EB410 Motor Service

During racing last Saturday my 4wd buggy was making a horrible sound on power.  Like one of the diff was letting go.  But when I inspected it, the diffs seemed fine.  Then while inspecting the rest of the car I saw that the motor can was not parallel to the chassis.  At first I thought the chassis was bent?  But then I noticed that all the screws which hold the motor together had backed out completely!  Luckily I caught it in time to get the motor back together before Heat 1 :)

Back at home I decided to take the motor out of car and clean it, then apply thread locker to all the can screws, so hopefully they won't back out again.  This motor has been in the car since I built it last year!  One of the bearings seemed a little gritty, so I will probably have to replace that the next time I take the motor apart.

Motor disassembled for cleaning

While the motor was out I needed to remove and replace the temperature sensor.  The one mounted in my car was reading 20°F under the actual temperature.  It may have been damaged the last time I raced the car in the spring, as the side of the car took a hit hard enough to the side to destroy the motor fan?

Faulty temperature sensor

I took the working sensor out of my B5m buggy (which I don't really race anymore since I switched to my TLR 22 5.0 SR), but the clear shrink wrap was torn and I had to remove it.

Naked working temperature sensor

A quick search on Amazon yielded a 625 piece clear shrink wrap kit for $8.50.  I only needed 1 piece though (oh well).  At least the kit was 54% off?

Amazon clear heat shrink kit and freshly covered sensor

Replacement sensor installed back in my EB410

Clean motor and replacement sensor installed back in the car

Race Day, Saturday 11/23/19

I decided to only race 13.5 4wd this time, as 2 classes with only 5-6 heats is too much work for me!  I was surprised when people whom I usually can out qualify, were now in front of me!  I've been able to turn really fast laps lately, but unfortunately at the cost of my consistency.  I need to drive without crashing, rather than going for fast lap every lap, which leads to a crash every once in a while.

In the first heat I ran my bald Dirtweb fronts and Positron rears, saucing the entire width of the front and rear tires.  Combined with my nerves, my initial steering felt too responsive, making it hard for me to drive.  I would crash 4 times during the race.  I finished 3rd with a 16:11, fast lap of 17.940, and consistency of 87.66%.

Heat 1 Video

For the second heat I used the same tires, but only sauced the inner half of the front tires.  This seemed to tone down the initial steering, making the car more comfortable to drive.  Unfortunately, I drove too aggressive, crashing a total of 6 times this race.  My race time was faster though, as I turned a 16:06, with a fast lap of 17.472 and consistency of 90.16%.

Heat 2 Video

There would be a total of 11 cars in the Main and I would start 7th.  I ended up crashing a bunch in the opening laps, which negated the advantage I gained passing multiple cars when they crashed earlier.  I also noticed that I crashed numerous time at the step up table top leading back to the straight.  Since I crash here the most, I really need to roll this section the first few laps while all the cars are close together, to avoid losing a lot of positions, if I end up crashing here.  I battle for 5th with Levi (dark blue) and Brian (light blue) for most of the race.  Levi would end up finishing 5th, and I pass Brian right before the end of the race for 6th.  I finish the main with a 16:25, fast lap of 17.964, and consistency of 89.3%.

Main Event Video

With only 2 races left on this layout, I plan to drive a little less punched and roll that step up the first few laps!  The Top Gun layout is going in after Thanksgiving weekend and it better have a triple again!

Elite Rear Hubs Conversion

I picked up the VHA Rear Hub Conversion kit for my 22 5.0 buggy.  The new Variable Height Axle hubs from the Elite car allow you to change the height of the axle, so that you can keep the drive shaft level at ride height..  But the primary reason I changed to these hubs is that they use a large inner bearing which captures the CV pin!  Finally!  The last few races the set screw which holds the CV pin in the axle has been backing out on my older version of the rear axle, which is super annoying.

Parts laid out for the build.

I picked up the aluminum version of the VHA hubs also.  But I probably won't use them yet.  They weigh 12g.

Plastic version of the VHA hubs included in the conversion kit.  These weigh 9g.

One side ready to build.

New VHA hubs installed onto my 5.0 SR!

I tried out the hubs in practice using the kit setup.  I couldn't feel any difference in the handling since the track was dry and dusty with not much grip.  Thus, tires were much more important than suspension geometry.  I will have to wait until I race on a good track to see if there is any improvement.

5.0 Transmission Service

My 5.0 diff was feeling crunchy, so I figured it was time for a rebuild.  I haven't serviced it since I built the car in the spring!

Transmission disassembled

While I had the transmission apart I decided to raise the diff height from 1.0 mm to 1.75 mm.

