# Losi Late Model build



## djcyder (Jun 23, 2010)

I have to start out saying this car is a money pit its taken forever to get to this point. I bought the car here on hobbytalk about a few months back the only original part is the rear shock tower and trans case.

























list of upgrades is quite long, pretty much every alum part plus the ccs front end 85mg servo, and a castle 9600kv brushless sidewinder system just to name a few. Car is a lot of fun to drive still have a few things left to do to it. I thought I'd share since the section isn't really that active feel free to post comments


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## djcyder (Jun 23, 2010)

wow no comments.


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## Micro_Racer (Mar 27, 2002)

9600Kv motor - WOW - what size track do you race on?


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## djcyder (Jun 23, 2010)

Track I usually run is has 125 foot run line 3.2 second laps are normal. Motor is from Castle it was only 15 bucks
check here


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## sixramsalot (Mar 31, 2010)

whatd you do to turn the motor/trans around,and does it help it?


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## djcyder (Jun 23, 2010)

That is a total pita to do. There are 2 ways to do it one way involves drilling out the chassis and the other way involves drilling out the transmission case. I choose to drill out the transmission case but since they are so close to the original holes you need to fill them with something first. I used some jbweld then just re-drilled the holes and bolted it down you still need to drill one hole in the chassis for the shock tower however. Benefits well the biggest one is the motor and gears are protected, the other is it seems to give the car a little more steering which is nice for entering the corners faster. Also seems to balance it as the rear doesn't want to "step out" as much. Also you need to remember this makes everything run backwards so you need to either reverse the motor by either changing the outer wires or like I did and use the speedcontrol to do it. Not really recommended for brushed motors.


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## djcyder (Jun 23, 2010)

And if you are using a ball diff like I am then you need to put the screw on the other side or else your diff will come loose.


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## djcyder (Jun 23, 2010)

*More Pictures*


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## riley3393 (Sep 14, 2008)

Nice looking LM, you went alot farther than i did but always loved the LM on carpet, too bad the mini class has just about died around here or i would still be racin mine!


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## sixramsalot (Mar 31, 2010)

very,very cool build:thumbsup:


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## djcyder (Jun 23, 2010)

Mini class is on life support here as well, these cars are a lot of fun. The track I run at considers these 12th scale the funny thing is they are actually bigger then most 12th pan cars. The other track I run at groups these with the sliders. I laugh every time I read 1/18 scale on these cars.


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## BillSmithBooks (Jan 18, 2009)

djcyder said:


> Mini class is on life support here as well, these cars are a lot of fun. The track I run at considers these 12th scale the funny thing is they are actually bigger then most 12th pan cars. The other track I run at groups these with the sliders. I laugh every time I read 1/18 scale on these cars.


I think the key with mini scales is to keep and affordable, keep it as an entry level division. 

(I believe affordability/ease of entry is a problem in general with RC racing...very few tracks make it easy for someone to get started with a box stock car and go racing without a bunch of upgrades.)

The BRP cars seem to be very successful because there's not a lot to buy once you get the kit -- build the car and go racing.

At my local track (Lake City in Plattsburgh, NY), we are having a lot of luck with the RC18 Late Models. We run them box stock -- $170 for everything to go racing. The folks in this division are having a ton of fun without spending a ton of $$$.

Had a kid buy a new kit two weeks ago at 5 PM and win the feature that night. Could not be simpler, no reliability issues, very affordable...a great way to go racing for new racers or experienced racers who are tired of having to treat their RC car as a second job.

Get racers started on something simple, cheap and basic like a good box stock division and then, in time, you'll see a desire for a class with more upgrades like the Losi you've built.


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## riley3393 (Sep 14, 2008)

Our stock mini class is still doing fine anywhere from 5to10 stock minis but the killer is the open mod mini there's 3 or 4 weekly doesn't make for a good class with only 3 or 4, just by the time u go lipo and brushless and mod the chassi with a CCS chassi or just mod it yourself u are at the cost of a spec pan car class and they never break....lol


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## djcyder (Jun 23, 2010)

Yes but unlike spec pan car there isn't an entire pdf rulebook, and weekly accusations of cheating, bad attitudes, hurt feelings, etc. Can't cheat in the open class  That being said these are more fun to run. Just check out some of the oval discussions on this board alone and you will see what I mean. Heck this hasn't changed in 20+ years of RC. Thats the reason why I got into these in the first place. Cars are open and free like it should be.


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## djcyder (Jun 23, 2010)

You got me thinking do I have more money in this losi then a spec pan car, lets see

LM with radio.........90
CF chassis............30
CCS Front end ......70
85 mg servo .........15
Shocks.................35
Alum F&R arms.......16
Pin carrier.............10
CVDS...................20
Lipo.....................10
sidewinder.............25
Motor...................15
Diff......................22
Caster Blocks axels 20
Tires....................29


Total ................377

Can you build a spec pan car for that? Last I checked an R5 was about 300 for just the chassis  You could probably do a used one for around that sure.


