Insanity's Revo

[insanity]

I bought a used revo 3.3 for $250 and after what I thought was going to just be a through cleaning turned up more, I tore down the rear end and trans I didn't even touch the front end. I decided it was going to be a better rout to just get a brand new one. Since I like to support my local hobby shop and after seeing it would cost over $250 just to replace every bearing, and parts to update the trans (I am a novice so reverse was the selling point for me) after the complete rebuild of the motor. So now I have a new motor and every part I think I could break on hand to fix it on the spot, so I will need to break two of the same part before I upgrade. I would think it would be cheaper in the long run, driving to the hobby shop or shipping cost all added in.

The truck came in blue which is the body I really wanted. Batteries are charging and will have to wait for a warm day to break it in, it was 28 degrees this morning and a high of 36 all day, but some 50 degree days are coming up this week. I will be running 30% sidewinder in it also because I can get it locally, would prefer the traxxas blend though, and getting them to stock it would take a lot to do other wise I would have to wait to get it. I like being able to get stuff in person quickly.

Upgrades that will happen soon are a wing, wheelie bar, and street tires in the summer because I will most likely run it on pavement the most (just to get in a run here or there with out leaving my barracks).

The sidewinder fuel states it dose not need an after run, I still plan to WD40 it any ways. After every run I plan to clean it, be at least a dust off. Any time it has seen water it will get a through scrub cleaning and oiling. Lastly with every gallon it will get a through tear down scrub and oiling. The hobby shop in town said they can get me an oil the dose not attract dust like WD40 dose. Preventive maintenance will make it last a lot longer. If any one thinks this is not enough please let me know, I like tinkering and making sure what I own runs top notch from scale to my 1:1.

I just finished reading the manual and watching the DVD. Dose any one else think that it might be worth updating it a little? I know the procedures are the same for the 2.5 and 3.3, but some of the electronics are newer and if someone is completely new to the hobby may be confused with the 27mh to the new 2.4gh, or at least add that to the current material.

[insanity]

I just finished breaking in the motor, and then a little high speed hi-jinks. Loving this truck already. Definitely need a wing or wheelie bar the boot from the header to the muffler is torn in half.

[insanity]

Here is a before pic, after pics to come.

http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/b...119_165740.jpg

[KyLeader7]

Mmm the new Revos sure look pretty with the blue scheme! Glad your liking it man! I havn't watched that DVD in what has to be like 5+ years? Back then it was helpful to me, as it is just the basics.

[insanity]

Ya it is still very helpfull DVD.

[madjokerny]

I bought a used Revo myself a few weeks ago for $350 and it has worked great so far. I only had to replace the cluctch spring and retune the motor. It was not used much but the person I bought it from was not the best of drivers it seems as the body had same scratches and such in it. Other than that it was in great shape, I would like to buy a new body for it with a fresh paint job on it and no scracthes. Do you know if you can buy them already painted like they come when new? I like the paint schemes and style and I am not crafty enough do anything but a solid color paint job. I really like the body on your Revo that looks sharp in those colors.

[JDookie]

Do you know if you can buy them already painted like they come when new? I like the paint schemes and style and I am not crafty enough do anything but a solid color paint job. I really like the body on your Revo that looks sharp in those colors.

You can buy the new bodies completely painted, trimmed, and ready to pop on your truck. I just bought one brand new on eBay for $28.00. I got the silver/black one, but they have all the colors posted on a pretty regular basis.

Not only do the new bodies look really sweet, but they are also wider in the back so you can fit a wider exhaust setup if you want to without it melting the body.......don't ask me how I know this, lol.

[TRaXXaSDuDeT.J.]

Actually Tower Hobbies is expensive I would recomend rcplanet.com. Just search REVO3.3 body in the search bar on their site and there you'll see it for like $28.95. I recomend them for any other parts too,or have youre local hobby shop get it for you and you son't have to pay shipping just state tax.


MAN MY BAD this didn't go to the right spot,it was supposed to go to the beginning of this thread pfffss!! Ignor this (unless you shop at tower hobbies lol).
Need to work on computer skills.

[insanity]

Looks like it has the design all you need to do is add the colour.

http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...&I=LXYKX6&P=ML

[insanity]

Any on have problems with the knuckles? I set it up for pavement was running it on pavement, then I took it into the grass and broke the steering knuckle no jumps just WOT. Also it would wheelie set up out of the box but wont set up for pavement, is that normal? I was trying to tune it before it broke had good smoke, sound, and temps where a little warm but not over 240ish even though its 37 degrees out. The spare parts truck I have has a smaller outter bearing than this one so I cant swap them out yet. So I eather need to get new knuckles or bearings.

