh" together.

Do you mean gear ratio? Like the tooth count of the gears?

Rc-Monster has pinion gears, just look under Rc-Monster parts.

I have notified the owner of Rc-Monster (Mike) of this thread, he should chime in on what battery tray to get.

For 4s use in a buggy I recommend the Castle Mamba 2650kv setup. Plenty of power and insane speed when you want it.

Tell me what you want to do with the buggy (bash/race/speed runs) and I can recommend what tooth count you want for a pinion. (gear ratio)

[JEFFRO503]

Originally Posted by _paralyzed_

I'm sure the mount will work.

Gear mesh = the space between the pinion and spur gear, how the teeth of the two gears "mesh" together.

Do you mean gear ratio? Like the tooth count of the gears?

Rc-Monster has pinion gears, just look under Rc-Monster parts.

I have notified the owner of Rc-Monster (Mike) of this thread, he should chime in on what battery tray to get.

For 4s use in a buggy I recommend the Castle Mamba 2650kv setup. Plenty of power and insane speed when you want it.

Tell me what you want to do with the buggy (bash/race/speed runs) and I can recommend what tooth count you want for a pinion. (gear ratio)

Well....not so much the gear ratio , as I can play around with that.....what I mean is the mesh of the teeth. Some have like a .08 pitch , .10 pitch and so forth....I am not sure what the Mugen is. Either the MBX4 or my new MBX6 when I get that.

The buggy will mainly be used on tracks ....pretty much tracks only. Just another electric 1/8 scale to play around with and show people how an older buggy can still be competitive in the right hands.BUT....the old MBX4 will be getting bashed for sure. I will be getting a new MBX-6 Eco for sure as my main race buggy.....but wanted to get one of my old MBX4's running so I have another rig to play around with at the tracks. Almost every single track around here only allows electric ( no nitro ) any more......kind of sad in a way.

Wanted to run something like a 5000 - 5500 4S pack....or possibly tow bigger 2S packs I guess on this buggy anyways. On the new Eco....I may have to stick with a 2S pack depending on what rules they set in place. It may be 3 - 6 months before our local race track expands enough to accept 1/8th scale. But from what the new owner said to me this weekend....it's definitely something he wants to make happen.

Thanks for you help man.

[_paralyzed_]

I see. All 1/8 scale buggies are Mod 1 gearing. You'll need a Mod 1 with a 5mm shaft.

[JEFFRO503]

Originally Posted by _paralyzed_

I see. All 1/8 scale buggies are Mod 1 gearing. You'll need a Mod 1 with a 5mm shaft.

Really? Is that just Mugen....or are you saying "All" 1/8 scale buggies? I can't be 100% on this but I had thought that back in the day when I was running Mugen and Kyosho both....the gear mesh was slightly different. I'm a little foggy on that though and could totally be wrong. Maybe it was because the pinions didn't line up the same way in length or something. Crap....I can't remember.