worlds first? mid motor traxxas bandit added pictures

[Jester_The_RC_Guy]

Probably a good idea to get the right again too.

woops missed a word : I meant to write: " Probably a good idea to get the right anti-squat again too."

By the way I was toying with another mid-motored traxxas not long ago and moved the shocktower right over the center of the diff. Unfortunately that stilll didn't suffice to have the shocks near vertical in front of the arms.
So now it's either back to drilling extra holes on the back of the arms or maybe other arms or extra spacers between the shocktower and shockmounts. And I really don't like the first or last idea much, so if anybody has an idea on arms that could work, please?

what i would do is get a longer bottom shock screw, and put spacers on it to make it vertical. it would be just as strong as if there were no spacers, i have other buggies that use spacers to keep the shocks straight from stock! (kyosho optima mid) as to the anti squat, i am not convinced it will make enough of a difference to be that bad. but my funds are short so the rpm trans case cant happen for a few weeks. that and the rain has not let up enough to think about running the bandit, or any r/c for that matter in the sunshine state

[Jester_The_RC_Guy]

also, battery on charge now as the rain has stopped. we will see if this handles like dog s*** or not!

[Jester_The_RC_Guy]

well..... it was far from perfect but not as bad as you would think. it had a slight lack of rear grip (bald rear tires + cold tarmac) a TON of steering, but i did notice the positive squat angles that i was warned of. but this is a proof of consept in my eyes, it works, its just as durable as a stock bandit (many many many cartwheels/flips), and well with some tuning this could be legit! now for what i need to change:
the sidewinder esc needs to have a major tune (throttle curve, and brake force)
the shock setup is rubbish (stock xl5 bandit shocks/springs/oil)
i need some turnbuckles (the stock plastic rods are not all the same length)
rpm transmission case (fix the squat angles and get my toe back)
and well after that it is just upgrade what breaks as it breaks!
this will be a project of jang proportions in time, i will promise you that

[Mr. ED]

what i would do is get a longer bottom shock screw, and put spacers on it to make it vertical. it would be just as strong as if there were no spacers...

Thanks for your suggestion but that would make things worse: I have the shocks on the front of the arms and they are leaning back because the shocktower is too far back still.

(I have used spacers on the shockend mount point of arms before in other projects, but in general it's better to avoid them. The increased lever makes the screws bend or the arms crack sometimes.)

[Jester_The_RC_Guy]

what i would do is get a longer bottom shock screw, and put spacers on it to make it vertical. it would be just as strong as if there were no spacers...

Thanks for your suggestion but that would make things worse: I have the shocks on the front of the arms and they are leaning back because the shocktower is too far back still.

(I have used spacers on the shockend mount point of arms before in other projects, but in general it's better to avoid them. The increased lever makes the screws bend or the arms crack sometimes.)

oh, sorry i misread what you said at first, ive got nothing for that way around other than space the upper shock screw

[Coelacanth]

J_T_R_G,

I would like to take this opportunity to publicly apologize for taking a dump on/in your thread. I am a detail oriented guy, and in my attempt to ensure accurate information sharing, I came across as a complete Ballchinian (one who may occasionally have metaphorical balls on their chin). Your Bandit project is pretty cool. In fact, I wouldn't mind hot-lapping it for a few packs.

Respectfully,

Mark

i understand, and your are not the only one who has taken a dump on this topic especially on traxxas forum *cough* monkeypirate *cough* i accept lets just forgive and forget

I'm assuming that was partly directed at me, and I'm sorry, but...if you want to post something on a public forum, you'd best be prepared for responses...good, bad or positively critical. The point was to help out, not "crap on your thread". I honestly didn't see ANY thread-crapping here...just critical opinions that were mostly valid.

[Chewbacca]

I am currently working on 2 Rad2 runners, one mid motor, one standard.

I will need to hack into the left arm mount to make it fit in mid config.

If you budget is that tight these mounts fom the RAD2 / Hawk etc. might help:

RAD2_mounts.JPG (24.02 KiB) Viewed 1260 times

RAD2_mounts.JPG (24.02 KiB) Viewed 1260 times

Just google traxxas 1997, and you'll find them for about 5 bucks.

That is of course only if they still use the same hole pattern. Can any of the Traxxas experts confirm?

