Jato questions

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Nitro Nerd

Gone - bye bye.
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RC Driving Style
  1. Racing
I have to admit that I've been a closet fan of that Jato. I've come close to pulling the trigger on one so many times it's not funny. The problem is I don't know what to do with one. I missed out on the ST scene, but man oh man it's one class I imagine I would have LOVED!

1. Basher? Possibly. The goal would be to simply make it durable while still keeping the intergrity (i.e the 'feel' of a ST). I would want to take advantage of the truck's agility so it would be a cross between my Losi 810 and Savage X 4.6. Light/agile/durable and can be driven on any terrain.

2. Speed-demon. THIS is what I'm most interested in. I see guys all the time drag racing their Jatos....if I find that scene in D/FW, then I 'm coming guns-a-blazin'. Even if it's not Jato-only competition, I imagine I can get one 70+ mph pretty easily...so I'd think.

3. Both? Meaning it would be an all-around vehicle, one where I can take it off-road as needed, and then set it up for serious on-road racing.

Regardless of direction, I would immediately part out a lot of the components (engine/pipe/clutch, etc).

My questions:
1. Ideally I'd like to put a small-block, on-road in it. Something like the OS 19XZ-B. I mean putting something like an .25 or larger would be counter-productive, so I'd think.
2. If it turns out my best option IS a big block, however, will it fit a .21?

I'd love to hear from you Jato owners....what do you like/dislike about them, as well as how you set them up and run them (i.e. on-road, basher, racer, etc.)
 
The Jato is a great truck. If you plan to off road it it will need some upgrades. Tires and brakes. The biggest problem off road would be ground clearance. Remember its a high power 2wd so traction is a problem, plus the front end is really light. There's really no need for a BB I ran a trx 3.3 with the Losi 3.4 carb and a THS pipe. I use mine mostly on road now. It also eats rear tires like no tomorrow. Traxxas for what ever reason uses 12mm hubs in the rear and a two bearing set-up in the front so you can't rotate your tires. There is a mod you can do to run the hexes up front. I converted mine to 17mm and now I running xo-1 tires all the way around. Like I said its a great truck. I've seen your vids and vehicles so it will be something different to what your using and faster lol.
I'll try and get some pictures up of mine.

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Jato is a great truck. I have an OS18tz on mine. I est top speed around 68 or so. I have 22/36 Revo gears.

They do eat rear tires. Its as much from braking as taking off. I also upgraded to the 17mm hubs and X-01 wheels.

The HR brake upgrade is really nice too.

The Jato will suprise you on how tough it is. The only part I have ever broken was the shock mount tabs on the diff case. I just upgraded to the Integy one.

They do sell a BB conversion chassis. The fastest Jato I've seen on vid was running a Picco.21 9 port with the BB chassis. 87mph.

If you plan on adding power, Id upgrade the plastic tranny internals with the steel kit from HR racing.

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Good stuff guys. You both have some impressive-looking Jatos (and I've been looking at them for a while now).

I would like to keep it small block if possible just to keep weight down while beefening up needed areas.

As I think through it, I might just build one instead of having to sell off the parts I don't want--and I'm sorry, but I'm not going to run that 3.3 on it with the easy start and all of that. I want to put a bad-ass on-road engine in it. Nothing against that 3.3, but I doubt it's the best engine for the Jato....and I want to run the absolute fastest the drive-train can handle. ;-) Jersey10....how are you like that 3.4 carb? Man the Traxxas one must be horrendous...as much as I love that 3.4 engine (I freaking LOVE them), I don't like the carb at all. Assume you're running that 11k carb in the OS? I'll definitely convert mine to 17mm as well.

How does it jump? What is ride-height for decent handling? Over 30 mm?

SV250...do you take yours off-road much?

Thanks again....this is helping.
 
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I use the 3.3 with a pull start n I have a rb mod turbo head. It probably has more top end speed than my o.s. 18tz. In my pics I have a 18tm but I destroy the block in a bad crash. I'm not trying to sell u on the 3.3. The os engines are better but 3.3 isn't bad for the price. When she dies I'll install the 18tz.

