Mini LST Differentials Please Fix

[makakoa808]

Ok Losi Forum..
Here is a problem that has been an issue with the Mini LST for a while now.
We devoted Mini LST owners need an answer...

HELP!! What is being done to fix the Mini LST plastic internal Diff gears that keep breaking?

All Mini LST owners.. Lets make this thread long and loud and maybe Losi will listen...

[Mitchell]

Lets all shout for this! And hi rccz! I know you from byt.

[notfastenuff]

I love my mlst, but the diffs defenetly needed some love!

[cedron]

I can tell you my mini lst2 does nothing but sit on a shelf because of the diffs and weak servos. Bought a mini revo and haven't touched my mini lst2 since. Don't get me wrong I like my mini lst2 just got tired of it being a money pit because of the diffs and servos.

[packhntr]

Hey all. I installed MIP's ball diff with their hardened pinions and this is pretty bulletproof. I did have to use a thinner BOCA bearing on one side and shim accordingly to get the mesh JUST right. Once done, I am having great success! I am limiting my power to a Tekin Mini Rage 5.5k motor and a 7.4v lipo however. But considering that it is all aluminum, it's holding up well!

[GoZilla!]

I am too a MMB owner. I thought I did my research two years ago well enough, like the stock lipo option on the MMB and decided to get the MMB. I like the way the MMB (MLST2) drive, however since then I have bought additional 2 set of MLST2 diff, 3 set of Losi vDiff, 3 pairs of diff boxes, tried the Mini-T center diff, and numerious center gear set to replace that little middle plastic gears in the center gear box. I had tried Mamba 6800kv BL motor, Hyperion 5000 short can, Aon Trust 4900kv, and reverse back to the stock brushed motors, or bumping up the motor pinion teeth even risking to burn up the motor rather than stripping more gears, but none made it ok.

Not to mention the spider gears inside the diff also, they too stripped eventually after ~10 runs. I am not even jumping, just bashing around on pavements.

Could Losi please take a look at the issue and response to us "Your loyal MLST/MLST2/MMB/RAM owner!! ".

I was looking for a gift last Christmas and spotted the Mini DT, and completely gave it a second thought because of the bad experience with my MMB. With enough of us unhappy MLST2 owners, it's really spreading bad words about Losi' 1/18 products already. If you guys don't response at all, I am afraid you guys are just handing out market share to Traxxas.

I still love my MMB no doubt, but it is sitting on the shelves now and I am afraid to drive it worrying something else might stripped.

Yeah packhntr, bulletproof for now and tell us again after 5-10 runs later. I once carried the false hope also everytime I thought I found my perfect solutions for the past 2 years too. Just like you do.

[makakoa808]

It's a solid RC need a better option for the diffs.. Those plastic spider gears dont cut it... We got people looking a diffs made for other rc cars, then they gotta jimmy-rig it to fit, thats ridiculous, especialy with a name like Losi!!! I was looking at the mini DT as well.. But... the experience with the mini lst diffs I just turned the other way...

How about atleast an answer guys... Planning to get anything done with the Mini LST diffs or is this it??

[optimus1t]

I wouldn't expect anything immediate. Things have to be designed and tested before the go public. This forum is fairly new I supposed, so it might take sometime to get things processed and ready to go. I would have gone a bit further than just the diffs on the mlst series.

[optimus1t]

Problems:

Let me first start off by saying I’ve taken this truck completely apart on several occasions and have made almost every available upgrade, including custom components, to this truck. I’ve played with several ideas and have developed my own conception of what this truck could and should be. The list of complaints are the common problems I’ve heard from several others and is from my own experience.
1. First problem I would list would be the steering servos. The stock servos are fairly weak. While they do have servo savers attached to them, the force required to engage the servo savers are more than enough to break these servos. There are aftermarket options of upgrading these servos to a single servo conversion or dual metal gear servos, but the cost is enough for any RC enthusiast to look elsewhere and will most likely recommend others around them to do the same. My recommendation would be to go with completely metal geared servos or redesign the front end to take a larger single metal geared servo.
2. My second complaint would have to be the center differential followed by the front/rear differentials. The center differential is the weakest part of the drive train on this vehicle. There is some play in between the gear mesh which I address by placing a spring washer on both sides of the center differential. These completely strengthened the mesh and improved the power coming from the motor to the wheels of this truck without having to loosen the slipper disc. This is especially useful when using a brushless motor configuration. The other problem I have with this particular differential is that the diff grease has a tendency to fly off the differential at high rpms. Although this can be somewhat remedied by using less diff grease, it lowers the allowed resistance created by larger volume of grease. My recommendation would be to increase the size of the pitch on the bevel gears enlarging the teeth for a stronger mesh. Using a stronger material like metal would be a highly recommended. A clamp screw and spring washer system similar to the ball differential would be great as an assembly piece that holds and controls resistance on the center diff. This can be similarly stated for the front and rear differentials.
3. The third is a personal opinion of mine and a bit of a problem for some – the electronics. The problem that some users are experiencing is the esc shutting down after very little use. I’m not sure if this is a manufacture defect, but it would be nice to have a truck with tested and proven electronics. The dual motors may seem like a great setup, but the additional adjustments to make can be a hassle. I personally think a larger single motor design would be a better choice. It would take up less space allowing the use of a larger battery for longer runtimes.

I hope Losi takes these comments and recommendations into consideration. At the very least, there should be a metal geared solution for the differentials.

[slim]

I just recently got a MLST2, and a M Raminator, both used.
One came with the diff already stripped. The other has bad servos, but I got them cheap because of these issues.
So this is all good stuff to read.
Could you all please post the best ways you've found to fix these problems?
One I am planning to keep pretty stock, the other is getting brushless.

Slim

[packhntr]

Slim, see my posting above for the diff issue.

As for the servo's...they suck.....and the stock system sucks. I redesigned the chassis to accomodate a dual bellcrank setup and am using a single futaba 3102 metal geared servo. I am still working on the final design. If you want a good setup, there is a chassis out there by Exotech(?) that uses a single standard (short) (midsized) servo that is awsome! I am actually thinking of getting it if I cannot get my twin bellcrank bugs fixed.

[optimus1t]

I forgot to mention another issue. The steering. When the steering radius is set high enough, the front inside rims rub against the push rods.

Going with a single low kv 20 mm brushless motor should give the truck a major performance boost but not enough to destroy the truck. Up grading the center differential to an aftermarket part like MIP or GPM, up grading the steering servo setup, and shimming the front and rear diff will make this truck substaintially better.

[Slapshock808]

How about atleast an answer guys... Planning to get anything done with the Mini LST diffs or is this it??

Anyone? Anyone?....Bueller? Bueller?:confused:

[notfastenuff]

In the beginning I hated my mlst2, I had diff issues, but in losi's defense it didn't take too much work or cash to fix the issue. I too had spent several dollars on replacement diffs. As a matter of fact I bought 6, I'm a reciept saving kinda guy. One afternoon I wanted to bash my little truck when I realized I was out of spare diffs and to play with it hard was to have to drive another 40 miles to get parts. So befor bashing I took it back apart to see if I could bullet proof the little monster. Digging thru my box of parts I found some little washers I belive were 10th scale motor shims, I placed one on each side of the diff between the drive pin and the diff housing therefor pushing the side gears further into the planettary gears. I'm glad to report almost a year later my diffs are still together, well warn and getting to be in need of replacement, but the little bugger has been abused in the last year. I realize there is a problem and I hillbillied mine but it worked with some miner shimming.
In closing I do understand everybodies flustrations with the gear issuses. But by ranting and raving in public we are more likely to discourage more people from purchasing the product, therefore lowering the sales of this truck. If you want to see another rc related product be discontinued and parts become scarce then continue badmouthing losi and the mlst. I must admitt I expected more from the truck than I feel I recieved but with a little work and a couple of washers my problem was fixed. So please take note of the remedy and give it a whirl. I too would love to see the problem fixed from the factory, but at this point in the sales life of the truck in question I don't belive we will see the change.
BTW this fix has held up to some long term bashing useing a 3 cell lippo and a mamba 6800. So it does have durability. goodluck with your rant guys, just be realistic nobody wants to see thier product criticized on thier own site.

[packhntr]

Well spoken Notfastenuff. It always seems that everyone always likes to complain and not be creative in trying to find a solution. Even after replacing the stock diff's with the MIP units, I destroyed a set of ring gears. Did I complain to MIP about faulty parts? No, I sought a solution. That ended up being a thinner bearing on one side of the diff to compensate for molding tolerances and shimming accordingly. I even spoke with Eustace Moore and together we resolved the issue. He thanked me for the assistance and I his. I love the truck! The bigest problem I have always seen is people installing way to much power without checking the entire vehicle out to see if it can actually take it. Common sense isn't so common I have found.

[GoZilla!]

I just recently got a MLST2, and a M Raminator, both used.
One came with the diff already stripped. The other has bad servos, but I got them cheap because of these issues.
So this is all good stuff to read.
Could you all please post the best ways you've found to fix these problems?
One I am planning to keep pretty stock, the other is getting brushless.
Slim

The best way to fix these is sell both of them on eBay and never look back. Or like me just make mine look pretty and sit it on top of bookshelf.

[GoZilla!]

I forgot to mention another issue. The steering. When the steering radius is set high enough, the front inside rims rub against the push rods.

Going with a single low kv 20 mm brushless motor should give the truck a major performance boost but not enough to destroy the truck. Up grading the center differential to an aftermarket part like MIP or GPM, up grading the steering servo setup, and shimming the front and rear diff will make this truck substaintially better.

I'm 100% agree with you. Use a 20mm BL and shim the front & rear diffs. One shim on ring side, and another on the pinion side should be enough. And stay with 2 cells lipo, and don't go 3 cells. I am planning to call Brandon at MIP next week like team3six suggested and see if he could make the ball diff with harder materials and how much will that cost us.

[optimus1t]

Complaints can be a good thing as long as it's not done so in a rude manor. It helps the manufacture identify what customers don't like about their product and can help improve it in a later version.

packhntr - Knowing the limits of the truck, as I am one who tinkers beyond tinkering, is typically done by pushing it beyond the norm. Much of the things I did to perfect my brother's mlst2 (to where it would never need work done unless he totally went crazy with it) was due to me pushing my mlst2 beyond its limits.

slim - This is what I did with my brother's mlst2 to make beyond stock without breaking the bank:
When adding up the cost you can see why the mini e-revo is doing so well.