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## BudBartos (Jan 1, 1970)

Speed kills :drunk:


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## djcyder (Jun 23, 2010)

Only in the wrong hands Bud, besides those are your tires on there.


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## riley3393 (Sep 14, 2008)

djcyder said:


> You got me thinking do I have more money in this losi then a spec pan car, lets see
> 
> LM with radio.........90
> CF chassis............30
> ...


Ya it would be close if you by a used one thats ready to go but new your way under.

Silva X-Factor SS R5 Conversion...........240
Mamba Max Pro 1 cell..........................112
SMC 4000mah 25c 1 cell Lipo................46
Futaba 9650 Servo.............................45
Side Shocks......................................40
Center Shock....................................25
17.5 Motor.......................................75
Receiver Pack...................................20

Total.............................................603

And thats without a radio or receiver!!! Alot cheaper if you are buying new stuff i dont like used just never know how they were treated.


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## djcyder (Jun 23, 2010)

Very true even race worthy minis are cheaper the only drawback is like you said the classes are dieing. However I think they are coming back a little because of the cost factor. For guys like me who don't like to run pan car because of the reasons I've outlined earlier these are the ticket. I think one of the tracks I run is is finally going to have a break out class just of these. I plan on building at least 2 more of these in 2011.


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## superjet701 (Oct 16, 2006)

djcyder said:


> You got me thinking do I have more money in this losi then a spec pan car, lets see
> 
> LM with radio.........90
> CF chassis............30
> ...


I would love a detailed list of parts, so I can purchase them.. Have the motor covers with Castle, also tires, but just about everything else I would like to get... Also, like to know more about the case 180 deg rotation, you said something about filling the case JB weld and such.... Not a fan of that....


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## djcyder (Jun 23, 2010)

well when you turn the trans around the screw holes don't line up, but the problem is they arn't off by much so you need to fill those old holes with something or the trans will fall out in the event of a crash. As far as the parts go, sites like thetoyz.com have the parts you need look under mini t parts. The ccs stuff can be found at ccscustomparts.com.


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## 420 Tech R/C (Sep 15, 2006)

Nice mini-late build!!! Here are a couple pics of my carpet late chassis I just designed. You are right about the screw holes for the tranny being a PITA.I went a different rout with mine and re-drilled the pivot block:thumbsup:.I figured since it fits around the base of the tranny so snugly anyway that it should be plenty secure .It is actually more slotting the holes in the pivot block than re-drilling since they are so close.

Any way like I said this one is for carpet and uses a kingpin style front suspension. You can adjust the caster with shims, camber is adjusted with different top plates.As pictured the car is running Approx 5* caster and 1.5* camber in the front.It uses a direct steering set-up like a pan car,no bellcranks.So there is only 2 steering linkages directly to the servo saver which means half the ball joints which is half the chance to develop slop or any wander in the steering.It makes the car very stable and predictable.:thumbsup:The weight bias is set-up to emulate that of a 1/12 carpet car, and that's pretty much what this late drives like now:hat:


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## djcyder (Jun 23, 2010)

That is very nice, My next build is going to be similar to that except I'm going to use a 12l3 chassis and the old school front end. and simply bolt a slider chassis were the tplate would normally go. How did you solve the axle problem since losi uses metric bearings and most pan cars use 1/8 axles?


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## 420 Tech R/C (Sep 15, 2006)

Those are actually the stock F axles and steering Knuckles.I drilled and tapped a 4-40 hole in the back side of the axle like the 1/10 losi truck uses.That way the car can run the stock wheels/tires.Plus the set screw locks the kingpin to the axle, so there are no e-clips involved.


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## 420 Tech R/C (Sep 15, 2006)

Funny you mention the old school 1/12 front end, I contemplated going that route, but decided to use as many of the stock peices as I could as to prevent whining,LOL.I run open too, but there are whiners when ever you run something out of the norm, trust me i get it with my 1/10 stuff all the time,LOL.


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## djcyder (Jun 23, 2010)

Anyway to get a close up shot of that without the tire on there?


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## 420 Tech R/C (Sep 15, 2006)

djcyder said:


> Anyway to get a close up shot of that without the tire on there?


Sure, give me a bit:thumbsup:


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## djcyder (Jun 23, 2010)

Cool thanks you should think about putting together a kit and selling it. What I've seen so far looks nice.


