RB5 Hopup

[KyoshoK]

The rising manufacturer, Cliff (the cliff) it (http://64.233.179.104/translate_c?hl=en&u=http://www.cliff-rc.com/) is the 1st feature commodity.
The aluminum of [aruteima] RB5 (the duralmin) make it is the front suspension mount.
Strength improves substantially. Caster angle becomes fixing of 27.5 degrees.



http://www.pro-s-futaba.co.jp/cliff_cu-001.jpg

http://www.pro-s-futaba.co.jp/cliff_cu-001a.jpg

[caneye]

very trick

[Scouser]

Has anyone bought one of these? They look nice and would add a bit of weight to the front but just wondering if anyone had any first hand experience with them?

[RLGfx]

oooh... the motor plate on that site looks luvverly....

[Scouser]

I know, they look very nice indeed. Trouble is, I cant see any mention of overseas shipping so I wanted to know if anyone had dealt with the company and had an idea of costs or even if they were prepared to ship internationally.

[RLGfx]

wouldn't mind finding out myself... for the new toy! :D;)

[Scouser]

The bulkhead and the motor plate would look rather spiffy with the Atomic shock towers I have just ordered:cool:

[Scouser]

Just sent them an email to see if they will ship to the U.K. and what the shipping costs will be. I will post any additional info as and when I get it.

[RLGfx]

sweet, let us know how you get on:)

[Scouser]

Well Cliff-RC wont ship internationally but they did put me in touch with a man who might! Updates as and when they happen.:cool:

[Scouser]

Update for anyone thinking of getting these parts for their RB5. The only international dealer who stocks these parts is http://www.pro-s-futaba.co.jp
I have contacted them and they were almost immediate with their response. Cliff-RC had already informed them that they might be getting contacted and they already worked out the shipping and exact costs for me. I have ordered the bulkhead and the motor plate and the total cost including shipping was £35 or 7737 Japanese Yen. I cant say enough good things about the two comapnies so far, they have been extremely helpful and super fast with their email replies.
If you did want to order the parts, email them at shop@pro-s-futaba.co.jp and let them know what you are wanting to buy etc.
I will post up what the parts are like and what the shipping times are when the bits arrive.:cool:

[caneye]

i've used Pro futaba before.
very reliable.
quick responses.
they usually ship by EMS so it is even faster.

if u log onto the jap post EMS global tracking website, u can even track the location of the parcel daily :D

[Scouser]

All turned up this morning and let me tell you, they are sweeet! Both the motor plate and the bulkhead fit like a dream and they look mighty fine if I do say so myself. The motor plate is very thick and the milling is very neat. When fitted it gives the motor a nice reassuring base to fit to.
Bulkhead is much the same story. Lovely finish, the grub screws fit on the underside which makes the changing of a-arms nice and quick and again, gives a nice reassuring mount for the front end. Not sure the bulkhead adds very much weight but personally, I think they are both worth every penny. Going to test them at Southport this weekend!;)

[jim76]

would you be able to weigh the bulkhead compared to the original part Scouser?
I'm thinking of making one out of Brass or Stainless, just curious how much weight yours adds.

[Scouser]

Jim, I did actually try to weigh the bulkhead and the motor plate before fitting but unfortunately I don't have any electric scales and the kitchen ones are not accurate enough to show a significant difference. I do know that both Cliff RC parts are substantially heavier than stock but I just cant say exactly how much.:( Sorry dude.

[jim76]

that's cool, no problem. I think Brass will be substantially heavier than the alloy Cliff item anyway which is what i'm after.

[jim76]

Just out of curiosity, if i manage to make up a brass bulkhead (well actually it will be the old man, he's the engineer!), would anyone be interested in one if i can get a few made?
I had one request by PM which made me think there may be more out there.

if you are, either post a reply or drop me a PM. Also if you could give me a rough idea what you think it should sell for that would be handy as i need to see if it's worth while the old man making extra as that is his day job and i don't want to put him out of pocket!