1. Spring washers, 2 on each side of the center diff, 2 on each side of the front and rear diffs.
If you want more info on this you can go to byt forum. This will strengthen the diffs and create more positive traction on all four wheels making. If you can't find it I will send you a direct link. - cost? Mostly time considering spring washers are inexpensive. $1.50

2. Dual metal gear 65 mgs. The Hitec 65 mg servos are the same size as the stock servos, but the servo savers on the old setup won't work with them. You will need two sets of rc18 servo savers and some push rods and ball joints from the mini-t to link them up. Also on byt forum. This require you to have some confidence in self crafting, if not, you can always get the exotek single servo convertion. It cost more but is much easier to setup. cost? Exotek - $100 + cost of servo, Dual 65mgs? $70 for two servos, $7 for aluminum servo savers, $2 for push rods and ball joints, and being crafty.

3. Brushless motor, size 20 mm, speed (kv)? - nothing more than a 6800kv, 5400kv recommended. The upgrades above more than allow this truck to run at 2 or 3 cell lipo without issues. Gear wise I recommend 12t pinion 54t delrin spur. $120 for brushless setup


4. Racers edge slipper and delrin spur gear. This is optional, but delrin will last for a long time. I just like the quality of the racer's edge slipper. $10

I have a video of this truck on youtube, and this thing is just plain fun to play with. :)

[illz302]

+1 on this I have been waiting for some kind of stronger upgrade or maybe even a locker upgrade.

[notfastenuff]

Well spoken Notfastenuff. It always seems that everyone always likes to complain and not be creative in trying to find a solution. Even after replacing the stock diff's with the MIP units, I destroyed a set of ring gears. Did I complain to MIP about faulty parts? No, I sought a solution. That ended up being a thinner bearing on one side of the diff to compensate for molding tolerances and shimming accordingly. I even spoke with Eustace Moore and together we resolved the issue. He thanked me for the assistance and I his. I love the truck! The bigest problem I have always seen is people installing way to much power without checking the entire vehicle out to see if it can actually take it. Common sense isn't so common I have found.

Hey Pachntr, I too tried the mip ball diffs, as a matter of fact thier next to me now. I also stripped the ring gear off, even after I attempted to shim the pinion clser to the ring. Can you post up what bearing and shim you used to move the diff over? I have looked locally for part to try and do what you suggest with no luck. Even though my shim fix works well, I'm always up for something new.

[notfastenuff]

+1 on this I have been waiting for some kind of stronger upgrade or maybe even a locker upgrade.

if you really like to break parts you'll love a locker anywhere on this truck. I have run a locked up center diff in the mlst2, tring to replicate the handling charateristics of some of my other rc vehicles, was it fun..........yes but all it did was wheelie everywhere. Then I tried to lock the rear end posi style. Talk about a push! I couldn't corner on the track at all. In other words to lock up the center off this critter makes it fun to drive but not fast on a track. to lock the ends up it makes a horrible crawler. Have fun!!

[Il Ghiro]

I've done the same to my fr/rr gear diffs and have no issues at all in a year . . .

I placed one on each side of the diff between the drive pin and the diff housing therefore pushing the side gears further into the planettary gears. I'm glad to report almost a year later my diffs are still together, well warn and getting to be in need of replacement, but the little bugger has been abused in the last year. I realize there is a problem and I hillbillied mine but it worked with some miner shimming.
.
. . .my truck is powered with: TekinMR/Lipotech6000kv 24mm./2000mAh 2S batt's.
There's a Losi ball differential and a stock slipper in between,but the stock fr./rr. geared and shimmed diff's are holding fine,just gave a look last week and everything inside was perfect.This time i've used a different lube and see what will happen,but i know that i can ask a lot out of my diff's,certainly a lot more than stock.No more clicks are coming out of the diff's when the truck is pulling out of a curve in full traction.
With a good selection of thin bellevile washers/shims it's possible to decide the diff's strenght.It's a cheap a durable mod that i think everyone should do to the truck
Steering servos issues are the last step to make the car perfect.
I hope Losi re-thinks again the front end issues and come out with something like a conversion or hop up servos.To us Eu citizens it would be fair enough to rename some JR metal geared servoes and sale them as hop up's to solve all the problems.
Losi products are easier to find than a JR dealer.

[optimus1t]

if you really like to break parts you'll love a locker anywhere on this truck. I have run a locked up center diff in the mlst2, tring to replicate the handling charateristics of some of my other rc vehicles, was it fun..........yes but all it did was wheelie everywhere. Then I tried to lock the rear end posi style. Talk about a push! I couldn't corner on the track at all. In other words to lock up the center off this critter makes it fun to drive but not fast on a track. to lock the ends up it makes a horrible crawler. Have fun!!

Much of what you've said are the reasons why I've always discourage locking the diffs. Locking the center will let you do wheelies, but the stress that it puts on the rear diffs and drive train in general isn't worth it to me. Some people in like wheels, but the trade off is wearing down parts faster.

Diffs allow the different angular velocities (meaning both the direction and the speed of the inner and outer wheels are different) to occur. This is directed towards the f/r diffs. Using a locking spool cause both wheels to travel at the same speed around a corner. This result is the inside wheel in a turn pushes the vehicle outwards.

The center diff has a different purpose of redirecting power. Instead of flipping the truck, the center diff direct power from the rear to the front wheels of the truck and pulls it along.

The problem with diffs is its ability to redirect power to the wheels with the least amount of traction. If you redirect all or too much power, you do not take full advantage of traction and you loose acceleration. This is why diff grease is typically thick. The grease keeps the diff from directing all the power.

Rock crawlers need power to the wheels that have the most traction, so diffs work against them, which is why spoolers are best used in this application.

[optimus1t]

Currently - in process of changing specs
Previous setup:

Dual 8000kv Sidewinder Micro Mamba's
Exotek with brushless 351 Futaba metal geared servo
2200 25C/50C 3S lipo
Stock metal ring and pinion mlst2 f/r diffs with ss crescent spring washers
Stock plastic center diff with ss crescent spring washers
27Mhz non-crystal radio/receiver

Everything was running well before I dissembled for redesign.

[schoep]

I shimmed my metal diffs. and there holding fine on 2 stock motors, but the screws that hold it together broke again? I also have gone through 3 ESC and melted through 2 servos Horizon sent me new ones but that has to end at some time any clues to my problem. I'm good at fixing my blade 400 heli and this truck but don't know why these reacurring things are happening. Bad encounters with the ground is pretty easy to figure out with heli

[makakoa808]

Hey all. I installed MIP's ball diff with their hardened pinions and this is pretty bulletproof. I did have to use a thinner BOCA bearing on one side and shim accordingly to get the mesh JUST right. Once done, I am having great success! I am limiting my power to a Tekin Mini Rage 5.5k motor and a 7.4v lipo however. But considering that it is all aluminum, it's holding up well!

The fact you had to limit your power is a problem that can and should be fixed by Losi.

[notfastenuff]

The fact you had to limit your power is a problem that can and should be fixed by Losi.

It's not like me to feel I must defend the manifactures of rc cars but on this forum it seems I must. We have entered a time in the rc world where electric motors and batteries have went ballistic. It is so easy to overpower an electric vehichle these days it's silly. I am a power whore, I like to go silly fast on a race track doing jumps that to me are insane. I understand why I break parts. My 4wd f150 has a built 350+ cubic inch engine in it. It runs 118 mph by a radar gun. In order to make it work correctly I spent thousands of dollars in parts and upgraded u joints and cv shafts and the like. I still bust parts out wheeling with the boys at 40mph offroad. Now I look at my 18th scale toy trucks, My mlst will run almost 40, if you multiply that buy 18 ( sice it's 18th scale) thats 720mph at scale speed (if my maths correct) If you hit something it should break! I don't like buying parts all the time, but lets be realistic. We do things all the time. with toy cars that we could never do with real ones. Things that would kill real drivers and distroy families. Undestand that they are toys and we will break things and the manifactures if at fault should help us fix issuse (aka warranty) But go to the local chevy dealer, buy a new truck, put oversized wheels on it a big block with a 300hp shot of nitrous jackson gear drive cam and a supercharger. Take it to the strip and blow out the rear end and see if Gm stands behind it!
It's time for us as hobbyist to realize what we are doing, adding motor means adding upgrades to other componets to make things reliable, and when we exceed the desinged purpose of a car we should understand what we ae doing and take responsibility for what we've done. I have been building and racing rc cars for almost 30 years I can remember when the frog was a fast model. things have come a long way and the hobby has become much more affordable than it used to be. ( I know it sounds strange, but it's true) Years ago we didn't have ready to run kits, cars were built from a box taking much time. You'd drive miles to get a car and a not included radio to get home and realize you needed an battery and charger. Or the servo horn that came with the kit didn't fit the servo that came with your radio. Am crystals were as big as a 10th scale rtr speedo is now. But our race times were only four minutes and we struggled to run that long with batteries that were $60 back then. You could outrun a stock (27 turn) buggy. So in the big pic to have a 1 18th truck that takes the abuse these do, and come with a 2.4 gig radio feel blessed. Enjoy the hobby, and take the time to do the lob right. If you add speed you need to add durability. When you spend as much for a powerplant as you did the car it goes in, you should take the time to understand what your doing and the dynamics that go along with it. It's rude for us to double the speed of a car, to belive we can continue to buy off the self cheap oem parts to repair what we spent good money to break. Nobody, Losi, dtx,Ae,nobody should have to redesige their product based on the fact that we have the ability to add almost unlimited power to what they engineered. Would you put a 12 volt light bulb into a 110 volt outlet and ***** when it burnt out? I hope not.

[makakoa808]

Yes I agree with everything you said..
The ability to upgrade and go crazy fast is there when it wasnt before...

All I'm asking is for losi to upgrade the mini lst and move it forward
have it up to par with the other minis... Many of the mini's to day have stornger diffs available. Id like to see this happen with Losi.. Wouldnt we all??

They dont have to do this.. They can just keep it the way it is.. But as a
devoted Mini LST fan I'm asking Losi to have as much of a commitment
to there vehicle the Mini LST as we do... We spend hundereds of dollars on
upgrades and bling... Till we get her looking perfect.. Then when she looks the
way we want her jumps and bashes the way we want her... Having fun running
racing.... bam! a few runs into it.. The diffs brake!! Many Mini LST have gone
the way of the shelf queen.. Or we just settle to being last place behind the
RC18 because she cant take the power or speed with out breaking..

