merv of a low budget newbie

[newbie123]

hey all,

i'm newbie,i live in belgium and i'm 15 years old, so sorry for my bad englisch.
i own a merv since november 2011 ,it was my first rc car , and i love it.
now it is time to post some stuf about hte tings i have done to my merv.
but remember; i'm a child and i only get 16 euro ( 20 dollar) a month every so for every upgrade i have to wait a month or two.

november; finnelly got my merv, i wanted a rc car since al long time but i never found a good rc manefacturer untill my friend,who owns a rustler told my about traxxas and that their was a hobby store nearby.
so i went to the lhs and bougt an merv vxl

december;i still driving on nimh and i love it ( now i find nimh sooooo boring)
i'm driving on the street and i smashed with 30 mph against a pale with my front right wheel,
i broke the upper a-arm and my wheel (picture commin soon)

my friend repaired my a-arm and i was ready to race again, i upgraded to a maxxtraxx 2s lipo,
and i bought i skyrc charger, im very happy wiyh the charger,it charges fast and safe

at the end of december i broke my servo,so i upgrades to a *******390

i ordered the red rpm a-arms front and rear as well.

januari : new year! yupi! the front rpms arrived the 2 of januari and
i also bought a 3 pcs t-bone , the best upgrade i ever did! it protects realy well , if i hadnt bouht it,i woud have broke 10 bulkheads and 5 chasiss

i didnt like the red color of the a-arms and the rear a-arms only arrived the end of januari.
the rpms are sure one of the best upgrades; i never broke them and they are light.

februari; birthday ! received jconcepts goose bumps on rulux wheels, 50 wt diff oil , 40 wt shock oil and tan springs front,pink springs rear.

the goose bumps are very good,the have almost 200 % more grip then the stock ones and the rulux are very light and stong.


with the new shocks and oil,my merv rocks.

march : i ordered a gpm aluminium spoiler because my stock one is trashed up.
never buy this if you bash! it sucks! the sides come of and you and the carbon brakes, and i you wheelie on the street, the black paint came of.

spoiler;

after a jump;


with my friend who owns a rusty,we ordered black rit dye and we dyed my red rpm a-arms, revo chasis,rockers, rusty chasis,rusty bulkheads.

it turned out very well for our first rit dye job.

this is how i looked like at the end of februari:


on the right is my *******390 servo with some black tape to make it a little bit waterproof en to make i look beter

[JJVeld]

hey looks good with black chassis. u should dye the pushrods and toelinks black too. even tho the red does stand out more i found out

[newbie123]

march: i was driving in the garden when i could hear a clicking noise; my rear diff striped.
i shimmed the diff with 4 shims but even that was not enough, so i swapped the rear with the front because the front one was still ok, i used 1 shim rear,3 shims front and it worked.

at the end of march ,i needed a standerd for my merv but i couldn't afford it,so i decided to make one myself. i build this with a little help from dad.



april ; easter ; a 2 week long holiday.
decided to make a big jump for the merv;
i build this one all alone with some wood that my dad had laying around,it is realy perfect, i now jump at
least 4 metres high.




in the last week of the holiday, my dad costructed a second desk in my chamber where i can work on my merv and also make some plastic modelkits ( this is my en my dads hobby since a while) .




also i made some custom stickers with a cella sticker machine

[newbie123]

hey looks good with black chassis. u should dye the pushrods and toelinks black too. even tho the red does stand out more i found out

i like some red details, my new body wil be blacl with a little bit red

[Mossie]

at first : you drive it hard and bash it

second you have done plenty mods on your merv already

so i dont think your a newbie , and did we all started somewhere with RC

glad you like the hobby and the merv , and i think it looks great and that you have done some nice work so far on it and my respect for that

on this little RC

but the most important thing is you enjoy it and have fun with this


BTW
nice working spot and awesome JUmp building stuff

you should post a vid on the jump stuff sometimes (we like vids here)

at last great to see more euro merv owners here and specially if there from Belgium
because i like that country so so much and use to come to belgium from 2000 till 2010 every weekend doing Car tuning shows there in the last couple of ten years and know many beglium people.
SUCH a Awesome country with great and always very friendly people and GREAT beer and food too

i dont agree with the Hollanders thing and the belgium jokes about them because i know better in the last couple of ten years with Belgium people.i have some great great times and have got SUPERB respect from them and they always welcome you in a very special way once they starting to know you better


at last !!


from which place in Belgium are you ??????