[RLGfx]

I'd be interested... :)

[jasonrcb]

i would be interested also as the added weight would help :)

[RogerM]

I'd be interested too ...

[Supergreg]

Me too, but depends on manufacturing costs and postage to germany.

cheers

[jim76]

i'm not sure on manufacturing costs until i speak to the old man at the weekend (that's if he actually has time do it at all.) Hopefully won't be too high as he should have plenty of off cuts lying around that are plenty big enough for these!
with regards postage, for fully tracked insured postage its about £6 - 9euro. standard airmail is about £2 - 3euro.

[woOdy]

I have had one made for mine early this year. How much would you pay for 1? Brass bulk head that is.

[Scouser]

I would have one also. It would be good to have options!:cool:

[Supergreg]

Woody ygm.

[woOdy]

Jimmy does have a picture of my brass bulk head somewhere? I will try and get him to post it but he is very busy.

[jim76]

OK - saw the old man this weekend and he thinks it should be fairly easy. He's disappeared with my RB5 anyway, so i'm carless until Xmas now!

Not sure when they will be done, at the latest i will collect them when i go down for Xmas but he may post them up if he does them before that.
He thinks it's less than a days work to make up a jig and churn out 10-12. He also thinks he has some brass lying around that he can use for them.

I'll have a firm price once he has done them depending on how long it takes, but i'm hoping them will be £20 tops, hopefully £20 inc postage would be good.

They should be fairly exact replica's of the kit item including the taper for the 25/30 deg options. Not sure exactly how much they will weigh obviously until i get hold of one, but they won't be hollowed out like the Alloy one in this thread. I don't think the ends will be rounded either as looking at mine there was plenty of clearance to the wishbone. Obviously the corner could be taken off with a file if it's a bit close.

I'll post an update when i hear back from him.

[Scouser]

Raced the RB5 for thwe first time today, obviously the first time with the Cliff rc parts aswell. What a fantastic thing it is. Flies so much better than the B4, strong as an Ox aswell. Had a head-on with a car that had crossed the track, hit hard enough to bend a turnbuckle almost in half! Turnbuckle didn't look too good but the rest of the car was perfect. Managed 2nd in the A final on my first outing with the car, very happy indeed.
I could tell even with limited driving time that the added weight to the front is pretty crucial. The aluminum bulkhead is good but I reckon the brass one will be even better. I think £20 or so is very fair for how much it will help the car. JMO.;)

[AlexM]

I received my cliff-rc parts (over futaba) and have following comments to make:

Excellent service bei Futaba

the bulkhead fits quite nicely with a little preassure used to put it into the place.

the motorplate looks awesome and much stronger than the original. I had a very small problem mounting it since 1 hole was just a tiny bit out of the line (with loosening the other screws and having all screws slighltly connected it was no problem to fix)
YET - the motorplate is not an exact stronger replica. It also has a different shape on the bottom side. this ultimately leads to a gap with mounted gearcover (size of the gap is about 1,5 cm x 0,3 cm). Since I am driving on carpet for the time being it is not a problem. I don't know if i will use the plate outdoors though

[RLGfx]

£20 sounds perfectly reasonable... put me on the list for one! :)

[KyoshoK]

http://www.pro-s-futaba.co.jp/cliff_cu-005.jpg

another hopup from cliff

http://www.pro-s-futaba.co.jp/cliff_cu-005-2.jpg

[Mike Hudson]

ooo im liking the upgrade parts very nice :) shame i dont hav an RB5:(

[ben]

so whats the advantage of that battery brace over the kit one?

[telboy]

Hmm, I can't see that it'll make that much difference really. Rigidity maybe? but thats the last thing you want as the car could do with losing some of its rigidity really.

I've never found the front end weight too much of a problem. since I've found a decent setup i've always had pretty good amounts of front end grip.