This is something we have been asking for since forever..
I'm not asking for diffs that will never brake.. Just get it up to par
with the other mini's

Wouldnt we all agree... If Losi came out with Metal internal gears for the Diffs..
Wouldnt that make the Mini LST that much better of a vehicle? Dont we all want this???? Or is it just me?

[3mlstcrazy]

I think that the basis of this thread is a good one. The stock diffs (and servos) in this truck are not up to the task. Certainly if you upgrade the motors and batteries, add some aluminum and upgrades, you would have to look at doing everything possible to strengthen the weak links, but there is only so much available at this time to do that, without having to frankenstein together a solution.

These trucks are designed with engineers that should have some understanding of the stresses that the components go through,under normal conditions. They also have bean counters telling them to save costs, which ultimately means making sacrifices in certain areas. When the MLST2 came out, they did the best to address the weak diffs by putting in metal gears, but those were designed to work with all stock components. The MIP diff is a great product, but it is still plastic and can't handle the full hit of a brushless motor.

How about Losi teaming with MIP to build a metal ball diff? and what about a servo upgrade that uses the JR285mg? (JR is a Horizon company, just like Losi). Those would give you a useable truck that might stand up to the latest mini's that are coming out. Those trucks out now have ridiculous speed and power, so they no doubt were engineered with that in mind, they also have a higher initial price tag.

If we can get the issues of the stock parts addressed, then it's up to us to figure out how to make them handle the high power stuff as long as they can, realizing that they aren't built to take that abuse for long and we shouldn't expect that much from them. Even the big nitro trucks break, all it seems we'd like is to extend the time between breaks to one that is reasonable.

and thats my .02

[notfastenuff]

ok, since you put it like that I agree. And I aplogize. I to love the mlst, as I said befor in the beginning I hated it. after shimming up the diffs it's great. I have multiple minis, form several manifacturers. My biggest complaint is the lack of consistancy between all the companies involved. As you mentioned the mlst against the rc18, no compairisen there. The AE series uses the same chassis on all thier cars in this scale. The 18mt uses a much more efficent driveline without a center tranny, the mlst has a much higher center of gravity. I dont belive that anything without a center tranny should be considered a monster truck. But thats my personal opinion. In the larger scale stuff, ie 10th scale. the wheel base between the buggy and truck are the same. but a truck is much wider with large tires. the Ae line up is the same chassis and a arms. With the buggy and truck being the same width. the detta buggy is the same width as the AE buggy, but the detta truck is wider. the way it should be. Yet to look at some big races the detta truck is forced to run with the monster trucks. I don't think thats fair to the mlst. Our local track they race the mlst against the mini revo. Thats a huge difference. The Mlst has no real competater, it seems to be the only 18th scale monster truck that I personally know of.

[3mlstcrazy]

I do love my Mini LST's as well, as my 'name' suggests, I have 3, and building a 4th.. !! (one is a custom Grave Digger that I built for my 5yr old, so I can say I only have 2..lol)

It was my first RC vehicle a couple of years ago, andnow I'm totally hooked on the hobby.

We race indoors when the winter hits, and the MLST runs with the AE MT as well as couple of other trucks. We just run them over... lol.. because that's what monster trucks do!

It will be interesting when (if?) someone from Losi comments on this thread. They know of the issues, it's just a matter of what, if anything, is in the works.

[makakoa808]

I think that the basis of this thread is a good one. The stock diffs (and servos) in this truck are not up to the task. Certainly if you upgrade the motors and batteries, add some aluminum and upgrades, you would have to look at doing everything possible to strengthen the weak links, but there is only so much available at this time to do that, without having to frankenstein together a solution.

These trucks are designed with engineers that should have some understanding of the stresses that the components go through,under normal conditions. They also have bean counters telling them to save costs, which ultimately means making sacrifices in certain areas. When the MLST2 came out, they did the best to address the weak diffs by putting in metal gears, but those were designed to work with all stock components. The MIP diff is a great product, but it is still plastic and can't handle the full hit of a brushless motor.

How about Losi teaming with MIP to build a metal ball diff? and what about a servo upgrade that uses the JR285mg? (JR is a Horizon company, just like Losi). Those would give you a useable truck that might stand up to the latest mini's that are coming out. Those trucks out now have ridiculous speed and power, so they no doubt were engineered with that in mind, they also have a higher initial price tag.

If we can get the issues of the stock parts addressed, then it's up to us to figure out how to make them handle the high power stuff as long as they can, realizing that they aren't built to take that abuse for long and we shouldn't expect that much from them. Even the big nitro trucks break, all it seems we'd like is to extend the time between breaks to one that is reasonable.

and thats my .02

For the servo issue have you looked at the exotek single servo kit or the rccustomzone single servo kit for the Mini LST?

[Il Ghiro]

. . . the rccustomzone single servo kit for the Mini LST?


ain't that your own proejct developed in another forum? does it fit an hitek HS 225 Mg?

[3mlstcrazy]

I have the Exotek in my racing MLST, and it works well. Of course Futaba releases a higher torque servo a few months after I put inthe 9550, but it still works ok.

I've seen your single servo conversion, and it looks cool. I've made the investment into the mini MG servos, so they'll have to do for now until they fry.

[makakoa808]

ain't that your own proejct developed in another forum? does it fit an hitek HS 225 Mg?

Umm yup.. I've sold a bunch of these already with nothing but positive feed back.
I made it fit a standard size 1/10th scale servo, I used the servo from a traxxas stampede vxl.

Im not to familiar with the HS 225MG.. what dimesions is it how much is it? And will it just need one of these or two of these on a mini lst.

Oh and if anyone wants a rccustomzone single servo kit, let me know I give people from the forums a discount.

I might beable to make a MLST chassis to fit the HS 225MG you think that is something
people would want?
(lol I listen to my customers)

[notfastenuff]

Umm yup.. I've sold a bunch of these already with nothing but positive feed back.
I made it fit a standard size 1/10th scale servo, I used the servo from a traxxas stampede vxl.

Im not to familiar with the HS 225MG.. what dimesions is it how much is it? And will it just need one of these or two of these on a mini lst.

Oh and if anyone wants a rccustomzone single servo kit, let me know I give people from the forums a discount.

I might beable to make a MLST chassis to fit the HS 225MG you think that is something
people would want?
(lol I listen to my customers)

makakoa, this kind of response it what the rc industry needs, you saw a need to upgrade the steering, found a way to do it and hopefully make some cash in the process. I'm really not trying to belittle your thread here, I have great respect for anyone trying to improve this hobby. Congrats on making the steering work! Now get that big idea thinking head on the diff issuse make some ones that work and we'll all buy em. Once again congrats. I think this typ of thinking is way more productive than trying to get aworld wide company like losi to listen to us. I would rather purchase your aftermarket parts than p... of losi and get the lst parts disscontinued due to not selling any units because we ranted on a public forum. good luck in your quest!

[makakoa808]

Ive tried.. Ive looked at the diff issue.. But I dont have the resources to tackle this one. I cant make parts like that and I dont have the money to try and fit every spider gear out there... I've seen little things make big things happen... I'm hopeing this little thread will catch someones eye.. Maybe a some big boss at losi or someone on the board of directors.. Make them look and say never mind the cost of making the part. We will make up the cost when we get more devoted customers who know that losi listens to there customes no matter how little they are. We listen... says a lot about a company.

sorry I'll get of my high horse... now


Honestly.. I'm losing hope...
Losi any chance a MINI LST 3 with upgraded internal diff gears coming out soon?

[3mlstcrazy]

so.. I was looking at the diffs for the Traxxas E-Slash and it has metal internals. The outer ball bearing size is close, and the pins for the internal gears are the same size. I wonder if these gears are the same (or close) size, as the whole diff may be around the same size. I'm going to the LHS later and if they have any in stock, I'll see if they can compare to the internal gears for the MLST.

It's a looong shot I know, but wouldn't it be funny...

[makakoa808]

so.. I was looking at the diffs for the Traxxas E-Slash and it has metal internals. The outer ball bearing size is close, and the pins for the internal gears are the same size. I wonder if these gears are the same (or close) size, as the whole diff may be around the same size. I'm going to the LHS later and if they have any in stock, I'll see if they can compare to the internal gears for the MLST.

It's a looong shot I know, but wouldn't it be funny...

Please keep us updated!!! I'm keeping my fingers crossed..!

[optimus1t]

The mlst series have been out for awhile. It's a little unfair to compare it to something like the mini e-revo that came out years later, and as I mentioned before... 1/16 versus 1/18 at byt. I've also stated that the mlst is the only true monster truck of the mini's - before the mini e-revo came out of course.

The mini e-revo is the compilation of complains combined and solved to make a much better truck. Cost wise, the mini e-revo may cost more up front, but when adding the cost of upgrading a stock mlst to a brushless motor alone, it surpasses the retail cost of the mini e-revo brushless vxl. The dsm radio is nice from losi, but my 27 mhz has far better range. To me it's not much of a hassle changing channles. If you are an avid rc'er, then the worst you have to do is buy a receiver for the mini e-revo (which I did for my mlst2).

At stock, I was able to break both servos from steering in thick grass and strip the center differential using a 1250 mAh 20C 2S lipo on the mlst2. I pointed out that the servo savers took too much effort to engage, and the center diff had unnecessary play in them.

Complaining isn't necessarily a bad thing - this is how traxxas addressed a lot of the issues when building the mini e-revo.

A lot of folks have complained about the mlst diffs. My only complaint was the center diff which does have after market fixes such as the gpm and mip ball diff. While MIP does have f/r ball diffs for the mlst, I still prefer the stock mlst2 diffs. I have yet to break the stock mlst2 diffs with the spring washers. The dual 8000kv mambas I had installed have enough power to balloon the 1/10 scale revo tires to where the front tires where about 3 centimeters from hitting the rear tires. This will be interesting to see once I make my upgrades, but regardless it would be nice to see some metal gears internally for these diffs.

[optimus1t]

What motor size are you guys using to break the mlst2 diffs? I've seen the 540 snapping the side gear to the rear diff in half before. Anyone having problems with a 380 or 280 motor?

I've been looking at a cnc machine, but the cost is in the 8-10k price tag, and I'd rather put that into my house.

