Essential Hop Ups For A Ultima St (Or Any Truck)

Home Forums 1/8, 1/10, 1/12, 1/18 – Discussion Essential Hop Ups For A Ultima St (Or Any Truck)

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    • #11797
      Star Guitar
      Participant
      • Posts: 173

      What are sum really good worthwile hop ups to get for a kyosho ultima st, i already have ball bearings in all 4 wheels, a esc, new tires/rims, a newer 20 turn motor

      what is sum other things i could get?

    • #46812
      PandaBear
      Participant
      • Posts: 1866

      Yup, you’ve covered everything that’s worthwhile, that’s about all you need onboard. There’s really nothing else that will make your car faster nor help it handle significantly better.

      If you’re planning on going racing, now might be time to start saving up for a few packs of decent batteries and a very good charger.

      The charger will last you forever if you look after it, so its best to buy something good. Lots of different brands and models out there.

    • #46814
      Star Guitar
      Participant
      • Posts: 173

      i already have 1 team orion 2400 rocket pack but i wanna get sum 2400 sanyos they r $110 bucks here though so i have to wait for xmas for them and i definatly want a new charger because at the moment me and my bro have to charge off a car battery and it is really annoying. i was thinking of mainly gettin like a few titanium parts and graphite parts and a new set of like aluminimum shocks for the front and back because the ones i have right now arent the best

      thanks anyway man

    • #46817
      VR-4
      Participant
      • Posts: 400

      if your trans dosent have perings get some for it.

      if you dont have a ball diff there allways a nice upgrade.

      cvd’s are a good choice they dont eject on landings and have zero backlash

      shocks i would get alu. thredded body shocks and titanum nitrade shafts.

      as for alu. its allways a nice upgrade but remember the suspen parts dont take a beating they bend easy and dont bend back.

      i would say upgrade your driveshats get a 12-15 turn motor and a good dual plat slipry clutch. but really upgrades depend on the driver you allready got a good start the rest if your choice.

      if you find your stering is flexing to much just get some better linkages and some alu. in there.

      but alu. and titanum is really overkill unless you raceing.

    • #46818
      Star Guitar
      Participant
      • Posts: 173

      well im kinda new to this so i dunno what a trans is and i dunno what cvd’s are could u tell me

    • #46819
      Avatar photoAaron
      Keymaster
      • Posts: 2146

      There are some Sanyo celled Australian assembled 1700NiCd packs that have great punch for about AU$40….

      THey’re my current choice thanks to the lowish cost, good punch and decent runtimes.

      I do have a 2200 pack that’s pretty good but doesn’t have the outright ‘punch’ of the Sanyo 1700s….

      Woudl lvoe to go up the NiMH but just can’t wing the buxs right now 🙁

      A.

      --
      Site Owner Guy.

    • #46820
      VR-4
      Participant
      • Posts: 400

      i only payed about $65usd for my syano 3000 ultra’s nimh

      i think dynamight is useing saynos in there packs

      best thing ta do is buy some used cells from races. i bought 3 trinty vis matched saddle packs from a guy for $50 and the packs ran about $80 new. just look around theres allways good deals like that

    • #46821
      Star Guitar
      Participant
      • Posts: 173

      yes but what is a trans and cvd?????

      i no what batteries i want to get i need to no other things i could get, like a trans and cvd but i need to no what they are first

    • #46822
      VR-4
      Participant
      • Posts: 400

      trans=tranny-transmission

      cvd’s are made by mip and its short for constant velo. drive shafts. there top of the line driveshafts and coust about $30 usd

      they come in std. steel, alu, and nickle plated

    • #46823
      Star Guitar
      Participant
      • Posts: 173

      oooooh ok

      what about ball bearings for the gearbox, or is that the trans

      is that $30 usd for one or a set, and if its a set how many u get?

    • #46824
      PandaBear
      Participant
      • Posts: 1866
      Quote:
      There are some Sanyo celled Australian assembled 1700NiCd packs that have great punch for about AU$40….

