Let's have some FUN! Losi Super Baja Rey 2.0

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This is only the second Losi I have owned and my other one is the smallest RC in the collection.

I've never had one myself. Nothing against them, I like most of the vintage stuff.

But I try to be practical. I have nine RC10 based vehicles, allowing me to minimize the number of spare parts that I need to keep around.

But I have to admit, those Mini T's are tempting. I've come close to buying one a couple times.

Back when I raced, Losi was the brand I was always trying to beat every weekend. So yeah, for me, getting a Losi is like going to the dark side.
But they are making some of the coolest stuff in RC at the moment.
Like everyone else, for me parts availability is a prime consideration if I'm looking to buy a runner. If it's going on the display shelf, then I really don't care about finding parts.
I had to look up the Mini T to confirm what it was. Very nice and only 140 bucks for a top level rtr. Very inexpensive fun, I'd say.

[MarkyDents]

Sorry if the pics are a little grainy but they were taken back in 14’ when I built the truck.

Na, they're fine. I'm using a 20-year old Olympus digital so I'm used to seeing pics a lot grainy-er than that.
I always like the Amsoil livery. I don't know much about Traxxas but, apart from the lay-down shocks, isn't the E-Revo similar to the Slash 4x4?
... and you ran it on 6s?? Wow, I can't imagine a 1/10 scale truck running on 22 volts. That explains why it was air borne.
Do you still own the truck?

They are similar only in the ways of being 4wd, the E-revo is truly a 1/8 monster truck that has a center trans. The motor and esc are for 1/8 as well. The Slash 4x4 is basically traxxas’ take on a 4x4 shaft drive 1/10 buggy. The Slayer Pro is a nitro truck based on a Revo 3.3 also a nitro truck. They both have a longer chassis then the original versions of the Revo and Slayer. So in turn I realized the length of the electric Revo would work nicely with the Slayer pro body that mind you is also wider then the original Slayer. Believe it or not I had to make nothing to facilitate the build. Just sourced the needed part numbers, played the waiting game to get them all in and it was just a matter of tearing it down and building it back up with the new parts. All Traxxas btw. Yes I do still own the truck. Although it’s not as clean and new looking as it was in the photos back then. I’m pretty certain I’ve got a picture of it next to some of my Slashes. It’s both longer and wider then them. If I remember correctly I had bought a clear AE SC8 body for it first and it would have fit but I decided to go with the factory finished Amsoil body instead.

[MarkyDents]

I thought this was a better pic for size comparison but unfortunately it’s all the way in the back.

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I thought this was a better pic for size comparison but unfortunately it’s all the way in the back.

Thanks for the photos; that’s in impressive lineup of trucks you have there. It’s amazing that you were able to construct what’s essentially an 1/8 scale Short Course truck using only off-the-shelf Traxxas parts. Perhaps this is testament to Traxxas’ commitment to keeping their vehicle designs modular so that customers can mix and match parts to create the vehicle they want. Good on them!

Back in 2013 when I’d returned to RC after a 20 hiatus, one of the first new vehicles I bought was the Prolite 4x4 from AE (later re-branded ProSC 4x4). The Prolite was Thunder Tiger’s answer to the Slash 4x4 however, being just a stretched and widened version of one of TT’s 1/10 scale buggies, the Prolite wasn’t very good. The truck was plenty fast but it handled horribly and it wasn’t very durable. About the only good feature were its electronics. It came with a decent 2.4ghz radio system, hi-amperage 3s capable ESC and an extremely powerful Reedy 550, 3500kV motor. Even on 2s, this thing RIPS!

I’ve tinkered with the truck a lot over the years. Most of the handling problems can be traced to the flimsy plastic chassis and upper deck. Under acceleration, this thing twisted like a pretzel. So, I’ve constructed a replacement aluminum chassis pan with an FRP upper deck, separated by aluminum stanchions. The new chassis has effectively illuminated chassis twist and, combined with a set of modified aftermarket aluminum front c-hubs (to increase caster angle), the truck handles much better now. Also, the stock metal motor plate bolts directly to the aluminum chassis making the system an effective heat sink. It’s a pretty decent basher now and a lot of fun to drive.

… although, as you can see, Sadie is not amused.

[MarkyDents]

Now that’s what I’m talking about ! You put together one awesome truck there, you didn’t like how it was so you made it into what it is now. Nicely done I may add. That truck should be posted up in its own thread. Many would like and benefit from what you came up with.

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Now that’s what I’m talking about ! You put together one awesome truck there, you didn’t like how it was so you made it into what it is now. Nicely done I may add. That truck should be posted up in its own thread. Many would like and benefit from what you came up with.

haha... Thank you but it wasn't so much a matter of not liking how it was, I almost couldn't drive it. Squeeze the throttle and it was anyone's guess which way the truck would go. Making throttle adjustments mid corner was certain to land the truck in the fence. It was ridiculous!

The only issue I'm having with it now is that it chews up rear axle bearings. I usually have a bearing failure after every 3 or 4 outings. I get replacement bearings for it from Avid a dozen per order. They're not expensive but it does tend to add up over time. Someday, I'm gonna research this and find rear hub carrier/axle assemblies from another model that accepts larger and stronger bearings to replace the poorly designed TT ones.

As for posting the build for the benefit of others, I think perhaps that ship has sailed. AE dropped this model some years ago and I doubt that anyone messes with them now. I see them posted on ebay from time to time and they don't generate much interest. I reckon they've become like the Yugo of the RC industry. I've owned a few "Yugos" in my day - but that's a conversation for another time.