Sorting diff part from my B5m

It turns out that my 5.0 uses the same size thrust washer, thrust balls, and diff balls as my B5m!  So I can use my parts from my inventory of AE parts.  Also, the composite outdrives are cheap compared to the steel or aluminum versions, so I'll probably replace those every time I need to rebuild the diff.

Transmission service completed!

Racing two classes with only 5 heats?!

I would try racing both 17.5 Expert Buggy and 13.5 4wd Buggy.  Normally I don't race 2 classes during regular club racing, as usually there aren't that many heats, and I end up being really busy the entire time, instead of relaxing between races.

I also tried out recording my races with my Session 5 GoPro mounted to a cap with a mount built in!  This way I can wear the camera on my head without using the goofy looking head strap.

For my 1st 2wd qualifier I used my Proline slicks.  These tire were super fast last weekend, but loose this time around.  Probably due to the lack of track prep or possibly the weather?  I didn't have a very good run with a fast lap of 19.2 and consistency of 86.0%, finishing 6th of 7.

For the 2nd heat I switched over to my Proline Transistors/Positrons combo, but the rear tread height was still too low I suppose, as I still didn't have the rear grip I wanted.  Or I was over-driving the car and not being smooth?  I got the advantage of starting on the pole as we were doing heads up starts for qualifying today, instead of the normal IFMAR style starts.  I held the lead for a little while until I shorted the double in front of the drivers stand and went to the back.  More mistakes kept me in the back.  I had slightly better run with a fast lap of 19.0 and consistency of 90.5%, finishing 5th of 7.

For the main I changed rear tires again to another set of Positrons with a little more tread.  This race was 7 minutes long.  I crash a bunch during the opening laps and rocket to last place.  This time I had a fast lap of 19.3 with a consistency of 82.9% (worst of the day), finished 6th of 6.

In the 1st heat of 4wd I would start 2nd, but crash on the 1st jump and end up last.  Luckily there was only 1 car faster then me, so I quickly moved back up to 2nd.  I was having a lot of fun racing my EB410!  I forgot how aggressive this car can be driven!  I was trying to catch the leader until one of the rear lower titanium shock bolts broke landing the triple.  This is the 2nd titanium shock bolt I've broken!  I'm going to change the rears to steel studs.  For the 5 laps I was racing my fastest lap was 18.0 with a consistency of 94.7%.

I wouldn't start the 2nd qualifier, as I wasn't able to get my car fixed in time.  Instead of changing the rear arm with the broken bolt in it, I moved the shock to the outer hole on the arm and moved the tower mount out 1 position.  Hopefully this is close enough to the original mounting position that the handling isn't too far off for the main.

I would start last in the Main, as I only had 1 qualifier result with 5 laps.  I would crash near the end of the opening lap, then get all my lost positions back by lap 3.  By this time the leader had checked out and I just drove as fast as possible trying to get a 17 second fast lap.  I would end up with a 18.0 fast lap again with a consistency of 89.2%.

Before the next race I need to do some work on my cars.  The 2wd needs a diff rebuild and I need to install the new VHA rear hub conversion I bought.  I also need to service the drive-train in my 4wd as it was making all sorts of squeaky noises. LOL!  I also need to swap out my motor temperature sensor in the 4wd, as I think the one currently in there is broken?  Every time it turns on it reads 55°F, when it should be reading the ambient temperature :(.

Updated Tekno EB410 Kit!

Tekno just announce an update to the EB410 Kit!  Below are the key features from the Tekno website:

EB410.2 Key Features:

• Revised CNC 7075 Long Wear Chassis
• New Larger 3.5mm HD Hinge Pins and Revised Hinge Pin Inserts
• New ABCD Hinge Pin Braces w/Revised Suspension Geometry
• New Taller, Stronger One Piece Wing Mount w/Height Adjustments
• 13mm Big Bore Shocks w/Revised Cartridge and Cap Bushing
• Ultra Secure Locking Spring Perch Design
• New Rear Arms w/Front Mounted Shocks
• New Adjustable Roll Center Rear Hubs
• New 15 Degree LRC Spindle Carriers
• New Aluminum Front Camber Plate w/Bulkhead Brace
• Revised Material 81T Spur Gear
• Front and Rear Sway Bars Now Included
• Large Wheel Bearings and 6mm HD Stub Axles
• Newly Optimized Reverse Bellcrank Steering System

I was going to rebuild my current kit, but maybe I'll just get this one instead?!  Then transfer over all the usable parts to the new kit.  I did a similar thing when I switched from my TLR 22 3.0 to 5.0, which I've now been racing for most of the year.