Howdy yall
I just wanted to share with you my restored runner LXT… I’ve had this for a while now but only felt like introducing it to the audience today, don’t ask me why! I’m an LXT lover, I have two only but I hold this car close to my heart as the first one - which I still have and was fully restored (thread here http://www.rc10talk.com/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=7630 looks like the pics disappeared, I will upload new ones) – was given to me by a much older friend of mine about 20yrs ago, and this friend is also the person who took the always-broke student that I was to his first race meetings (not with the LXT though).
Long story short, after restoring the car listed above initially for running purposes but having invested so much TLC in it that it was immediately retired to a nice spot on the shelf, I wanted a runner I wouldn’t have second thoughts about every (few) time I would spin it in the yard. So I started looking for one to run...
I recall buying that car on the BST section of the forum, but I’m not really sure whom from (Jeff H. was that you?).
As received:
Anyway, when the car showed up it was in worse condition than announced, but I recall the seller was very sensitive to this as he was selling for a friend iirc and spontaneously offered a partial refund… It hadn't been run much but obviously it had been run at the wrong place... Basically the whole suspension was frozen solid and most non rust-treated parts were, well, rusty… hardware, ballstuds, hinge pins, you name it, if it’s metal it was full of rust. I parked the car in a box out of frustration and then I forgot about it for ages.
As I was working on a AE Team Truck at some point and I was reading the instructions, I stumpled upon the following sentence (or a similar one) “if the hardware becomes rusty after running in wet conditions it will not affect the performance of the car”, and that reminded me of the LXT. Time to get started! The car went through a full teardown and rebuild. A big challenge was actually to disassemble some of the suspension without breaking it… the wet 20y.o. grime had made his way through everything, and with corrosion it was a very solid assembly that required subtle mechanics (think vices and hammer and a lot of cussing and swearing) to take apart. Once disassembled, the car was actually a good base for restoration, especially as the hydra was not that leaky (!). This car still has the LRM transmission, but with the hydra on it. Until then I though only the retrofit tranny could get the hydra! You learn every day
I have many LXT parts (like, really MANY, I’ve stocked up for years now… paranoid self) so I put new parts everywhere was needed or simply where it was happy to do so, just because I could. The LRM main gear is the bearing’ed version, a lot of the hinge-pins are new, actually I didn’t replace the hardware that was just a bit rusty but only the bits that were shot, keeping that old AE advice in mind.
Then came the time to pick some electronics. There was a Futaba 9301 sold with the car, it could be a bit torquier by modern standards but 5kg was still respectable bitd. The mill is a triad 11x3, which I got almost in great condition and fully rebuilt, new bearings, new brushes, realigned, lathe’d, the works, actually I just love messing with brushed mills and taking a pile’o and turning into a great runner! As long as the comm. Is above 6.8mm and the magnets aren’t washed out, you can do miracles with brushed motors. The Triad range was a bit like the speedworks, performance-oriented, but machine wound.
As ESC, I picked an anachronic one… really there isn’t much space in the side “poontons” of the LXT and I hate mounting ESC’s on rear towers, so I dropped a Cyclone in there, it fits nicely and is “only” a handful of years too young for the car. Plus, the Cyclone is virtually indestructible, it can handle any of the hottest brushed mill, I view it as Bob’s crew landmark design really. This one has been wired with looooong wires as I tend to move it from one rc vehicle to another as the runners come into and then leave the collection. I don't mind a few oz and ohms of extra wires for recreational vehicles, really (competition cars is another story
)
And for the radio, the Crown Jewels, a close-to brand spanking new Megatech PCM, my favourite radio of all times, and its super tech and tiny RX. CheapoLipos fit in the car once you remove the plastic spacer, like if Gil knew that 20yrs after battery packs would get slightly bigger, he was psychic
So this is what the car looks like now!
I “regularly” (5 times a year, maybe??? haha) take it for a spin in the yard for a pack, my kids love running after it, a couple of boxes and a board do the perfect foot-high jump, and the stadium truck wheels make it a more appropriate runner than the smaller buggy wheels All trivial considerations aside, it actually drives very “modern”, which makes sense given the Pro-SE and LXT actually defined the modern buggy architecture. The mill heats up a bit (hot wind, hydra losses, machine-wound, grass, and lipo voltage don’t go well together…) but that’s manageable. The LRM hasn’t let me down once, yes it’s a tad noisier than a 3G but it still feels “right”.
I’ve also taken the car to the track once, but was missing the proper rear tires… and the track is designed for 8th scale, so let’s say the truck wasn’t really shining. Plus it’s afraid of fine dust now (and so am I)!
Anyways – one more runner in the stable… the LXT was such a modern truck, as Dan running his XX in modern club races, I believe the older losi truck could do well if only I had a proper track and race series to race it in…
Last couple of (dark, sorry) shots with its older sibling, and with its archrival the Team Truck. Very different body styles between "rustic" AE and "bio" Losi!
Thanks for reading!
Comments welcome
Paul
PS: Anyone racing at SLO hobbies? Looks like the car was coming from there (see stickers)
But if you compare the XX vs. the Pro-SE, they were playing in different leagues though. Good fingers could probably make up for it though... just like you do with your XX-Cr in your local races! I would think the XXT would show the same improvement vs. LXT... but then again I haven't ever run them back-to- back 