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## Stateline R/C (Apr 2, 2005)

420 Tech R/C said:


> Funny you mention the old school 1/12 front end, I contemplated going that route, but decided to use as many of the stock peices as I could as to prevent whining,LOL.I run open too, but there are whiners when ever you run something out of the norm, trust me i get it with my 1/10 stuff all the time,LOL.


WAAAAAAA you are nothing but a big cheeter WAAAAAAAA. but you gotta win first lol


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## 420 Tech R/C (Sep 15, 2006)

Stateline R/C said:


> WAAAAAAA you are nothing but a big cheeter WAAAAAAAA. but you gotta win first lol


LOL, we will see next week kevin!!:thumbsup:


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## djcyder (Jun 23, 2010)

Yeah I got some funny looks when I was using a 10th scale lipo in mine, I've since changed to the smaller one, but you can't beat the 40c discharge packs at 5000 you could run the same battery all night.


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## 420 Tech R/C (Sep 15, 2006)

Here are some pics of the coil spring front end:thumbsup:Those are the dogbone springs in there. They work,but are a tad too soft, so I just ordered a couple different sets of springs to try out this week on the front end.:thumbsup:


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## Stateline R/C (Apr 2, 2005)

lol its just a matter of time ...


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## Stateline R/C (Apr 2, 2005)

those turnbuckles are pimp


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## 420 Tech R/C (Sep 15, 2006)

Stateline R/C said:


> lol its just a matter of time ...


By the way also picked up a new speedo:thumbsup:no more shut downs in the middle of a run for me,I put a 60A speedo in it:thumbsup:


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## Stateline R/C (Apr 2, 2005)

where is that ccs ft end from?


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## 420 Tech R/C (Sep 15, 2006)

Stateline R/C said:


> where is that ccs ft end from?


wrong person,LOL


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## 420 Tech R/C (Sep 15, 2006)

djcyder said:


> Cool thanks you should think about putting together a kit and selling it. What I've seen so far looks nice.


Those are my exact intentions:thumbsup:I have already developed 9 1/10 kits for the academy gv2 series, and the losi XXX series ranging from buggies and trucks to SCT's and a Losi XXX based sprint car:thumbsup:


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## djcyder (Jun 23, 2010)

I use the red ones in the front and the white ones in the back not sure what brand they are but I put them over the shock shaft works like a progressive rate spring, where you have starting outer spring rate then it hits the secondary inner spring. It worked so well at our track everyone started doing it. Thanks for the photos I just drilled out a pair of old 10l steering blocks and put the losi axle in but you need the TM tires with the larger inner rims to run them on the 12l front and you still have to shave the king pins a bit to get it to work.


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## djcyder (Jun 23, 2010)

I found largely that shutdowns were caused more by the battery then anything, less then a 20c you'll have problems I run 25c's in mine and practice with a 20c.


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## Stateline R/C (Apr 2, 2005)

what are those alum ft blocks in that picture of the other dudes car?


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## djcyder (Jun 23, 2010)

That would be the ccs front end mounts it on a 15 degree kickup

Look Here


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## 420 Tech R/C (Sep 15, 2006)

djcyder said:


> I use the red ones in the front and the white ones in the back not sure what brand they are but I put them over the shock shaft works like a progressive rate spring, where you have starting outer spring rate then it hits the secondary inner spring. It worked so well at our track everyone started doing it. Thanks for the photos I just drilled out a pair of old 10l steering blocks and put the losi axle in but you need the TM tires with the larger inner rims to run them on the 12l front and you still have to shave the king pins a bit to get it to work.


Same here,I do the 2 stage thing on the R of my 1/10 oval truck. I have a set of narrowed foams and slider stock fronts I have been running on front.You just have to run the slider fronts backwards to get the right offset/trackwidth and they clear the kingpins no prob.But After running this first prototype I am actually going to close the suspensin gap by .0625" which will alow the suspension to fit inside the stock late model wheels.So It will eliminate the need for the 2 shimms I have above the springs right now, and will allow me to shorten the kingpin by .0625" also.Making it all tuck into the wheel with some clearance.


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## djcyder (Jun 23, 2010)

Sounds nice let me know when you start making them I'd be interested in trying one out I have a spare slider just laying around. Just needs the lm bumper and body mounts. On your car I noticed you were still using the top bumper plate, for me its a bad idea because it makes the front bumper come loose all the time even with locknuts. After i removed it my problems went away.


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## djcyder (Jun 23, 2010)

Also one question are you running the longer wheelbase or the shorter one?


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## 420 Tech R/C (Sep 15, 2006)

djcyder said:


> Also one question are you running the longer wheelbase or the shorter one?


Long wheelbase same exact spec as the late comes box stock with.:thumbsup:


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## djcyder (Jun 23, 2010)

CCs comes with 2 positions I've found that on shorter tracks the longer wheelbase hurts more then it helps.


