First Hopups

[Spoon]

This question has been asked a thousand times, but the point of this thread is to try to make sure it's not answered ever again. Hopefully...

All new Mini-Z drivers like to know what their first hopups should be. Here are my thoughts, any additional input is welcome. Conflicting opinions openly welcomed.

Phase I - Bare Essentials (Best bang for buck, probably required to make a competitive racer)

• Tires
• Bearings
• Carbon H-plate (MR01/MR02)
• Damper System

Phase II - Good to have. Helps fine tune handling. Higher Performance.

• Ball Diff
• Toe In-Out Rods
• Camber Knuckles
• Springs
• Upgraded motor

Phase III - Durability for Mod Racing and/or Bling

• alloy motor mount(s)
• Ti Damper Kits
• Alloy Knuckles
• Alloy or Ti Dogbones (MA-010)

For a little more discussion and a couple of links, you can reference the full article on the mini-zracing blog.

Enjoy

[soyverde]

Hmm, my phase I suggestions would only include tires and rechargeable (NiMH) batteries. Carbon H plates would be a distant third (possibly phase II), as depending on your preferences they may be more for reliability than performance (look at how well chucky does with stock plastic plates). They are typically one of my first upgrades, though. I would put bearings and (non-stock) damper systems in phase two, as I don't consider either particularly necessary to someone starting off.

I would also suggest that a decent digital controller might be useful before any of the stage III items, but then I don't care much for alloy, and that's pretty debatable.

[Spoon]

That's good input. I forgot about the rechargable batteries.

[FasterTHANu]

Which Damper system should I use, the one that goes on top or the one that goes down either side? I've seen pics of cars that have both, is that over kill? Also what H plate should I use? Thanks

[Spoon]

Originally Posted by FasterTHANu

Which Damper system should I use, the one that goes on top or the one that goes down either side? I've seen pics of cars that have both, is that over kill? Also what H plate should I use? Thanks

I would do a search or start a new thread asking about dampers. If you do start a new thread be sure to post which type of chassis it's on because the dampers are chassis specific. As SoyVerde mentioned though, a damper may be a later upgrade, definitely after tires and batteries.

[bermbuster]

your logic is spot on as far as upgrades...im new to mini z s but not RC cars/trucks. What is confusing is the wide range of hop ups and mfgs of them.(partial to kyosho) Now when i buy tires im getting 4 rears or 4 fronts per pack. The cool thing for me is that the 2 cars come with different tires(slicks &treads) and im getting an education from them. So now i need to make sure i get the right combo for the surface I want to run on. What tires work best on RCP track? My plans for now are bearings, tires, and maybe ball diffs. What spare parts do you reccomend we keep in our pit box??? Thanks again for all suggestions.

[Fish]

A lot of people also recommend replacing the stock lugs with nylon threaded ones right away. It'll decrease the chances that your wheels will come off during a race.

[Spoon]

just bumping this thread to try and get more input. I am going to clean it up and post the FAQ version soon so speak now or forever hold your peace.

[HammerZ]

Originally Posted by Spoon

Conflicting opinions openly welcomed.

Phase I - Bare Essentials (Best bang for buck, probably required to make a competitive racer)

• Tires
• Bearings
• Carbon H-plate (MR01/MR02)
• Damper System

Phase II - Good to have. Helps fine tune handling. Higher Performance.

• Ball Diff
• Toe In-Out Rods
• Camber Knuckles
• Springs
• Upgraded motor

Phase III - Durability for Mod Racing and/or Bling

• alloy motor mount(s)
• Ti Damper Kits
• Alloy Knuckles
• Alloy or Ti Dogbones (MA-010)

If anything I would bump the damper system to a phase II. I know some swear up and down on these, I just think you can get by without it for a bare bones car. Metal wheel nuts would fit there nice though, I like to upgrade those with the bearings. They also save headaches later when you are cleaning the car. When you have one car it would work to trick it out with everything, just when you have a few more cars those hopups add up quick. I figure I am doing good to have ball diffs on all my racer chassis.