Groeten uit nederland (Rotterdam)

[newbie123]

i'm from heusden , close to gent ( oost-vlaanderen)

en In belgie hebben ze inderdaad het beste bier xD

i have learned many on this forum, thats why i'm not that bad.

i would like to post a video but i dont have a cammera, maybe ask dady for it xP

and about the working post ; it is already dirty, i spiled a hole bottel of tire gleu on it, on the floor, on my pants, and on my hands xD

tomorrow i will post things of may and some stuff i wanna do

[Petertje60]

I think you do a pretty great job with your budget. The little 12 yr old spoiled brat in the house here is too lazy to work on his Merv. It's waiting for replacement of parts over 2 months now. Maybe I should send it to you. He probably wouldnt even notice
If you are in the neighbourhood, pay a visit to Rotterdam, so you, Mossie and me can have some fun together!

[jtalaue]

I agree with Mossie and Peterje60. You've done a good job on building your merv with the upgrades. I myself am a rookie still and this forum we have is a true blessing cause of the comraderie we have with our toys.

[JJVeld]

I think you do a pretty great job with your budget. The little 12 yr old spoiled brat in the house here is too lazy to work on his Merv. It's waiting for replacement of parts over 2 months now. Maybe I should send it to you. He probably wouldnt even notice
If you are in the neighbourhood, pay a visit to Rotterdam, so you, Mossie and me can have some fun together!

Send it to me! ill take care of it!

[CMD-J]

Nice build and very good post, i like it a lot.

I think you have all the necessary good updates for a durable mini Revo. Wise choice on parts, besides the wing.
Your tires looks supercool, i have them on my wishlist for quite some time.

Your working area and the ramp, just wow.

[newbie123]

thanks,

now i have a little problem, both diffs are fried,
do i have 2 buy 2 new ones or can i just buy this part? TRA7082


things still to come; - svt raptor and slipstream body, my first paint job
- new knuckles


problems to solve ; - my car sometimes start to drive without touching the trothle
- m merv has a deflection to the right and my steering trim already stands maximum

[Mossie]

ahhhh heusden -> been there many many times close by at Circuit zolder voor Race wars tuning by IMT

also use to get to Geel and Mol for Hot tuning night many times
which is also in that direction of belgium and very beautifull landscape

you living in a great envoirment in belgium (a very nice spot)


keep us posted on the updates

your diff prob : if only the ring have chipped tooths then you only have to replace the rings
but if the inside is wrecked to you have to buy 2 new ones complete
make sure your shimm them when your build them up and take a look at Jimmie his awesome threath for that

good luck master

[dwmoss]

Great thread, and i would agree with mossie that your are NOT a newbie!!

As far as wanting to go left or right, I don't know if you have checked your camber or toe on your setup but that can influence the direction your car wants to run.

Again here is a belated welcome to the forum. Looking forward to your progress and videos!!

[TQi]

Good build man, you're doing great for a budget

To fix your steering problem, try taking the servo horn off and recentering your servo through the manual or just using the steering trim (or both). then make sure your merv is on and your wheels are straight when you place the servo horn back on.

To fix your throttle trim, follow the instructions on the second last page again on how to do that.

[newbie123]

about my diffs; i tried to open my diffs but the screws are frried, does anybody nows how to remove fried screws?

Great thread, and i would agree with mossie that your are NOT a newbie!!

As far as wanting to go left or right, I don't know if you have checked your camber or toe on your setup but that can influence the direction your car wants to run.

