Tamiya 801XT build plus electric conversion

[Sixtysixdeuce]

Ah, just found NitroRCX has some pretty cheap. Should work for driving around the neighborhood.

If there's one thing I've learned in my 20-odd years playing with these things, it's that going cheap on tires only results in disappointment/aggravation. Buying a compound that's a little too hard because it was on sale while the softer one wasn't only meant that I bought the softer ones at full price later and the others are collecting dust in a box. Likewise with tread patterns. Figure out what you need and bite the bullet, do it right the first time. Yes, 1/8 truggy tires are spendy. Just the nature of the beast. Decent 1/8 truggy skins will set you back $60-$80/set after wheels and foams.

[WhoKnowsWho]

Ah, just found NitroRCX has some pretty cheap. Should work for driving around the neighborhood.

If there's one thing I've learned in my 20-odd years playing with these things, it's that going cheap on tires only results in disappointment/aggravation. Buying a compound that's a little too hard because it was on sale while the softer one wasn't only meant that I bought the softer ones at full price later and the others are collecting dust in a box. Likewise with tread patterns. Figure out what you need and bite the bullet, do it right the first time. Yes, 1/8 truggy tires are spendy. Just the nature of the beast. Decent 1/8 truggy skins will set you back $60-$80/set after wheels and foams.

I'm still driving around with Traxxas Stampede tires that are 14 years old and hard as a rock...

[Lonestar]

I'm still driving around with Traxxas Stampede tires that are 14 years old and hard as a rock...

And the car has probably been handling like crap for the past 14 years

[BMKTW2]

I'm still driving around with Traxxas Stampede tires that are 14 years old and hard as a rock...

And the car has probably been handling like crap for the past 14 years

[WhoKnowsWho]

I'm still driving around with Traxxas Stampede tires that are 14 years old and hard as a rock...

And the car has probably been handling like crap for the past 14 years

It wasn't bad until the brushless system was installed.

[Sixtysixdeuce]

An update on these truggies, for anyone who's interested.

I've been running the two of mine almost 4 months now, have a couple of gallons through the nitro kit and roughly 60 packs on the e-truggy after yesterday. These things still amaze me every time I drive them, just incredibly graceful & controllable. They also awe people at the track; show up with one of these and start lofting it 12' high and 30+ feet long, it makes all the SCTs and monster trucks look like toys!

Anyway, in my personal experience, the durability of these trucks has actually been quite good, save for front arms. The size of these things, combined with the length of the arms, one bad landing on the nose is curtains for the inner hinge joint. I was having more issues nosing the nitro, but I did break a few on the e-truggy as well, probably 10 or 11 front arms between them. Even though the arms are dirt cheap ($5.35/pair of 1 ft & one rr.), I was getting tired of replacing them, so I solved that issue once and for all:



Milled from 7075 T-6, as is the bulk head brace. The ones on the nitro are a little thicker, starting with a piece of 1/2" stock and milling down to .420" with a slight taper from hinge joints to center. I decided that much meat wasn't necessary, so started with .375" stock for the next pair, which saved quite a bit of time.

The arms proved durable in the extreme. Unfortunately, as we all know, such strength improvements in one area will expose the next weak link or links. Ran a heck of a lot longer between breakages with the alloy arms, but did eventually nose the nitro hard enough to snap the aluminum brace that spans the front bulk head and captures the arm pins (the stock one blue anno piece, not the one I milled that incorporates the shock tower), which did damage the bulk head/clamshell pieces fore and aft. On the e-truggy, I managed to crack the left side caster block-a hit that was also hard enough to fracture an 8x16mm wheel bearing. Having said that, this damage was the result of some very hard landings on a very rough track. The truggies had many hard hits and cartwheels before these breakages finally occurred.

All in all, I'd say these truggies are about as durable as any other decent 1/8 scale, superior to most in handling, and definitely the best deal going right now, still at $99 shipped.

[WhoKnowsWho]

Nice solution for the arms.