      Master Instruments in NSW is the largest local assembler of cells
      in Australia, they have been doing it for a fair while now.

      They use the big-name cells (Sanyo, Panasonic etc) and the
      cell interconnects (“spotwelded cap”) are acceptable for
      commercial packing.

      However I do have issue with the wiring from the pack to the plug,
      where they use about 10″ worth of wire, half of which is hidden
      inside the packing. It is unnecessary and the wire does heat up
      enough to burn the shrinkwrap under heavy loads.

      Once rewired correctly, the stickpacks are as good as any other
      using the same cells. They don’t do matched packs though.

      Quote:
      Woudl love to go up the NiMH but just can’t wing the buxs right now 🙁

      There’s still no benefit from NiMH unless you’re short on runtime
      and you dump before the end of a race. For backyard bashing NiMH
      doesn’t go any better than nicads. And they need a lot of
      pampering… :dead:

      I’d just stick with Sanyo RC2400s.

    • #46825
      Star Guitar
      Participant
      • Posts: 173

      is there much difference between nicd and nimh?

    • #46827
      Avatar photoAaron
      Keymaster
      • Posts: 2146

      *nods* they’re the packs I was thinking about (the Master Instruments) I noted the same things although can’t be bothered witht he wiring changes 😉

      A.

      --
      Site Owner Guy.

    • #46831
      VR-4
      Participant
      • Posts: 400

      first you need to find out if you have them in the tranny if not just take out each bushing and go to a local hobby shop and buy some they should sell some single or in packs of 2.

      if you get a new motor and you wanna add more power to it just get a 4 cell pack and wire the motor upto the pack then dip it into a glass of water till it turns chalky about 4 sec. that brakes in your brushes and forms them to the com. after you can use a blow dryer to dry it i just soak it in alch. after then i just put some bering oil on the bering and put a few com drops on the com. this is a old tip for give your motor more power and has ben proven again and again

    • #46834
      Avatar photoAaron
      Keymaster
      • Posts: 2146

      mmmmmmm interesting idea VR-4, never heard of it before.

      I’ve usually done my break ins running un-loaded with the motor being rotated every 5 minutes so the bearings seat equally and all that kinda stuff…

      Then again I’ve only really bothered to break in two motors…..

      --
      Site Owner Guy.

    • #46836
      PandaBear
      Participant
      • Posts: 1866
      Quote:
      they’re the packs I was thinking about (the Master Instruments) I noted the same things although can’t be bothered witht the wiring changes 😉

      Sometimes it isn’t a matter of choice… :p

      In simple backyard-bashing use guess the issue might not arise,
      but the moment they’re on the bench (= no cooling airflow) and
      connected to the 30A discharger/capacity-checker… 🙂

      Rewire with 12g silicone wire & new plug, no problems thereafter.

      Contrary to popular belief, the “Tamiya” type plug usually has
      no problems surviving the current… its just the wires. 😯

    • #46840
      VR-4
      Participant
      • Posts: 400

      water dipping goes back to slot car days. i like that way becouse its fast

    • #46843
      Star Guitar
      Participant
      • Posts: 173

      what r sum shock sets that u guys would recommend? also what type of motor is good to get for lots of speed but u dont have to replace brushes all the time

      i need a motor that is 12 turn or higher because my esc doesnt go down more than a 12 turn motor

    • #46857
      PandaBear
      Participant
      • Posts: 1866
      Quote:
      what r sum shock sets that u guys would recommend?

      Question right back at you… what’s Wrong with what’s on the car
      right now? Is it handling so badly that you need new shocks?

      If you do… probably Kyosho and Duratrax both make suitable
      shocks as do many other option part companies. Just depends on
      what your local shop sells, there’s nothing that says any one
      brand/model works so much better than any other.

      If your current shocks are oil-filled units, try investing in
      different springs and different grades of silicone oil. Learn
      to tune your shocks to change the car’s handling instead. You
      still gotta learn even if you’ve got the snazziest shocks onboard.

