Losi Mini 8ight Tear Down/Rebuild

Dean's Blog — 07 February 2012

I am a HUGE fan of the new (well, fairly new), Losi Mini 8ight. As stated in a previous blog entry, nearly every time I head to R/C Madness in Enfield, CT I take this killer little buggy with me and throw down some laps. Well, after 30-40 packs plus through the vehicle I thought it was time for some freshening up and a few more hop-ups!

First up I decided to replace the stock carriers and spindles with the aluminum aftermarket items from Losi. They are obviously tough, look great and move very freely. To give the front end a sharp look I replaced many of the stock screws with silver titanium screws and used gold anodized counter-sunk washers and gold nuts.

Also on the front end, I added a shim between the front pinion drive gear and the bearing. The shim is very thin and removes any possible gear slop. NOTE: If you do this, and use a shim that is too thick, it will cause the gears to bind! In the picture below the area where I added the shim is circled.

Keep checking back as I work my way through the 8ight Mini!!!

About Author

Dean Berry

About Dean: I am one of the Lead Contributors for RC Driver Magazine. Like Greg, my first hobby grade vehicle was a Tamiya Falcon; I began racing an RC10 shortly thereafter and have been hooked ever since. My garage of vehicles includes everything from a Losi 5ive-T and HPI Super 5SC Flux, to a Losi Micro T and almost everything in between including boats. I also help out at R/C Madness (my home away from home) in Enfield, CT, in my spare time. While I don’t race all that often anymore my Nephew, Doc, is starting to race my fleet of vehicles.

(6) Readers Comments

Mike
May 7, 2012 at 4:46 pm

Hey Dean,
very well done. Your M8ight looks really sick! Could you please tell me where you bought the titanium screws and the gold andonized washers?
With kind regards Mike

Reply
- Dean Berry
  May 7, 2012 at 5:30 pm
  
  Hi Mike,
  The gold washers and nuts are from Dynamite. As for the screws, I have a stockpile from various other projects.
  
  Reply
James Murphy
September 26, 2012 at 11:39 am

I was wondering if you had any recommendations on differential upgrades or modifications to strengthen the differentials because I feel that the stock differentials are going to be the weak point in my drive line with my modifications to my mini 8ight.

Reply
- Dean Berry
  September 26, 2012 at 11:43 am
  
  Hi James,
  My best suggestion would be to remove the diffs, clean them VERY well, and then reassemble with a very thick grease. I’ve doen this and they work great.
  Dean-
  
  Reply
  - James Murphy
    September 27, 2012 at 8:45 am
    
    I was also wondering if you had recommendations about the servo I am thinking of upgrading the servo but everyone i have talked to is recommending changing out the servo saver as well I was wondering if you had advice on whose servo saver to run instead of the stock losi one
    
    Reply
Dean Berry
September 27, 2012 at 9:12 am

Hi James,

I am using the stock servo. I found it works very well and have not had any issues. One thing to note – make sure the two screws that connect the turnbuckle to the steering rack and servo arm are not too tight. If they are, the steering will bind and feel sluggish.

Reply