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## djcyder (Jun 23, 2010)

Hope to see that kit for sale some day.


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## Stateline R/C (Apr 2, 2005)

djcyder said:


> That would be the ccs front end mounts it on a 15 degree kickup
> 
> Look Here


where do you look at prices? none listed that i could see


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## djcyder (Jun 23, 2010)

Try here


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## djcyder (Jun 23, 2010)

Updated pictures!

New chassis & body









That is a 40c 2200 mah skylipo, yes you can feel the difference between the 25c's and 40c's for sure.

Special castle cm26 26mm motor paired with a 1/10 scale sidewinder esc










heat-sink was made to fit a 300 sized motor it had a fan but the motor ran so cool I decided to take it off, looks pretty cool without the fan too. Castle says it won't fit but it does with a little help and the new 300 sized motor mount, and a bit of grinding on the motor plate. 










Novak makes pinions for the mongoose system that fit this motor perfectly and match the metric spur gear kudos to Novak for that I got the whole set but only needed the 14. Yes those are 1/10 scale motor screws from shh associated the motor requires the use of them. Minimal grinding was required to make them fit.


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## djcyder (Jun 23, 2010)

Here is another picture with a custom body done by Brian


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## riley3393 (Sep 14, 2008)

Just bought a RC18 CCS roller and wanted to know what you guys have been running for batts in the minis ive been out a while now so wanted to know whats working. I use to run the Thunder Power 2100mah 20c Light 2s lipo but i would like to go hard case dont trust the soft packs. 

And does anyone know where i can pick up a allen head stainless steel screw kit for a Assoicated RC18?

Thanks Jayme


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## djcyder (Jun 23, 2010)

Jayme


I've been unable to find any hard packs at all the next best thing out there is the skylipo I run this one I like the skylipo's because they have a metal plate on the top and bottom its as close to a hard pack as I've been able to find. I'm unsure on the screw kits I just used pan car stuff on mine works fine.


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## jop3 (Dec 2, 2009)

NICE :thumbsup:


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## wazzer (Nov 13, 2001)

RCScrewz has the allen head screw kits in both standard and metric. http://www.rcscrewz.com/product_inf...w-kit-metric-ver/cPath/1_195/products_id/3339 


riley3393 said:


> Just bought a RC18 CCS roller and wanted to know what you guys have been running for batts in the minis ive been out a while now so wanted to know whats working. I use to run the Thunder Power 2100mah 20c Light 2s lipo but i would like to go hard case dont trust the soft packs.
> 
> And does anyone know where i can pick up a allen head stainless steel screw kit for a Assoicated RC18?
> 
> Thanks Jayme


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## djcyder (Jun 23, 2010)

RCscrewz said:


> some screws that are included in the our kits remain phillips heads but are still stainless steel. We have done this for strength, as a result of our field testing, on small diameter screws (2mm and 2-56" dia). This may include some chassis screws and differential screws. All other remain socket head.


Many of the small screws are still phillips head, again the best way is to use pan car screws.


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## riley3393 (Sep 14, 2008)

djcyder said:


> Jayme
> 
> 
> I've been unable to find any hard packs at all the next best thing out there is the skylipo I run this one I like the skylipo's because they have a metal plate on the top and bottom its as close to a hard pack as I've been able to find. I'm unsure on the screw kits I just used pan car stuff on mine works fine.


I did a little searching around and found that duratrax makes a hardpack mini lipo battery. Only downside is its only a 20c id like bigger but might be a nice practice pack. 

I do like the weight and size of the skylipo's look like they would do the trick.


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## djcyder (Jun 23, 2010)

Really for 13 bucks you can't beat them, they do need cycled a few times to "wake up" so don't be too disappointed after the first run of them. I'm placing an order for 2 more of them ,but first I want to try out a 3300 if I can make it fit. Track I run at doesn't limit mah at all. Anyways I felt the difference of 40c from the 25c ace I was running, my mlm will pull a wheelie if I want it too.


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## ecoastrc (Mar 25, 2007)

They do make a hard cell lipo. In fact it is fitted for the slider and late model here is the link http://teamscreamracing.com/product.php?id=402


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## super lates (Jan 10, 2011)

*?*

We have been running 1/18 scale losi late models some brushed stock motors, some brushless. Brushless is way fasterin the car wright, there trying to tell us that there is no difference in how fast they are, its your set up. I want to know how racers feel about that. Any answers will help!!


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## djcyder (Jun 23, 2010)

That's really true in any car really it doesn't matter how fast your car is if you can't drive it or of the car is hugely overpowered your going to loose to the bushed car every time. The key to these is really in the setup. That 9600 motor ended up causing more problems eating idler gears, and roasting diffs. Since I went to the 6800 this car is a lot calmer and its turning similar laptimes.


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