      Quote:
      also what type of motor is good to get for lots of speed but u dont have to replace brushes all the time
      i need a motor that is 12 turn or higher because my esc doesnt go down more than a 12 turn motor

      If you want the power, ya gotta pay for the power.
      Brush wear is part of the price ya pay for power.

      But unless you’re really cooking your motor by overgearing it,
      brushes don’t wear out that quickly. Have you even changed
      brushes before?? Some ppl play for years on a set of brushes.
      Maybe your motor just needs cleaning?!?

      You already answered your own Q… if 12 is as low as your
      ESC can go, then 12 is the max you can run unless you
      get a new ESC with lower/’no’ motor limit.

      A hotter motor will draw more current, so your batteries
      will take a beating to. New batteries, new charger etc etc.
      No such thing as a free lunch.

    • #46858
      Star Guitar
      Participant
      • Posts: 173

      With the shocks they are oil filled and have team associated pure silicon oil special formula 30 (thats what it says on the bottle), although the front of the car is tilting down a lot and it should be sitting a little higher and the shocks are sinking just a little which is making the front of the car tilt, which i am unsure why it is doing this. I was thinking more of what type of aluminium shocks are good ei. wat springs, shocks, caps all that stuff.

      As with the motor i already new that 12 turn was the lowest it could go i ment what brand make good 12 or 13 turn motors that are a good price and dont wear out quickly.

    • #46863
      PandaBear
      Participant
      • Posts: 1866
      Quote:
      With the shocks they are oil filled and have team associated pure silicon oil special formula 30 (thats what it says on the bottle), although the front of the car is tilting down a lot and it should be sitting a little higher and the shocks are sinking just a little which is making the front of the car tilt, which i am unsure why it is doing this. I was thinking more of what type of aluminium shocks are good ei. wat springs, shocks, caps all that stuff.

      You might want to try and rebuild your shocks first.
      Ally shocks don’t work all that much better than std plastic oil
      shocks, you’d be hard pressed to tell the difference in handling.

      Shock springs & shock oil weight depends on where you’re running
      and what kind of handling you’re looking for. It is up to your own
      experience to setup your car, only someone else who runs on the same
      track with the same car can give you hints where to start, then
      its down to trial-n-error.

      If in doubt, stick to the factory’s original settings.

      There should be “preload collars” that hold the spring down
      on the shock body, make sure these are set equally L & R.

      Generally on a buggy, your tail should be lower than the nose.
      A nose-down attitude will give you lots steering, probably too
      much and you’ll be doing only donuts. Get the butt end down!

      Quote:
      As with the motor i already new that 12 turn was the lowest it could go i ment what brand make good 12 or 13 turn motors that are a good price and dont wear out quickly.

      There are lots of companies out there that make decent motors.
      What’s available at your LHS and for how much??

      As a rule of thumb, you can find mod motors from A$60 up to A$140+.

      The cheap $60 ones are machine wound with bushings.
      About the $100 mark will buy you a machine wound with bearings.
      Top priced $140+ ones are handwound “factory team” jobs.

      Something with bearings is probably a better investment, unless
      you’re vigilent about oiling your bushings regularly without fail.

      How long your motor lasts depends on how you treat it. Abuse it
      and it could be dead within 1 run, look after it and it will give
      years of good service with regular maintenance – your choice.

      For any mod motor with high revs… you’d probably want to buy
      a smaller pinion gear (“gear Down”) compared to the stock motor.
      Overgearing a motor will make it overheat.

    • #46876
      Star Guitar
      Participant
      • Posts: 173

      im going to try puttin the shock collars on to all the shocks as that should work but i was wondering what brand of motors are good at an affordable price my price range is around 60 – 120 australian. are team orion a good brand for motors as they have like 100 of em down at mr toys for around $65 – $80 but i had a look on their site and it says that some are for touring cars and there are a few other types, so do u guys know which motor model out of the team orion ones are good for a stadium truck. im looking for a motor that gives u a lot more speed as well as power.

