AE RC8T(e) FTCE Build

[RFick73]

Well, I got just plain tired of waiting for 1.5+months with no end in sight on the out of stock situation for my new RC8Te.

I don't know when the chassis will come in stock, or if it ever will at this rate.
They put up a date, then change it to like +15-30 days later on that date. :confused:

Who knows, maybe they will be releasing the RC8T2(e)..
But, I don't wanna wait all summer to find out! :mad:
Just my luck they will release it next week! =/

Anyhoo...

With some posts here and there and some digging, I decided to take things into my own hands & go with what WAS in stock.

The AE RC8T Factory Team Championship Edition Kit.
It's currently a Nitro kit but it comes with all sorts of hop-ups!

I also ordered the AE RC8T Conversion Kit to move it over to electric.
Anyone need a new motor and everything that comes with it, watch the classifieds in about a ~week or PM me. ;)

SO, now all the parts that I have bought for my RC8T(e) will finally have a new home some time hopefully next week!

To see what I've got to put into it, go here.
http://www.competition-rc.com/forums/album.php?albumid=15

Brian & Joseph have graciously said I can setup a table in the shop & build the kit right there.
That way Brian can answer any questions I may have.
I'm sure to have MANY of them!

So, hopefully around this same time next week you will be seeing an update to this post with additional pics of the actual build itself.

I know *I'M* stoked, are you!?!

[RFick73]

Tossed up a few more pix of some of the items that are coming with the kit.

Only one more week & it's mine!!! ALL MINE!!!

[rustya123]

cool I'll stop by and maybe help you out =) bummer on the rc8te though. i was lucky at that time the price changed the night after i bought it lol then after a couple of days it was sold out.

[RFick73]

cool I'll stop by and maybe help you out =) bummer on the rc8te though. i was lucky at that time the price changed the night after i bought it lol then after a couple of days it was sold out.

Well, I'm sure I'll be posting up on the forums when I will be going in to build it. =)

[RFick73]

Silly postal service delayed the shipment with my RC8T in it till today.

Well, at least I got my Mini-Z MA-010 (AWD) in yesterday so I could drift around with that to kill some time! :)

I should be picking up my Truggy today.
Then to decide, bring it home and build it, or wait till tomorrow and do it in the shop.
Do I REALLY wanna wait another day?

OoOO, The anticipation!!!!

[RFick73]

Ugh.. I spent from like 10:45-6pm today just building the front end.

Due to bad pictures not showing parts correctly laid out, and parts being in the wrong bags and well, this being my first time, it took me a tad longer to get to where I wanted to be. I had hoped I'd be running it by now.

I'll be back in the shop tomorrow at 10am till prollly like 2ish. Prolly later!
Pop by and say hi! Come wish me luck, or what ever! =)

I posted a few pictures up in my gallery.
I'll be sure to caption them all over the next few days.
But, but for those that wanna see um now (I'm sure there arn't THAT many) there are up!

http://www.competition-rc.com/forums/album.php?albumid=15

[RFick73]

I know it's like 2 days later than I told most of you I would have my next update...
But apparently I left my Camera at CRC on Saturday.

I know, excuses, excuses! =/
I was banished from going back to the shop again by my wife...
Boo! =(

Anyhoo... I didn't quite finish up on Saturday.
So I will once again be running off to CRC today at 10amish to try and finally finish up.
I was basically almost complete.

I believe I really only have the shocks to fill & assemble and to finish placing in the electronics & a few other small tidbits before I can fire her up for even a testing run.

I currently have an unpainted body for her & MAY grab an el cheapo one today to just protect the inerds before I take her for a quick trial spin or two out doors.

Hopefully I'll get the body painted next weekendish.

Anyhoo, be on the lookout for a good sized update later today/tonight.

[RFick73]

Well, the brunt of the build is Finally complete!

I estimate approx. 13 hours were put into it to get her to the point where I could put her on the ground and have her move about under her own power.

Now just some finalizing tweeks, wire management, rewiring of some lights and other tid bits and she'll be ready for a bit more than just running back and forth around my parking lot.

Due to limitations on the amount of pictures one can upload to their album here on the CRC Forum (Which I will have to talk to Brian about) I have placed the pix up on Photo bucket.

Have a peek and leave a comment.

I will eventually get around to naming all the pictures properly and I'll also try to get up a video.
Although none of my recording devices are really up for the job or so it seems.

Next purchase will be an iPhone4 so I can take some HD Video footage. =)

Photobucket also seems to have decided to upload my pictures in a backwards fashion. =/

Go to this link then just go backwards. =)

http://s893.photobucket.com/albums/ac132/RFick73/AE_RC8Te_FTCE_Build/?action=view&current=00-Wing.jpg

Enjoy!

