Losi Baja Rey 1/10th 4WD RTR desert truck

[BAJAREY2017]

I looked in the official rc rule book and didn’t see where it says you can’t run aluminum wheels.


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[mewalsh100]

She is now "officially" as clean as she's been since NEW! Finished up the complete service with total shock rebuild. Got everything buttoned back up and dialed. I've confirmed the RC4WD aluminum SC wheels do stick out too far with the body on, even with the narrower of the two sets of hubs they come with. I won't be seeing my buddy who can machine them down for at least another month or two, so in the meantime I ordered some LOSI SCBE wheels with beadlock ring to mount up the new rubber.

Still have to get the new "basher" body painted up, but not quite warm enough out in the garage with the door open for ventilation. As far as bodies and paint go, does anyone know of, or have a good source for scale decals for Trophy Trucks? I've found Monster Energy stuff online, but I'm just NOT going to be the guy that does another Monster Energy themed vehicle.

[JDM74]

I see you are running the Metal Concepts front A-arms. How do you like running without the front sway bar? Can you tell a difference? You should have told me you were looking for a set of SCBE wheels and tires. I have the take offs from my green buggy I would have sold you cheap. Also did anybody know about RPM coming out with A=arms for the Baja rey? I found this just a minute ago:

http://www.rpmrcproducts.com/shop/a-...losi-baja-rey/

[mewalsh100]

Originally Posted by JDM74

I see you are running the Metal Concepts front A-arms. How do you like running without the front sway bar? Can you tell a difference? You should have told me you were looking for a set of SCBE wheels and tires. I have the take offs from my green buggy I would have sold you cheap. Also did anybody know about RPM coming out with A=arms for the Baja rey? I found this just a minute ago:

http://www.rpmrcproducts.com/shop/a-...losi-baja-rey/

Honestly, I don't miss the sway bar at all. I know MC was looking to develop something for their arms though. Have not checked in with them in a while.


If you still have the SCBE wheels and tires, I'd still be interested in them!


I did not know about the RPM A-Arms, but it makes sense. I ran all RPM stuff on my old Slash and it's way better all around. Better tolerances, better stiffness, better durability. I know they make a front bumper which I'll eventually order, but surprisingly, my OE unit is still holding up.

BTW - I just followed the RPM link you posted. Looks like they're sold out already!

[TheLetterJ]

I took off the front swaybar very early on and it suits my driving style very well... come into the corner hot, lift off the throttle and crank the wheel, then punch it coming out of the turn. On dirtbikes we'd call that "squaring off your turns." Having the front swayber off lets the front end dive into the turn, and the inside rear tire will "float" into the turn, so it comes around quicker. Once I started driving the Rey that way, I started enjoying it more. For me, the Baja Rey is faster through a corner that way than it was when I was trying to drive it like a 4wd SCT or 1/8 buggy where I'd try to keep a smooth throttle and sweeping arc through a turn. Just personal preferrence really. Give it a try with the front swaybar disconnected (you should be able to just remove one link for testing purposes) if you're curious, you can always reattach the front swaybar if you don't like it.

I'm curious about the RPM arm set. I would agree that the stock upper arms are too flexible (mine are bowed down in the center and have caused a noticeable increase in negative camber, which wouldn't be a bad thing if they could hold that setting consistently) and the typical RPM level of flexibility would be an improvement... but if I were going to bother changing them, I might prefer a set with some means of camber adjustment. The lower arms, however, were not an area that I personally saw much need for change (other than sand working its way inside the arms) if nothing else, they'll be an inexpensive option to stock replacements. As far as the additional lower shock mount, is that mostly just to accomodate a different/longer shock? I can't imagine using a more outboard lower setting with the stock shocks since it would lose ride height and have the chassis slappin' even more frequently?

Has anyone here had problems due to their aluminum a-arms being too stiff? Broken knuckles, bent hinge pins, etc? I have RPM arms on a couple Slash's with aluminum outers and found that to be my best compromise between durability and consistent performance, but they use turnbuckles for upper arms so I can still play with camber. On my old Savage, I had an aluminum upper a-arm just for the sake of adding a turnbuckle for camber adjustment and I did not have a problem with breaking the adjoining plastic pieces, but that thing had huge tires and comically large knuckles to absorb harsh impacts. I've honestly been pleased with the durability of the Baja Rey's suspension/steering components, but they may have given up a bit too much in the precision department. So, what have others found to be their best compromise of durability (flexibility?) and precise handling (rigidity?) with the Rey platform?

[mewalsh100]

I agree! That's pretty much how I drive mine. This truck cannot and does not respond like an IS SC Rig. It likes to wallow and be a bit loose. Lots of throttle steer. Basically, it's a total hoot to drive!


RPM makes a great product. In my experience, their tolerances are always way better than OE plastics, and the raw material they use for their molds is both stiffer and more resilient and resistant to the bending and warping you typically see in OE plastics. It also resists taking a "memory", or holding a bent shape. I ran all RPM plastics on my old Slash and that truck saw a lot of abuse.


I have had absolutely zero problems running both the upper and lower MC aluminum A-Arms and my rig gets USED. I am also running the Losi aluminum steering knuckles as well, HR aluminum bell crank. The precision and input at the steering versus the stock plastic is 100% better. (I had my Savox 1258-TG servo on the truck since day one with the original plastics - the improvement I saw in steering response/crispness with the aluminum a-arms, bell crank and knuckles just stepped it up that much more). In addition, something like an a-arm cannot be too stiff. Basically, you want it to transmit all that directional force and energy in to the shock without any deflection or flexing. It does this so much so that I found I had to take some time and re-tune my front shocks a bit when I added the Aluminum arms. Just take a look at the arms and suspension components of a real TT. They are extremely beefy and burly. This is for both strength and rigidity. I highly doubt you're going to find any fabricator that does full size TT chassis and suspension working "tuned flex" in to any of their components. I do know HRC Honda played with this idea on motogp motorcycle chassis, but they have since abandoned the idea.