I have the exotek servo conversion, but I thought the dual metal gear servos did a better job.

[notfastenuff]

makakoa, If you read this befor you leave don't wast your time! Been there tried that! Good thimking though.
optimus, I had tried the twin mamba thing, it was a blast, but I just could not keep the truck together. It was way silly powered though, and a gas to bash with. Thats when I went back to the single 6800 and set mine up for the ozite. I like hearing other people have done the silly stuff too. Shure would be fun to have a class of twin brushless mlst's at the track!!!!! The parts stor would make a fortune that night. I will agree the stock servos were less than acceptable, and the serv savers were no better. But maybe I'm wrong, this seems to be the case with most rtr's. I shure wish race kits were avaible for the mini stuff. AE did it, Losi did it with the mini-t pro, even dtx tried it with the miniquake se. Would have been nice for the units I race weekly, the Mlst2,Detta,Detta st and the Merevo, vxl. Heck I even bought a recoil in a race form. But I must be in the minority, seeing how nobody seems to do it anymore. so if ya can't beat em join em......Losi please fix the diffs for these guys please!

[makakoa808]

What optimus said makes sense.. The cost of fixing your mini lst each time it breakes and upgrading parts..... You end up spending as much as a mini e-revo... And the Mini e Revo is newer RC so its made for the speeds of today... So I guess the question is what is losi going to come out with that will compete with the Mini E-revo.. ??

[makakoa808]

Dude you got pics.. Im thinking of building a dual steering chassis. With 1:10th servos front and back...

[optimus1t]

That's funny. I thought of doing that, but there just isn't enough room on the truck without having to extend it or move the battery completely out of the way.

[illz302]

Dude you got pics.. Im thinking of building a dual steering chassis. With 1:10th servos front and back...

That would def be interesting to see please keep us informed if you do this Maka!

BTW hey Monkey could you post some pics of this monster you speak of. Also do the MRC lockers fit right in the stock lst2 diffs???

[makakoa808]

That looks sweet dude!! But yeah you spend enough to do all those mods.. you might as well have bought a rc crawler....

Although some people like myself like wenching and the challenge of putting it together. the cost of that priceless.. lol

[makakoa808]

I'll be coming out with a mini lst extended single servo chassis soon...

Then the mini lst extended dual steering chassis will be next...

Shhh keep it on the down low..

Not sure why I bother though... There is so much potential in mini lst.. If only.. those darn diffs...

[slim]

Do you have a web page where we can see your parts?

[makakoa808]

Sure ... my website is RCCustomZone.com ( I hesitate because I dont want to get booted for advertising)
This is where I show most of my projects and if it works out to be a clean working mod I make it available for purchase. I dont make much money just enough so I can buy materials and parts to keep it going and to keep the wife off my back everytime I buy a new hopup or RC Part. lol.

Here is the linke below
www.rccustomzone.com

[optimus1t]

That single servo design was similar to something I was going to do, but after having looked at it on byt, I decided that it wasn't going to work for my project because it rode a bit high up like the exotek. I was also considering dual hitec 85 mgs or just going with the previous 65 mgs setup which will probably work a lot better for me.

[makakoa808]

That single servo design was similar to something I was going to do, but after having looked at it on byt, I decided that it wasn't going to work for my project because it rode a bit high up like the exotek. I was also considering dual hitec 85 mgs or just going with the previous 65 mgs setup which will probably work a lot better for me.

Whats the diffrence between the two servo?
And whats the benefits of using one over the other?

[makakoa808]

so.. I was looking at the diffs for the Traxxas E-Slash and it has metal internals. The outer ball bearing size is close, and the pins for the internal gears are the same size. I wonder if these gears are the same (or close) size, as the whole diff may be around the same size. I'm going to the LHS later and if they have any in stock, I'll see if they can compare to the internal gears for the MLST.

It's a looong shot I know, but wouldn't it be funny...

Hay did you get a chance to check out the Mini e-slash diffs yet?

[notfastenuff]

un fortunetly there the same as the mini revo

[GoZilla!]

Don't mitaken, I still love my MMB. It looks great, drive great, and I still haven't giving up or try to sell it yet. I wish Losi could come out with a solution for us, and I would spend another $100 to fix it without thinking. It just has to be "the fix", so won't leave us the loyal MLST fan hanging in the air.

[GoZilla!]

That single servo design was similar to something I was going to do, but after having looked at it on byt, I decided that it wasn't going to work for my project because it rode a bit high up like the exotek. I was also considering dual hitec 85 mgs or just going with the previous 65 mgs setup which will probably work a lot better for me.

I agreed with optimust1t. If I would have done it all over again, I would probably not getting the Exotek kit that I am current have, but go with a pair of dual hitec 85 mgs intead. The Exotek made my MMB head heavy, a lot heavier. Perhaps that contributed to my stripped diffs problem too because of the added weight.

[makakoa808]

Well the Mini LST is a pretty big 1:18th... Very heavy compared to the other 1:18th minis, even in stock form... So you would think that they would make beefer parts... like some metal internal diff gears.....

[optimus1t]

Whats the diffrence between the two servo?
And whats the benefits of using one over the other?

The 65 mg's are smaller and lighter (about the same size as the stock servos). They produce about 25 oz of torque at 4.8 volts.

The 85 mg's are a bit larger and produce about 42 oz of torque at 4.8 volts.

Both servos can take up to 6 volts producing more torque and faster response times.
The 85's will have more power than the 65's of course, but the 65's will be lighter.

Having two servos sit on either side of the center drive will allow the servos to sit lower and help with a lower cg. The 65's are probably so light that it won't matter.

[makakoa808]

You know I could probably make a mlst chassis to take the e-revo center diff case...
But how would link up the center dogbones..?? And it still doesnt fix the front and rear diffs.

[optimus1t]

I think the MIP and the GPM diffs work fine for the center. The MIP takes a bit of adjusting to get it right and the GPM need some harder metal for the pressure plates. I won't know how the front and rear diffs will hold up once I install the 26 mm brushless motor. I think it might be fine. I'm not big into wheelies, so the center diff will divert any major damaging force from the rear diffs.

Actually I was thinking that you could make a plate that will take a single mini e-revo servo for the mlst. I think that would be a better idea than the full size servo plate that you have. I'm just not sure if the e-revo servo is metal geared though.

[makakoa808]

E-revo servo in a mini lst..It might be possible to do... I did look into installing a bell crank.. but the cost of purhcasing the parts for the bell crank brought the pirce up about $25.00 more.

On of the reasons why I choose the 1:10th scale servo is cost, It's very durable (becuase it's made for a 1/10 heaver rc) and a lot of people in the hobby have them in use in another RC or just laying around..

But I could make a chassis specific to a smaller servo... Or like you said a e-revo servo. for those who want performance as well.

I've heard of the e-revo stock servo freezing up on some people.
and the 65s Ive seen people mode there stock chassis to fit.

What do you folks think of a single 81mg servo.. Someone suggested it..
It's supposed to be smaller then a 1:10th and have metal gears..
Also stong enough where you only need one.

[makakoa808]

But back to the subject.. Anyone have good or bad experiances with the Mip or GPM? Is it really a fix for the mini lst center diff?

[optimus1t]

I initially had problems with both when I was starting out, but once I got things down, they both worked really well. At the time, I kept trying to tighten the diff down to get some more push from the rear tire. Once I stopped trying to do that, the diffs would work fairly well.

[vinny]

Ok Losi Forum..
Here is a problem that has been an issue with the Mini LST for a while now.
We devoted Mini LST owners need an answer...

HELP!! What is being done to fix the Mini LST plastic internal Diff gears that keep breaking?

All Mini LST owners.. Lets make this thread long and loud and maybe Losi will listen...

try losi mrc gears. i ythink they fit and they are metal.:D

[makakoa808]

Is Delrin any stornger then plastic? Could they make the spider and planetary gears out of that stuff?

[optimus1t]

Delrin is a type of plastic polyomer. It is stronger than typical plastic and has a lower coefficent of friction. It has a stronger bond and therfore more stiff and holds together better. Yes they can make gears out of them.

Aren't planetary gearing more one central gear surrounded by other gears on the outside? The diff gears are more bevel type.

[makakoa808]

Delrin is a type of plastic polyomer. It is stronger than typical plastic and has a lower coefficent of friction. It has a stronger bond and therfore more stiff and holds together better. Yes they can make gears out of them.

Aren't planetary gearing more one central gear surrounded by other gears on the outside? The diff gears are more bevel type.

Oh.. Yeah what Optimus said made out off Delrin...

[optimus1t]

The other thing about delrin that I forgot to mention was, delrin is cut and not molded, so it cost more than regular plastic. Delrin comes in shapes that are offered similar to metal (sheets, blocks, rods, etc...).

[packhntr]

The fact you had to limit your power is a problem that can and should be fixed by Losi.

Actually, the reason I limit the motor choice to only a 5.5k is not any fault to the truck. I originally had a 8.0k for quite a while. I changed it because I didn't like the lack of torque from the 8.0k. Even with teh smallest pinion, the throttle response wan not to my liking. Prior to the 8.0k motor, I ran paired trinity Cobalt 18 (16t) and it was awsome! Torque from ****!!! I went brushless because those little motors were eating brushes FAST! (and I didn't want to buy ANOTHER comm lathe to true the micro comms). Nah..it'll handle teh 8.0k fine....it's just personal preference on performance is all.

[packhntr]

The other thing about delrin that I forgot to mention was, delrin is cut and not molded, so it cost more than regular plastic. Delrin comes in shapes that are offered similar to metal (sheets, blocks, rods, etc...).

Actually Op....Delrin is being molded now....the cost is more than regular plastic (nylon) and less than machined delrin....Several companies have been doing it for several years now with great success.

[packhntr]

But back to the subject.. Anyone have good or bad experiances with the Mip or GPM? Is it really a fix for the mini lst center diff?