Cheers!

[DVO]

Wow man... Yer goin' to town on it I see... Nice...

How's it rip so far? Bet she's got some nut...

[4mods]

Looks killer man, I thought I just posted that but I guess not. Can't wait to see it rip now!

[rustya123]

wow looks very clean! cant wait to see it go!

[DaveW]

Seen the built up chassis today - looks great - can't wait to see it go!

[RFick73]

It's a shame, but due to weather I've only gotten to run er back and forth in my parking lot at home.

I've come to a sad but true conclusion, she needs more room to run! LOL..
I almost took out a few cars running her back an forth out there. =/

Oh well, I guess I'll stick to my mini for home parking lot bashing.

Once I get a body painted up for her, which I plan on looking into today, then we'll see a bit more about a walk to the park or Guildford mall parking lot. =)

Hope it's soon as I'm getting twitchy, I wanna see how she goes out in an open field!

Toodles!

[RFick73]

Well, I am loving the learning experience so far.

I've fixed a couple of build boo boo's that I made.
Like the upper front a-arms were installed backwards, and just other small minor things.

Once I get the painted body back from the shop I'll basically call the build finished and button up this posting. But I may update it here & there.

I did a bit more research on gearing for it and found a nice little website that gives (theoretical) speeds for different gearing setups.

I was originally running 54/15 which would give me 62.75Km/h (39.07Ml/h) on 4S.
Or, 94.13Km/h (58.6Ml/h) on 6S if I ever so desired to try that...

I changed up to 50/16 which claims to give 72.29Km/h (45.01Ml/h) on 4S.
Or, 108.44Km/h (67.51Ml/H) on 6S, oh yeah, I'll have to get me a 6S.

The change gave me about an additional 10Km/h and I tell ya, I can see the difference when running it.

It gives just an ever so slight wheelie on take off and you can see the fronts balloon a bit while it waits for inertia to calm down a bit and let more force come back down on the front.

I may even try the 18tooth pinion just for laughs (That would add yet another ~10Km/h on 4S) But I know the motor would get pretty hot running that gearing for sure..

I'm just gunna run it as is for now, maybe get my hands on a 6S or another 2x2S(4S) and just go from there.

I am quite happy with the way it came out. It's quite a lot more stable than my mini, that's for sure!
And I'm already getting the knack of driving it around my smaller parking lot.

I think I've bored you all enough with this post!

Cheers!

[rustya123]

lol it's crazy on 6s and it will wheelie when you want it to. good your having fun with it. still waiting for funds so i can get new tires and shocks.

[RFick73]

I may need new tires myself if I don't take her off the pavement soon and or lay up on the heavy trigger finger!

BTW, I havn't taken her for a run as of yet, but Brian got my body back to me!!!

Yup, she's my good ol' tried & true yellow & black!

Next one will have to get a bit fancier.
But I like how she turned out!!!

Thanx Brian!!!

http://www.competition-rc.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=16&pictureid=171

http://www.competition-rc.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=16&pictureid=172

http://www.competition-rc.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=16&pictureid=172

[RFick73]

Well, I FINALLY got to bring my RC8T out to a spot near my house.

But, I guess it's still just a bit too brutal even for it though.
@ just before 20:02 according to the running time on my radio, I had her pointed towards me to come in for a slide.
But unfortunately it came at me and DIDN'T turn!
She smacked RIGHT into my shin. It's STILL a bit swollen and soar.
I ended up almost limping home.. LOL..

Oh well...

I'll have to find a place to run her in between too rough and too flat. =/
It seems I bent the aluminum servo horn and popped the screw out. Oops!

http://www.competition-rc.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=16&pictureid=181

http://www.competition-rc.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=16&pictureid=182

Well, I've placed a bit more loc-tite on the screw and she's ready for some medium harsh bashing again.
But I'll need to get another servo horn as now that it's bent, it'll just get worse.

Oh, I finally got some stickers put on her & took some pix.
I also took some video of the bashing session (albeit short) which I'll post sometime soon.

Go look at my album if your interested in some more pix.
http://www.competition-rc.com/forums/album.php?albumid=16

Maybe ONE of these days I'll be able to run a full set of batteries through her! LOL!!! :rolleyes:

[RFick73]

I was just thinking...

If that guy ends up popping out again, I'll have to get a longer screw and put a lock nut on the end of it. That'll sure stop it from wiggling it's way out!

Or I would hope! :rolleyes:

[DVO]

When dealing with big, heavy fast beasts like this, it's ALWAYS a good idea to put a lock-nut on the steering screw...;) Regardless of horn material... They have a habit of wiggling loose from the side to side action all the time... Loctite don't stop it even... It's just an issue that we all deal with at one point and time... Even in my lil 10th scales I put nuts on the linkage screws for that extra bit of security...