I plan on boiling mine as suggested in several build threads. Hopefully it will keep them in one piece. Are the arms still on Tamiya's Web site, or are you getting spares elsewhere?

[Sixtysixdeuce]

I plan on boiling mine as suggested in several build threads.

NO!!!!!!!!!!!! It makes them incredibly weak. I followed that "advise"; 7 of the 11 arms I broke had been boiled, and there was far less time between them than with the as-manufactured arms. Anyone who says it helps on the 801 is either going off experience with other arms that have a different composition, or is totally deluded.

Tamiya still has standard arms in stock, #9004237

[WhoKnowsWho]

Dang, that sucks. I'll order some spares then.

[Sixtysixdeuce]

I'll order some spares then.

Unless you have the capacity to manufacture, that's the best option.

Unfortunately, with nearly unbreakable arms, I did find the next weak link (or links, as it were):



So tonight I milled up another solution:



It's more than just a bumper; this piece captures the heads of the hinge pin and bulk head screws. It's a tight fit over the cap screw heads, had to tap it on with a small ball peen. So now, for the same carnage seen above to happen, this piece will first have to break. Given that it's 7075-T6, .270" thick across the front, I'm betting on not. I also chose to wrap it under the chassis to prevent the screws from simply being ripped out of the bottom of the bulkhead clam shell. And yes, I did mill the little flange that slides between the chassis and clam shell; that was a pain.

Sadly, I didn't think to snap any photos before installing it. All the fancy mill work is on the back. lol. The exposed portions I just beveled, then rounded with a die grinder and scuffed with a scotch brite disc.

[WhoKnowsWho]

Wow. I wish I could bulletproof spare parts at home.

[BMKTW2]

I'll order some spares then.

Unless you have the capacity to manufacture, that's the best option.

Unfortunately, with nearly unbreakable arms, I did find the next weak link (or links, as it were):

Wow. That front suspension brace is 7075 aluminum and you ripped it apart.

[Sixtysixdeuce]

Wow. That front suspension brace is 7075 aluminum and you ripped it apart.

I'm not easy on my kits. lol.

That's why I say the durability of these things has actually been pretty amazing. Even the front arms aren't especially weak; they're just really long, and these truggies are fast (and a little heavy). ~10 lbs at 30-45 mph impact speed is a lot of force.

I'll get video of these things running some time. Both of them fly around the track like jet fighters, and are easily soaring 10-12' high & 30+ feet long off of relatively small jumps (~30*, 3' high).

[spydur23]

i love my brushless 801xt! Nick's right... these things take a beating. It's inevitable the something is gonna break. That's the good thing, the kits are dirt cheap! I still need to order and extra (or two). I'm only afraid that having the kits will inspire me to build one a nitro. I'm not gonna lie, hearing the nitro truggy as it flew around the track made me a little envious! LOL So far there's like, what? 4 or 5 of us with 801xt's at the outdoor track. Should make for some fun running this summer. And NO! we don't have to treat them like a newborn unicorn, unlike the guys who are into there losi's and associateds for $1500!

[BMKTW2]

i love my brushless 801xt! Nick's right... these things take a beating. It's inevitable the something is gonna break. That's the good thing, the kits are dirt cheap! I still need to order and extra (or two). I'm only afraid that having the kits will inspire me to build one a nitro. I'm not gonna lie, hearing the nitro truggy as it flew around the track made me a little envious! LOL So far there's like, what? 4 or 5 of us with 801xt's at the outdoor track. Should make for some fun running this summer. And NO! we don't have to treat them like a newborn unicorn, unlike the guys who are into there losi's and associateds for $1500!

I got 2 spare NIB kits under my bed. I'm not tempted to build another of the same thing, one assembled kit is enough for me. I love good parts support and with extra kits, nothing beats that.
The E801XT is an animal with 6S battery! ... and just like you said, "we don't have to treat them like a newborn unicorn"


... That being said, I never was a fan of aluminum arms... they seem to cause more problems when the issue is usually driver error. No offence