Here is the knuckle - http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/b...125_214450.jpg

[JatoTheRipper]

You must have had some kind of crash or tumble to weaken and break it. It wouldn't just break running at speed on flat ground, unless it is a fluke.

I broke the same part on my new, blue Revo. I broke the toe rod mount off like you did and I snapped the toe link. That had to be some force to snap it completely in half.

A lot of people say to go to aluminum knuckles/axle carriers. I'm probably going to try the Tekno RC ones first.

[insanity]

It could have been weakened before hand with a series of cartwheels that went for 30 feet or so on the break in day (on tank 6). I wonder what kind of hit it would have had to suffer before hand to stress it to that point and not let go when it originally happened. I have four more knuckles to break before I upgrade. Which brings up another point in stopping the truck, seems it doesn't stop as fast I think it should.

[insanity]

While I was at the LHS today getting the bearings I needed to run the spare knuckles I have. I traded a Losi Night Crawler for this.

http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/b...127_185600.jpg
I also bought a wheelie bar.

http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/b...127_150857.jpg

I also bought these locking clips and rubber retainers to keep them on the body.

http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/b...127_190229.jpg

After getting it all fixed up then some play time at the LHS it was recommended I do this. A tip keep snow off the air filter was given to me.

http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/b...127_201027.jpg

http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/b...127_200839.jpg

http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/b...127_200956.jpg

A RPM wing and wing mount are in the mail. For my next mod I will be fixing an old alien key to the glow plug wire for easier install and removal. I need to get the right size shrink wrap and solder it on. Also need a better soldering iron the little one I have is not going to get hot enough.

[insanity]

I am having a slight problem with the spectrum radio and recever. It is glitchy I will lose all controle of the truck untill I get close to it. Luckly it comes to a dead stop. So I will be looking into that. Also there was around 3 inches of wet sticky snow on the ground that spun the slipper a lot . Which on the radio showed 400 degrees but my hand held temp sensor showed 300 so I cut it off and put it up. It was about 30 out so I think the slipper doing its job with the high rpm caused the high temp.

Any tips on setting the slipper on a nitro? I can set one for electrict there is no spring to judge off of.

[Double G]

Tight enough so that when you push the spur with your thumb and have the shaft locked, you leave indents in your thumb getting the spur to move.
As for the temps, be careful because you could be running lean. With temps that low you should cover the head of the engine.

[insanity]

For the temp that is why I killed it, it did not seem right. I kept turning the HSN counter clock wise and it would bog down at WOT. From what I read in temps that low I should be reading sub 200 and need a sleeve. I reset the carb to factory settings, adjusted the slipper as you described and tomorrow I will take it back out and try to tune it until I need a sleeve to keep the temps up. That is weather permitting.

[insanity]

I tried to solder the alien key to the wire. The alien key would not take the solder so I used 3 small zip strips and it seems to be doing the trick. It has been less than 30 degrees here and over a foot of snow in a week so no run time. I also had to move to my new barracks down the road so that killed run time to. I’m chomping at the bit to run this but don’t want to kill it at the same time. Like I did my strike with the new brushless motor, took out a brand new ball diff in less than 10 minutes.

[insanity]

EZstart came off and pull start went on, may cut a hole in the body so I’m not yanking on it sideways. Ran it tonight it was 19° out in light powdery snow and had a sleeve on the motor to keep it warm. The can lid kind of kept the filter dry, I think a baffle somewhere between the tires and it should keep it snow free. Paddle tires are going to be needed to run it in conditions like tonight.

The spectrum system kept losing connection so the stock one will be going back in. Also could not get it to go into reverse.

[Redsnk95]

How do you like the pull start vs. EZ start? I am rebuilding a Revo 2.5r and thinking about putting a 3.3 engine on it with a pull start. Do you have a picture of the hole you cut out for the pull start?

[Freeagnt54]

How do you like the pull start vs. EZ start? I am rebuilding a Revo 2.5r and thinking about putting a 3.3 engine on it with a pull start. Do you have a picture of the hole you cut out for the pull start?

This is my truck, and I would take my pull start over ez-start any day. Just make sure you have a good rechargeable glow igniter.

[insanity]

I like the pull start better because when the battery for the EZstart get too low it won’t crank but 3 or 4 revolutions. Once it is primed and the igniter is on first or second pull its running. I haven’t cut the hole yet though I am having a hard time cutting a new body for it then placement and hole size come into play. I have 3 igniters so keeping them all charged will be too easy. I am about to go on leave and will take it home with me so I will have plenty of time to dink with it.

[insanity]

Thanks for the pic freeagent.

[Need|4|Pede]

Freeagnt are your tires on backwards?

[Freeagnt54]

Freeagnt are your tires on backwards?

Yeah I was driving through the snow and thought it would go better with them backwards.

[Redsnk95]

Thanks for the input and picture Freeagnt!

