SH Z-Car ZMXB-8 1/8 Buggy - Perfect for conversion? - Page 7 - RC-Monster Forums

Shark413 · 01.04.2009, 03:08 AM

Thanks MetalMan, I may wait a while for HobbyPeople to get things settled regarding the Z-Car stock. I bolted on my Kyosho Big Bore shocks with the Blue stiff springs and now the buggy feels just right. I definetly want to try out the Z-Car shocks, they seem to be very well made and the action is very smooth. Also, for some reason I didn't have enough camber adjustment on the right front, so I had to add a thin 14mm spacer (in addition to the stock spacer) under the pivot ball, now it is perfect.

Shark413 · 01.04.2009, 05:30 AM

MetalMan, one more question.

The valve (thin metal flap) in the Z-Car shock has holes that line up with the holes in the shock piston. So what is the purpose of the valve, when it looks like the oil just flows right thru the holes in the valve and piston? The valve in my Revo PE shocks are solid (no holes), so on the down stroke the valve is basically closed and restricts the flow, going the other way the valve bends slightly allowing more oil to flow, giving quicker rebound. I assume thats how the Z-Car shocks are supposed to work, but I don't see how it can with holes in both the valve and piston.

MetalMan · 01.04.2009, 01:35 PM

Those Kyosho shocks should work a lot better than the Z-Car shocks, no doubt.

I haven't completely understood the purpose of the valve either. But from what I have concluded they should increase dampening slightly on the upstroke (compression) because they make the flow of oil more turbulent. Or something like that.

MrZ · 06:04 PM

Metalman can you help with this one. I used the stock center steel diff spur gear (44T) and I'm using the 16T 5mm Pinion that I bought on Monster (Madusa motor.)When I roll the rig back and forth, it make some what of a load metal to metal sound. The sound is coming from these two gears. Could it be that the pitch is off or are they a standard pitch, ie 48. Can it also be the fact that the bottom plate is metal as well, applifying the sound ? Also, when you put together the center diff, did you use the 50% oil the comes with the kit or did you use a heavier one? The reason is, I'm getting a lot of power up front, where my front wheels are balooning at high speeds, does this mean I might need a heavier oil in the center diff? What ever help you can give I would appreciated. Thanks in advance

Trike · 01.05.2009, 12:16 PM

Got my Z car on saturday, finished putting it together last night. like other have said. The stock springs do feel soft. What weight oil did you guys put in the shocks? I used the big tube (forgot the weight#) to fill them up. I may put some 40 weight in them for the time being.

The rear brake is pretty cool, once I get everything fitted, I'll have to make a servo mount to use the rear brake.

I should get my Rc-Monster parts in the next day or so. I just might be able to get it running by this weekend. I'm excited to get my first 1/8 buggy running on BL.

tom255 · 01.05.2009, 12:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MetalMan

Those Kyosho shocks should work a lot better than the Z-Car shocks, no doubt.

I haven't completely understood the purpose of the valve either. But from what I have concluded they should increase dampening slightly on the upstroke (compression) because they make the flow of oil more turbulent. Or something like that.

With valves you can tune suspension to progressive (allowing it to be stiff over small bumps, but get relatively softer over larger bumps) or regressive, similar to conical holes in pistons. But conical holes work only in narrow zone. But valves work on full lenght of shock travel. I like idea of valves in Z-car. But dont know realy how well shocks works

Shark413 · 01.05.2009, 02:34 PM

tom255, I understand how the valves work, I have them in my Revo PE, the thing is the Z-Car valves have holes in them that line up with the holes in the piston, so they really don't act as a valve, as the oil just flows right thru the holes. I may experiment with the Z-Car valves and either make some new ones with no holes, or redrill the mounting hole so the valve is moved over slightly so it blocks the piston hole (at least partically).

