Hey all. I’ve had the Losi Ten SCTE for about three months now, and it has been through a lot. I thought I would give  a quick recap of some of the adventures it has been through, and what the experience has been like.

To review, I bought the SCTE In early May 2011. For power, I’m using a Castle Creations Mamba Max Pro ESC,  and a Castle Creations 1410 motor (3800kv). For tires, I’m using AKA Enduros mounted on DE Racing wheels.

I have a first generation truck. For those that are not aware, there was a problem with the differential pins from the factory. They used too soft a metal for the pins that the diff gears spin on. The pins were prematurely wearing, causing a gap in between the differential gears. With an improper mesh, the differential gears would wear, and strip. Losi sent replacement pins to owners of first generation trucks, but I bought mine from APE (Attebery Performance Engineering). We did an article detailing how to install said pins, click here to read it.

Just a few weeks ago, I took apart the diffs again. I wanted to change what weight fluid I was running. I inspected the pins, and gears. There was absolutely no wear. I’m quite happy with them. The one thing that bothers me is it appears most of the diff fluid I had in there had leaked out. There was still some in there, enough to keep the gears lubricated. But I had filled them completely when I first redid them in May, so some fluid definitely leaked out. I’ll have to check them again in a month or two to see if the fluid leaked out again.

I almost exclusively race my truck. The rare occasion I bash it is only for a minute or two in the street to test it before a race day. As such, all of my experiences are on the track.

The Losi is a heavy truck, maybe the heaviest 4wd short course truck on the market. Mine weighs in at 6.2 lbs ready to race (with battery and body). I’ve heard of some as heavy as 6.5 lbs. My experiences over the past few months have shown that there are both positives and negatives to this. A big positive is how resilient the truck is to the bumps and crashes associated with short course racing. When other trucks hit you, they bounce off. The Losi just holds its line. Also, if you hit other trucks, they go flying. Not that I’m condoning pushing people out of the way, just saying you can do it with this truck. Another benefit of the weight is how easy it makes the truck to drive. The weight helps keep the truck planted through the turns. Rough tracks and off camber turns are nothing to this truck. It takes them in stride. It also helps a newer driver in that the truck has a calm personality. It doesn’t bounce wildly all over the track. Just point it where you want to go, and it will take you there. One glaring negative to the weight, however, is it’s affect on runtime. I was using a 5000 mah 40C 2S venom Lipo. This battery proved sufficient for the 6 minute heats at my tracks, but when it came to the 10 minute Mains, I was falling short. If I ran all out, I would hit Lipo cutoff voltage (set at 3.2V per cell) at around 8.5 to 9 minutes in the Main. If I took it slow, meaning not trying to catch the leaders but merely finish the race, I would still hit cutoff at around the 9.5 minute mark. I rectified this situation by picking up a Promatch 6200 mah 60C 2S Lipo. I have no trouble making the ten minute Mains with this battery. I can run full steam for the entire ten minutes without worrying about hitting cutoff.

CRC Raceway has a large 1/8 scale off road track. Typical lap times in the 4wd SCT class are in the 35 seconds range, but the better drivers can do it in about 30 seconds. There are a few large jumps on this track, ones where you get approximately 10 feet of air, and travel 20 feet or more. On my first few practice laps, I took it easy with truck, trying to feel out if I could take the big triple. At first I was able to take the big triple without issue, but then I couldn’t. I started “lawn darting”. This is where the nose of the truck lands into the face of the landing jump. After doing this two or three times, on two or three separate heats, I noticed the body holes no longer lined up perfectly with the mounting posts. Upon closer inspection, I found that the rear shock tower was bent. I was able to bend it back close to straight with a pair of slip joint pliers (I call them Channel locks, that’s the brand name). After reading about it online, I found that shock towers are a common item getting replaced on this truck. I replaced it with a SNR Graphite tower (see our article here). I still lawn dart on occasion, and haven’t had any issues with the graphite tower. At some point I’ll do the front tower just for uniformity.

The stock Losi body I got with my truck is no longer with us. It developed a crack where the front wheel and windshield line up with each other. That crack first formed during my initial runs at CRC Raceway with the truck. I threw some tape on the underside of the body to try to hold it together. Another crack started where the body meets the rear bumper, eventually tearing the entire rear fender off the truck. At this point I threw the body away, it was beyond repair. I’m currently using a stock body from a 2wd XXX-SCT. It fits perfectly. The body posts are in the identical positions, and there is plenty of clearance for the wheels.

Another part of the truck I’ve had to replace is the rear bumper. There are two screws that hold the main section of the bumper to the support coming off the truck. The bosses ripped around the screws, eventually ripping the bumper completely off the truck. I was able to use tie wraps the day it broke at the track. That got me through the rest of the day. There are a couple of alternatives. T-Bone racing offers a beefier bumper for the truck. I’ve not seen it personally, but I hear good things about it. T-Bone Racing You could also order a replacement from Losi. The new bumpers are said to be stronger than the originals.

While I’ve spent some time in this article talking about some of the parts I’ve had to replace, let me say I love this truck. If you take care of the few issues with it out of the gate, it is a very capable winner. It is winning all over the country, and even in the hands of a novice driver it can be driven fast. I’m not as fast as the pros at my track, but I do on occasion pull a fast lap. I attribute it all to the truck. It is that easy to drive. I had to learn how to jump this truck properly, to stop it from nosing over. Once I master that, its only a matter of time before I contend for the A main win.

The one thing I wish is that they offered the RTR when I first wanted to buy this truck. When I bought the ARTR, and pieced together all of the electronics for it, I spent well more than the retail price that was announced for the RTR. On top of that, the RTR will be coming with a 550 motor mated to a Castle Creations MMP ESC, the same ESC I’m running now.

If you’re looking to get into the 4wd Short course class, take a very strong look at this truck. You will not be disappointed.