B44

[Tom3012]

Hi all....

Right.... im after a new 4WD and the B44 is what most people at my club will be racing next year (i think). So, this is what i am most likely going to buy

jus wondering.. whats the first thing i will brake? most people will probably say wishbones but for some reason i hardly ever break them at all, trust me i have tried! even drove a pred for a year and only broke the odd one!

so in my list....

1 -one set of front wishbones, one set of rear.
2 -front and rear shock towers?
3- what else... this is where i get stuck

any thoughts welcome guys

cheers, tom

[racdeaf]

here wot i got for my in case of breakage
2 x front arm
2 x rear arm
2 x front shock tower
1 x rear shock tower
2 x caster block
2 x steering block
1 x transmitter case
2 x rear hub carrier

but funny enough since i had the b44 3 week ago and 3 meeting at my club as i haven't broke any of it !
it be flipped god know how many time

[Tom3012]

cool! i might get the same! jus one of each item! thanks mate!

[IceMike]

yer i got roughtly that list. also a full set of bearings never know when sumat will break, an it ant like there all standard some are odd. also diff gears, just cos its hard to get trackside. an i got some of the rubber seals for things just incase they wear out, cos there is nothing else holding the pins in, in some places. full screw kit is also useful

[craigosh]

Things i usually break on the BJ4 tom are front arms and front shock towers, but i stuck two towers together and havent broken one since touch wood...

But deffo arms, mainly front, Paul has done in steering knuckles, and i bent a rear hinge pin. thats about it.. mostly front arms... rear ones from going backwards into things!!

[PaulRotheram]

Gears! get a set, maybe even two. If you dont have the slipper and diffs adjusted right the gears will take all the abuse and strip.

Front arms, Front tower, Steering Knuckle, Front shock shaft and replacement O ring seals.

That's what I broke/replaced after running the BJ for over a season.

[RogerM]

Tom ... why are you leaving the Pred??? Thought you loved that car and for my money it has to be better suited to the UK tracks than the BJ4WE and clones? This time around maybe the Pred really is the "unfair Advantage" the advertising always claimed!

[PaulRotheram]

Then explain why there are hardly any more preds running on the competitive scale (national level and above).

[ben]

I may be way out of line saying this but to me the pred isnt really a true off road car. it always seems to struggle on bumpy tracks

lil ben

[Richard Lowe]

There's no reason the Pred shouldn't go over bumps just as well as other cars, it's just no-one sets them up right IMO, but thats another thread

[RogerM]

Paul, no idea mate in all honesty!!! Maybe it is fashion driven, sponsorship driven or parts availability driven I don't know! I've been away for too long to comment on why!

Never had any trouble with mine and I ran them from 93 to about 2001.

As Richard says it's all in the set-up and quite a few people just want to download a setup when they build the car and leave it at that .... never going to work with the Pred. Having said that I used to alternate between 3 base set-ups ... bumpy high grip, bumpy low grip ... smooth and slippy ... and tweak from there on the day.

At the end of the day it's all down to what suits you as a driver is it not!?!?!?

Was just curious as to Tom's reason for change ... more to try and get a veiw of where the Pred is these days than anything else!

[Tom3012]

There is nothing wrong with the pred at all, I love the car, and I also think its probably just as fast as any of the bj4,b44 etc!

But for me,its too inconsistent, its not that its fragile its just the way some of the things are put together... E.g the gearbox top.

However, these have been fixed on the x11 and if I could afford an x11 I would have one without a doubt over any other car! But, £300+ for an x11 is the price of a b44 and a lot of spares!

Tom

[RogerM]

fairysnuff .... I must admit that I was swayed away from the X11 due to not seeing much suppoer for the car trackside so I take your point!

[Tom3012]

if i had the money to buy a pred i would email them now and order one.... the x10 is a fantastic car! and the x11 i believe will be better as it has sorted out all the little issues with the x10!

i was tempted to buy the upgrade kits for my x10 to make it sort of x11 ish.. but again, they are rather expensive.

i will probably keep the pred so i can compare it to the b44 if i do get one

[Tom3012]

Originally Posted by PaulRotheram

Then explain why there are hardly any more preds running on the competitive scale (national level and above).

maybe due to the parts availabilty/cost? or the fact that the pred requires a certain driving style which may not suit most people....

just look at a pred... if you can look me in the face and say its a boring car like the bj4 and its clones (my opinion) then

lol...

tom

[Tom3012]

^^^^^

that was not supposed to sound really arsey by the way

[RogerM]

Originally Posted by Tom3012

maybe due to the parts availabilty/cost? or the fact that the pred requires a certain driving style which may not suit most people....

tom

I think that 'certain driving style' is so ingrained in me now that I have trouble driving anything else ... certainly doesn't work with a BJ4WE that is for sure .... LOL

[Mike Hudson]

think ill have to get some spares ordered myself espec the front wheels for when i finish off my first set as i dont particualy want have to buy losi wheels

[Tom3012]

£200 posted for a brand new B44, built with unpainted shell and 2 undertrays.....

what you reckon... good deal?

[AndyM]

depends how well it's built, if everything has been stripped then no, if its built well, then go for it