Here you go Rick:bearrickster wrote:I think we need a thread on Brandons Frog "HINT HINT"MelvinsArmy wrote:If I was going to build an entry level vonats car, it would be a Frog and I would copy Brandon's setup. That car could race in 2wd buggy class and do well. (If Brandon was behind the wheel of course)
Frog info:
-Front wheels: HPI Superstars (Tamiya P/N 51261 (sand viper) also works)
-Rear wheels: HPI Superstars (Tamiya P/N 51262 (sand viper) also works)
-Front tires: Losi prescrubbed red compound 2.2"
-Rear tires: Proline holeshots M3 2.2"
-Rear hex adapter: Tamiya P/N 53913 (works on the hornet/grasshopper/wildone too.)
-Tamiya CVD rear axles Tamiya P/N 53908. Stock bones work, but you really have to watch how many o-rings you put in the drive cups and limit the shock length to prevent popping out/binding. These also work on the Wild One and Blackfoot.
-CRP front shock mounts
-CRP front shock tower hardware (sold seperately)
-Kimbrough servo saver, ditch the stock piece. Center the steering servo and install some turnbuckles. I used steel AE tb's and drilled and tapped the spindle for a 4-40 ballstud.
-Front shocks: Yeah Racing 60mm length (Tamiya mini CVA's work too)
-Rear shocks: Yeah Racing 80mm length (Tamiya short CVA's work too)
75mm eye to eye is perfect for the rear shock of the frog. The 80mm require spacers to limit travel. I got the shocks from RC Mushroom, but I don't think they have then anymore. Reason I went with them is because I liked the color, and the fasteners/spacers were metric. You can adapt just about any shock to work on this car, and most of the 4-40 hardware that is used for the american stuff will work fine in the plastics that they bolt to. Front suspension requires the absolute softest spring with 15wt oil to be effective. I used a set of super soft front springs that came from an unknown Tamiya kit. The black Associated springs are too stiff.
I didn't change the gear ratio for 09. Stayed with the middle ratio. Didn't put anything special other than AW grease in the diff.
Ran an LRP Indy 200 ESC with a Trinity Co27 stock motor. Nomadio radio (that's what I run regularly)
Lipo batteries require some spacers put between the side holders and the chassis in order to widen the area. I was using an Orion 3200 pack and was only using about 800 mah for each 5 minute run.
One note: the front axles are splined and pressed into the aluminum spindle. If you are serious about racing a frog, drill and tap the axle from the back and hold it to the spindle with a flat head screw. If you don't do this, they WILL pull out.
Also be sure and use thread lock on the 4 screws that hold the front aluminum arm mounts to the chassis!
Was all of this a little overkill for the class. Maybe. But that's how I tend to do things. I said If I ran a Frog I wanted shocks in the front. Just like what they converted them over to in the 80's. The Yeah shocks suck. I wouldn't recommend anyone getting them if you can get a hold of the Tamiyas instead. I will probably put the Tamiyas on before I shelf the frog just for my mind's sake.
All of the other things I did to try and correct notable problems to try and make the car more reliable. This has been a very enjoyable class to run for me. Not beacuse I won, but because it takes a lot of patience to get this car raceworthy and get it around the track without crashing! Everybody should try one. It makes you realize just how well even the early 90's cars run compared to these.
I will follow up with some pics soon.