With the aluminum a-arms, knuckles and bell crank, you'll definitely see an increase in the precision you mentioned.

[JatoTheRipper]

HD Alloy Front Gearbox from Exotek. Anytime Exotek is making parts for your vehicles you know you're doing something right.

BAJA/ROCK REY ALLOY HD FRONT GEARBOX SET - Exotek Racing

[mewalsh100]

That’s awesome! Great to see even more outside vendors stepping up and supporting this awesome rig!

[fyrstormer]

Interesting. I would've thought SSD's front bulkhead would take care of the entire demand. I'm certainly not complaining about more companies getting into the market, though.

[fyrstormer]

Originally Posted by BAJAREY2017

I looked in the official rc rule book and didn’t see where it says you can’t run aluminum wheels.

I didn't say you can't, I said they're not optimal. Heavier wheels = more load on the drivetrain when accelerating and more load on the wheel bearings over bumps. It doesn't really matter for crawlers, but it's more noticeable on fast vehicles.

[SSD]

Originally Posted by fyrstormer

Interesting. I would've thought SSD's front bulkhead would take care of the entire demand. I'm certainly not complaining about more companies getting into the market, though.

Ours is 13mm bearing inside and 11mm outside. This looks to be 11mm inside and 10mm outside.
You can decide which is best...

[Reyracer]

You know how there's a gap where the drive shaft enters the body of the car? Is there any easy way to cover it up or is it like this by requirement? Since isn't this where majority of the junk enters the gears inside. Just been cleaning out some debris inside that area.

[willyg1981]

Originally Posted by Reyracer

You know how there's a gap where the drive shaft enters the body of the car? Is there any easy way to cover it up or is it like this by requirement? Since isn't this where majority of the junk enters the gears inside. Just been cleaning out some debris inside that area.

I was thinking about covering the universal in Vaseline then carefully applying a layer of black silicone, not the tidiest method but it should work just like a cv boot


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[JatoTheRipper]

Originally Posted by SSD

Ours is 13mm bearing inside and 11mm outside. This looks to be 11mm inside and 10mm outside.
You can decide which is best...

Are you judging that info by the photo alone?

Bigger bearings are better for sure.

Originally Posted by Reyracer

You know how there's a gap where the drive shaft enters the body of the car? Is there any easy way to cover it up or is it like this by requirement? Since isn't this where majority of the junk enters the gears inside. Just been cleaning out some debris inside that area.

I'm not sure what you're talking about because I don't have one of these trucks, but how about a boot from a Traxxas shaft, a rubber shock boot, or an Outerwears shock protector?

[SSD]

Originally Posted by JatoTheRipper

Are you judging that info by the photo alone?

They say 11mm bearing in the description and the outer bearing looks smaller than the inner one on the image on their product page.

[fyrstormer]

SSD's visual estimate of the bearing sizes sounds accurate to me. I've seen plenty of 5x10 and 5x11 bearings during my time in the hobby, and the inner diameter of the bearings must be 5mm because that's the diameter of the input propshaft.

Personally I made my decision months ago when I bought the SSD bulkhead instead of waiting for some other brand to come along. Definitely a solid piece of kit (oh god, I'm starting to sound British), and I was impressed how the two halves fit together so neatly they could stay together by friction alone, yet still be easily separated. It's not easy to mass-produce parts that fit together that precisely.

[mond]

I've got the SSD bulkhead in my RR kit and it's pretty good. Only complaint is I had to buy a UK made part from a US store, paying duties on the way. I wish Me SSD would sell his own stuff or let someone in the UK sell it as a EU distributor.

[fyrstormer]

Customs fees really ought to be refunded if products are re-imported into their country of origin.

[mewalsh100]

Got the new SCBE wheels and bead locks on the B-Rey. Quick shout out to JDM74 for the deal on the wheels and tires. The green is a little brighter on the bead-locks than the body, but it still looks pretty sweet. I've also got an orange set for the new daily driver body i'm going to be painting up. I decided I'm going to do K&N Filter livery on the new body. Black, orange, and maybe a bit of white.

On another note, is anyone else running / tuning KING shocks on their Baja Rey? I've played around with mine 'till I'm about nuts and still just can't get them where I want them. The biggest issue I've had is the stock spring rates suck for this truck, and they're a dual stage design. I can't seem to find a tuning kit/springs anywhere for these shocks. The closest I got was running the stock Baja Rey single springs with the pre-load adjuster wound way down to meet the spring as it's a good bit shorter than the 2 springs on the Kings. It has to come so far down though that it leaves me nowhere to go but up with the pre-load for adjustment which leaves the spring jangling loose on the shock body. I've also run everything from 35w oil, which was way to light and had them "pogo-sticking" to 85w which just gave them a dead feel. Absolutely love the look of the Kings on this truck, but If I can't get them sorted they're going to the parts pile!

Would be awesome if LOSI came out with aluminum shock bodies for this rig.

[JDM74]

Maybe try the Yeti TT kit shocks? I'm pretty sure they are kings also. You can get he option shock caps that are Al and say "King" on them if you want. They look pretty nice on my bomber

Untitled by JASON MCKIMMEY, on Flickr

The front shocks with no springs are RC4wd and the back ones with the springs are Axial Bomber kit shocks. The same caps that you can get for the Yeti TT rear shocks.