RC10Talk - The Net's Largest Vintage R/C Community

I have empathy for Schumacher. Forecasting any product can be a challenge but factor-in that the product here is a hop-up part for a 30 yo re-released RC car, it's Christmas when RC car sales volume will likely be for RTR or full kits, they will want to avoid an overstock situation (dead-inventory) and they have a nearly impossible task.

I can’t believe I missed this old video all along. There are a lot of great tips that pertain to the rerelease

Yes, many great tips in this video. I stumbled upon this video when I got back into RC a few years ago but I’ve since totally forgotten about it. Thanks for posting it here.

There was a tremendous amount of thought and R&D work invested in the design of this car. However, one thing that has always bothered me is, with all those spindle shafts, thrust bearings, diff balls and belts, the result is a lot of rolling resistance; both straight line and turning. Despite all my efforts, I could never achieve the same free-spin as my geared or chain-driven cars. That said, the drive line is very light (low rotating mass) and totally free of back-lash. I guess there will are always be cost and benefits attributed to each drive system type and this one certainly worked well enough to win an IFMAR Off-Road World Championship.

Thanks again Jeff for posting this video here.

encountered some issues with missing parts. but was able to finished while waiting for parts.



exceptional support from Schumacher, sent them by accident the wrong address for the items. was sent another replacement parts with out cost..

My take on the 2017 XLS

slow_jun wrote: ↑Thu Dec 28, 2017 10:06 pm encountered some issues with missing parts. but was able to finished while waiting for parts.



exceptional support from Schumacher, sent them by accident the wrong address for the items. was sent another replacement parts with out cost..

Looks very good. Sorry you had to test Schumacher's customer support but at least they came through for you. I emailed them about paint color recommendations but never received a reply. Can I ask what brand of red and yellow you used?

uzzi wrote: ↑Fri Dec 29, 2017 1:52 am A1C23BB8-3BF2-4267-A565-F7DCD65EA54D.jpeg

My take on the 2017 XLS

Nice color combination. Are you running the car? If so, then what battery and motor are you liking?

[/quote]
Nice color combination. Are you running the car? If so, then what battery and motor are you liking?
[/quote]

Hi there,

I am running a fleta 8.5 (Muchmore) with a 5000ma Fantom lipo.
This is my Masami replica using Tamiya PS6 & 7. Hope that helps regarding colours used.

Thanks uzzi. Yes it does help... on all counts. thanks again.

Just sharing some mods I have done for the CAT. I made some alloy spacers to replace the plastic ones for the suspension. I noticed that some of the CATs i had restored in the past the screws were bent. I assume this is through flex.....hopefully this mod would prevent this from happening.

I also made some stepped washers to centralized the spring and prevent it from wobbling about.

Nice upgrades uzzi. I see you've converted your CAT to hex hardware as well. Sweet! The back of your undertray appears to fit better than mine. Not sure if the hole dimples were off or what happened but mine hangs-out on the left rear pivot mount. I'll probably just trim it and call it good What are you running up front? I run the overdrive pulley (50t I think) and one-ways in place of the diff. I seems to tighten the car a bit on corner exit which suits my old-guy slow reflexes.

Thanks for the kind words XLR8, yes the dimples on the body shell are not accurate esp the ones near the rear. I line up the shell and marked it with a sharpie accordingly. Do the front first and use as the datum, then wherever the rest of the holes are is where I drill them.

The hex screws are from a company called Screwz4rc from the UK. They even provide the little ones for the eccentric bearing holder but you do have to drill them out as the little bolts are slightly bigger in diameter.
I am running the standard pro transmission front pulley with full time four wheel drive. I hear you on the old guy reflexes part and would have thought a constant 4wd set up would be a safer bet?