    • #46880
      Star Guitar
      Participant
      • Posts: 173

      i just put the shock collars on a few hours ago i put 2 bigger ones on each back shock and 1 big and 1 medium on the front and the car seems level and is taking the impacts from the jumps i was running it up although cause it was raining i could try it outside

    • #46888
      Star Guitar
      Participant
      • Posts: 173

      ok (i did a typo there i ment to say i couldnt try it outside) the shock collars work awesome but i need to no what type of 12 or 13 turn motor is good, i was thinking either a team orion one or a trinity one

      what is a better and more reliable motor?

    • #46903
      PandaBear
      Participant
      • Posts: 1866

      There is no difference between Orion & Trinity,
      anyone who can swear there’s any earth-shattering
      difference between these two brands is purely
      splitting sticks. Both are well known and
      internationally respected.

      Personally I like Trinity… but that doesn’t mean
      EVERYTHING with the Trinity badge is good, its
      just a personal preference. I think the D5 is nice
      but you won’t find that family for under A$120.
      Trinity SpeedGems hmmm… quite ‘ordinary’ but
      they can be good value if you buy them cheap. blackeye:

      If Mr Toys has a good line of Orions then ask them
      what is the best motor & gearing for your needs.
      Have been there before and they seem to know what
      they’re generally talking about.

      For < $80, dare say the motor might have bushings.
      If it does, ask if they can supply 2pcs of bearing
      and maybe install them for you in the motor too.

      It is a worthwhile upgrade for a mod motor.

    • #46909
      Star Guitar
      Participant
      • Posts: 173

      do u no of any specific types of team orion motor that is build for a stadium truck because i no that the mr toys at springwood has like stacks of team orion motors but they all look the same and i dunno but i think they r for touring cars

    • #46912
      peedee
      Participant
      • Posts: 418

      CORE personnly i would prefer a trinity mosnter motor but thats just a personl choice both motors are very good

    • #46923
      PandaBear
      Participant
      • Posts: 1866
      Quote:
      do u no of any specific types of team orion motor that is build for a stadium truck because i no that the mr toys at springwood has like stacks of team orion motors but they all look the same and i dunno but i think they r for touring cars

      umm… did you bother ASKING the guy at the counter?? 👿

      Motors are the same, whether you stick them in your TC or a boat.
      Anyone who advertises “specialised” motors are merely champions
      at printing out flashy new stickers.

      It is YOUR CALL how hot a motor you want to run, DEPENDING ON YOUR
      LOCAL TRACK. The motors themselves, you can screw them into any RC
      and expect the same performance for each model/wind. They stock lots
      of different winds, I’m pretty sure.

      You also need to consider what batteries/ESC you have. Its no good
      if you run the hottest motor and your batteries only last 2 mins,
      you cannot Make runtime and you Lose the race.

      Motor, gearing, chassis setup… it all comes into experience & skill.
      There is no point having the fastest car on the straight if you can’t
      drive around the corners too, your lap time will still be shot.
      If your car ain’t reliable, it won’t finish the race.
      If your batteries dump, you’re going nowhere either.

      Don’t forget, “To finish First, you have to first Finish!”🙂

    • #46932
      Star Guitar
      Participant
      • Posts: 173

      i didnt ask the guys behind the counter because i dont have enough money to get one yet im like 20 bucks off so when i go in to get the motor i will ask them and i dont think there is a local track around here yet…. should be open by after christmas

    • #46933
      peedee
      Participant
      • Posts: 418

      Remember if you want to race you cant race a 14 turn motor so keep that in mind

    • #46935
      PandaBear
      Participant
      • Posts: 1866

      Yup, PD’s only too right.

      Usual racing classes are
      1) 540
      2) Stock
      3) Modified

      If you’ve never raced before, use a chromecan
      Mabuchi 540 and go for 540 class.

      When you’ve won a few races, then step up to Stock… and when you’re crazily rich and can
      afford to buy a new motor + batteries + tyres
      for EACH race, then yeah why not? blackeye:

      Spend your money on tyres & gearing instead.

      On a 2WD truck, you’re just going to have traction
      problems. The less power you have, the faster
      you’ll get around the track.

