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-   -   Alloy front shock tower... (http://mini-zracer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=13898)

TeaQue 2004.06.07 11:36 AM

Alloy front shock tower...
 
I searched, and found a few threads on this.

My question is, is breaking these things a frequent problem??

I just purchased a Monster from a private seller and he said the only thing wrong with the monster was the front shock tower had broken (where one of the pillow balls connects)

I thought nothing of it and had planned on ordering an alloy one but I can't seem to find one! I can only find the rear! Why is this?

Has it just not been released yet?

arch2b 2004.06.07 11:50 AM

gpm is apparently far behind production levels. you'll notice alot of gpm parts are harder to find these days but the monster parts i would say are the hardest.

i've broken 3 front dampers on my monster and can only hope to get an alloy one before i break another.

i've also broken a knukle, tie rod and i think a servo gear. i haven't opened it up yet but it won't steer right now :(

my plan is to make my monster a very sleek, street runner. i already have my h1 for offroading so i wan't to take advantage of the wide stance of the monster adn get it to run fast and straight. as i have it right now, it won't rollover unless i hit a rock or something. if i get a fet job, i'd like to try the 6 cell setup someone posted earlier. anyway, have fun with yours and it's a good thing the stock parts are relatively easy to find and cheap

TeaQue 2004.06.07 12:53 PM

Actually after sending an email to miniz store

They said they just got some alloy ones in over the weekend and are shipping one out to me today!

chriss 2004.06.07 05:01 PM

hi
rc mart got them in stock (blue) front and rear tower o.k

TeaQue 2004.06.07 07:51 PM

Thanks for the edit arch ;)


That whole censoring thing bugs the hell out of me sometimes :p

lornecherry 2004.06.16 10:58 AM

Broken Monster Parts - a guide to neccessary upgrades
 
We've been running the Monsters for over three months for Birthday Party rentals and our in-school programs. The durability is not too bad but there are a few weak links you need to address in order to avoid constant breakage.

1) First and foremost, you should only buy the 40th Anniversary truck, as the oil shocks will greatly help. Bearing, wheel nuts + XSpeed motor make for an all-around better truck at a cost of less than buying a standard truck and then adding the upgrades aftermarket. Addtionally, the Kyosho upgrades (bearings, oil shocks in particular) are of better quality than much (but not all) 3rd party parts.

2) You'll need to upgrade the front shock towers (rear seems fine) and the front knuckles. (One of our associates has gone through 9 front shock towers so we know the part needs an upgrade.) We have also broken at least that many front knuckles. GPM metal parts for both have not failed us. (Yes, this will add some weight to the truck ...racers take note)

3) We then change the springs over to the stiffer yellow ones that come with the 40th anniversary ed.(to handle the jumps). Remember to add the oil to the shocks and top-up regularly.

4) The most annoying problem with the trucks is broken servo motor or pot wires. The solder joint at the PCB board is suspect and will eventucally work loose. It's a delicate soldering job to fix -- we've already fried a board, even with our moderate soldering skills ....

....so we deveised a preventative fix that works very well. Before we install the GPM shock towers, we remove the PCB cover and, using a glue gun, cover the solder joints for the 4 wires and then add a fair bit of hot glue around the area. If we had to remove the glue it is easy (but there should be no reason to have to remove the glue unless you somehow fry our board).

Just before the glue dries, flatten it with your finger so the PCB board cover will not be obstructed when you screw it back in. Then, add some glue to where the four wires protrude. This will stop any flexing at the solder joint, and if you have a break, it will be in the middle of the wire at the glue area ...much easier to repair. As the glue has a touch of flex, even when hardened, we have yet to break any wires using this method. We use long setting time hot glue, as it is easier to work with then the standard quick set.

5) Use caution when running your Mini Monster outside and stay far away from sand, ....as tempting as it might be to rooster tail it as you drive through the local play area sand pit.

The differentials and gear box are not as sealed as you think ...we almost destroyed 4 trucks when running them for 15 minutes in a sand box (loose, fine dirt needs a similar caution). Bits of grit will quickly work themselves into the gearbox and differential ... you are in for a major cleanout that's not fun ... and the trucks never seem to be quite the same.

6) As some members have pointed out, soft tire insertsreduce shock when jumping ...the less trauma to the truck on impact the longer it will go between having to wait for replacement parts because something broke.

6) Finally, the stock antenna is garbage, replace it with something better of an internal.

Keep in mind when doing the upgrades to the knuckles and shocks/towers that you are merely passing the stress down to the next weekest link, so there's still no excuse for going off 6-foot ledges or slamming a wall full speed with the wheels cranked one way ...a servo saver will save the servo, but not the front linkages.

That said, the trucks are very robust once you've done the upgrades ... we've got several hundred hours on them now ... so hopefully we've found the 'must make metal' weaknesses. If you are hopping up past X-speed with extra volts, board upgrades, etc., then keep in mind that damage = mass x velocity squared ...the faster you go or the further you fall, the more stress you are putting on your truck.

