My IFS Bomber Build

[*Old*]

Just want to document how we painted the bodies real quick. Nothing ground breaking as I'm sure this is how most do this, but since I took a few pics, I'm documenting it

My sons really wanted to put a "logo" of some sort on their truck. My youngest son wanted the Batman symbol on his Wraith and other son wanted the Punisher skull. They egged me on to do something, so I went with a Spartan helmet, 300 style.
Rather than buying the sticker which would've made it easier, I decided to print these "logos" found online and put two layers of blue tape on the back and cut them out.

I then peeled off one layer of blue tape and stuck that on the back side of the panel, and then spray painted the main color paint.
once that dried up, we removed it and painted with the logo's color of choice.




You will really need to make sure the blue tape is on tight and no gaps. The paint will find it's way in if it's not.








I essentially did the same thing for the heads.

[*Old*]

So rather than watching paint dry, I took this thing out for a spin!
I have the Castle MMX power setting on
100% fwd and 50% reverse
10% drag - 100% Crawler for the Aux
Nice sweeping curve on the throttle and brake
Motor timing on Low
Smart Sensor setting

Took it out my back yard for full throttle runs around the grass field.
I have to say, this rig is so fast! Everything I imagined and more.
I don't know if it's the weight of the front end, but it climbs hills like a strong horse! My sons solid axle Bomber and Wraith have the same electronics combo, but theirs do not climb hills with the same authority as the IFS.

After racing around the back yard for 10 min or so, I touched the motor and it was hot. I could still keep my finger on it, but noticeably hot. Tranny was warm and ESC was luke warm.

We then walked down towards the woods and crawled around this little rock garden and so far really impressed with it's crawling capability too. I'm glad some folks here talked me out of doing 2-speed b/c after experiencing the HH brushless control, I can't imagine needing it.

I'm also a huge fan of the drag brake feature as it really comes in handy when we're racing around a grassy area, then slow crawl through the rocks and then back to speed again - U4 style.

Next up will be taking it to the park to crawl around some real rocks!

(PS, I apologize for not having good pics, but I was having too much fun. Will take some better ones when we hit some real trails).

Messing around the house

[*Old*]

Just want to highlight a rookie mistake here.

After running through one 3s pack, went home and inspected the truck and notice some metallic dust around the spur cover area.
Removed the tranny and cover and discovered that the pinion was chewed up some. I thought maybe I set the pinion/spur mesh too tight, so I put a replacement one I had, set the gear mesh by eyeball and feel, and went through another 3s and same thing - chewed up pinion
These are the Robinson Racing 32P pinion, standard ones for like a few bucks each.

So here is how I came to the el-cheapo pinions -
Initially I purchased the Robinson Racing Xtra Hard 5mm Pinion for the motor, b/c I read on the RRP site that you need the Xtra hard for the Gen3 Spur. But when I went to install it, I realized the HH PP 540 uses a 1/8" shaft, where the pinion is 5mm. Never really paid attention before.

After searching around, I found that RRP does not make a Xtra hard pinion for the 1/8" shaft - so that is when I purchased a bunch of the standard pinions with 1/8" hole for the shaft.

Now I'm realizing RRP makes a sleeve for their 1/8" pinion to fit their 5mm pinions
So I hooked that up to the Xtra Hard and now no more chewed up pinions

Here is what the RRP standard pinion looked like after one hard 3s pack run.



Here is the RRP 5mm-1/8" pinion reducer - notice how the flat area of the motor shaft becomes round and tapers out toward the bottom...


Here is the RRP Xtra Hard 5mm pinion on the motor shaft. Notice how the set screw is actually screwed to the round part, not the flat part. Hope this is OK.
I'm forced to run the pinion low like thise b/c if I run it any higher, then it will not line up right with the spur.

[maslin]

No sleeve needed, they have the hardened pinions in 1/8 and 5mm

Robinson Racing Products - Products and Pricing - 1/8 inch bore motor pinion gears

[*Old*]

Originally Posted by maslin

No sleeve needed, they have the hardened pinions in 1/8 and 5mm

Robinson Racing Products - Products and Pricing - 1/8 inch bore motor pinion gears

What the!!?? And over half the price!
I feel like an idiot

Thanks for the heads up!