      You need to learn how to gear your truck for
      optimum speed vs acceleration, so you need to
      buy a decent range of pinions/spurs.

    • #46937
      peedee
      Participant
      • Posts: 418

      yea tire wise for racing your road hawg/dirt hawg aint a racng combination good for a bash but if your going to be racing maybe
      Proline Edge up front
      and hole shot or bow tie up the back just like vr-4 mentioned these have been a winning tire combination for a long time as well as readers choice

    • #46940
      Star Guitar
      Participant
      • Posts: 173

      ok thanks for the help so far zac and vr-4 i was thinking on tryin out a few different sets of pinion gears and spur gears to see if i can get it better, possibly faster and so forth.

      i was also thinkin on getting ball bearings and metal gears in the gearbox

      im also trying to get a titanium turnbuckle

    • #46941
      peedee
      Participant
      • Posts: 418

      yea see if you can fit associated rc10t3 factory team anodised blue titanium turnbuckles in they are really good, definetly for racing i would get bearings throughout, check ur manual count up the amount of bushings and get that amount of bearings and put them throughout your car

    • #46943
      Star Guitar
      Participant
      • Posts: 173

      what are sum good aluminimum parts to get?

    • #46960
      PandaBear
      Participant
      • Posts: 1866

      Best aluminium thingy to get??
      — a tinny… full o’ Beer! 🙂

      Apart from aesthetics, there is little benefit for
      aluminium parts. They cost more, they weigh more
      and when they get hit – they stay bent!

      Stick with plastics, they are engineered like that
      for a good reason. Every system needs a weak link
      that will fracture when overstressed… such as
      suspension arms, knuckles etc.

      If you try replace these with harder/metal parts
      then you’ll just break something else next time
      eg bulkheads, transmission etc. These parts will
      be usually be more expensive to buy and harder
      to fix.

      Don’t underestimate RC car design! :smiley16:

    • #46985
      Star Guitar
      Participant
      • Posts: 173

      i thought aluminimum parts were surposed to be way stronger because they r well.. aluminimum and they r way expensive

      i havent had any part break yet except for the rear wheel shaft or sumthin it is the piece that u slide the wheel onto that has broken like 8 times because of the weak part where the pin slides through but i now have a titanium part there and it is awesome

    • #47002
      PandaBear
      Participant
      • Posts: 1866

      Aluminium is a very soft metal, so it will bend or crack when its smacked even not-very-hard. Aluminium is softer than mild steel. Unlike plastics, it will not rebound back – it stays bent.

      Aluminium is also heavier than usual plastics, and when you build in some extra material just to reinforce the part – an aluminium part is usually heavier than its original plastic component.

      Titanium on the other hand is 3X stronger than steel of the same volume AND its lighter than aluminium. However Ti is a very expensive metal due to rarity… (and a few interesting material properties like being biologically inert).

    • #47006
      Star Guitar
      Participant
      • Posts: 173

      with that last paragraph u kinda sound like my science teacher….

      anyway i will probably end up gettin like mostly graphite instead of aluminimum but i think i will be hopping up my car for my birthday cause i really wanna get either a sportmaxx, a tmaxx or a savage

    • #47037
      PandaBear
      Participant
      • Posts: 1866
      Quote:
      with that last paragraph u kinda sound like my science teacher….

      heh heh… its amazing what they teach ya in skool… 👿

      Just don’t wanna see ppl saying they put on ally bits “to save weight”.
      Especially when they replace plastic with alloy.
      (I’ve got some digital scales for 0-2000g – who wants to argue? :p)

      Replacing steel fasteners with titanium, ok.
      But aluminium screws are useless for stress-bearing.

    • #47039
      Star Guitar
      Participant
      • Posts: 173
      Quote:
      Quote:
      its amazing what they teach ya in skool…

      its amazing how little weve been taught and our school is jpc (John Paul College) they teach u like jack crap

    • #47040
      Star Guitar
      Participant
      • Posts: 173

      aww crap it nearly worked (Damn bottom line)

      what exactly do u keep when ur doin a quote cause it says like quote about 3 times

      arent titanium parts lighter than plastic but also a way way stronger?

