What hop-ups for a Losi Street/Rally Weapon?

[grimlock3000]

I ordered a Losi Rally Weapon since it was only $80 shipped to my door. It accepts almost any Street Weapon hop up since it is essentially the same car. Now that the kit is on the way, I was wondering which hop ups would be a good idea to get. I will be running either a stock or 19 turn motor seeing that the Rally Weapon does not come with a slipper.

The only thing I can think of right away is bearings for the streering, so I would like to know what size those are? Also, Horizon sells a dust cover for the Street Weapon. What does this part cover and should I pick one up? Any other ideas would be appreciated, thanks.

[sixandeightstringer]

I got the dust cover - it's pretty lame. It's just a hard shell, made of lexan, that roughly approximates the shape of the car. Not exactly sure what the heck I'm supposed to do with it - it definitely needs to be cut to fit, but there's no bottom piece. I also ordered an XX4 cover set, but I haven't received it yet. Since Horizon's weakness is its lack of product info, this is probably the body set that looks like a buggy, but it may just work as an inner body with some modifications. I'll try to let you know.

I did race on a dry, dirty, dusty, pebble-ridden track without any sort of inner body, and had no problems - the chassis uses a completely sealed belt channel/drivetrain, so you can get away without one. But to offer a little insurance, and keep dust and crap out of the motor, I'm looking for a inner body solution. Let me know if you come up with one, too.

As for the steering bearings, I wish I could remember what size they are - but I'm pretty sure that there are three of one size and one of a different size.

$17.95 at Horizon: SEALED BB STEERING SET:XX4 - by TEAM LOSI, INC. [LOSA6914]
(The XX4 is also the same chassis as the SW/RW.)

A tip: When you build the shocks, be sure to put a set of the long spacers inside the shock - I don't remember whether it says to do so in the manual, but without spacers the front shocks will have too much travel and you'll tear up your outdrives. Trust me, I know this from experience. :rolleyes:

Another tip: Check the dots that the Losi folks have so helpfully placed on the body to indicate where to put post holes - my rear post hole markings were in the wrong place! :eek:

As for motors, this car is pretty quick with a stock motor and a 24/25/26 pin pinion. I used an old, worn out Midnight 2 stock motor and my $70 bargain rally car kept up with (and passed!) all the HPIs and other cars I raced. If it hadn't been for the torn up outdrive (doh!) that knocked me out of heat 2 with only 4 laps, I'd have placed quite well - and it was my first time rally racing! :cool:

[grimlock3000]

Ahh, thanks for the inner body info. I would have ordered the SW dust cover if I did not know that. Hope the XX4 dust cover will works a little better, keep me update. I am mainly looking for a way to keep dirt from the left front wheel out of the motor vents when I run on loose surfaces.

I tried to find out what sizes the bearings were but couldn't. $18 is a bit much for 4 bearings when you can buy an 18 bearing kit for the rest of the car for $22. The kit was so cheap I will probably order the Losi bearing kit anyway.

Do the long spacers come with the kit and do I need them on just the front?

[sixandeightstringer]

The spacers for the shocks do come with the kit; I think the instructions call them "optional." I didn't need them on the rears, at least, I don't think so?

FYI: The steering bearings don't come with the "full" bearing kit. :rolleyes: But the Rally Weapon comes with all the bearings already, so no need to get the bearing kit separately. It just doesn't come with the steering linkage bearings.

[grimlock3000]

Heh, yeah I know the "full" bearing kit does not include the steering. My point was that it is $18 for 4 steering bearings or $22 for every other bearing on the car. Ah, the joys of high priced option parts :)

What do you think a good starting pinion would be for bashing with a P2K? 24 or 25 teeth?

[sixandeightstringer]

Like I said, I was using a 25 with a Trinity Midnight Pro 2 stock motor, and I was passing guys driving HPI rally cars (who've been driving longer and know their cars better.) Using the stock spur gear, stock tires (although they're not real "bite-ey" looking, they seemed to hook up pretty well on our mixed terrain track.)

[crossman]

I'm thinking about picking up a Rally Weapon and I was curious where you found your's at $80. That is a really good price. Also, does the kit come with a body? Thanks.

[grimlock3000]

Go to www.ebay.com and search for "rally weapon". The person with all of the Rally Weapons for auction (BIGDEAL10) used to sell the kits direct thru his online eBay store for $69.99 with shipping fixed at $10. The auctions usually go for around $72-75 so it is not that much more. I checked today and he only sells them thru the auctions now because people were bidding more for the kits in the auctions that he was selling them direct for (go figure). And yep, it comes with a body :)

[crossman]

Thanks for the info! I'll definitely keep an eye on his auctions and hopefully pick one up. Thanks. :)

[Eternal RC]

sixandeightstringer, wow that is my first time saw an action pic of Rally cars. Damn that looks nice! I would add my wishlist to get TC3 Rally conversion and TC3 kit.:cool:

[sixandeightstringer]

Originally posted by Eternal RC
sixandeightstringer, wow that is my first time saw an action pic of Rally cars. Damn that looks nice! I would add my wishlist to get TC3 Rally conversion and TC3 kit.:cool:

There's a bunch more at the sites we have at yah00 photos. You have to substitute the word YAH00 for the stars in the following addresses - for some reason, Yah00 is a "dirty word" here.