Regards, Lorne

arch2b 2004.06.16 11:23 AM

excellent review and it just so happens that i have the same upgrade parts or they are on the way. i have gone thru atleast 3 front damper mounts and 1 set of knuckles.

i run mine thru sand frequently and have not had a problem so long as you remove the gear side tire, remove the main gear clip and empty out all the debris that has collected which is a 5 min fix., even easier if you have a can of plastic safe compressed air. i can see why this would add to your routine matenaince but for the average user, it's something they should do anyway after running outside. this is a leason well learned from overlands.

have you tried any of gpm's nice line of optional tires for the monster?
see these

TexasMonster 2004.06.16 11:45 AM

thanks for the great info lornecherry.

after breaking 2 front shock mounts, i've found both a good fix as well as preventative measure. you can repair the snapped off pillow ball mount by CA gluing the actual joint and then covering the entire area with some JB weld. This holds extremely well and is a great cost savings.

I did order a few new shock stays and preventatively coated the break points all the way around with 2 coats of jbweld. it's super strong and helps to spread the force of impact around, but without as much added weight of alloy. also, by keeping it plastic, it allows it to absorb more shock, instead of transferring the impact to the servo case pillow ball, which would require a new servo case to fix.

i've also had similar problems with my servo wires. the hot glue trick definitely sounds good. after missing an entire race day when someone turned on my frequency during practice and sent my monster into a wall, snapping my servo wires, i'll surely implement that fix!

lornecherry 2004.06.16 12:05 PM

shock towers
 
...like your fix Texas Monster. I would also add that the reason shock towers break is not only because they are underengineered (aka the MR-01 stock H-plate) but also the stock shocks are garbage (and that's being nice). The trucks bottom out too easily and each bottoming sound you hear is stressing the shock tower, which must absorb the remaining shock after the springs/shocks have fully compressed.

It appears Kyosho (as their video shows) designed the trucks for obstacle climbing and maximum articualation for its size. They never took into account that people love to jump ...as high as we can. Hence, you need to upgrade the shocks and the tires (with inserts) if you like to catch "air".

If Kyosho were to market a "jump kit" with some of the upgrades discussed earlier, the would sell well. -Lorne

Dracer07 2004.06.16 05:23 PM

which shox can you get that absorbe that the best. oil or GPM alloys with stiffer springs.

TeaQue 2004.06.16 05:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lornecherry
We've been running the Monsters for over three months for Birthday Party rentals and our in-school programs. The durability is not too bad but there are a few weak links you need to address in order to avoid constant breakage.

1) First and foremost, you should only buy the 40th Anniversary truck, as the oil shocks will greatly help. Bearing, wheel nuts + XSpeed motor make for an all-around better truck at a cost of less than buying a standard truck and then adding the upgrades aftermarket. Addtionally, the Kyosho upgrades (bearings, oil shocks in particular) are of better quality than much (but not all) 3rd party parts.

2) You'll need to upgrade the front shock towers (rear seems fine) and the front knuckles. (One of our associates has gone through 9 front shock towers so we know the part needs an upgrade.) We have also broken at least that many front knuckles. GPM metal parts for both have not failed us. (Yes, this will add some weight to the truck ...racers take note)

3) We then change the springs over to the stiffer yellow ones that come with the 40th anniversary ed.(to handle the jumps). Remember to add the oil to the shocks and top-up regularly.

4) The most annoying problem with the trucks is broken servo motor or pot wires. The solder joint at the PCB board is suspect and will eventucally work loose. It's a delicate soldering job to fix -- we've already fried a board, even with our moderate soldering skills ....

....so we deveised a preventative fix that works very well. Before we install the GPM shock towers, we remove the PCB cover and, using a glue gun, cover the solder joints for the 4 wires and then add a fair bit of hot glue around the area. If we had to remove the glue it is easy (but there should be no reason to have to remove the glue unless you somehow fry our board).

Just before the glue dries, flatten it with your finger so the PCB board cover will not be obstructed when you screw it back in. Then, add some glue to where the four wires protrude. This will stop any flexing at the solder joint, and if you have a break, it will be in the middle of the wire at the glue area ...much easier to repair. As the glue has a touch of flex, even when hardened, we have yet to break any wires using this method. We use long setting time hot glue, as it is easier to work with then the standard quick set.

5) Use caution when running your Mini Monster outside and stay far away from sand, ....as tempting as it might be to rooster tail it as you drive through the local play area sand pit.

The differentials and gear box are not as sealed as you think ...we almost destroyed 4 trucks when running them for 15 minutes in a sand box (loose, fine dirt needs a similar caution). Bits of grit will quickly work themselves into the gearbox and differential ... you are in for a major cleanout that's not fun ... and the trucks never seem to be quite the same.

6) As some members have pointed out, soft tire insertsreduce shock when jumping ...the less trauma to the truck on impact the longer it will go between having to wait for replacement parts because something broke.

6) Finally, the stock antenna is garbage, replace it with something better of an internal.

Keep in mind when doing the upgrades to the knuckles and shocks/towers that you are merely passing the stress down to the next weekest link, so there's still no excuse for going off 6-foot ledges or slamming a wall full speed with the wheels cranked one way ...a servo saver will save the servo, but not the front linkages.

That said, the trucks are very robust once you've done the upgrades ... we've got several hundred hours on them now ... so hopefully we've found the 'must make metal' weaknesses. If you are hopping up past X-speed with extra volts, board upgrades, etc., then keep in mind that damage = mass x velocity squared ...the faster you go or the further you fall, the more stress you are putting on your truck.

Regards, Lorne

Wow. Thanks for the info/advice !!

I'm going to do the hot glue "mod" later tonight...


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