Nitro 4-tec 3.3 --> drift car?

[Agent_Smith]

I'm new to RC drift cars, and Nitro 4-tec is an AWD nitro car. Besides tires how can I make this into a drift car? Do I need to remove a "belt" so its 2WD? I heard locking the differential can break "parts" (dunno which ones though :/ ). Anyone have any experience with this car or maybe a tutorial for this specific car? Thanks!

[RC_KAOS]

Most of the drift cars I have seen are AWD. You could see if you could put the HPI Driftbox in, but they aren't very cheap. Be sweet to watch a 70mph r/c do drifting
http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXMVE1&P=7

[CHEEZBURGER]

If you have some old foam tires for it you could super glue them so they are really hard and those make really good drift tires, and they last a long time too

[izossk]

i took a pice of pvc tube and glued it on a old rim trimed it to size and made 3 more its kinda tuff to get moveing but once it starts to move drift on

[3.3steve]

a good way to start is to leave it 4wd... get your self some drift tires for the rear and regular tires for the front. this will help you to slide in the turns and be able to controll your slide... i recomend locking the differentials. use a silicone lube or jb wled. next. put stiff springs in the rear and medium springs in the front. then set both your front wheels at a negitave camber(make the top of the tires point toward eachother) (about 5 degreeze) so that the tires get a lot of surface arear while turned. then set the rear wheels at 0 degreeze camber (straight up and down) this will help them to loose traction.

remember-- drifting is loosing the rear of your car and using the front to pull you thru turns. ..

[Agent_Smith]

Thank you for all your replies!!

3.3steve- Won't locking the differentials cause damage to them or another part of the car? How crucial is this to have?

[3.3steve]

yes locking will cause more wear to your driveshafts, and belts.... is not crucial at all, just helps... if you add a real heavy lubracant, (silicone) then your differential will still be able to slip, but not as easy. this will cause far lees damage, but hurt the car aswell. i can sujest doing all the other mods first then if your not happy try locking the differentials. small diffence but noticable

[3.3steve]

here ya go!




DRIFTING SETUP
If you have any RC racing experience, you know the ideal setup provides you with a well-balanced chassis that sticks to the track without sliding. Just the opposite holds true when it comes to a drift machine. The goal here is to de-tune your car to find the perfect middle ground between grip & slide. The following basic setup principals can be applied to almost any 4WD sedan, but as with all setups, these are just suggestions; Experiment with shock oil weight, spring rates & tires to find what works best for your driving style and conditions.

diff locking... why would u wanna do this?

- predictable power delivery to both sides of the car, on either direction turn
- eliminate single spinning (inside wheel getting all the power and spinning)
- use the throttle to assist in steering the car
- lock front and back for true "zero counter" all wheel drive drifting
- helps car break traction on grippier tyres (rubber, foam, etc)

there's a few ways to lock your diffs, by far the best and strongest is to buy solid axles, or spools. they replace the entire diff gear.et in the diff housing with a solid metal axle to join the outdrives on each side. then a small pin passes thru this axle and into the dif fhousing to transmit the power.

blu-tak, is not a very good solution if you drift on real grippy tyres as when turning at lower speed the diff can try and "work" and chew the blu-tak thru the gears and it may even unlock un-predictably. this has happened to me, so i dont use this method. however if you want to try a locked diff(s) then its a good, non-permanent solition, if you like what it does, then move onto the abovementioned, or the next option below.

epoxy, the scale world's answer to welding your diff in a real car mix up some 5minute epoxy and glue all the gear.et in the diff together, i am talking the bevel gears and spider gears that transmit the drive internally of the housing, not the outter crown wheel and pinion (shaft driven cars). expoxy-ing your diff centre is only an option if you cant buy a solid axle (spool), or u want to lock your diff(s) then and there, and the hobby shop isnt open, or u got some epoxy lying around.

you cannot lock your diff any other way easier than above, there are diff "oils" that offer locking properties, but it doesnt work, the only way to lock a diff is to eliminate the differentiating, and the only way to do this is by a solid centre (epoxy, spool, etc). if you choose to fill your diff with grease, sillicon diff oils, etc, you are not locking, you are creating a viscous limited slip diff (VLSD).

[Agent_Smith]

Awesome thanks again, I really appreciate it!

[Agent_Smith]

I bought some Yokomo Type-D drift tires (4 of them) and after about 5 gas tanks they started to breakdown. The tire started to come off the rim, I glued it back on then the whole rim came off. Anyone know of any good drift tires+rim for the Nitro 4-tec 3.3 that last long and are extremely durable? Thanks!

[3.3steve]

i have not found any that can take a beating for long, but you could take your worn tires, and put a couple laps of electrical tape around them... that makes for a nice tire. Also ive heard of people making pvc tires.. but i have not yet had the chance to try some out

[Agent_Smith]

Electrical tape... awesome, sounds great! If you find out anything on PVC tires please let me know. I tried to find some pvc pipes to fit over my tire but I was able to find any. Maybe someone can post some specifics with a tire + pvc pipe. Thanks again for replying!

[Agent_Smith]

Hmm.. don't know how to edit.. anyways I meant "I tried to find some pvc pipes to fit over my tire but I was not able to find any."

[CHEEZBURGER]

I bought some Yokomo Type-D drift tires (4 of them) and after about 5 gas tanks they started to breakdown. The tire started to come off the rim, I glued it back on then the whole rim came off. Anyone know of any good drift tires+rim for the Nitro 4-tec 3.3 that last long and are extremely durable? Thanks!

Yes, buy some foam tires and soak them with superglue and they with last you many many tanks of drifting

[3.3steve]

saw theese on ebay
http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-Yokomo-Zero-One-Drift-Tire-Rings-16-Part-ZRDRP_W0QQitemZ130062531310QQihZ003QQcategoryZ3406 3QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item130062531310

[3.3steve]

just bought these:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Set-of-4-ABS-RC-drifting-tires-R-C-drift-tyres-TC3-TT01_W0QQitemZ270073063321QQihZ017QQcategoryZ34063 QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item270073063321

[Agent_Smith]

Cheezburger- Thanks man I'll try that!

3.3Steve- let me know how well they work, plz!

Thanks!

[Agent_Smith]

I ordered the ABS tires from ebay as suggested by 3.3steve and used HPI Racing 5 spoke touring car wheels 26mm black (#3611). The tires were 5.99 including shipping and the rims were 6.00 for a set of two so $12.00 for four rims. I wanted to get cheap rims but the least inexpensive rims' offset (the pocket of the rim that fits on the axle nut) were not deep enough. Comparable to the Yokomo Drift tires ($23 a set of two for a total of $46, lasted me about 5 or 6 gas tanks). The Yokomos were very wobblely due to their very shallow offset. The Traxxas stock rims and the HPI's were both plenty deep. Mounting the tire to the rim was extremely painless (took about 20 seconds) using the included documentation which looked the same as here (http://rc-drift.com/rc-drift-forum/index.php/topic,62.0.html). After one gas tank of "breaking in" the tires so far it had very little wear and performing excellent. I figure at some point I should rotate the tires to extend their life. I'll post a follow up when I use them more.

[3.3steve]

just got around to playing with mine, it was awsome!! i will be making another video soon and will show the drift footage i have