Makakoa....I have been running an entire MIP driveline for a while (over 1 yr on a set). It hold up very well. Is it bulletproof? I have to answer that with this: NOTHING IS!
What I CAN tell you is that for the center diff, DO NOT lock the action! You do, you will cause a LOT of damage.
For the front and rear's...I originally installed Hot Racing's aluminum diff housings....DON'T...they're garbage! The centerline of the ring and the centerline of the pinion do not line up! I destroyed two pairs of gears because of this! Use the stock plastic ones...believe it or not, they line up well. I ended up replacing one of the diff bearings with a thinner one from Boca. That allowed me to shim it properly (took a bit of test fitting) but patients paid off! I also stronly suggest using MIP's hardened pinion gears...you don't get more precise.
Main thing to remember...ball diff's should never be locked or allowed to slip. If it's locked, you will destroy something...if it slips...you will over heat and melt the diff gear. Rebuild and relube it occasionally and you'll be fine.

[finchalan]

Come on losi, bad design should be corrected without losi owners having to rant and rave! its common knowledge that theres a diff problem that needs sorting out! :confused:

[optimus1t]

Actually Op....Delrin is being molded now....the cost is more than regular plastic (nylon) and less than machined delrin....Several companies have been doing it for several years now with great success.

I'm thinking of plastic injection molds. Delrin molding is done quite differently. No physical casing is used. The product is done on cad or similar software and the product is processed with little refinement into its final form in a single machine. Most major university will typically have one of these in their industrial design department. I've seen one in Auburn and another in Georgia Tech back in 2003.

I haven't kept up with the latest news on this process for production, but most of the delrin products I've see are still machined. I guess I could do some more research into it.

As for the MIP ball diff, it's just something you have to do a certain amount of times before you get it right. Don't tighten it enought to put a flat spot on the bearings, and if it's too loose, your truck won't move much. Use a bit of thread lock on the nut. Don't over grease the bearings because they'll just come off anyways from high rpms.

[night_life]

please losi Do something about the diff i love this truck it just cant keep a set of diff on it

[cammyv]

I've missed so much in the last 2 months... Hi everybody from BYT! Any word on a solution yet? My MLST has been sitting since I drove it drunk after a rainstorm...

[Il Ghiro]

I'm stunned!
Few pages back the solution was clear,just shim the MLST2 diff's anf it'll work fine for a Long time,SOMEONE HERE IS USING TWIN MAMBA 8K'S WITH THE SHIMMED DIFF'S MOD and didn't destroy the gears,i'm using the mod and 'i'm using a 6000kv 24cm can motor,diff's are holding fine in the last year of use,snow,dust,jumps at the skate park,1/8 nitro track,in the woods,i drove it all over but my diff's are still holding yet.
I'm thinking that the problem aren't gears but people.This discussion is like a dog following his own tail,it doesn't make any sense having diff's that holds up a motor that makes the truck undriveable,it's worthless.If the goal of this truck owners is doing cartweels at every little throttle hit get a MiniRevo it's a whole lot bigger and it's engineered in a different scale,big enough to use thicker plastics and bigger gears.Besides,i'm doing cartwheels too and never destroy a thing.This discussion is almost 4 years old,and it'll never end up unless people start to realize that nothing is bulletproof,and shiny recicled and polished aluminum doesn't make the whole truck undestructible.Accept the truck wqith it's limits and enjoy the ride.
I love this truck but certain useless discussions are a bad feedback from the great product this truck is.

[kwik_uk]

I'm stunned!
Few pages back the solution was clear,just shim the MLST2 diff's anf it'll work fine for a Long time,SOMEONE HERE IS USING TWIN MAMBA 8K'S WITH THE SHIMMED DIFF'S MOD and didn't destroy the gears,i'm using the mod and 'i'm using a 6000kv 24cm can motor,diff's are holding fine in the last year of use,snow,dust,jumps at the skate park,1/8 nitro track,in the woods,i drove it all over but my diff's are still holding yet.
I'm thinking that the problem aren't gears but people.This discussion is like a dog following his own tail,it doesn't make any sense having diff's that holds up a motor that makes the truck undriveable,it's worthless.If the goal of this truck owners is doing cartweels at every little throttle hit get a MiniRevo it's a whole lot bigger and it's engineered in a different scale,big enough to use thicker plastics and bigger gears.Besides,i'm doing cartwheels too and never destroy a thing.This discussion is almost 4 years old,and it'll never end up unless people start to realize that nothing is bulletproof,and shiny recicled and polished aluminum doesn't make the whole truck undestructible.Accept the truck wqith it's limits and enjoy the ride.
I love this truck but certain useless discussions are a bad feedback from the great product this truck is.

I agree with you mate. A solution was found, that works. Why is any more discussion needed? If you haven't done it, go do it. Or does the packet with the parts in have to have Losi written on it? :rolleyes:

[makakoa808]

Ok... Shimmed Diffs.. Is this the answer.. Anyone else have done this and have gotten the same result? If this is the answer then perhaps we should be spreading the word out.. So it's no longer an issue.. But if it's not the answer lets hear that as well....... In the BYT forum we used spring washers to shimm the diffs it was called the Optimus1t Mod... he had the idea of using spring washers and was nice enough to share it with the forum.

Here is the link
http://www.beatyourtruck.com/forum/showthread.php?t=52059&page=2
Here is another link
http://www.beatyourtruck.com/forum/showthread.php?t=53893

[kraegar]

I bought the shims, and the parts to rebuild my diffs yet again, but I haven't taken the time to tear it apart yet. It's been months. It's just sitting on the shelf gathering dust, while my other RC's get a lot more use.

Out of all my RC's, the MLST2 (Baja) is the only one I regret buying. (Broke several servos, swapped to metal gears, then started breaking diffs, replaced all 3 more then once, swapped the center to the ball diff, and then gave up on it)

[makakoa808]

I bought the shims, and the parts to rebuild my diffs yet again, but I haven't taken the time to tear it apart yet. It's been months. It's just sitting on the shelf gathering dust, while my other RC's get a lot more use.

Out of all my RC's, the MLST2 (Baja) is the only one I regret buying. (Broke several servos, swapped to metal gears, then started breaking diffs, replaced all 3 more then once, swapped the center to the ball diff, and then gave up on it)

So you have the shimms but havent installed them yet... Any chance your gonna install them anytime soon?

[kraegar]

If I get around to it, lol! Probably when the weather cools down, and I'm not outside running my other RCs as much (Crawlers, and some 2wd & 4wd by Trx)

Need some diff grease before I do it, too...

[optimus1t]

I was doing a vid on shimming the diffs. After it was all sealed and done with, I realized the camera was off centered, and it didn't catch anything outside of shadow puppets.

I haven't tried the diff shim configuration on my 26 mm brushless motor yet, so I'll hold off on the review till things are up and running, but the design of the truck will be... not the same as stock - Will be self explainatory when you see it.

My 26 mm brushless will pull 700 watts continuous. The e-revo 26 mm pulls 300 continuous and 600 burst (given that it takes 12 volts at 25 Ah/50 Ah). Having this much power is not a bother for me and is within reason of my limitations. I have the benefit of tunning down the system via radio controller or hooking the esc to my laptop for programming should someone else drive my trucks.

There are a lot of things that I wish to go over with this truck and somethings I'm still working with. The question is whether or not I have the time to do it.

Currently the f/r diffs are working fine with the spring washers, though I still have some problems with the center diff (stock or ball) with the stock holding up better than the ball diffs. I still have one more thing to try in this area that may give the ball diffs an upper hand over the shimmed stock diffs. Of course I will try things out before giving a full report of something that will work.

[makakoa808]

Wow cant wait to see it....

[notfastenuff]

Holy cow, People agree with me on shiming the diffs and stop whining about this truck! I'm shocked! And both the last two posters were fron pther countries. This forum is gonna make me change my mind about forieners! Way to go guys!

[makakoa808]

Holy cow, People agree with me on shiming the diffs and stop whining about this truck! I'm shocked! And both the last two posters were fron pther countries. This forum is gonna make me change my mind about forieners! Way to go guys!

lol Im waiting for more people to say that shimming their diffs worked....

[JayJ]

I have shimmed the diffs in my MMB and they are holding up for now, but I'm not convinced it's the answer everybody's after. Ok so shimming does clearly help but that depends on the power your using , whether your running a cd or locked centre (spool) etc. Anyway this truck is suppose to be RTR and unless your seriously into RC you ain't gonna break a truck down just to get it to run as it should when it was bought!! A lot of us have experimented with different configerations when running their MLST variations but Losi ain't gonna survive the market on us guys who already own these trucks. They need new blood!

I draw your attention to a post I place on BYT, some of you will have read it but for those that haven't here it is (word for word)-

"I may have a Mini E-Revo but I love my Mini Monster Baja and always will as it was what got me into RC! There are a lot of MLST fans out there but the way the Mini E-Revo is selling I think Losi has already lost the battle!! If Losi wants to claw some of they're customers back they had better do something and fast. There's an awful lot of MLST's for sale on eBay at the moment and has been for the couple of months leading up to the release of the Traxxas truck, the price of a second hand MLST has dropped drastically in the last few months too. I don't want to see the Losi Mini disappear, it's a great little truck. I really hope Losi do something or the I fear the Mini LST is dead!!
Please don't get me wrong on this guys I ain't bashing the MLST but I am bashing LOSI........"

Losi have a great little truck here but they seem to have washed their hands of it, when an unexperienced user buys an RTR it should be RTR not RTR for a little while......

[GoZilla!]

There are a lot of MLST fans out there but the way the Mini E-Revo is selling I think Losi has already lost the battle!! If Losi wants to claw some of they're customers back they had better do something and fast. Losi...

I love my MLST (MMB) too, and still don't want to sell it on eBay even thou it gave me lots of pain in stripped gears. I wish Losi could have plan its product line better knowing the Brushless, Lipo are getting better and better every months and make their trucks handle extra power better.

I am sure lots of us who bought a mini e-revo from Traxxas will take a look again if Traxxas comes out another mini in the future too, that how company build loyal customers/fans with good products. I hope Losi will remember this.

I have shim the vDiffs, but the plastic center gear in the middle gear box broken into pieces again. Now my MMB is just sitting on the shelf while I am playing with my mini e-revo. I thought about the Mini-DT last Christmas but then didn't get one just because of my MMB problems for the past 2.5 years.

Plus I disagree with makakoa808. Shimming it just makes the diffs last a little bit longer, but it is not a 100% solution because the spider gears are still not holding well. The spider gears inside the diff need to be metal as well. The MIP ball diff with the new material is promising, however some one need to talk to Brandon to see if he can use metal on the MIP ball diff's outer ring. And if he can make a metal gear out of that plastic gear in the center box.