[insanity]

Found it, friend came over and told me what it was.

http://www.outerwearsracing.com/prod...2941&cat=12483

[insanity]

Wing installed and hole drilled for pull start, the smallest hole saw I have is 1 ¼” don’t really like how big it is but it will do. Again thanks freeagnt for the tip. I will cut more of the body to get it to sit lower I don’t like how high it sits in the rear now. I don’t know how it will affect it to have the body much lower than the wing but it’s really there to protect the motor.



While I was at the LHS picking up the wing and mount. I saw one of the electric cars that belonged to one of the guys that worked there. It had a green mesh bag over the ESC, and he said it was to keep it waterproof while still allowing air to get to it to cool it off. I am going to call and ask where he got it and try it out instead, of my current set up.

[insanity]

Just ordered the outerwear's prefilter today, cant wait for it to come in to try it out.

[insanity]

Last night I tore down the slipper with trans out to check it. When I put it back together I was spinning the out put shafts and it was hard to spin. So I tore the trans apart and found this.



I cleaned all chunks of the old gear out and put it back together.

I think it was when I had the faulty spektrum dx3s radio and receiver on it. I left the opti drive in it but it seems the radio had override the opti drive and the shock from the metal gears chewed it up. I like to have reverse even though I do not use it much, so it will be going back in. It is 9 bucks vs 30 bucks so its a little cheaper than the center diff and forward only conversion. Will running it as is damage the trans further, knowing not to put it into reverse?

[insanity]

New reverse gear in works perfect now.

After this genius move. The wing mount is beyond repair.





So I used this to fix it.



Looks like.



Also this came in the mail cant wait to try it out.

[insanity]

While I was home on leave I did chop the body to sit lower and still want it lower. I think some aluminum foil over the pipe will keep the body from melting, or a heat wrap like material glued to the body. I am not sure but I think wrapping the pipe its self will cause more problems than I want to chase down. I broke a front upper a-arm but that was a decent hit into a brick wall, in a cold welding shop. Luckily I had a spare and in 10 minutes was running again. Otherwise I didn’t run it much about 2/3 of a quart of fuel.

It ran away from my brothers HPI RS4 RTR 3 2002 edition which I thought would be an even race. A light weight road car vs a 10 pound monster truck. He ramped my truck while I was dragging the wing doing a wheelie, completely unintentional. Later I was running his car in 2wd (he broke the 4wd when he ramped my revo) I ran his into some snow so I went to get it. As soon as I put it on the ground I hear the revo shift into second then crunch… True to monster truck style he demolished his already (he bought it used) crappy body, bent some cooling fins, and broke the HSN off the carb. This took me about 24 hours total to find a new high side needle kit for him…

It was a great time to run them together, my brother loves the revo and if he could he would get one.

[insanity]

I picked up 1 set of wheels and paddle tires and one set of bead locks today. I am going to try to work the paddles off the rims they are on just to use the beadlocks. Also rebuilt my spare set of shocks, filled with 60wt oil and put on the LT springs cant wait to try it all out.

[cadmanslayer46]

cool thread insanity, cool thread.....................

[insanity]

Thanks cadman!

I will be happy to report that the outerwear’s profilers did a perfect job of keeping the air filter dry today. I ran it is a wet 1/2 stone 1/2 blacktop parking lot, through puddles and snow as well. One more note it also kept it dry even after a full on blast of water as I washed the truck off. Anyone who plans to run in wet environment get one it’s worth the 15 bucks.

The LT springs and 60wt oil handles much better and lands a lot smoother. I will run my test shock set up again then put the stock ones back in to see the difference in the same day and conditions but so far I love it.

For my next mod I will try to use some silicone I have left over from sealing up my fish tank to create a seal for the receiver box.

[insanity]

I finished adding a silicone gasket to the receiver box lid. I also squeezed some into the slot for the wires. I used a dime to thin the silicone down some so that way it will still kind of fit in the slot.

[insanity]

I took the head off and this was glaring at me. Looks like a lean condition, seems odd I have good sound and smoke, but temps are still a little high in 45 degree weather. Could flipping it on its lid and running the tank dry do this in less than a gallon cause this? I run 30% sidewinder or 33% traxxas fuels with OS LC3 and LC4 plugs. The HSN is 5 1/8th turn over stock, I haven’t touched the LSN yet that could also be my problem.

[insanity]

Throttle servo died replaced it with a spare steering servo I have in my parts box.

[cadmanslayer46]

head doesnt look too awful to me, neither does piston, dont see any black, might try a touch richer.....

[insanity]

I got a chance to run the paddle tires today. I didn’t stay out long engine would not get up to temps; with a sock improvised it would just die. My fingers went numb quick and my foot was getting cold lol.

[cadmanslayer46]

still looks fun!...........