Monster Truck Madness – Turkey Mailbag

Last week I asked for Losi LMT-related questions and as usual, you all delivered. Many folks asked similar questions so I picked two of them to answer below.

Oh, and before we get going, Happy Thanksgiving to all of our US readers!

Doug,

Question in response to your column on the LMT (and all your other coverage, which was great!). Fair to say a lot of us share your enthusiasm! I got my Clod in 1989 and am still running it, upgraded with a CPE Terminator chassis and brushless power. Those gearboxes, axles and tires, though, they’ll live on forever!

Anyway, the LMT looks like the next-gen truck that Clod lovers will want to jump on, but here’s a question a lot of us are probably wondering about: which pickup-style bodies will mount on the roller chassis, and what mods are required to make it work? The two Monster Jam truck bodies are fun, but that’s not what most old-school folks are going to want to run!

Cheers,

Ari A.

Hi Ari,

Like you, I’ve been running Clods for a long, long time. Even with the LMT about to make a splash, the Clod isn’t going anywhere. It’s r/c royalty.

I’m going to be doing a column on bodies soon, but Losi includes standard body mounts in the LMT box so you can run standard bodies if you’d like. Like most trucks, wheel base is really the deciding factor. It sits at 13.5″ so just keep that in mind. Anything around that should work ok.

The actual chassis may appear larger due to the big Sonuva Digger/Grave Digger bodies, but it’s really not. Standard bodies look fine on it. I actually plan to use a JConcepts Snoop Nose Chevy as I personalize mine. More on that to come later!

Hi Doug,

I’ve been reading Big Squid 🦑 for something like 10 years now but this is my first time writing in so still a newbie on that front 😊

Firstly, thanks to you and all the other contributors for an informative but entertaining and light hearted read… I thoroughly enjoy it.

Secondly, the new LMT… what a truck!! Oozes cool in fantastically retro way but using bang up to date internals.

My questions on it are:

a. Power train – how come it’s running 2S/3S cells? I’m concerned that this is a lot of truck and rotating mass with those big wheels… did it run at sensible temps during testing? I’m tempted to go for a roller and fit a 4S short course system with a lower kv motor for more torque and lower temps. I live in the UK at the moment but am hoping to move to Hong Kong in the new year so will be dealing with far higher ambient temperatures.

b. 1/8 scale electronics? The spec mentions that it’s running 1/8 scale diff internals – is there sufficient space to run 1/8 scale electronics? If they fit would I likely destroy the rest of the drivetrain or end up with an awesome bash machine? Is the handling good enough to make use of that extra power?

Your thoughts would be greatly appreciated 😊

Jonathan E.

Hey Jonathan, thanks for writing in finally and not being a stranger. I’ll answer your questions separately.

Question A. This truck left us wanting for nothing on 3S. That had a ton of torque and get-up. Yes, the truck is heavy, but that still was more than enough power on tap. I can tell you I’ve only seen a couple guys run 4S in their solid axle trucks, and the ones that do were running beefy Freestyle R/C chassis. 4S was way too much to the point where it just ate parts. So yes, I wouldn’t worry with the stock system on 3S. If you do find yourself wanting more power, maybe upgrade the motor. I just think that 4S would be way too much. Hey- if you do go with that kind of voltage be sure to let me know your results and I’ll share!

Oh, and even 2S is a blast. I prefer it on that. I mentioned it in the review, but 2S feels most like you are driving a real monster truck. If you want the more authentic experience, that’s my recommendation for it, at least.

Question B. For this question, I think you can see some of question A. There seems to be enough space to fit what you are wanting in there electronics wise, but I dunno that you’d really want to put something significantly bigger.

If you asking could the internals handle it, my best guess is that yes, the transmission could but knowing solid axle monsters like I do, you will reach a failure point somewhere. My hypothesis is if you up the power big time and therefore are going bigger, you will find that you start to shed axle parts. That’s not an insult to the design- I’m just used to watching 20-30 heavily modified and bullet proof Pro Mod style trucks freestyle their asses off in competition at Trigger King events. Axles or or 4 link bars are usually where that energy escapes when the drivetrain can handle it.

I’ve actually seen more runs stopped short by busted or ripped heim joints than anything else.

Hopefully that answers your questions Jonathan. My recommendation is get the LMT and run it on 3S to see if you need do something else from there. It feels very powerful on that, and this is coming from someone whose Pro-Mod runs a 5.5t motor.

If you have a monster truck related question or just wanna shoot the breeze, shoot an e-mail to doug@bigsquidrc.com!