You'd have to cut the current mount off of the stock gearbox that you're using. But it is $15 saved...

Good luck, Tony

[Mr. ED]

I don't know if it is a valid option but maybe it is possible to separate the arm mount part from the gearbox with a dremel and cutting disk? Ifso you could switch the armmounts back to the original sides. Things will loose some strength though.

[jwscab]

I 'm not sure if you cut the arm mounts off, that the gearbox has any mounting holes. I know that is the case on the bullet, but not sure on the bandit.

[Mr. ED]

I 'm not sure if you cut the arm mounts off, that the gearbox has any mounting holes. I know that is the case on the bullet, but not sure on the bandit.

I wasn't sure either, so I checked the exploded view online There're are 2 screws which old the gearbox fixed to the rear bulkhead and some more in the lower chassis around where the motor protection meets it

[Jester_The_RC_Guy]

J_T_R_G,

I would like to take this opportunity to publicly apologize for taking a dump on/in your thread. I am a detail oriented guy, and in my attempt to ensure accurate information sharing, I came across as a complete Ballchinian (one who may occasionally have metaphorical balls on their chin). Your Bandit project is pretty cool. In fact, I wouldn't mind hot-lapping it for a few packs.

Respectfully,

Mark

i understand, and your are not the only one who has taken a dump on this topic especially on traxxas forum *cough* monkeypirate *cough* i accept lets just forgive and forget

I'm assuming that was partly directed at me, and I'm sorry, but...if you want to post something on a public forum, you'd best be prepared for responses...good, bad or positively critical. The point was to help out, not "crap on your thread". I honestly didn't see ANY thread-crapping here...just critical opinions that were mostly valid.

no sir, you really did nothing to crap on this thread, becides i could not stay mad at you, you own 4 kyosho optimas! also "crap" on this thread was used by trx 1-3 so i just used it for that.

[Jester_The_RC_Guy]

im just getting the rpm trans case as well, not going to dremel the arm mounts off because i dont trust me, my dremel, and the cutting disks to not screw up so i will just ret the rpm trans case and be done with messy toe and squat angles. that should be here by the end of the month SHOULD be here, it is only taking so long because a teenager does not have the most vast budget in the world of this hobby...

[harry697]

I don't know if it is a valid option but maybe it is possible to separate the arm mount part from the gearbox with a dremel and cutting disk? Ifso you could switch the armmounts back to the original sides. Things will loose some strength though.

I did this before on a project. You'll definitely lose some strength because the arm mounts on the Bandit trans are mainly what holds the whole thing to the chassis. I ended up drilling two more 3mm holes in the cases, in front of the diff. That's basically how the older Hawk2 trans was mounted, with the exception of it also being keyed into the rear bulkhead.

I'm sure it still wasn't as strong as the stock Bandit mounting setup, but I never had a problem with it and the truck was raced frequently.

Hard to tell in the pic, but the stock arm mounts were dremeled away and replaced with Nitro Rustler arm mounts:



Extra 3mm screws in front of diff:




I made my own chassis for that build, so I had the ability to make some adjustments. IIRC, the stock arm mount holes in a Bandit/ Rustler chassis will line up with the Nitro Rustler arm mounts, but the mounts will sit slightly off-center compared to the diff outputs (hope that makes sense). Don't recall any interference issues, but it didn't line up as well as the pic i posted with the g-10 chassis.

[Chewbacca]

The part number for those mounts is:

Traxxas TRA2798A

a-main has them for 2 bucks plus shipping. Of course the extra holes in the tranny case become necessary.

new holes in the chassis amended as well, but I guess you have those already.

a little more for the cheapest solution

[Jester_The_RC_Guy]

[quote="Chewbacca"]The part number for those mounts is:

Traxxas TRA2798A

a-main has them for 2 bucks plus shipping. Of course the extra holes in the tranny case become necessary.

new holes in the chassis amended as well, but I guess you have those already.

a little more for the cheapest solution[/quote/]
i appretiate the help but im just going to do the bandit a favor and get the rpm transmission case, my stock trx one is already hashed pretty bad and it is ~ 8 months old. just not made for the power a castle motor can deliver i guess... while im at it i think i'll get a 2nd one for my next build after the bandit is up to spec with what it should be.