[*Old*]

So finished up the paint job. Did some 3 tone coloring. It could be better with the poor tape job I did, but whatever. Also, didn't let the bottom metallic grey coat dry enough before doing the red outer color and it rippled through the metallic paint. Am pissed about that, however I'm trying to convince myself that I did it on purpose to give it that look like lava seeping through rocks...

Put her on the scale and she comes in at 8lbs exactly without battery.

In comparison, my sons standard Bomber comes in about 7lbs 9ounces without battery, but does include the spare tire. His was from the kit, has the exact same electronics, but includes VP stage 1, 1/4" stainless F&R links / Steering links, Bombproof Wraith tranny with 5mm outputs, Beef tubes Brass front and aluminum rear.
The IFS front end adds a lot of weight to the truck, but I feel it helps.

So here is the finished product. I'm done building...at least for now

Weight, with no battery.

[*Old*]

Originally Posted by Dropbear12

Awesome build and write up bud, ile be adding a B1b kit to my rc stable for sure, those 25c onyx batteries could possibly give you dramas, the mamba x and Holmes motor would draw some amps I would think. I could be wrong though

Sent from my E6653 using Tapatalk

Sorry, I'm just seeing this, but so far no issues with the Onyx 25C. I have 3 of them for the 3 rigs I have that run the exact same electronics and haven't noticed any issues...knock on wood. For the most part, it feels the same as the Venom 35C, except the Venom does add more punch at max throttle...
Will report back if I do.

[*Old*]

Took the rigs out at the local park this weekend and had a blast. Brought the whole family and put my daughter to work as the camera gal. Did some crawling, bouncing and racing. Ran these trucks really hard and for the most part, they held up well.

We're all new to this hobby so we were really testing the limits of our trucks - didn't hold back at all, just having fun, . Lots of high speeds jumps off cliffs, barrel rolls down 50' plus, high speed slamming into rocks, trees, etc.

Between the 3 of us, we busted the HH SHV500 Servo pin (again) , smoked a CC MMX , almost destroyed the Revo drive shaft b/c one of the e-clips got knocked off at some point and the pin almost walked all the way out. Other than that, all other parts held up nicely . Very impressed

But enough talk...pictures

































Trying to catch up to my other son at the bottom, we decided to launch our trucks off of this ledge...Hard to tell but there is some good height to it, probably around 4' or so; floored it and we landed on all fours and continued our descent down.











Most of the trail was like what you see in this pic below. When we decided to hike back, my oldest son wanted to race back. Trying to navigate the truck, while running through and trying not to twist an ankle was tough. Sucks getting old The race back was about 3/4 mile of mostly this type of terrain.

Both the solid axle Bomber and IFS Bomber bounced through easily, but I was getting the feeling like the IFS was really made for this type of terrain/race as it having an easier time and was going through faster. The solid axle rig flipped over a few times during this race while the IFS would cruise along the same line...but it could be the driver as well .
My son, however, was much more nimble and faster than I, so he beat me in the end.

[*Old*]

Originally Posted by Deckard

I would lighten the oil in the front shocks. Use the springs and preload to set the ride height. Oil and piston do the rebound and droop level. Also, that front end will lift like a mofo as soon as you give it power. I have 10wt in my fronts and may go up to 15 or 20. I'm using the same shocks and have been very pleased with their performance. A little more height on the tower would be nice so I didn't have to buy shorter shocks.

Hey Deckard,

Did you ever change to 20wt yet? How do you like it?
You were right, when I was on a high traction surface and floored it, my driverside front tire would lift up several inches off the ground. Wondering if I need to adjust both front and rear oil weight to control that, or is there more to do?

[Deckard]

Nice pics. Looks like a fun time and a great place to trail.

