New hammers owner in the uk. North Wales

[Clarkie]

Hi guys my names Clarkie and I've not long got myself a 2nd hand twin hammers. Within a week I fried the esc which was changed to the axial electronics for some reason and died thru water damage so I've ordered the original waterproof esc again now to get it back up and running.

When I got it the front locker has been fitted and it has different suspension and has a light kit fitted too.

I am new to crawlers or anything like this I'd had tourers and drifters and nitros before so any help with choice mods and batteries would be great. It's basically stock from what I can tell apart from the locker. I want to use a bigger or better battery if possible but not sure what fits in the tray. So will wait till I know what to order.

Couple of pics






What do you guys think and recommend?

Oh and is the front end supposed to stay down when you push it down? Cause the back springs back up but the front doesn't.

[iacdmac]

I use nano tech 4200 mah shorty packs from hobby king and as for the suspension mine is pretty soft in the front like yours. When I push it down it stays put, but when the car is just sitting there the front arms are almost level. It's just a personal preference. The first thing I would recommend is the Derwood steering kit.

[Clarkie]

Have already ordered my derwood steering kit from Darren this evening as for the battery. Is the battery you are using the same size as the standard one? The one that came with it is tiny in comparison to any other battery iv used before but iv only ever had 7.2v nimh packs tamiya style so this is a first lipo for me. I'm pretty sure the sizes work in the same way as is ratings so the higher the number the better but what's th difference in 2s and 3s. I'll be looking for 5000mah packs but want to know which ones will be better and which ones will fit the standard setup and work with the standard esc more importantly. .

Also need to do some reading up on recharging lipo as iv been told you have to drain them before you can charge them? Is this right? I just thought I'd be able to plug the battery onto the charger that came with it and charge it as I normally would.

[iacdmac]

The battery that I mentioned above is a shorty back is is much larger then the one the car came with and is meant to sit sideways in the tray like the upgraded version on the horrizon hobby website this battery is 2s. Normal 10th scale lipos don't fit as they are way to big.

As for charging you do not have to discharge them. Just plug them in and charge them with the correct settings. Although it is good to balance them every once in a while. 3s does not work with the standard esc.

2s and 3s is how many cell the lipo has 2s is 7.4 volts and 3s is 11.1 volts

[riskyjedi]

When you get your new esc make sure that you set it for lipo if That's what your running. If you don't you can over discharge the lipo battery and cause damage to it or possibly a fire. And welcome to crawling. I find it more fun than any of my go fasts.

And my stock shocks do that to. but I've found that when your driving it that the droop sort of goes away and just adsorbs the terrain pretty well. I live in some very rough terrain in the Serra Nevada mountains. and drive my t.h. almost every day.

[Clarkie]

In which case 2s is all ill need. So if I order 2s shorty packs they are all the same size regardless of the brand I'm assuming.

And thanks for the info on the shocks I wasn't sure if they were caputt or that's how they are meant to be I'm getting derwood upright mod once its available too so I can test both and see which I prefer

[iacdmac]

I would still check the measurements of the lipo just to be sure that it fits

[tachikoma1373]

So clarkie it was you that beat me on ebay for that was it

Looks good fella. I run this battery Turnigy nano-tech Shorty 4200mah 2S2P 65~130C Hardcase Lipo Pack (ROAR APPROVED) (UK Warehouse) which costs 22.89 + postage from the UK warehouse as well so quick - 3 days for me. It's an almost perfect fit for the tray and gives me 30 - 40 minutes running depending an what I'm doing - and I'm running a 3400KV 4 pole with a WP-SC8 ESC (waterproof) more speed than crawl for me - a sprawler if you like


Like you I'm new to the crawler side of things but not come from the drift side, got a "Clash1" (Slash based basher), a "Baja Bug" (rustler based) an EXO Trooper (Star wars themed Axial EXO) and "The Emperors Hammer".

This is my first post here but I've learnt so much from reading this forum - it's definitely THE resource on the net for the Hammers in my opinion and some really creative people on board.