Either way, why are we trying to come up with a solution for our MLST anyway ? Should that be Losi coming up with something to save their company's reputation instead ? I have been feeling like fixing problem with my Camery so that Toyota could keep their good name...just sound not right. :|

[JayJ]

+1 on that GoZilla! I agree, shimming is a tempory fix only. The MIP diffs ain't the answer either, I had major problems with my front & rear MIP's! Trying to get a good mesh between the ball diff & MIP's hardened bevel pinion was impossible! Even using MIP's centre CVD's & some shims I just couldn't get a good mesh. Then when I thought I had I stripped the rings on both f&r MIP diff! I was not happy & even more so when I emailed MIP twice and got ignored twice. Will never use MIP again!!:confused:

[packhntr]

+1 on that GoZilla! I agree, shimming is a tempory fix only. The MIP diffs ain't the answer either, I had major problems with my front & rear MIP's! Trying to get a good mesh between the ball diff & MIP's hardened bevel pinion was impossible! Even using MIP's centre CVD's & some shims I just couldn't get a good mesh. Then when I thought I had I stripped the rings on both f&r MIP diff! I was not happy & even more so when I emailed MIP twice and got ignored twice. Will never use MIP again!!:confused:

Sorry to hear about your bad experience with MIP....I actually received a call back from Eustace Moore himself. We discussed the issue for almost an hour. When I finished up my own R&D, I called him back with my fix. He was very happy to hear that I solved the problem.
My fix is in an earlier post. The main problem is the inconsistant molding of the gearbox halves. I tried the HotRacins ones and they were even worse. Using thinner bearings from Boca helped with the shimming immensly.
That's my experience.....Being an engineer, I tend to have a lot of patients and insite.
Cheers

[GoZilla!]

Hi guys, let's forget about Losi would do anything about the tranny problems on the MLST series here. This thread originally hoping to get their attention but I doubt they even paying attention to us. I just got an email from them telling me I won some kind of forum price with a shock matching tool. Come on, that's a tool for 1/5, 1/8 and I am only posting in the mini & micro forum. That shows again they don't pay attention to details and they don't know what their customers want. I am going to clean up my MMB and put it on shelf like a die-cast to show my grand kids 30 years from now. :(

[makakoa808]

Hi guys, let's forget about Losi would do anything about the tranny problems on the MLST series here. This thread originally hoping to get their attention but I doubt they even paying attention to us. I just got an email from them telling me I won some kind of forum price with a shock matching tool. Come on, that's a tool for 1/5, 1/8 and I am only posting in the mini & micro forum. That shows again they don't pay attention to details and they don't know what their customers want. I am going to clean up my MMB and put it on shelf like a die-cast to show my grand kids 30 years from now. :(

Thats funny but the way things have been going I'm not surprised.
Losi the brand name is not looking so hot right now. They need to wake up.

And I agree. Shimms are not the answer or fix we have been looking for...

I just completed my RC18R VXL brushless 1/16 motor project. And the stock diffs
thats right I said stock!! Handled the Mini E-Revo Power just fine. No shimming. And I did not have to take it as easy on the throttle like I would with the Mini LST.
Click here to see video. RC18R VXL 380 Brushless Motor (http://www.rccustomzone.com/rccz_RC18380VXLmod.html)

Maybe they just need to scrap the metal diff idea... They just need a 1/18 4 wheel drive that can compete with todays market...

[adam roo]

fix the diffs even the viscous diffs will strip fairly easily and they are about 3 times the cost of the stock diffs

[packhntr]

Hi guys, let's forget about Losi would do anything about the tranny problems on the MLST series here. This thread originally hoping to get their attention but I doubt they even paying attention to us. I just got an email from them telling me I won some kind of forum price with a shock matching tool. Come on, that's a tool for 1/5, 1/8 and I am only posting in the mini & micro forum. That shows again they don't pay attention to details and they don't know what their customers want. I am going to clean up my MMB and put it on shelf like a die-cast to show my grand kids 30 years from now. :(

Dude...it's a random drawing....

[GoZilla!]

True but I email back the lady after she contacted me. I asked I am a 1/18 fan so what am I going to do with a 1/5 tool and can I take other option ? Without even getting a response, I saw the package at my door step already.

[notfastenuff]

True but I email back the lady after she contacted me. I asked I am a 1/18 fan so what am I going to do with a 1/5 tool and can I take other option ? Without even getting a response, I saw the package at my door step already.

You recived a free item. look em in the eye and say thank you. If you really don't want it I'm sure it has value to somebody.

[packhntr]

You recived a free item. look em in the eye and say thank you. If you really don't want it I'm sure it has value to somebody.

Exactly. It was random and free. It beats a poke in the eye with a sharp stick!

[makakoa808]

Any one locked all diffs? Wouldnt mind seeing a video of that.

[packhntr]

I locked the center diff before i swapped it (fr/rr/ctr) all out to MIP. The throttle response was instant! The front diff spur lasted 2 minutes. It was a fun couple of minutes though! I don't really recomend it. Even the metal diff's will not last long....the teeth are just to small. They should have went with a courser pitch gear with larger teeth. Counterpoint: then the diff cases would have to be larger.

[makakoa808]

hmmm any other mini's with a front center and rear diff that uses dogbones like the MLST.
Wondring If I can drop another rc drive line into the Mini LST...

[GoZilla!]

hmmm any other mini's with a front center and rear diff that uses dogbones like the MLST.
Wondring If I can drop another rc drive line into the Mini LST...

The Minizilla, but they are almost equal length with front & back unlike the MLST.

[GoZilla!]

Exactly. It was random and free. It beats a poke in the eye with a sharp stick!

Ok i will clam myself down now. Just that when talking about Losi I'm getting so emotional probably because of all the emotion I went thru in the past 2+ years working on my MMB's diffs & gears. Sorry about that guys.

[makakoa808]

Ok i will clam myself down now. Just that when talking about Losi I'm getting so emotional probably because of all the emotion I went thru in the past 2+ years working on my MMB's diffs & gears. Sorry about that guys.

How are them Mini Zilla diffs? Are they solid? And do they make metal ones??
Before I go out and make any purchases.. Anyone else think this would work... ?
I checked it out online.. Looks like I could make it so you can drop in the whole center diff...

Would the mlst dogbones work with the Mini Zilla?

[GoZilla!]

How are them Mini Zilla diffs? Are they solid? And do they make metal ones??
Before I go out and make any purchases.. Anyone else think this would work... ?
I checked it out online.. Looks like I could make it so you can drop in the whole center diff...

Would the mlst dogbones work with the Mini Zilla?

I can give you the dog bones measurements when I get a chance tonight, but about minizilla diff ? Forget about it. It is a toy diff design. The reason I got sucker into buying a MMB was because my Minizilla diff were falling apart after went BL and I thought MLST2 metal diffs would give me the ultimate BL 1/18. You know how that turned out :(

[makakoa808]

I can give you the dog bones measurements when I get a chance tonight, but about minizilla diff ? Forget about it. It is a toy diff design. The reason I got sucker into buying a MMB was because my Minizilla diff were falling apart after went BL and I thought MLST2 metal diffs would give me the ultimate BL 1/18. You know how that turned out :(

I saw a couple of threads on how bad the Mini-Zilla's diffs were... So scratch that idea..
Any other mini's come to mind?? anyone, anyone?

[optimus1t]

Working on a recent project gave me a chance to reasseble my mini lst2 and make some minor changes.

Okay, I've ran my mini lst2 through about 18 lipo packs and the diffs front, center, and rear are holding up. I've bent both aluminum shock towers, which I've bent back, and I've broken both rear rims.

Setup:
Spring washer shim mini lst2 stock front and rear diffs
MIP 1565 bi-metal center ball diff
Sidewinder Micro 8000kv brushless motor
-Set for lowest timing
2200 mAh 25C/50C 3S Thunderpower Lipo
Wide track aluminum arms
MIP cvd's
Delrin spur 54t spur gear
Titainum 15t pinion

The truck is fast even on the lowest timing. I have to stop every so often due to motor temps, but will consider adding a fan. Currently considering a vxl on a sidewinder. The vxl is 25 Ah continuous and 50 Ah burst. I really was holding out for Castle's 26 mm brushless, but the wait is killing me. I will do a follow up on the work done on my truck after I finish up something else, but at this point, I am very happy with the truck. Might go with a two cell for lower temps.

[GoZilla!]

Joe said management decided to freeze the CC 26mm project. They have some of that made (probably beta or prototype) but not anymore and only spending them to sponsors & magazines. It is going to be tough to get a hold on one. Who are you talking to, like Christy?

[optimus1t]

Stinks that they canned the 26 mm. I was really looking forward to them :(

Here is my reassembled Mini LST2 with stock front/rear diffs and MIP 1565 bi-metal center ball diff. The timing is set to lowest, but after having added a cooling fan, I can turn it backup to normal if I wanted. The lowest timing seems to be more than enough on the 8000kv, and I think I might just keep it there for the longer battery life. I'm two years up on these lipos and will be buying a couple more 3 cells.

Again, I will go over things once I get the time, but for now I need to put sometime aside for my ultimate mini lst2 build and other things. I will keep this truck the way it is and build another mini lst2 from a used truck or something.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lYQqMzpYsHo

[makakoa808]

I'm seeing a lot of Mini LST's going on e-bay....
Mini E-Revo + Plastic Gears in Diffs = Mini LST Discontinued. :(

[optimus1t]

Looks like FFRC is jumping ship as well.

[huntingstill]

I love my mlst 2 but the diffs frustrate me very much i am running dual inanes with the center locked and a lipo i believe it is a 1900 mah..... I have stripped both diffs at once this is very frustrating can we get these metal diffs? please?

[GoZilla!]

If yours is mlst2 the diffs' outer ring gear & pinion gears are metal already. We have tried losi vDiff also they are metal too but the 4 spider gears inside are still plastic and those expensive vdiff doesn't help either.

Just a thougt, your insane motors stripped the diffs could be because you have a center lock spool, and the extra power can't off load thru a center diff ?!

[freakofnature]

i think i might of found an answer....back in march i blew my center diff to shreds so i went out and dropped the ball diff from a mini-t in the stock diff place and she hasnt let me down yet. and im running about 7 packs thru it every weekend and i im still running the stock electrics and its all powered by a dynamite 1600mah 6 cell pack with intilect cells..and i was looking at the front and rear diff cages and the lockers from the mrc will fit with no problems...havent done it yet but will get dun when they fail

[makakoa808]

Locking you rdiffs wil stop them from breaking.. lol. It's an option some people have done especially if your just bashing..