Check out the "Cooper River Rally" pic sections:

http://photos.*****.com/jaibee70
http://photos.*****.com/sixandeightstringer

There's tons of pics - on the sixandeightstringer (my) photo page, there's even some action shots - like the downsized one below... (full sized version is too big to upload here)

[sixandeightstringer]

Here's the pic:

[Eternal RC]

Hey two urls are not working. Anyway those small pics are awesome. COOLEST :cool:

[yep]

Hey,

Me and a friend just picked up a couple rally weapons from ebay also! There are also four bushings in the diffs that could be switched to bearings. The suspension seems a bit soft. I'm thinking of getting heavier shock oil and a sway bar kit. Does anybody know what to get after bearings?

nice pictures six!!
:D

[grimlock3000]

After some searching, according to this post:

http://www.radiocontrolzone.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=23886&highlight=rally+weapon

...the bearings needed would be 5x8mm for the diffs. As far as the shock oil goes, I ran 50 front and 40 back in my HPI RS4 Rally. I am going to use that as a baseline for the Rally Weapon and go with that.

[sixandeightstringer]

Originally posted by Eternal RC
Hey two urls are not working. Anyway those small pics are awesome. COOLEST :cool:

Yeah - the links won't work as posted; you have to copy the urls, then paste them into your browser's Address bar - then replace the "*****" with the name of that popular free portal "YAH00" - for some reason, it's a "naughty word" here at RCZ and gets blocked out whenever you type it (notice that I replaced the "o's" with "0's" (zeros) so that you'd know the domain name of the portal I'm talking about. :rolleyes:

[sixandeightstringer]

Okay, I take back what I said about the Street Weapon dust cover. It's usable, and certainly better than nothing at all if you're trying to keep garbage out of your motor and esc, etc.

I figured since I paid for it already I might as well try cutting it out and see if it fit the car. It certainly looked like it would, with moldings to conform with the different bumps and curves on the chassis. So I got around to cutting it out this morning.

And it fits pretty well, with some patient cutting. (Trim, test fit, trim some more, test fit... etc.)

It fits under the Rally Weapon's stock Focus body, and I imagine that it will fit under most other bodies as well. I don't even have it cut as "low" as I could at this point, I figured I could always cut more off but can't add it back if I cut off too much!

My only thought now is how to keep it on the chassis. There were no clips, strips or other fasteners of any kind, and there's no obvious means built into the chassis that I can see. If you have any thoughts or clever ideas on how to fasten it to the chassis, please post. In the meantime, here's a composite of the cover on and off the vehicle.

[Gutter Ball]

All the guys I know just used velcro to hold down their inner bodies!

[grimlock3000]

got my Rally Weapon in a couple days ago. I also got a sway bar kit off eBay for $4.99 shipped so I can mess around with that.

I just need to order some more parts and then I can get to building the kit. I am going to try a GM3 Pro motor with a 24 tooth pinion so I have a lot of top end on the tarmac. My HPI Rally was almost always traction limited with a P2K so the lower torque of the GM3 should not be much of an issue (I hope). Not sure on the servo yet, probably going to get a Cirrus 60, Hitec 605/625 or JR 550. I hate popping off rod ends, so purple RPM ends are going everywhere. I am trying to get a purple foam bumper as well. I should have enough scrap lexan to build a dust shield for the motor. Past that, I can not even think of anything else I to add that would make a difference.

FYI: The steering bearings are three 3/16x5/16 and a single 1/4x3/8. Do not forget the four 5x8 bearings in the diffs for a true full bearing kit.

[T/Losi]

I don't see or hear much info on the Rally Weapon. Is it any good? Can anyone take a pic of their chassis so I can take a look at it? Does it come with ball bearings? Is it worth getting? Thanks.

[sixandeightstringer]

Pics of my cars (http://photos.*****.com/bc/sixandeightstringer/lst?.dir=/My+Rides&.view=t)

(Click the link above - you'll get a new window that lists a "host not found" error. In the "address" window, replace the ***** with YAH00. Thanks a lot, RCZ!)

We'll see if that link works. Most of the chassis shots are of my Street Weapon, but it's the same essential design. Differences include:

* The Rally Weapon does NOT come with Graphite parts; rather, they are their composite material "Stiffezel."

* The RW chassis is not slotted; it's got a solid bottom.

* The RW will not come with yellow MVP Ball ends or Titanium Turnbuckles, as shown on my SW.

* The RW comes with longer, red adonized, non-threaded shocks.

* The RW comes with Offroad/Street hybrid tires.

* It doesn't come with the inner body or the foam bumper.

* I have a few additional hopups and braces and things that don't come on it either, but mostly that's it.

If the link above doesn't work, try visiting my yah00 photos site at http://photos.yah--.com/sixandeightstringer - the pics are in the "My Rides" section. There are also plenty of pics of rally cars in action there.

[sixandeightstringer]

ttt