Anyway enjoy the TH - i frickin' love mine.

[Clarkie]

Yes mate I beat you to the punch somehow lol I have been to radshape rc in Birmingham today and got a couple of batteries. Iv stuck to the standard size battery for now untill I can take my hammers with me with mods and test fit them in the store before I buy. Very helpful people at radshape for any uk members. And they have an on site demo track for you to test/use your rig on I brought some ally panels off them and sway bars front and rear and some batteries and stuff great bunch of people and they got out their own demo hammers to play with while we were on the subject haha

One thing they didn't stick was the shafts for the front tho so I have to order some. What shafts are people using once they break theirs because it's my frot right which has gone which iv read is common so is there a uk place to get them from or is my hammers out of action for a while waiting on delivery :(

[Clarkie]

I have derwood steering kit to fit.
All ally body panels to fit.
I'm spraying my roll cage flo yellow and bead locks.
Iv got front sway bar kit to fit
Iv got rear sway bar kit to fit
And iv gotta pack the tyres as there's no foams in there.

Do you guys recommend removing the locker if I'm not crawling it? It came with it fitted when I brought it but I'm using it as a racer/basher not a crawler like it was set up for? It keeps toppling over every time I turn is there anything to remedy this as it's quite annoying otherwise I love it haha

[Clarkie]

Few bits waiting to go on my hammer

[tachikoma1373]

I can see why a locker is essential for real crawling but decided to go with thick oil on mine because like you I'm more about the speed. I currently run 300K but will probably go up to 500K as it still needs less diff and more lock for what I want to do.

Chris and the guys at Radshape are a great bunch and the panels are cool, have a set myself I got great advice from some of the customers and had a go on the track with a hammers and a wraith. The rear sway bars made a huge difference, especially given the extra power I'm running with. Enjoy your goodies fella

[Clarkie]

I will do mate I'm deffo fitting panels and rear sway but now after buying the front and reading people remarks I'm no sure it I'm gonna fit the front one. Might just put on rear sway and test for a while then decide if I want the front on later. I broke a cvd so I'm waiting on those to arrive now too so I'm not running 3wd. Takin it on the skatepark probably wasn't the best idea but it was bloody fun haha

[Clarkie]

So a bit of an update on my hammer

First job was sorting the tyres out. My lhs didn't have any foams for me in stock so I just thought I'd try a DIY option and see how it goes.



Front wheels had weight on them I'm assuming for crawling but I won't be doing much of that as this is a fun time basher for me so iv removed the weights but kept them in my box if I ever want to revert back



DIY method



And the before and after



Next step was to change out the motor for a 15t firebolt as there was a axial 27t motor in there



Then it was strip down time to install my derwood steering kit















Then onto my new ally panels. It's looking good now and I do miss the lights but its a basher and the lights kept coming loose all the time so they had to go. I might make it a crawler one day so iv kept them to re use another day







And that's where I'm at I am however going to remove the front locker that is fitted because this thing just flips over at the first touch of the steering when I'm going quickly and all the vids iv seen don't seem to suffer this so it has to be because of that surely.

[Pockets70]

Looks great Clarkie! I can't wait to get my DD kit. Stock steering sucks. So what's in the terrarium? I see a standard UVA bulb and a heat lamp.

[Clarkie]

Blood red bearded dragon mate haha little lucifer is my companion he likes to sit and chill and watch tele with me haha

[Drail]

if you want to love your motor and esc setup get your self to the Holmes Hobbies web siteand get ya a TorqueMaster Sport 540 13t for Twin Hammers with a Holmes Hobbies TorqueMaster BR-XL WaterProof to run it.
you Will LOVE this setup on 3 cell with the 2 speed tranz..yup good time'z. Drail

[Pockets70]

Originally Posted by Clarkie

Blood red bearded dragon mate haha little lucifer is my companion he likes to sit and chill and watch tele with me haha

I've got a snow bearded. Reds are expensive but awesome. Cheers!