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#1
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Academy SB Sport - beginner advice wanted please :-)
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/?CallFun...n&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 |
#2
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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 |
#3
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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...?&I=LX2869&P=7 Thrust bearing:http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LX2885&P=7 The thrust bearing looks funny, but it actually works better. |
#4
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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.
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#5
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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.
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dragon paints : team tekin : fusion hobbies :SCHUMACHER RACING : Nuclear R/C for all my sticky and slippery stuff - if it needs gluing or lubing, Nuclear RC is the man! |
#6
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are you kidding me? I practically own one!
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#7
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Quote:
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 |
#8
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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 |
#9
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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.
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dragon paints : team tekin : fusion hobbies :SCHUMACHER RACING : Nuclear R/C for all my sticky and slippery stuff - if it needs gluing or lubing, Nuclear RC is the man! |
#10
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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.
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#11
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Quote:
Quote:
Glad to be of some help there steve ! |
#12
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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??
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Matt Myers Team Associated b4 Team Associated b44 |
#13
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Quote:
Cheers Steve |
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