But people who race or just want the better handleing .. locking is not an option...

[makakoa808]

Very true.. Locking Diffs will add stress to something else.... lol I think it's time to fix the Mini LST diffs...

[evanthrax]

Since getting into the hobby a year or so ago, I have been all Losi, all the time... A few months ago I got the e-Revo VXL, and my mini-LST has sat, just as some other post'ers has... I couldn't even lightly drive my LST without dumping cash into diffs. But, I have faith Losi hears the cry, and hopefully get this resolved...

[makakoa808]

Yes a 540 is a bit extreme.. but what about a mamba brushless is that to extreme?

[makakoa808]

The Mini LST Is a Great RC Car. The problem is the new RC cars like the Mini E-Revo.. And the faster and more powerful motors that are coming out.. The Mini LST as it stands stock is great we all know that thats why we bought it.. but.. Looking forward.. It cant compete with the newer RC cars out there... I dont want to see the mini LST disappear.. And like many dedicated Mini LST owners.. would like to see stronger diffs that can handle and compete with todays RC cars.... And it's not like I'm the only one asking for this..

[makakoa808]

The only other problem with the mini lst is the stock servo.. but there is a fix for that..
Unfortunetly not for the diffs not yet at least.. Can you see how much better of a RC truck the Mini LST would be with metal gears... Do you know how much money myself and others have put into this Truck in hopups.. with only having to stick her on the shelf because of constantly replacing the plastic diffs...

Don't you agree the Mini LST would be that much better with Metal internal Diff gears?

[makakoa808]

So your saying to everyone who is complaing about the Mini LST diffs, to stop whining about it.. You realise people who have not put a 540 motor in there MLST have complaints about the diffs breaking right...

[makakoa808]

lol yes.. Please anyone who has found a fix to the Mini LST diffs please post them here so we all can fix our diffs..

Anyone who does not have a problem with the diffs.. Very happy to hear it...

Anyone who does have a problem with the Mini LST Diffs Robbie T has just told us to stop whining.

[makakoa808]

Right dont do burnouts on your drive way...
Good tip I'll keep that in mind.

[makakoa808]

Lets stay focused Robbie boy.

If there is a fix please post it here..

All links about the Mini LST diffs, please fix...lead here.

So if there is a fix...
All dedicated Losi Mini LST owners will know of it.

After all fixing the Mini LST diffs is what this thread is about.

[makakoa808]

Will keep that in mind..
So back on track.. Any fixes for the Mini LST Diffs Please post here..

[x_doug_x]

mini lst2, ok guys. i'm going to explain a couple things to you, i went through about 5 or 6 servos before i figured this out. the steering servos in the mini lst2 are weak however they will work perfectly fine when they are paired correctly. i dunno if they come from the factory unpaired or what, as i bought all my mini lst2s used "3" i only have one left, all had servo problems when i got them. so i bought the rebuild gears for the servos for 3 bucks a piece and rebuilt all the servos, the first truck i put together i stripped a servo out again. so i put another one i had that was rebuilt in, took the wheels off and spent a lot of time trying to get the servos rite, making sure that when the servo savers were completely compressed "screwed down" the metal bar was not bound up and the servos were free in neutral possision. i did this on the first mini lst2 i had problems with, i ran it into stuff flipped it wrecked it and all kinds of crap, never had a problem with the servos again. i did have to adjust the tie rods to straighten wheels up etc.. after i got the servos adjusted where i wanted them....

now i have put another one together and i left the servos un done till i got a recieiver etc.. for it, so i have installed a brushless 8000kv castle creations motor in the second one. and i took it out yesterday and stripped the differential, so i ordered the metal spool that someone makes, i realised the problem was when i took off quick in the truck it raised the front wheels off the ground and they spun twice as fast as the rear, when the front wheels were spinning and landed, "crunch" went the gears.... so i'm hoping the spool in the center diff will finish help if not completely fix this problem.

third was the axles broke yesterday, first they bent then broke. i know there are upgradable axles but have been told there not worth the money...

over all i like the mini lst2 and think it's a decent little truck, i think when you have the servos adjusted rite they will last a long time. losi has came out with ball differentials to fix the differential problem,, and you have to upgrade axles on **** near every rc out there. so i really don't have many complains accept the diff. and esc......

ive had 3 esc's burn out on me and no idea why, i was using the stock battery packs, but with my stuff being converted now to brushless it doesn't really matter.

[silvrcummns]

Ok I have 2 questions. Yanked a ball diff from my old mini-t to put in center diff, but I'm not sure which way the jam nut faces ( front or rear).

Im going to try and change that because my truck slips soo bad before it moves foreward. I cranked down the nut on the "slipper clutch" but still hesitates to move forward. Is there supposed to be some way for the 2 plastic pieces that sandwhich the spur gear to hold better? If I hold the truck and give it throttle it spins the spur gear but doesn't move or even try to pull away from me.

I know I've blown the center diff a long time ago and replaced with a stocker and never had a problem till I got the truck running again and now it slips bad. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks

[silvrcummns]

Well which is the outdrive, the jam nut side? I thought I read somewhere the jam nut goes to the rear of the truck, but I want to be sure before I do this.

Also does the DD slipper for a mini-t work in this truck? I got a bunch of mini-t parts so I'm trying to as much of that so I could get this running good for as cheap as possible. Again, thanks for the help

[silvrcummns]

I realize that there's 2 outdrives that's why I asked for more clarification, because if I put the jam nut side facing the wrong way then it will loosen up. So thank you for making it as clear as possible.

That's good to hear about the slipper clutch save me some money on that.

Sorry for the dumb questions but between nearly 5 different forums not one had those answers. Just bickering about the diffs breaking and people not liking the servo's.

Is there possibly a sticky of different upgrades? Like shimming the diff, or other articles and how to's that could be put together. I think that would be awesome and certainly cut down on the endless search's for less then useful info... just my opinion though

[9lence]

does anyone have pictures of shimming the differentials i had my crawler for 1 hour and it broke the diff

[makakoa808]

does anyone have pictures of shimming the differentials i had my crawler for 1 hour and it broke the diff

If your talking about the mini crawler I think losi sells metal diffs. So you would not shim mini crawler diffs. You would just upgrade to th metal ones.

[9lence]

If your talking about the mini crawler I think losi sells metal diffs. So you would not shim mini crawler diffs. You would just upgrade to th metal ones.

so is this forum not about the crawlers I just got mine for xmas

[makakoa808]

so is this forum not about the crawlers I just got mine for xmas

Nope sorry the Mini LST is not a Crawler. The Mini LST is a 4wd off road monster truck.
Do you have the a Mini LST or a MRC (Mini Rock Crawler)?

[jdmhg]

I bought my lst2 a couple of days ago and on the first run with two insane 370's in it I stripped the 3 small gears on the inside of the center dif (not sure what they are called)
I really can't believe losi hasn't came out with a kit that has all metal differertials

:tdown: to them!!!!!!!!!!!!

Makes me kinda wish I would have saved up for the e-revo:confused:

[logex97]

Does anyone now if the MSX12 Mini Digital servos would fit into the MLST2 without having to redesign anything on the vehicle?

[NOFX]

Hi,I've just put in a 5200kv on 7 minh,I know its not as powerful ,but loosenung the slipper helps.

[jdmhg]

Hi,I've just put in a 5200kv on 7 minh,I know its not as powerful ,but loosenung the slipper helps.

My lst didn't break the gears when I only had one motor in, but it also didn't impress me..

Looks like my lst is going to be a wall ortimate till I get some **** from MIP

[jdmhg]

got a mip center diff and 1 viscous diff, to find out you have to get the new drive lines too.. I really wish the guys at my hobby shop would let me know these things

[rajesh5024]

I bought my lst2 a couple of days ago and on the first run with two insane 370's in it I stripped the 3 small gears on the inside of the center dif (not sure what they are called)
I really can't believe losi hasn't came out with a kit that has all metal differertials

:tdown: to them!!!!!!!!!!!!

Makes me kinda wish I would have saved up for the e-revo:confused:


I seem to have the same problem. I just bought it a few days ago too!! Was anyone able to get any replacement or adjustments for this?

[tylers]

Dont think Losi will ever listen and fix the mlst diff problems, they will prob just discontinue the mlst sooner rather than later.. :( Sad because the mlst is a nice little rc apart from the week diffs and poor servos! :mad::(:mad::confused:

[GoZilla!]

Dont think Losi will ever listen and fix the mlst diff problems, they will prob just discontinue the mlst sooner rather than later.. :( Sad because the mlst is a nice little rc apart from the week diffs and poor servos! :mad::(:mad::confused:

They are probably busy playing with the Traxxas 1/16 in the parking lot at the back of the building :D

[bigdogkanicsar]

where do i start? owned for two years and used really 5 times, 1 time for each new diff installed. mip discontinued the diffs. losi's viscous diffs are just a bad design, if they had metal spider gears and got rid of the little orange o-ring on the out drives and replaced it with a stainless washer of proper thickness, the things would be absolutly bulletproof. untill then i own a 700$ paper wieght. losi has definetly put a bad taste in my mouth for the minis. this is not the first losi vehicle i have owned. does any body have any good insight? i have mip diffs now and they stripped first run. i have replacement gears for these. any suggestions are more than welcome.

[NOFX]

Hi guys.Looks like I'm having some good luck(about time,first good luck since conception:) my diffs are holding up:D.The brushless has it going fast enough,I'm using it on a loose surfaced car park,sliding all over the place:D.I've replaced the bits that hold the wheels on with some from my mini crawler,MUCH fatter, so stronger,Lights next:D

[GoZilla!]

where do i start? owned for two years and used really 5 times, 1 time for each new diff installed. mip discontinued the diffs. losi's viscous diffs are just a bad design, if they had metal spider gears and got rid of the little orange o-ring on the out drives and replaced it with a stainless washer of proper thickness, the things would be absolutly bulletproof. untill then i own a 700$ paper wieght. losi has definetly put a bad taste in my mouth for the minis. this is not the first losi vehicle i have owned. does any body have any good insight? i have mip diffs now and they stripped first run. i have replacement gears for these. any suggestions are more than welcome.