    • #47041
      PandaBear
      Participant
      • Posts: 1866
      Quote:
      what exactly do u keep when ur doin a quote cause it says like quote about 3 times

      They work in Pairs, 1 pair per step… 🙂

      Quote:
      arent titanium parts lighter than plastic but also a way way stronger?

      Ti is about as dense as some good plastics (never measured) but yup.
      However it is expensive material and it wouldn’t be economically
      feasible to make everything out of it.

      Besides, as said before, you don’t want *every* bit of your car made
      out of ‘strong’ stuff. Some bits are made specially weaker, so this
      is the sacrificial weak spot – think “crumple zones”. These bits will
      break first, to prevent breakage of more-expensive components.

    • #47042
      PandaBear
      Participant
      • Posts: 1866
      Quote:
      what exactly do u keep when ur doin a quote cause it says like quote about 3 times

      They work in Pairs, 1 pair per step… 🙂

      Quote:
      arent titanium parts lighter than plastic but also a way way stronger?

      Ti is about as dense as some good plastics (never measured) but yup.
      However it is expensive material and it wouldn’t be economically
      feasible to make everything out of it.

      Besides, as said before, you don’t want *every* bit of your car made
      out of ‘strong’ stuff. Some bits are made specially weaker, so this
      is the sacrificial weak spot – think “crumple zones”. These bits will
      break first, to prevent breakage of more-expensive components.

    • #47044
      Avatar photoAaron
      Keymaster
      • Posts: 2146

      JPC… Which town? there was like JPC in the ‘home’ town where I mostly grew up 😉

      --
      Site Owner Guy.

    • #47058
      PandaBear
      Participant
      • Posts: 1866

      You from Brissy, Mr Aaron?
      🙂

    • #47059
      Avatar photoAaron
      Keymaster
      • Posts: 2146

      Nope….

      --
      Site Owner Guy.

    • #47061
      Star Guitar
      Participant
      • Posts: 173

      yea me and peedee go to jpc in brisbane, i didnt no there was a jpc sumwhere else though……

    • #47064
      PandaBear
      Participant
      • Posts: 1866

      Out of total boredom (don’t ask :sad:)…

      John Paul College, Frankston VIC
      John Paul College, Coffs Harbour NSW
      John Paul College, Logan City QLD
      John Paul College, Kalgoorlie WA
      John Paul College, Rotorua, North Island NZ

      wowee… ok, I’ll be off now.

    • #47065
      Star Guitar
      Participant
      • Posts: 173

      wow i didnt no there was that many jpc’s, we go to the one in logan city the one that everyone thinks and prob is the one of the best schools in aus and in the world ?? i dunno why our principle is always telling us that we have heard it enough anyway….

    • #47084
      Avatar photoAaron
      Keymaster
      • Posts: 2146

      *lauighs* I’m sort off from Coffs Harbour, my parent still live up there…. Never went to JPC though…

      Most school will tell you they’re the best. All I’m going to say is that it’s probably a beat up – you’re outcomes in life are shaped by yourself and not by your school in 95% of cases…

      A.

      --
      Site Owner Guy.

    • #47087
      Star Guitar
      Participant
      • Posts: 173

      yea but do u see any other schools doin musicals at the ekka or playin live at the big brother thing?

    • #47088
      Star Guitar
      Participant
      • Posts: 173
      Quote:
      Most school will tell you they’re the best. All I’m going to say is that it’s probably a beat up – you’re outcomes in life are shaped by yourself and not by your school in 95% of cases…

      Your probably right bout that though…….

    • #47089
      Star Guitar
      Participant
      • Posts: 173

      i seriously hate that quote thing i cant get it right is it surposed to be

      Quote:
      blah blah blah

      Quote:
      ?
    • #47102
      PandaBear
      Participant
      • Posts: 1866

      You need the close bits too… as in “[ /quote ]” 🙂

      Click on the FORUM CODE link on the LH side for the full FAQ.

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