Brand New O/B Rally on the streets!

[RoaRk]

Hey all,
Just wanted to introduce myself and share my excitement with my newly purchased Rally. This is my second RC car, my first being a JATO. With that said I'm new to the electric scene, and I'm glad I went down this road instead of going with another nitro.

I was previously leaning towards the Rustler VXL, but my LHS really sold me on the Rally. Since I had the Jato before I know what that kind of speed feels like, so I decided to go with the 4wd and have some fun at a more "controlled" pace.

I've taken it on two runs today and WOW is it a blast. Gotta love the 4wd drifts kicking up all sorts of road debris. I'm in NY and we have lots of snow right now, so I figured it would be perfect for testing the capabilities of the Rally. So impressive. I might raise the ride height a tad for the snow, but I really don't know if it's even necessary.

I went ahead and grabbed a 2-C 5800maH LiPo battery while I was there with a nice LiPo charger. Like I said, I'm new to electric so I have virtually no experience with LiPo. Honestly, I'm a bit intimidated by it at the moment so I haven't ran with it yet. I'm going to wait for some drier conditions or some time to thoroughly seal the battery before I take it out for a run. I'm expecting great things from LiPo!
So, I made a little snow hump to get all the wheels off the ground and had a blast ripping this around the "plowed" parking loop.

Upgrades are imminent so stay tuned! Thanks for looking! No comments on color choice are needed, as we all know that I made the right decision. Enjoy some pics of the day!







w00t w00t! Not too many trucks on the market will take a belly full of packed snow like that and live to tell the tale. I'm sold.

[zippogeek]

Sweet! I got the white and black one. Really wanted green but I gotta say they're a blast. If you have any questions about charging and care of LiPos, this is the place to ask. Some of the other guys here are wicked smart on that subject...

I'm in Buffalo. Whereabouts are you?

[RoaRk]

I'm in Peekskill now. LHS is Gallimods. Great people, great place and they have a dirt track out back and a rock crawling course in the basement. What's the most cost effective way of water-proofing a LiPo for heavy snow runs like this? Don't want to destroy my $70 battery on the first run. Will a plastic bag and a ziptie or electrical tape around where the wires come out do the trick? Also I have a choice between fast charge, balance charge, and charge (not to mention charge/discharge cycle, and storage), which one should I be using to charge before a run? Charge or balance charge?

[zippogeek]

What's the most cost effective way of water-proofing a LiPo for heavy snow runs like this? Don't want to destroy my $70 battery on the first run. Will a plastic bag and a ziptie or electrical tape around where the wires come out do the trick? Also I have a choice between fast charge, balance charge, and charge (not to mention charge/discharge cycle, and storage), which one should I be using to charge before a run? Charge or balance charge?

As far as waterproofing the LiPo...I do absolutely nothing to mine and they're just fine. You can't submerge them, obviously. But I've been running mine in the snow all winter, two inches of slush and ice packed around them, and have had no issues. If you want, you can always zip-tie them in a baggie like you said. But it's not really necessary.

I always use balance charge. Be sure to plug in your balance lead as well as the battery lead.

Proper safe LiPo charge amperage = the mah rating of the pack divided by 1000. For example, my 5700 mah LiPos are charged at 5.7 amps.

One last thing: make sure you set the correct number of cells on your charger! 2S = 7.4v, 3S = 11.1v, etc.

[RoaRk]

^ Thanks mate.

[pavmentsurfer]

I also run all my lipos all winter with no precautions. Ive never had anything bad happen. I only run SPC lipos and they appear to be excellent in the snow. I wont run mine in "water"... but in the snow its fine. Immediately after a snow run I thoroughly blow the car off with compressed air to the point its pretty much dry. I do this to the lipo as well. So far, so good. These packs are going on a year old and nearly 200 charges.

[DiggerPede]

Welcome to this kneck of the woods!!

BTW great choice on the Rally!! No color choice mentioned. There are some good threads on upgrades if you need any help. In that kind of weather who needs to worry about temps. LOL One of the first things i'd pick up if i was you is a chassis brace. Either one like Humaray or Aburg came up with. Pave and I purchased a clean one from Axis RC for $ 39.99. It's a very good investment IMO.

[Altek]

I just got one a few weeks back myself, in green. I'm loving the performance, and having only played with silly electric r\c cars in the past, this is a who new world to me. I thew a 3s lipo in there and even understanding the speed and taking it easy, I've managed to damage this bad boy. This has been a 3 week crash course in the world of Traxxas. Somehow I've managed to bend the center drive shaft, the input shaft, and output gears in the differential. Honestly, I've never had a front end hit that looked any more damaging than some videos of bashing I've seen, so I'm actually confused. I'm curious to know if anyone else has had a like experience with this mudda. For now, I'm going to look into this chassis brace Mr DiggerPede is all excited about.

[RoaRk]

Thanks for the advice on the chassis brace! I was going to ask about a few cost effective upgrades once I try out these LiPo packs, and I think a shroud and that brace will be a good start. I won't have time until Friday to try out a LiPo for my first time, but from what I hear I won't be going back to NiMh. I saw someone with a black shroud with a zipper down the middle. Was that made to fit the Rally with nerf bars? Link?

[DiggerPede]

Thanks for the advice on the chassis brace! I was going to ask about a few cost effective upgrades once I try out these LiPo packs, and I think a shroud and that brace will be a good start. I won't have time until Friday to try out a LiPo for my first time, but from what I hear I won't be going back to NiMh. I saw someone with a black shroud with a zipper down the middle. Was that made to fit the Rally with nerf bars? Link?

The one you are talking about is one by Dusty Motors on eBay. I just noticed they just now sale one specific for the LCG chassis. I'm going to pick one up now.

[CrashTestDummy]

Thanks for the advice on the chassis brace! I was going to ask about a few cost effective upgrades once I try out these LiPo packs, and I think a shroud and that brace will be a good start. I won't have time until Friday to try out a LiPo for my first time, but from what I hear I won't be going back to NiMh. I saw someone with a black shroud with a zipper down the middle. Was that made to fit the Rally with nerf bars? Link?

You can order it from their eBay store. I'll be getting one soon as well.

[RoaRk]

Thanks a lot guys! Definitely a must have for the snow up here. The chassis seems to have an affinity for vast amounts of snow and dirt, so hopefully this will be a nice remedy. I'm going to order mine and we'll see how it goes.