I have 2 Onyx 25c batteries and they have both puffed. I mean really really really puffed, to the point that I'm disposing of them. They have only been used in the Bomber with a MMX. I have a cheap Hobby Star battery that is rated at 50c that has been much better than the Onyx as far as puffing (none). I'm sure the 50c rating is high for that battery but it does perform better than the Onyx and it hasn't puffed. The Onyx batteries can be a bit flakey when I'm heavy on the throttle. I'll be replacing my Onyx with SMC.

[Deckard]

Originally Posted by *Old*

Hey Deckard,

Did you ever change to 20wt yet? How do you like it?
You were right, when I was on a high traction surface and floored it, my driverside front tire would lift up several inches off the ground. Wondering if I need to adjust both front and rear oil weight to control that, or is there more to do?

I just saw this after sharing my experience with Onyx. lol

I took the front end to 20 then to 30wt and I'm happy so far. I really got the hammer it on some good terrain today and while I wouldn't mind the front being just a little bit softer, it's better at 30wt than at 20wt.

The rear is at 20wt and it's okay. Still really bouncey so I'm going to do some adjusting.

[*Old*]

Thanks for the info Deckard!

I'll keep an eye on the Onyx Lipo. Didn't realize how volatile they were. They weren't cheap either, seemed to be priced on the higher end, like the Venom.
Sure wish the Turnigy would've fit better, cheap and seemed to be of good quality.

For Shock oil, maybe 25wt is the sweet spot for up front?
I'll do some testing on different oil weights soon and see what I can come up with.
Thanks for sharing.

[*Old*]

So I'm a big fan of the Traxxass Revo Drive shaft b/c it's so cheap, simple, light weight and strong. But my only issue with it is that one of the Ujoint pins is held in by these tiny 1.4mm E-clips on each end. This makes it protrude from the driveshaft a little which can possibly get it knocked off if it hits a rock or something at the right area.
On my Bomber, one of the e-clips got bent, but did not come off.
On my son's Bomber, one got knocked off and we didn't realize till we got home and inspected.

Here is the Ujoint pin that is held by the e-clip on both ends. You can see it protruding out approx 2mm - no bueno.


Saw this during inspection. Luckily, the Ujoint Kit (Traxxas Part # 5452), came with a bunch of these. Maybe it's common failure point

[*Old*]

I mentioned my wife tagged along with us on our first "real" trail run and one of the first things she pointed out to me was how loud my truck was. Especially compared to both my boys rigs. Theirs sound smooth, mine has a much louder grind/howl to it.
Besides the front IFS, one of the main difference between ours is the front drive shaft I use. Theirs is the stock Axial while mine uses the MIP CVD.
I'm guessing the metal shaft transfer sound better than the plastic. I have no issues with the MIP, but want to see if I can try to quiet the rig down a little.

So a while back, I purchased the Traxxas T-Maxx drive shaft and figure now would be a good time to try it out and see if it would help control the noise.
I also like how the ball joint pins do not protrude outside the Yoke, so I may end up replacing my rear Revo shaft with these...

After a quick test drive around my house, I did notice it did quiet my rig down some, in comparison when I had the MIPs on, but my rig is still louder than the other two. To be continued...


Here are the part #s required. The 2748X is the Traxxas tool kit. Not required, but it help makes it easier. You only need that "flat bar fork" tool thingy



Start by sticking in the ball joint like in the pic below. It will hold in place.



Then stick the "fork" tool straight into it until the tool is between the ball and plastic



You can now use the tool to pry the plastic yoke out, while pushing the ball joint down and it slides right in, and that's it.



Do the exact same thing to attach it to the diff yoke.



It measures about 5 1/6" long




It's slightly longer than the Yeti front drive shaft.




I actually had to cut off about 1 3/4" to make it fit my front b/c of the extended tranny output.



Just a light trim job with a utility knife for it to clear the spur cover. I ended up trimming a little too much putting a hole in the cover, but a quick tape job from the inside fixed it right up.





It clears all the internals of steering setup

[Deckard]

Do you have metal spurs on the other rigs? That's a big source of noise. If the mesh is off it just adds to it. That MIP is just adding it to it.

I run a Wild Boar shaft up front but I like your Traxxas solution. I have plenty of those to support my son's Slash.

