Academy SB Sport - beginner advice wanted please :-)

[gravelrash]

Hi everyone

New to this as a hobby. Recently picked myself up an Academy SB Sport (original version one model). Having looked around this forum, I gather they are not too popular :( . Still, it only cost me £65, complete with a 12x3 Mtroniks viper (edit! make that a Vision Pro, not a viper) motor, an upgraded carbon fibre top-deck, and a steering servo.

So, is there anything I can do to this car to improve it? I gather they are prone to breaking bits - can these bits be replaced with better parts from another car?

Alternatively, should I write it off as a bad lot, and keep an eye out for a cheap Losi XX4 WE / Kyosho zx5 / other car second hand, whilst abusing the Academy till it dies?

Also, while I'm hassling everyone, the 12x3 motor seems to eat batteries. I'm considering something tamer, but cheap. Which of theVenom Fireball 17x2, 19x2 or 21x2 motors would slow my car down the least compared to what I already have? http://www.modelsport.co.uk/?CallFunction=ShowSpecification&ItemID=21424 Only racing mates around gravelly tracks for the time being, not attending serious race meets.

Thanks if anyone can spare the time to help me out :)

Steve

[xx4-nutter]

the car you have already is ok if you are having a go out on some dirt, thrashing around and learning how to jump the car and get a good idea of how to learn to drive. the parts are very cheap so if anything breaks it isnt going to cost an arm and a leg..

motor wise if you can get a " Checkpoint 19 turn money motor " with silver brushes which are an extra and are around the tenner mark from some model shops who stock them, they may be a tad expensive but they last ages and youre motor will not need a skim for a good few runs ( somwhere in the 40s id of guessed ) plus with this motor its fast and wont kill youre batterys too quickly ;) .

i would reccomend some good cells to get the most out of the motor and run time :) ..

hope this has been of some kind of help ?

will you be having a go at some racing shortly ?

Garry

[lazerboy]

Your car is great! You just need a few things to make the diff stronger. When i was tightening my friend's diff, i actually broke the screw! I suggest replacing the screw, thrust bearing, and t-nut with associated parts.

Bolt/nut:http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LX2869&P=7

Thrust bearing:http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LX2885&P=7

The thrust bearing looks funny, but it actually works better.

[lazerboy]

if you are racing on gravel tacks, you might want a little more ground clearance so your chassis doesn't rub. If you look at your chassis under the susp. arms you will see that the chassis actually touches the susp. arms. This is because the car used to be a tc, and the arms didn't have to have any droop. On an offroad car this can greatly increase the traction on bumpy surfaces. Take a look at your chassis from the bottom, mark a line with a silver sharpie, and then take everything off of your bottom chassis. Tske s dremmel and carve along the line. Finish off the rough edges with hand sanding. Stay away from the steering assemblyand just carve out enought for the arm to pass by.

[DCM]

Lazerboy, you really don't know your stuff fella, gravelrash, if you pm me, I will send you the link to the old Academy support forum.

[lazerboy]

are you kidding me? I practically own one!

[DCM]

you practicaly own one, or you own one, Speak to Body Paint, Ian Southwell, myself, Millzy about the SB, we have been there.

[lazerboy]

cutting that part of the chassis WILL make the arms be able to droop down low enough to raise the car. And i DID break a diff screw when tightening the rear diff to cure the slipping that was occuring. The associated screw is thicker, and the thrust bearing is smoother, so it only makes sense to replace these items.

[DCM]

right, lets start a list....

Diff outdrives wear due to the drive pin in the driveshaft being too short and too much play in the ball to outdrive, fix is to drive the pin out of the axle and fit a longer, stainless steel pin.

Shim the gearboxes properly.

Get the purple alloy motor mount and modify it so the motor don't drop out.

Dremel the chassis to increase droop, but then limit the shocks a little

reinforce the steering arms on the front

solid topdeck

the list is endless.

[lazerboy]

how can i post a photo from my computer? (not the inet)

[DCM]

read this http://www.oople.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1459

[lazerboy]

here's the droop mod:
[img=http://img504.imageshack.us/img504/5667/academysbmodsjz4.th.png] (http://img504.imageshack.us/my.php?image=academysbmodsjz4.png)

[Southwell]

Theres no need to cut out that much, the shocks shouldn't push the wishbones that far down and you will be putting more flex than nessessary into the chassis.

[lazerboy]

tthat's why you put spacers inside the shocks to limit downtravel. And chassis flex isn't an issue with this car.

[Southwell]

On high grip, grass etc it was a major problem for most of us.

[lazerboy]

he said that he races on gravel, and that's why he needs that much downtravel.

[Southwell]

Put monster truck tyres on it :D

[lazerboy]

that's what i want to do when i get a 4wd buggy, just with stadium truck tires, and an st body so i can have the worlds first 4wd electric 1/10 stadium truck.;)

[lazerboy]

does anybody know if the v2 pro motor mount will fit in the v1 sport?