Thanks uzzi. Yeah, I have heard of Screw4rc but I wasn’t aware they had a kit for this car. So, I sourced most of my screws from Team KNK (Mike Kirby); Jeff (GoMachV) recommended them and they came through with nearly everything I needed and overall were very pleasant to deal with. I sourced the balance of the needed screws from my local Fastenal and they were at times NOT so pleasant to deal with. I used #2-56 button heads for the bearing cups and belt tensioners. I recall that the holes in the aluminum plates were sized to use #2 fasteners so I just continued to use that size with the new machine screws. For the rest of the car, I was a little worried about the tight fit of the 3mm machine screws so I went ahead and drilled the plastic parts to the proper size while assembling the car. Since this was the re-release car and to be my new runner and not the recently shelved vintage car, I didn’t mind doing a little irreversible modification.
Regarding the 50t and one-ways, I believe this combination provides some on-power spin to the inside wheel in a turn which gives the car a bit of understeer. I run on a loose dirt track and could probably have achieved the same understeer characteristics with a simple tire change but, hey I just got that car in 1988 so I’m still learning. Anyway, I’ve grown to like the slight extra pull from the front wheels with that smaller pulley; it helps me keep it pointed in the right direction. I have lost 4-wheel breaking with the one-ways however and this could become a factor on many tracks.
I’m anxious to get the new runner on the backyard track but currently, in my part of the world, it’s either sunny and sub-freezing or reasonably warm and raining.
I’m curious to know your thoughts on the use of a rear sway bar as I’ve never tried one. Wouldn’t running a bar on both front and rear cancel the effect? By chance, have you posted any on-track videos with your car?

Hi XLR8,

Firstly Happy New Year!

I had to use 2mm tap to cut the threads on the gearbox plates and 3mm tap for the rest of the car.....it was just easier and faster this way.

My understanding of the part time and full time 4wd theory is as such, generally a 4wd car by nature understeers into a turn and the one way was a method to counter the effects of this. e.g. when you back of the power entering the corner it acts similarly to a 2wd and when accelerating out of the turn, you get the 4wd coming into play. It was also a way of gaining some efficiency in the drivetrain as back then 1200ma batteries were the norm and the tracks were a lot less groomed. The one ways set up does work well on tracks that are higher speeds in nature with fast flowing bends but where it is tight and sharp a constant 4wd car would work a lot better so consistency was always an issue (unless you are Masami of course lol). Over time things changed, tracks were now groomed, tyres are a lot more stickier, slipper clutches, better technology with speed controllers, batteries and motors meant cars were getting faster. I guess with the re-release of the XLS it was felt that it was better to stay with a more consistent method of getting the power down so.....full time 4wd it was.

Regarding the rear sway bar, the original XLS had a ton of steering and it was felt that by removing the rear sway bar it would also help in increasing rear grip. As tyres have gotten better over the years you could pretty much fine tune the balance with different patterns, compounds and inserts. I guess the rear sway bar option counters some of this extra grip created by the new tyres e.g. stops roll overs.

I hope that helps....these are my understanding of the car and happy to be corrected. I don't race anymore and just enjoy putting these 'older' style cars together hence no video of it on the track.

Cheers,
Chris

Thank you Chris, your reply provides much food for thought. Loose dirt and fast flowing bends definitely describes my back yard track which, I guess, is why I like the one-ways. However, that said, I reckon after I have the new runner on the track and sorted out, I will reinstall the front diff and give it another chance; to analyse the differences. If the car tends to over-steer, I will try to correct this with tires. Ultimately, I may choose to go back to one-ways but, after reading your theory on full-time 4wd, I want to give front diff another try. I do have one hair-pin turn and it's at the end of a long straight so this requires significant breaking; adding the diff may result in less time setting up for and negotiating that section of the track. Plus, I have already all the parts so there's no cost. Do you know if Schumacher ever offered a smaller (50t?) front diff pulley? All of my diff pulleys are same teeth count as the rear integrator pulleys.

I don't race either but this is mostly due to geography. If my home was closer to a race track, I'd be there every week. Besides the competition, I really miss interacting with fellow racers.

Happy New Year and thanks again for sharing your thoughts,

Doug