I'm running the same Revo rear shaft on my B1B and have been impressed. E-clips always make nervous and they are crazy tiny on that shaft. It would be nice to figure out a better way. Maybe a set screw?

I really like the orange springs on your kiddo's Wraith. Is it paint?

[*Old*]

Originally Posted by Deckard

Do you have metal spurs on the other rigs? That's a big source of noise. If the mesh is off it just adds to it. That MIP is just adding it to it.

I run a Wild Boar shaft up front but I like your Traxxas solution. I have plenty of those to support my son's Slash.

I'm running the same Revo rear shaft on my B1B and have been impressed. E-clips always make nervous and they are crazy tiny on that shaft. It would be nice to figure out a better way. Maybe a set screw?

I really like the orange springs on your kiddo's Wraith. Is it paint?

Hey Deck,

Yes, theirs has the same Gen3 Spur and tranny as mine. Except theirs is 5mm outputs vs 6mm outputs... My tranny does not spin as smoothly as theirs and i'm thinking that may be part of it.
The pinion/spur mesh seems good on all. No metal shaving dust. I'll figure it out eventually.

The wraith springs are these Integy springs
https://www.rpphobby.com/ProductDeta...Code=INTC24592

I believe it's their medium firm. They're OK I guess and were real cheap. I'm not liking the stock Wraith shocks at all though. Leaks like hell and just not very good. I'm thinking of trying 93mm Gmades Piggy all around for the Wraith, to lower the ride height a bit, and I just really like the Gmades.

[*Old*]

Well, it turns out I didn't come out unscathed as I thought.
Turns out I bent and twisted both the Dlux front axles.
Not sure when it happened, but I noticed it when I was just riding the truck around the house and noticed my two front tires had the "death wobble".
Took it apart to inspect and sure enough, both sides bent and twisted, one side worse than the other.
I have a set of stock Axials shafts that I went to put in, but then noticed they were too long and won't work.
I then remembered the differential output cup is much bigger and longer with the Dlux than the stock.
So if you decide to go the Dlux route, unless you grab some Dlux spares, it's not a simple swap of the axle if it goes down. You will need to break down the front end to swap out the diff output cup with stock to use the stock axle. Not a real easy field swap.

But I'm guessing, if I had the stockers on when this damage occured, it probably would've twisted right off.

I'm wondering if I can try and straighten these back out. Gonna check with Dlux and see.


Edit: Erik at Dlux responded and said they could possibly be bent back, but mentioned I can get just the inner axle for $20 for a set .






This pic highlights the twist in them as the dog bone pins should be parallel to the table, when it's laid down like this, but it's not.



Here is the difference in length and beef compared to the stock Axials.




Also, it looks like the axles did a little "self clearance" on the VP knuckles as well. Glad to see it didn't need to take off too much material as I originally thought was needed so

[Mr Hyde]

Getting ready to build the front in anticipation of the complete DMG IFS kit coming and I am very impressed how u explained so much in detail the build process...I know it takes time to shoot a pic and then explanation...thanks.i will be using your thread as a cheat sheet so have u to build mine

[Deckard]

Sucks about the Dlux shafts. I was just about to order some. I'm still running stock after breaking the Vanquish VVDs. Only got a few runs out of the VVDs to test suspension. Vanquish VVDs are junk, btw. The stock Axial dog bones haven't been straight since the first day but I try to keep them as straight as possible. B1B doesn't give a damn. She hauls ass and floats the air no problem.

I'm with you on the Gmades. I'm really impressed with them. Great value. I was ready to order some Velvet's but I'm happy with the Gmades.

Seriously, I love jumping the B1B. I don't know how mine ended up so perfectly balanced but it jumps like no other rig I have owned. Can't wait to build a B2B. Jerry has got me hooked on speed again (RC speed).

[DenisLM]

IFS need to be straight as possible. Those absurd angles will bend anything you put there. Just a matter of time and right situations.
I learned it in the hard way in my yeti. Since I lowered the front my incision VDI are running great. no bends, no self clearing.