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havent built a brand new kit since 1993, just rebuilds to my old ones and bought a RTR b4 on the cheap
thinking of building a b44 and just wondering what your opinions are on the kit and car, would be my first 4wd build
have ever only had RC10s, well besides the tamiya hornet and grasshopper i had when i was real young so wanted to stay with AE, only other one i was looking at maybe was the Team Durango 4wd, any opinions on that one or compared to the b44?

Pretty easy to build. Shocks are v2's and are very easy to bleed via bleed screw. I don't know if you plan on racing it but the cavalIeri setup seems to work well on most hard pack dirt tracks. I run the diffs a little tighter than the kit instructs esp with 10.5 or lower turn motor. Tends to overheat and get gritty. The lower body tray is a pain. You can just get some stick on clear chassis protector that works great.
Also tends to be a bit nose heavy. Associated sells a weight you can stick between the saddle packs that helps with weight transfer. Car is great and a lot of fun.

Oh ya. Definately associated over durango.

i have one and i m not so sure i like it.... lets say its a bit agrcultural, theres slop everywhere, accessibility is crap, there are a few details that really show the design's age... keep in mind it really is the indusrialization of a hack that started as putting a B4 suspension on a tc3 transmission...

Paul

well thanks for the info, those are two very different opinions, i may need a bit of a translation on the second one
anyone else wanna chime in

love that prof pic tho lonestar, hilarious

86NESKid wrote:well thanks for the info, those are two very different opinions, i may need a bit of a translation on the second one
anyone else wanna chime in

sorry, was typing from my tablet... but still it should be readable let's just say the b44.1 delivers on the track, but it's still an older design, and quality is so-so compared to a Durango or a Bmax I'd say.

Paul

I'm like you - had never built anything but RC10's. I bought a used B44 that was partially built and I finished it off. In a word: amazing. It is light years ahead of the RC10 and you can 'feel' the improvements in handling, suspension etc while driving it. The all wheel drive is pretty kick ass too. I love that the slipper can be so easily adjusted too.

From my point of view its a great buggy but I don't have anything else to compare it to (except my RC18B), so take that for what its worth. I think with the numbers of them out there you can't go wrong getting one.

Agreed that there is way too much slop in AE's current plastics ( since the TT takeover ) but it flat delivers on the track, and is half as much as the Kyosho ZX SPSF. The car is quite durable as well. I'm sure the Durango is a good car too, we will see what stays good now that they have sold out as well.

No big complaints here. Very easy to drive fast and in comparison to my B4 I’ve spent far less time on the set-up, it just works everywhere. In the last year of racing I’ve broken one front arm and one shock shaft (both my fault). My only bitch would be the slop in the plastic. Even though I believe it wasn’t effecting the handling I started using thin s/steel spacers to tighten up some of the play (psychologically I feel better). I’m sure a set of Lunsford hinge pins would help too.

GreenHell wrote:. I’m sure a set of Lunsford hinge pins would help too.

not really... the slop really develops in the plastic, and in most cases it's radial slop so there isn't much you can do about it I'd say other than regularly changing parts. The fact that the rear hubs are alloy and that the axle turns in the hubs rather than in the arms sure don't help. The most slop is actually in the steering system, the rack is stupid sloppy. I don't think it impacts performance THAT much, but still it would be better not to have any, at least not in some of the suspension components.

All in all, it works, but the day xray releases an offroad electric, I'll happily trade my AE for that one

Paul

I know when I replaced my stock plastic bits on my Rc18 with aluminum (also steering parts), the difference was unbelievable.

I plan to upgrade a lot of the b44 parts to aluminum. I guess I have a soft spot for it since I got the gold tub

To remove most of the slop (rocking motion) in the steering rack the two metal sleeves need to be shortened slightly, only remove a little material at a time to make sure you don’t overdo it or it will bind. Unlike on-road you don’t want the steering completely without any play you’ll end up with a twitchy race car.

loose is fast!!!

jwscab wrote:loose is fast!!!

You know my ex too?!