[gravelrash]

Hey everyone. Thanks for all the responses!

Quite alot to take in, but I have had another look at the car, and have picked up on the following:

Diff outdrives wearing - yep. already happening. Where the pins on the dogbones sit in the diffs, they have eaten little bites out of the slots they sit in. I'm guessing these are the diff outdrives right?

Alloy motor mount - actually, it ain't purple, and the motor seems to be fairly solidly mounted. Is it possible the previous owner already sorted this?

Diff thrust bearings and bolts - thanks for the links. Looks like a job I can get on with

Extra droop mod. - Thanks for the pic. Makes sense. Can see whats going on there, should have noticed myself really. Will use my common sense regarding how much to cut away.


the list is endless


:eh?:

Hey, and no need to argue on my behalf!

[gravelrash]

i would reccomend some good cells to get the most out of the motor and run time :) ..

hope this has been of some kind of help ?

will you be having a go at some racing shortly ?

Garry

Yay. All been a help. Got 2 NimH's, 3300mAH & 4000mAH already, but the Mtroniks Pro Vision ate them pretty quick anyway. Plan to get a couple more to add to the collection.

Have settled for sticking a standard "silver can" motor from a Max4 buggy in the SB Sport for the time being. Will see how slow it is when I next get a chance to use it.

Not sure about club racing meets yet. Think I should learn to drive safely first, as I'm sure people might get upset if I accidently ram their valuable buggies at high speed. Got a couple of mates with buggies as well, so happy racing round some cones and ropes for the time being.

Cheers

Steve

[lazerboy]

not really arguing, i just overreacted when he said that i didn't know what i what i was talking about when he didn't realise that i did. Also, the diff balls might need replacing... ...Heck, just maybe even buy a whole associated diff!:D I don't know if it will fit, but if you have money to spend and alot of diff shims i would try it. Especially the tc3 front one way. You can do the steering mod very easily. (reposition the ball cups on the steering links.) Andif you can find them, aluminum steering links would be great, b/c they flex ALOT!:o Have fun with your new rc!

[gravelrash]

Couple more questions - anyone know where best to get academy spares in the UK? Looks like I'm going to need to replace the diff outdrives pretty soon. Just somewhere I can buy those would be handy.

Also on the subject of the diff outdrives - I gather the fault here lies with the pins on the dogbone, not a fault with soft outdrives? Can better dogbones from another car be fitted? or is replacing the pins with a bit of stainless bar definately the way forward?

Also an exploded diagram, with part numbers or something might be handy, if this sort of thing is available. Trouble is, to me alot of the item descriptons for RC car spares don't mean alot.

Cheers again

Steve

[DCM]

The outdrives are soft, not butter soft, but not as hard as they could be, and then to compound this, the ball on the dogbone is to small, so it rattles in the outdirve and rather then the side of the drive pin contacting the slot in the outdrive to give drive, the dogbone drops and the top edge of the pin contacts the slot in the outdrive and munchies it's way through, so a longer pin (I think it was 13mm or 14mm) seriously reduces wear.

Any Horizon Hobby stockist will have access.

If you PM me your email adress, I will email you a pdf for the manual.

[lazerboy]

don't ever use ultimate hobbies. they don't stock academy anymore. i have no idea about the dogbones, but if you can find some that are the same length, they might work. If you want to replace the pins, it would probably help to heat the 'bones till they are red hot, stick em in something, (just don't pinch them) and whack the crap out of it with a hammer and nail punch.

[xx4-nutter]

that's what i want to do when i get a 4wd buggy, just with stadium truck tires, and an st body so i can have the worlds first 4wd electric 1/10 stadium truck.;)


yokomo did a MR4-BC truck ? lol 4wd with big wheels and tyres on it ... :D

[xx4-nutter]

Yay. All been a help. Got 2 NimH's, 3300mAH & 4000mAH already, but the Mtroniks Pro Vision ate them pretty quick anyway. Plan to get a couple more to add to the collection.

Have settled for sticking a standard "silver can" motor from a Max4 buggy in the SB Sport for the time being. Will see how slow it is when I next get a chance to use it.

Not sure about club racing meets yet. Think I should learn to drive safely first, as I'm sure people might get upset if I accidently ram their valuable buggies at high speed. Got a couple of mates with buggies as well, so happy racing round some cones and ropes for the time being.

Cheers

Steve


Glad to be of some help there steve ! :cool:

[mattym0310]

wot kinda area do you live mate?? cos i have a huge lot of academy spares but they are really too big to post. if your interested??

[gravelrash]

wot kinda area do you live mate?? cos i have a huge lot of academy spares but they are really too big to post. if your interested??

I'm definately interested. I'm in Somerset, UK. Bit of a trek, but will PM you.

Cheers

Steve

[rcracer]

just maybe even buy a whole associated diff!:D I don't know if it will fit, !

:eh?: :wtf: