Rampage XB tweaking

[firebirdguy]

Got a Rampage XB with 5-6 tanks thru it and have found a few problems


1-Gas cap bubble torn fix: drilled a hole and inserted some fuel line for a vent with an o-ring to seal it(pics soon)


2-shocks have to much radial play in them, they leak and caps keep coming loose even after i tighten them Fix: replacing all shocks with HPI Baja shocks. Front baja shocks work for the rear and making a bracket to mount front baja shocks to the front. will post pics of what i make


3- Air filter sucks Fix: Moved throttle linkage to other side and will install HPI Baja filter (pics soon)


4- Steering drag link pops out Fix: tried fuel line mod, didn't work for long. Box of parts actually came with a new drag link that was longer on the ends, drilled out the plastic piece and it works great (pics soon)


5- Servos suck fix: swicthing to HiTec digital servos when money allows, will let you know what i get (pics will be up then)


6- Radio System sucks. Truck ran away on me second tank, was 20ft away and tested failsafe before i ran. Fix: have a DX3 riht now, will be swithcing to a Airtronics MT-4 when it gets here.


7- Exhaust (lol) didnt even use it Fix: installed a Jetpro pipe right out of the box. Was a TT pipe but it does fit, had to modify a bit to fit (pics soon)


8- Water proofing, nothing to speak of Fix: Installed pull start outerwears, tried installing crankcase outerwear but it will not fit, rear cup on center diff will catch and pull off cover (don't waste the money)


9- Clutch spring kinda weak Fix: tried installing HPI baja 8000rpm spring but could not get to fit, web on clutch shoes seem thicker will upgrade to a 4 shoe racing clutch(pics then)


10- Tires actually work great, just wearing out tho Fix: will be installing HPI baja wheel hexes with HPI Baja rear rims and Hostile medium slicks later this year (pics then)


i will be adding more has i run it and will give instructions and part numbers of what mods i do so others can do the same. Will also let you know what doesn't work to save frustration and hard earned cash

 

[csp1971]

I'm surprised at the shocks. I haven't run my vehicle yet, but I can usually tell crappy shocks right out of a box (Firehammer shocks). Where are yours leaking at? If it's at the threads maybe try some teflon tape for the shock cap or a little threadlock to hold it. I wouldn't give up on the shocks yet.


I've noticed the carb on the XB is exactly identical to the carb that was on my Firehammer MT. I used that carb for 2 years without issue, so I'm hoping this one does as well.


The clutch, I'm wondering if that is similar to the old FHMT. I recall I upgraded the spring on mine and had a helluva time getting it on, whereas on my Baja, it was a lot easier. Here's an old posting I had on the differences:


http://www.largescaleforums.com/showpost.php?p=46127&postcount=11

 

[rob64n]

HPI 8,000 rpm spring is a major pain on hy clutch but the DDM 7500 fits a little easier.

 

[firebirdguy]

well the shock caps keep coming loose and i have tightend with a wrench lol i will try the teflon tape tho. i broke one of my front shocks the bottom threaded cap sheared clean of the body. The springs are a pain in the ass but i want a higher rpm out of my clutch. The 4 shoe racing clutch ican set what ever RPM i want them to engage at. anywhere from 6000 - 11000 RPM. i am also going to be putting in a 28.5 full modd 4-bolt zenoah into it next year prob

 

[camo]

Got a Rampage XB with 5-6 tanks thru it and have found a few problems
1-Gas cap bubble torn fix: drilled a hole and inserted some fuel line for a vent with an o-ring to seal it(pics soon)


2-shocks have to much radial play in them, they leak and caps keep coming loose even after i tighten them Fix: replacing all shocks with HPI Baja shocks. Front baja shocks work for the rear and making a bracket to mount front baja shocks to the front. will post pics of what i make


3- Air filter sucks Fix: Moved throttle linkage to other side and will install HPI Baja filter (pics soon)


4- Steering drag link pops out Fix: tried fuel line mod, didn't work for long. Box of parts actually came with a new drag link that was longer on the ends, drilled out the plastic piece and it works great (pics soon)


5- Servos suck fix: swicthing to HiTec digital servos when money allows, will let you know what i get (pics will be up then)


6- Radio System sucks. Truck ran away on me second tank, was 20ft away and tested failsafe before i ran. Fix: have a DX3 riht now, will be swithcing to a Airtronics MT-4 when it gets here.


7- Exhaust (lol) didnt even use it Fix: installed a Jetpro pipe right out of the box. Was a TT pipe but it does fit, had to modify a bit to fit (pics soon)


8- Water proofing, nothing to speak of Fix: Installed pull start outerwears, tried installing crankcase outerwear but it will not fit, rear cup on center diff will catch and pull off cover (don't waste the money)


9- Clutch spring kinda weak Fix: tried installing HPI baja 8000rpm spring but could not get to fit, web on clutch shoes seem thicker will upgrade to a 4 shoe racing clutch(pics then)


10- Tires actually work great, just wearing out tho Fix: will be installing HPI baja wheel hexes with HPI Baja rear rims and Hostile medium slicks later this year (pics then)


i will be adding more has i run it and will give instructions and part numbers of what mods i do so others can do the same. Will also let you know what doesn't work to save frustration and hard earned cash

You are better off buying a HPI baja.... probably you already have all spares for it.