[ben]

ok cheers

lil ben

[woOdy]

http://www.pro-s-futaba.co.jp/cliff_cu-005.jpg

another hopup from cliff

http://www.pro-s-futaba.co.jp/cliff_cu-005-2.jpg

The scary thing is that its only got 5 cells in it? Must race on a really slippy surface.

[telboy]

yeah I noticed that. Actually thought that might have been something to do with the hop up, but it doesn't.:wtf:

[Moose]

would prefere a reversed left to right battery brace ... would still be as stable as that and look better

[jim76]

just a quick update on the brass bulkheads. unfortunately the old man was layed up for a couple of weeks during xmas with a recurring back problem. He is back at work now, but obviously has a slight back log of regular work. He has acquired a piece of the correct size brass from a friend and is hoping to get a prototype to me in a couple of weeks to try and make sure it fits etc before he runs off the rest. So hopefully some time in Feb for the rest. I will post a pic once i get the prototype.

[jim76]

Brass bulk head finally made! See the new thread "RB5 Brass Bulk head at last" in Kyosho section

[caneye]

new kyosho upgrade for the rear-end.
timely upgrade...

Part #.UMW510
http://www.kyosho.com/eng/products/rc/newparts.html

seems to include
- shock towers
- rear mid-conversion arms
- shock bodies (shorter? velvet coat?)
- springs
- rear bones

[dgrobe2112]

wonder what all is included.. why would they just offer the rear end upgrade.. and not the front shocks too..

[RogerM]

This conversion covers two up-grades

Wide rear track conversion (often called the rear-mid)

This uses the rear arms (LAW243 .... explains why there are original ZX5 front arms in teh RB5 upgrade pack as they are on the same sprue) from the ZX5 LAW34 upgrade which narrowed the track width of the rear of a ZX5 and drive shafts to suit.

This conversion is popular on the US tracks as it actually makes the car a little more stable on smooth surfaces and the resultant geometry actually makes the car pivot more too. It is normally used in conjunction with the original ZX5 rear shock shafts (54mm) to allow the new outer hole to be used on the wishbone .

I have tried this conversion and it is spectacular on indoor tracks or where most corners are just the end-of-a-pipe style hair pins ..... the pivot effect is huge compared to the stock rear end.

I feel that it isn't as good on normal track layouts and is no where near as good over the bumps as the stock rear end .... all my parts are in the box, probalby never to come out. That said I know there are people out there that love it, all about how you drive.

Shorter rear shock conversion

Again this has been used by some of the US / Japanese drivers and was seen at the last worlds.

With the standard rear shocks you have a load of unused potential travel in the shock bodies, this conversion removes that and takes the pistons to very near where the top of the oil would be on an extended shock! The shock bodies included are the latest "velvet coated" units ... if you want matching ones for the front you'll have to buy those separately.

Opinion is devided on the benefits of this, even if there are any at all.

The most obvious is a slight lowering of the tower, which brings down the C of G a fraction.
I am not sure if the new tower will have the same resultant shock angles as the current tower or if it will be stood up a little more like the B4 is .... I personally hope it remains as it is at present.

The only other things in the conversion are the new hubs which are just a single hinge pin hole version of the current hub (part number UM519 I think) which is stronger .. ok near bomb proof :D and a set of blue springs (think they are the #68 springs) to suit the common set-ups used with this conversion.

I hope that this clears things up a little.

[caneye]

wow .. thanks for that info

[SimonW]

I'm not 100% on this but i think the new blue springs are 72# rated

[wouter.z]

I'm not 100% on this but i think the new blue springs are 72# rated

your right they are 72#, i just got them from speedtechrc.

[RogerM]

Kyosho's latest blue spring is indeed #72 rate (i.e. between silver and light green) but I believe, although not 100% sure, that the springs coming in the RB5 upgrade are the #68 (i.e. between yellow and silver) springs.

I can not get a 100% answer to this at the moment and when I do I'll let you all know!