Shark413 · 01.05.2009, 03:44 PM

I had a chance to take it out on the track this weekend and I must say it performed very well. I have been wheeling Kyosho buggies (Kanai III and 777 SP2) for a while and the Z-Car seems to handle better, I don't have it setup 100% yet and I had some issues dialing in the rear suspension (I changed out the shocks with Kyosho Big Bores) but it corners and jumps really well. I took a couple of big hits and it came out with any breakage. The lighter weight overall and especially the drivetrain (thin driveshafts, smaller diffs, milled outdrives, etc.) seemed to allow it to spool up faster.

Also, Amain Hobbies use to carry the Z-Car but stopped because of lack of sales and that they were not impressed with the buggy. I started a post on the Amain forum and MadRussian and I have been trying to get them to carry them again, especially the parts so we can get some better pricing. Please go over there and post your opinions.
http://forums.amainhobbies.com/index...ic,1746.0.html

MrZ · 01.05.2009, 07:52 PM

Great job Shark, I read what you wrote on the A Main Hobbies forum and it was writen very well. I for one would like to here what their responce is going to be. It seems that those behind this great product have dropped the ball and if nothng is done, parts will be a hard thing to come by. We might find ourselves shipping for them on ebay.

MetalMan · 01.06.2009, 02:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MrZ

Metalman can you help with this one. I used the stock center steel diff spur gear (44T) and I'm using the 16T 5mm Pinion that I bought on Monster (Madusa motor.)When I roll the rig back and forth, it make some what of a load metal to metal sound. The sound is coming from these two gears. Could it be that the pitch is off or are they a standard pitch, ie 48. Can it also be the fact that the bottom plate is metal as well, applifying the sound ? Also, when you put together the center diff, did you use the 50% oil the comes with the kit or did you use a heavier one? The reason is, I'm getting a lot of power up front, where my front wheels are balooning at high speeds, does this mean I might need a heavier oil in the center diff? What ever help you can give I would appreciated. Thanks in advance

The noise you are hearing is a direct result of the Medusa motor being slotted, where the windings of the motor are arranged around a stator similar to what you would find on a brushed motor (notice a brushed motor has detents in its rotation too).
My Z-Car is actually one of the quietest of the conversions at the local track, even with a Neu (slotted) motor and steel pinion and spur.

I think my center diff is filled with 10-15k right now, but I haven't messed with any of the diffs since I built the buggy... As for shock oil, I think I have 50-55 front and 40-45 rear.

Trike · 01.06.2009, 01:05 PM

I got my parts in yesterday, I'm just about done. Waiting for the M11 and DS1313 servo to show up. I just briefly fired it up with 3s and a FM radio I had laying around. I can tell this thing is going to rock

Here's some pics

Sower · 01.06.2009, 01:18 PM

Very nice! By the way, are those shocks big bore?

MrZ · 01.06.2009, 01:29 PM

Looking good trike. What pinion did you end up with and where did you get it ??

Trike · 01.06.2009, 01:47 PM

Sower, these are the stock shocks from the Z-car kit.

Mrz, I'm using a 15t pinion and I got it from here at Rc-monster. The motor is a medusa 36-60-1600. Going to run 6s. I went with Metalman's suggestion for
this setup.

I'm really curious what kind of runtimes I'll get off a 3300Mah 6s. Anybody have any guesses?

I'm thinking about getting a receiver box, but not sure which one to get yet.

MrZ · 01.06.2009, 08:11 PM

Cool, I'm running the Medusa 36-60 2200, with a Mamba Monster ESC. Also, I'm using a Lipo 4s 4800, which works great. The only thing you might what to look into is the fact that your battery tray might be a little too short to fit a 6s. From looking at what you have, I believe that I have the same battery tray, if in fact you got it from Monster (two sizes.) I went with the longest one, but still came up a little short, the battery was just too long. What I did do was to drumal one of the battery tray open and placed a heavy duty valcro on both the battery and base of the plate. Along with strapping it down, it holds fine. I even took a good hit on the front-end and it didn't move a bit. Just to confirm you might want to measure the lipo that you will be using. A 6s is pretty bid. The trick is to use the heavy duty velcro. Or, hopefully you custom ordered your tray to fit the 6s. I didnt' do that which I should have. However, what I did fixed the problem. Hope this helps.