 

[DemonRC]

I still don't know why people are having trouble with the shocks. The first time I saw how mine wobbled my thoughts were "holy shit" I better get some shocks quick... these thing blow. That was 9 months ago. I still have not had them leak. I'm not doing any jumping but Camo can confirm that our little oval is rough as they come. We drift sideways into grass clumps which send us flying on a regular basis.

 

[Obeast44]

I just locktited my bottom and top caps and no issues at all here. They are wobbly at full droop but they still perform rather well.

 

[DemonRC]

I just locktited my bottom and top caps and no issues at all here. They are wobbly at full droop but they still perform rather well.

I think that's why I had no problems. I changed my shock oil out before I even ran it and blue locktited them.

 

[Losiracer4life]

Do they all have this many problems out of the box? I'm second guessing buying a xb or xt now.....

Might just pick up another baja 5b or 5t clone.

 

[csp1971]

Do they all have this many problems out of the box? I'm second guessing buying a xb or xt now.....Might just pick up another baja 5b or 5t clone.

No. People have different problems with their rc's, regardless of the brand. Some are known issues, some just seem to happen to one or two people.

I'll go one by one down the original poster's list:

1) Gas cap bubble torn fix: drilled a hole and inserted some fuel line for a vent with an o-ring to seal it(pics soon) It's adviseable you do this. It's simple, cheap and it could be done on any large scale because the cap should be vented. There are threads on here showing how to do it

2) shocks have to much radial play in them, they leak and caps keep coming loose even after i tighten them Fix: replacing all shocks with HPI Baja shocks. Front baja shocks work for the rear and making a bracket to mount front baja shocks to the front. will post pics of what i make.

Shocks are fine, in fact, I've found the XB shocks are outstanding. I've owned a Firehammer that had the crappiest shocks known to large scales.

3) Air filter sucks Fix: Moved throttle linkage to other side and will install HPI Baja filter (pics soon) The HPI Baja has the best air filter out there, if you put on on the XB/XT, you'll have to rearrange the linkage unless you buy a shreadstack(angled velocity stack), but honestly, you don't "have" to purchase a brand new air filter or move the linkage. I used the stock one for awhile. I just made sure it was well oiled.

4) Steering drag link pops out Fix: tried fuel line mod, didn't work for long. Box of parts actually came with a new drag link that was longer on the ends, drilled out the plastic piece and it works great (pics soon) I did the fuel line mod, but have not had anything pop off yet. Just like any rc, some have, some haven't

5- Servos suck fix: swicthing to HiTec digital servos when money allows, will let you know what i get (pics will be up then) I used the stock ones for a few tanks. I wasn't hugely impressed, but I wasn't totally disappointed. Eventually, you should upgrade the servos.

6- Radio System sucks. Truck ran away on me second tank, was 20ft away and tested failsafe before i ran. Fix: have a DX3 riht now, will be swithcing to a Airtronics MT-4 when it gets here. If you want to upgrade to a good, solid, cheap radio, look for the FS-GT3 radio thread. The radio is $35

7- Exhaust (lol) didnt even use it Fix: installed a Jetpro pipe right out of the box. Was a TT pipe but it does fit, had to modify a bit to fit (pics soon) All large scales will benefit from a good pipe, you can always run the stock one until it goes bad then get a Jetpro

8- Water proofing, nothing to speak of Fix: Installed pull start outerwears, tried installing crankcase outerwear but it will not fit, rear cup on center diff will catch and pull off cover (don't waste the money) Not sure what this is about aside from the fact that pullstart outerwears is a good item to have over your pullstart to keep out dust. There is also a very cheap mod that can be done to keep rocks from entering your flywheel and breaking the fins, that's a recommended mod on any rc

9- Clutch spring kinda weak Fix: tried installing HPI baja 8000rpm spring but could not get to fit, web on clutch shoes seem thicker will upgrade to a 4 shoe racing clutch(pics then) I'm running the stock spring still. The low end is phenomenal on the XB, but upgrading to the 8k spring can't hurt any rc

10- Tires actually work great, just wearing out tho Fix: will be installing HPI baja wheel hexes with HPI Baja rear rims and Hostile medium slicks later this year (pics then) I haven't run my XB tires yet, they are still brand new, I went direct to HPI Baja adapters and rim/tires, I'm certain the tires are good though, I haven't read many complaints on here about them except for maybe the foams

 

[Losiracer4life]

No. People have different problems with their rc's, regardless of the brand. Some are known issues, some just seem to happen to one or two people. I'll go one by one down the original poster's list:

1) Gas cap bubble torn fix: drilled a hole and inserted some fuel line for a vent with an o-ring to seal it(pics soon) It's adviseable you do this. It's simple, cheap and it could be done on any large scale because the cap should be vented. There are threads on here showing how to do it

Ok I will look that mod up on here.