And incidentally, a plastic one would do better... It has a lil flex that prevents it from bending and throwing the geometry off... And is a fair bit cheaper to replace...;) Punch the hole with a 3MM drill bit and thread it thru.. Then put a washer on the nut side, then yer lock-nut on and call it dinner as it'll be done...

Sam took an 8th scale nitro buggy on the shin once at a race... She was cornering at the end of the straight and one got a tad bent outta shape on the way thru and it smacked her square on about 40MPH after tumbling over the corner berm...... That was back at the old CamRC track... She still has a ding to this day from it...;)

[RFick73]

Hurm....

Well, maybe I will be more inclined to use the stock plastic one.
It came with one but I was worried about the plastic.
It looked as if the hole was too small for the supplied screw & I figured it would strip out too easily.
Hadn't thought of drilling it out and using a longer screw/lock nut at that time...
But, I AM learning!

Maybe I'll straighten out the alum one the best I can and just keep it as a backup in case the plastic one goes.
Meh, I'll work it out regardless!

You guys are all awesome BTW!!!

Keep up the great feedback!

Oh, and poor Sam! =(

[4mods]

Your not suppose to play chicken with rc, JEEEEZ! lol., Yeah, as for servos horns. I always just run a screw threw and nut on the back, got that from crawling all the time.

[DVO]

Straightening out a bent alloy horn will usually result in failure... It has a weak stress point now and straightening it will only amplify it and weaken it further... If it was a small, light thing, I'd say OK go for it... But, being a larger, heavier machine, I'd go against it...Last thing ya want is to have it break off while driving hard and fast and take out someones shin/ankle/head... I had a good look at yer pics and it's twisted as well as bent, adding more shear stress on it...

If the stock one uses inserts for servo heads, that's another issue place to address... The insets can strip out the horn itself, I had an OFNA horn go south on me from that on my lil Axial...

If ya really want an alloy horn, go with the JR one that has the setscrew on the side... They seem to have the best beef, and, that extra setscrew, can't hurt...;) They cost a bit more, but, I think they'd be worth it in the end... Or, I'm sure you can get a few plastic ones; always good to have at least one spare...

[DVO]

Your not suppose to play chicken with rc, JEEEEZ! lol.,

Quite so... They have a habit of winning.... heh At least the fast ones...

[rustya123]

the plastic servo horn works great. i have it on my rc8te not failed once considering how heavy my truck is. and they supplied me with 3 extra horns =). i have bashed it already. broke the chassis and brace and bent the center drive shaft. no steering broken. but yes it is a good idea to have longer screw and lock nut. that's what was supplied for my truck and also for my previous truck, rustler.

[RFick73]

Well, I still havn't had the chance to run a full set of batteries through my RC8T without breaking something. :mad:

Why must a play so hard? :confused:

After replacing the front left bushing that wriggled it's way lose and got lost in the grass, I apparently accidentally put the longer screw in the shorter hole. =/

I brought it out the other day to the park and within, I kid you not, 40 seconds the front left wheel looked like it came out of the hub carrier. Oi!

Well, apparently putting the longer screw in the smaller hole broke the bearing and decimated the balls and well, I guess it kinda needed that to hold it all in.

40 seconds, it's a new record! >>sigh<<
So, I pulled out my ERevo VXL and decided after running it around for about 15+ mins to run it into a tree losing a front drive shaft piece. Oi vey! Why must I keep breaking my toys!
I just disconnected both front drive shaft pieces and decided to continue to run it for 10+ mins with rear wheel drive only. It didn't run too badly...

Anyhow, I got them home, bought the replacement parts and put my RC8T back together as I still havn't had a good run with it yet!

I was finally able to run it for like 15 mins in my parking lot, then I remembered I had just picked up a new 6S 5000MaH LiPo the other day from CRC. :)

So, I tossed my asphalt tires on her and crammed the 6S into the battery compartment and procedded to take her out into the parking lot for a spin.

Wooohoo!!!! Does she just FLY along!
I don't have enough space to even consider using the 6S at more than 1/4 throttle.
But I got better here and there and gave her a bit more juice.
She wheelies at the drop of a dime in mid run, and well, she flipped over on her lid more than once. I was quite impressed.
And well, after 5 mins I blew a front tire off the bead!

Argh. Yay for easy fixes! I glued it up this morning. Maybe I'll get a chance to run her again soon!

Anyhoo...

Just thought I'd share some of my trials & trepidations with y'all!

Keep on RC'n!