Again here is a belated welcome to the forum. Looking forward to your progress and videos!!

my camber and toe is alreadt the maximum,i cant do the pivot bals in any further

[Mossie]

de boutkopjes uitboren en daarna de restjes met een griptang proberen eruit te draaien

dit zal nie meevallen en je hebt een probleem denk ik

[50togo]

Craftsman has an easyout tool that fits in cordless screwdrivers. That screw is pretty small

[CMD-J]

Search your toolbox for a Torx driver or bit with Size 6. Its about the same size as the hex in that screws but has more "bite".
If they are not totally damaged, you might be able the wiggle them out with the Torx.

[newbie123]

my plan was to gleu the head of the screw to my hexdriver ad then turn i out,i think that will work xD

will try first with a bigger sice

[epic_rc_freak]

Uhm people,
Can we have just a moment of silence of a small thanks tho his friend who give him this wonderfull hobby and learned him all the skills ...

Thank you


(im his friend with the rusty)
And about my rusty there comes a thread also

[Petertje60]

Uhm people,
Can we have just a moment of silence of a small thanks tho his friend who give him this wonderfull hobby and learned him all the skills ...

Thank you


(im his friend with the rusty)
And about my rusty there comes a thread also

.....1 minute silence..... Amen. A buddy with the same hobby is always cool.

[Mossie]

Uhm people,
Can we have just a moment of silence of a small thanks tho his friend who give him this wonderfull hobby and learned him all the skills ...

Thank you


(im his friend with the rusty)
And about my rusty there comes a thread also

thats what friends are for

LALALA pom pom (its a song)

[epic_rc_freak]

hahaha

[newbie123]

Uhm people,
Can we have just a moment of silence of a small thanks tho his friend who give him this wonderfull hobby and learned him all the skills ...

Thank you


(im his friend with the rusty)
And about my rusty there comes a thread also

oh no,he has found the thread

[epic_rc_freak]

heehehe

[newbie123]

heehehe

no spam please

[epic_rc_freak]

no spam please

haaha no no NEWBIE

[newbie123]

haaha no no NEWBIE

i think you dont understand the words NO SPAM ,i will put some spam one your thread ( if you can even mak that)

[newbie123]

haaha no no NEWBIE

i think you dont understand the words NO SPAM ,i will put some spam one your thread ( if you can even mak that)

[Mossie]

geen ruzie maken heh guys ???

[newbie123]

geen ruzie maken heh guys ???

it was just lol

[newbie123]

i was wonderding... i could order 2 new diffs (40 $) but my pinion is still fried,so will i have the cliking sound again??
can you buy a pinion without the ring gear? or does anyone has 2 new pinions that they dont need ?
and btw; i used four sims in the rear diff this weekend,that was ok,but i only have 4 shims so i made my merv 2 wheel drive,that was pretty sick! you got no control at all! and you wont wheelie more than whit 2 wheel drive, wondering what shoud happen if i make it front wheel drive...

[50togo]

All you need is Traxxas 7079 12.00 each ring&pinion only

[50togo]

You don't need 7014 and get some associated 21141 shims and 50k oil while your at it

[Petertje60]

A front wheel drive Merv is not a good idea. Only spinning wheels.

[newbie123]

i have 50 wt oil, and i have 4 shims, and i cant buy TRA7079 because i cant replace the ring gear because i cant get the diff open,the screw wont get out of the diff

[naturalstrike]

stripped screws >>> <<< my dad has some tool set that gets stripped screws out, ive never had to used it on my rc, but i know it does work elsewhere... maybe its possible to buy just one bit online...

[50togo]

Or just drill.the head off. Once off take the plate off and back out the screws

[50togo]

Some of those easy-outs like natural said might work. I have a craftsmanship one that has a small sharp point that might work

[newbie123]

so,finaly, after a month i have 2 new diffs,
today i mounted them in my merv;

this is how they came in,i dont know but is it normal that they came in that sort of bag?


merv in pieces...


and pieces...


and some more pieces....


old compared to new




front done!



rear done



and the t-bone on