2) shocks have to much radial play in them, they leak and caps keep coming loose even after i tighten them Fix: replacing all shocks with HPI Baja shocks. Front baja shocks work for the rear and making a bracket to mount front baja shocks to the front. will post pics of what i make.

Shocks are fine, in fact, I've found the XB shocks are outstanding. I've owned a Firehammer that had the crappiest shocks known to large scales.

Sounds like the stockers are good.

3) Air filter sucks Fix: Moved throttle linkage to other side and will install HPI Baja filter (pics soon) The HPI Baja has the best air filter out there, if you put on on the XB/XT, you'll have to rearrange the linkage unless you buy a shreadstack(angled velocity stack), but honestly, you don't "have" to purchase a brand new air filter or move the linkage. I used the stock one for awhile. I just made sure it was well oiled.

I don't mind buying a air filter setup.

4) Steering drag link pops out Fix: tried fuel line mod, didn't work for long. Box of parts actually came with a new drag link that was longer on the ends, drilled out the plastic piece and it works great (pics soon) I did the fuel line mod, but have not had anything pop off yet. Just like any rc, some have, some haven't

I need to look that mod up because I've never heard of it.

5- Servos suck fix: swicthing to HiTec digital servos when money allows, will let you know what i get (pics will be up then) I used the stock ones for a few tanks. I wasn't hugely impressed, but I wasn't totally disappointed. Eventually, you should upgrade the servos.

I already have a futaba digital high torque spare here I can put on throttle. And I would probably buy a hitec one for the steering anyway so no biggie.

6- Radio System sucks. Truck ran away on me second tank, was 20ft away and tested failsafe before i ran. Fix: have a DX3 riht now, will be swithcing to a Airtronics MT-4 when it gets here. If you want to upgrade to a good, solid, cheap radio, look for the FS-GT3 radio thread. The radio is $35

I use my Futaba 4PL for everything. So not worried about stock radio at all.

7- Exhaust (lol) didnt even use it Fix: installed a Jetpro pipe right out of the box. Was a TT pipe but it does fit, had to modify a bit to fit (pics soon) All large scales will benefit from a good pipe, you can always run the stock one until it goes bad then get a Jetpro

I'm fine with stock exhaust til I buy a jetpro.

8- Water proofing, nothing to speak of Fix: Installed pull start outerwears,

tried installing crankcase outerwear but it will not fit, rear cup on center diff will catch and pull off cover (don't waste the money) Not sure what this is about aside from the fact that pullstart outerwears is a good item to have over your pullstart to keep out dust. There is also a very cheap mod that can be done to keep rocks from entering your flywheel and breaking the fins, that's a recommended mod on any rc

I have no need to waterproof anything as I keep them out of mud and water. I would buy a outerwears for sure.

9- Clutch spring kinda weak Fix: tried installing HPI baja 8000rpm spring but could not get to fit, web on clutch shoes seem thicker will upgrade to a 4 shoe racing clutch(pics then) I'm running the stock spring still. The low end is phenomenal on the XB, but upgrading to the 8k spring can't hurt any rc

If stock works well I will leave it alone.

10- Tires actually work great, just wearing out tho Fix: will be installing HPI baja wheel hexes with HPI Baja rear rims and Hostile medium slicks later this year (pics then) I haven't run my XB tires yet, they are still brand new, I went direct to HPI Baja adapters and rim/tires, I'm certain the tires are good though, I haven't read many complaints on here about them except for maybe the foams

I like the stock wheels and tires. Hopefully they last well.

~I put a response under each line.~

 

[csp1971]

Here is the fuel tank mod:

http://www.redcatrampageforum.com/showthread.php?t=2172&highlight=fuel+tank+venting

Basically a nipple screwed into the gas cap with some fuel line coming straight out.

On the steering bar/wire piece:

http://www.redcatrampageforum.com/showthread.php?t=5410&highlight=fuel+line+steering&page=4

It's basically taking nitro fuel line and putting it across the length of this bar that in this thread in the picture. I'll try and get a pic of mine to post. Nothing major at all.

I really like my XB, it's a great vehicle. I also have the Rampage MT and that thing is a tank. The HPI Baja (I have that one too), I have replaced loads of parts on that thing. I've had it for 4 years though. I like it too, but my 4wd's I like a helluva lot more.

Here is the mesh screen mod for flywheel protection:

http://www.largescaleforums.com/showthread.php?t=3054&highlight=flywheel&page=3