[XLR8]

The parts arrived from Horizon today to replace the broken ones on the SBR2.

They've sent me the ESC version that includes a capacitor pack so that's an upgrade I guess.
Only one of the cage parts were broken but they've sent me the entire bag of parts rather than fishing out the part I needed.
So far, so good.
Weather forecast is looking good tomorrow so maybe I can finally run the truck for the first time.

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First run completed and just waiting for batteries to charge again.

Despite my careful driving, I've already managed to put the truck on its lid.

I ran it mostly on 50% power since I have a small track with a lot of trees nearby. Plus, I've never driven an RC this large and with this much power so it's a little intimidating. I'll bump it to 75% for the next run.

It ran continuously for 22 minutes on twin 3s 5000mah batteries. The batteries are new so I'm hoping run times will increase a little as they break in.
First impressions; well, it's a lot fun, handles very predictably and looks like the 1:1 out on the track. Certainly the closest I'll ever get to driving the real thing.

I've removed the rear cage-mounted accessories (radiator, shock reservoirs, fire extinguishers and jack) and the driver/navigator figures so I can fully detail these parts.
I've also gone ahead and ordered a spare body from Horizon.

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Well, apparently one of the two 3s Awanfi batteries has a lazy cell. It's extremely slow to balance charge and cell one discharges to .25 volts lower than the remining cells. I'm working with Awanfi now to get it replaced.
I've been running the truck with throttle limited to 50% power. 50% is safe but maybe just a tad slow but running it on 75% power is way too fast for my little track -- and my reflexes. I haven't even tried 100% power yet.
So, as an experiment, I just tried running it on 4s (2 x 2s packs) and it actually runs great. It's way too slow on 50% power but 75% is just about perfect.
The new body arrives tomorrow.
This truck is amazing! Very happy to have it.

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The replacement battery arrived from Awanfi today and I can't wait to try it out.
I'll need to change that Deans connector first. I can probably run the truck tomorrow afternoon.

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I've charged a couple packs, grabbed Sadie and headed to a local park where I could finally switch it to 100% power and let it rip.
The field was relatively flat except for a couple dips where I was able to get the truck airborne. Tremendous fun!
I did bicycle it a couple times but otherwise was able to keep the truck on all four wheels. No damage to report.
Some owners on youtube have clocked this truck at 42mph on 6s (56 mph on 8s) so this is definitely one of the very fastest off-road RC's I've driven.
The only issue was that batteries died a fare distance from the parking lot (of course they did ) so I had to tote it back to the car.
It's a warm day so with Sadie's leash in one hand and the truck in the other it was a bit of a workout for this old man. I should pack some spare batteries or a tow rope next time.
Anyway, I'll let the batteries rest a couple hours then head back to the park for more fun.
The weather forecast here is for rain over the next four days so this will give me some time to re-install the driver figures and rear cage accessories that have been detailed.
Also, I'm going to fabricate and install a couple window nets and I have that new Brenthel body that will go on the truck.

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With about a dozen runs on the truck so far, I wanted to pull it apart and check for wear and damage and check the amount of grease in the trans. Everything looks fine. Cleaned everything as it was reassembled so I wanted to take a few pics before it gets muddy again.
I’ve painted the driver figures, installed a couple scratch-made window nets, detailed the faux fire extinguishers and rear shock reservoirs and installed the new Brenthel livery body.

Window nets are simply zip-tied to the roll cage.

One of the more common complaints with this rig is in regards to the massive amount of roll cage and body flexing behind the cab. The weight of those two spare tires cantilevered so far behind the cage’s mounting points is causing the flex and the most common fix is to install a couple cage braces as I’ve done here (one each side, made from Kydex). By using Kydex for these braces rather than metal, this will allow for some flex during an impact.

I’ve made one final modification as the truck was reassembled. Out of the box, Losi has installed 3 degree toe-in inserts in the rear axle. They’ve also supplied a pair of zero degree inserts packaged loose the manual and tool bag. I wanted to give the zero degree inserts a try. Some owners claim that eliminating toe-in decreases the truck’s tendency to barrel roll in a turn. Well, I ran the truck at the park this afternoon on a grassy field and I really couldn’t tell any difference; the truck seemed to perform exactly the same as with the 3 degree inserts. I believe the barrel rolling is a result of very sticky tires and a relatively high CG. Perhaps making this change could reduce rolling on a loose surface so I guess we shall see.

[THEYTOOKMYTHUMB]

This popped up on the front page of my youtube and felt in the spirit of this thread. Kinda...

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Believe it or not, I've actually seen that video before - it also popped up on my youtube one evening. That's an incredibly smooth track and it looks like great fun. Thanks for posting the link.

So my Losi SBR2 has a broken spur gear. This evening, about 3-4 minutes into a run it suddenly lost drive. When I dropped the motor cover, the source of the problem immediately became obvious. I'm pretty sure those teeth should be attached to the gear not laying loose at the bottom of the transmission.

Pinion looks okay. GOOD GOLLY, the motor in this thing is a little smaller than a beer can.

Anyway, I've reached out to product support at Horizon and I'll wait to hear from them.

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Well, 19 days later and the replacement gear has arrived.
Since buying the truck in February, I've had to file two warrantee claims and Horizon came through both times without a hitch.
They've sent me more than I need this time; I only needed the smaller gear on the right, the larger gear is for the center diff and it's hardened steel so I don't think it will ever fail.