What you can do is buy my MMB for another $700, then use mine for replacement parts ! It has 2 new viscous diffs in it and they are the 4th pair I have replaced, and I have not run them since I put them in last year afraid they will strip, so I am pretty sure they are brand new.

Sorry about teasing you like that.... someone mentioned talking to Brandon at MIP and might be a MLST ball diff but has a metal ring. Suppose to be around this year, not sure if that idea has flew away.

[GoZilla!]

In closing I do understand everybodies flustrations with the gear issuses. But by ranting and raving in public we are more likely to discourage more people from purchasing the product, therefore lowering the sales of this truck. If you want to see another rc related product be discontinued and parts become scarce then continue badmouthing losi and the mlst.

Let me try to apply this in the lately real life here...

The Toyota are speeding out of control with their gas paddle, I understand everybodies flustrations and worries. Let's not ranting and raving about Toyota, so more people could end up dead but I can still get parts to fix my Corolla ?! Huh ?! Am I missing something here ?!

[packhntr]

BigDog, I don't know what your thinking about the diff being discontinued, MIP still has them listed as in production and Horizon has them in stock....
I have been running mine for a couple years with a Mini Rage w/5100kv motor and a 2s lipo. The main thing is to shim it properly and not to put to large (or heavy) of tires on it....that will definitly strip it out!

[667]

Fixed.
Drives awesome now.
I bought a pack of misc Ofna drive line shims (1/10 and 1/8 vehicles). There were a bunch of shims in the pack that would have worked.
I had to back off on the diff screw a tiny bit to not lock the diff. Feels real solid now.

[NOFX]

Hi guys, Lock the diffs,you don't need them! Stop giving losi your cash,they can't be bothered with us!:mad: I'm using an EZRUN 5200kv, 22t pinion ,alu middle diff locker. Sorted,:D

[savrunner]

I thought I would give my two cents for all that is going on with the mlst. I have a castle mamba 68 in both my trucks, geared for wheelies, not speed, so I have gone through diffs mostly on all the first or second runs after trying many different things. I was thinking of selling them and than realized they are such a nice truck I would give it one more try. I have all the different diffs that losi puts out, and even tried locking them, to no avail of lasting. well this last time I tore them down to find out what went wrong again, but I used my magnifier to look at all the teeth, and found something out. there are two different kind of gears that are used for both the spyder and side gears. I experimented and found the correct way to get things together. You need the side gears that the vehicle comes with and the viscous diff sets. You use the larger side gears (only the teeth are larger) with the viscous spyder gears., which have larger teeth also. you must use two gaskets instead of one on the viscous ring gear and carrier, in order to get the correct gear clearance. if not they just lock up. I also use one shim on each o'ring to help protect it. once together the unit must be snapped into place in the diff housings. you must also shim the pinion gear, I used three shims on mine on the gear side, and insure there is no play once the input dog bone is installed. again my trucks are geared for torque, so if the diffs have any weaknesses they just strip or break. well not only did the diffs perform like they are supposed too, the noise level was also nearly gone. I don't know if any of you want to try this fix, but for me, it is now a new truck worth having.
the diffs are the only problem I have ever had with my trucks, they are also upgraded with the single large steering servo kits, and all the cvd shaft kits and the center diff is locked. I also run my trucks in nothing but grass, no dirt or asphalt. I have many other vehicles including mini e-revos, and I still like the losi better.

[GoZilla!]

and I still like the losi better.

Great post savrunner, could you post some pictures for the steps please ? Since there seems to be so many steps. Thank you so much !

Gozilla.

[makakoa808]

http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=126318507379507

http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=126318507379507#!/video/video.php?v=126323170712374

[savrunner]

hey gozilla, just go one step at a time and I am sure you can get it all done. I lost my internet at home and only have it at work, which is not very much. so sorry that I cannot get you any pictures or videos of the work I did. (cannot load any pictures or videos at work).

[NOFX]

Hi guys.This has been going on since noah said "Ooh it looks like rain".I know "official "people read this,I've had PM's telling me to stop slagging losi off.So they know about the diff ,and have the equipment to fix it,but won't do anything about it. There's customer service for you:D

[NOFX]

Hi guys,I know I said I'd go away,but I'm still trying to get something done.I've drilled out a 19t pinion ,fitted it in the centre gearbox.And promptly distroyed the MIP rear diff:eek:.So it looks like it's up to the job:D:D:D.If only lo$i would make the effort,I mean it only took me 10 minutes(after waiting 10 days for the pinions)to drill it out.My mlst2's got NO plastic in the centre gearbox,no more shreaded gears in there!

[NOFX]

Hi guys.Looks like my tiny mind has outsmarted the masses!!:D.My centre diff has held up to 3S lipos.I've done it!!!!!! I've really done it!!!! yes yes yes!!!!!!

[NOFX]

Hi guys,It's still holding up!!!!!!.

[slim]

How about the front and rear?
I assume they are holding up too, but what did you do to them? The Mcmaster Carr spring washers?

[NOFX]

I've locked the middle diff, and the rears locked with epoxy resin. The rears hopefully being replaced with a MIP diff.The MIP diff stripped instantly,didn't know I had to shim it:rolleyes:) Keep breaking dogbones though. I've seen a post on another site that dates back to 2005,asking losi to make a metal diff.I don't think I can make one or find one that'll hold up either:mad:

[NOFX]

Hi guys,I know its an old n ,but .I broke the diff in my micro dominator(my fault,3 ft drop on full throttle:D) but there are tiny METAL gears in there,I know they're probably extruded ,but,If they can make them..........?:D

[makakoa808]

Hi guys,I know I said I'd go away,but I'm still trying to get something done.I've drilled out a 19t pinion ,fitted it in the centre gearbox.And promptly distroyed the MIP rear diff:eek:.So it looks like it's up to the job:D:D:D.If only lo$i would make the effort,I mean it only took me 10 minutes(after waiting 10 days for the pinions)to drill it out.My mlst2's got NO plastic in the centre gearbox,no more shreaded gears in there!

You got pics?

[NOFX]

Hi ,I can't get my stupid phone to link up,so no pics.But I drilled out the appropriate pinion,and it fitted quite well,it can stand the 5200kv 35A power.Now gotta figure out the front ,rear diffs,and dog bones(I'm not sure if the dogbones broke cause of the locked rear diff,I broke 3 in 10 mins:( )

[makakoa808]

They make Titanium Dog Bones... Have you tried those?

[rocket ron]

i have had my mlst for over two years and have broken or stripped anything. the reason for this is that i have had nothing but electrical glitches after about the second month i had it. it would run for a few seconds and quit moving still having steering. it did this every time i ran it so i questioned this with the service tech. i had the synthesized radio and all so i bought a new esc and it still did it. i then went to a stock esc and it did not like any of my receivers. i bought another new esc, an esc for mlst2 and it would not work with any of my receivers. my next step was the losi excelorin for the mlst and i guess now i have a battery issue because it wont do anything and i know it has a full charge. i hooked up a standard 6cell just to try it and everything worked. of course i had to hurry to shut it off as it wanted to keep on running. so if it is a battery issue now could someone tell me and perhaps suggest the right battery i need. thank yall (mudflap ron in fla)

[slim]

From the very beginning of your story I suspected the battery, (or the charger).
Anytime you have steering but no go, you should suspect a dead battery first.
If your charger is telling you it has a full charge, then you either have a bad battery or a bad charger. Of course now you know this from all your trial and error, but its unfortunate you had to go through all that. The Losi tech should have told you to start with the battery.
So, now as far as a replacement battery, anything that will fit will do.
Since you have the brushless setup, you may want to check into getting a Lipo battery, but if you do just make sure to get an appropriate charger. Good Luck.

[NOFX]

Hi.Turnigy lipo's are good,I had a 3S in the mlst,given up on that for the mo,Got the MMM summit running,Stupidly resilient!! :) .The 3S was £9.I use a hextronic lipo balancer/charger,£30 from hextronic :) .I think the esc will only cope with 7.2V ,so the 2S lipo's an idea. Losi diffs are an **** with brushless though!

[rocket ron]

i greatly appreciate all the helpful input guys. i shall most definately try the lipo as i run them in my stampede and rustler with the vxl. i have the metal diff gears in my mlst and swaybars so i should be good there.

[Michael]

Optimus1T

You mentioned Bruchless Motor (3) 20mm.How about the 26mm that Castle Creations has? Any comments on thatmotor? brushless

[NOFX]

Hi,hobbyking are selling 1000mah 3S 40C lipos really cheap at the mo,about $10 :)

[jrowles91]

Hi,hobbyking are selling 1000mah 3S 40C lipos really cheap at the mo,about $10 :)

So is it better to get the viscious diff or mip diff then shim? They are stronger designs from stock right?

[jeffnohio]

Did they ever fix this?

[NOFX]

NOPE,losi never could be bothered :(

[ddown22]

I recently purchased 2 List's, 1 new and 1 used and have had to replace all the gears in both. In the used one ,I am using metal gears with a spool in the center and spools on order for the front and rear diffs. It is 90% aluminum and has ( 2 ) 4400kv brushless motors and a 60A esc. Once I have installed diff spools and put some good run time on the truck I will post a report. The servos had to be replaced on the new one after only a few runs. I replaced the center gears with metal and the front and rear diff gears that weren't metal were replaced with plastic because that was all I could find on short notice. ( My 4yr old son doesn't like to hear that the trucks don't work) I might spool this one too. I have o come up with something for the servos, maybe they could offer a metal servo gear rebuild kit

[makakoa808]

Are these a good fix for the Mini LST center diff? They are metal and I've heard they fit.

Losi LOSB1065

http://www.losi.com/Products/Features.aspx?ProdId=LOSB1065

http://www.losi.com/ProdInfo/LOS/250/LOSB1065-250.jpg

[ddown22]

I had these in both of my mlst's. I put a spool in one of them, but they were both working fine. One thing I noticed though, is the small gears in the middle ( I know the name of them ,I just can't think of it. ) take a bit of pressure to seat properly. And once they are in, you need to spin them to make sure they spin freely in both directions. Mine had a little binding that was easily worked out

[makakoa808]

Thanks I think I'm gonna pick these up.

[ddown22]

If you have any that are show and go think about the spool. I wouldn't put it in a basher, but I have one truck just for showing off and it is spooled with the metal gears. Unfortunately you have to buy both, but it's a wheelie beast and stupid fast