---------- Post added at 9:49 PM ---------- Previous post was at 9:45 PM ----------

Also in one of my pics you'll see a brace linking the upper chassis to the front bulkhead. That's a weak spot for the truck. She jumps great by the way. It's really light and fast. I also use revo shock bodies which are aluminum compared to the stock plastic ones. You can get them on eBay for like $20 for all 4.
 
TRhe OS 18 tz is the best small block you will find for the Jato. If you want more jam, send it to CRE to get modded.

My Jato hasnt seen off road yet. I have a set of wheels for it, just havent done it.

I was shooting radar at it back when i was running the 3.3. I hat 58 on the gun when I hit a curb and sent it flying (tumbling) 20 feet in the air when it smacked into my palm tree. That diff case was the only casualty. My savage would have been worse than that. Anybody that starts running their head about Jato durability is full of poop.

Building from scratch is a good idea. I could have built another one from parts. I upgraded everything. RPM parts etc. Its just what I do. Its a sickness.
 
Most of my broken parts came from high speed crashes. Totally my fault. I'm not questioning os 18tz it's a great engine. I built mine from scratch I actually have two. I was going keep one for onroad and one for off road but I picked up that tamyia truggy so the other Jato can wait.
 
Most of my broken parts came from high speed crashes. Totally my fault.

Yeah, high speed and crashes don't play well together...regardless of vehicle. ;-)

I think I'll start with one of my 3.4 engines which is extremely similar to that OS .18. This will give me an idea of what type of upgrade in power I want to make and what's entailed with getting the truck to handle it.
 
I just got my jato. Its the biggest pain in the butt to work on. Why? Traxxas made it to go fast. That's it. Not to be easy to work on, just to go fast. Anyway, I love the 3.3 in it and it runs great. No further comment yet since I literally just got it. Dream truck for years along with a revo.
 
Love my Jato. Use it only as off road. Dynamite .19 with ths pipe. Runs strong, lots of fun. Paddles in the sand hills are fun too! Also have 2.8 trenchers front and rear, all around fun with them and better ground clearance.
 

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Got it running. Hate it.
 
Could you give a wee bit more insight into why you hate it??
I had a jato I used to swing spanners on for my cousin , he was rough as hell on it and used to hit stuff, a lot. When I was using it I though it was a good little rig even with a 3.3 the only thing needing upgrading was the brakes other than that it was a rocket.
 
Could you give a wee bit more insight into why you hate it??
I had a jato I used to swing spanners on for my cousin , he was rough as hell on it and used to hit stuff, a lot. When I was using it I though it was a good little rig even with a 3.3 the only thing needing upgrading was the brakes other than that it was a rocket.


Idle sounds perfect, but it takes off no matter how I tune it. Slide is completely closed and idle is set right. Worst car to actually fix. Brakes are f'ed up. I set it right but it won't grab. The linkage only moves a couple millimeters and apparently that's supposed to stop the car? Come on. It's the worst brake setup I've ever worked on. I always have to have the brakes engaged somewhat. Might be my clutch shoes always engaged? I have no idea. I'm ready to chuck it out the window.
 
Its unusual for clutch shoes to hang up on a new RTR but worthwhile checking into anyhow.

if your going to keep your Jato, you should seriously consider upgrading the brakes like jerzey10 and sv250 recommended.

You should also consider upgrading the throttle/braking servo. The traxxas servos are junk IMO.
Something like a Hitec hs925mg, hs945mg or hs965mg servo for example would make a big improvement in throttle and braking.
 
Its unusual for clutch shoes to hang up on a new RTR but worthwhile checking into anyhow.

if your going to keep your Jato, you should seriously consider upgrading the brakes like jerzey10 and sv250 recommended.

You should also consider upgrading the throttle/braking servo. The traxxas servos are junk IMO.
Something like a Hitec hs925mg, hs945mg or hs965mg servo for example would make a big improvement in throttle and braking.

Got it used. Good compression, bad tune or clutch. Brake linkage is crap. Carb slide doesn't even open all the way but that's normal I guess. Steering servo was upgraded by me, but my RX pack barely stays at 6v so the digital servo glitches all the time. I hate this thing.
 
Clutch shoe spring is completely missing. That's one problem fixed.
 
best thing to do , well what I do anyways is when I buy a 2nd rig I usually strip it clean it and get a list of everything that need replacing or repair ,last you whats what then you can go and enjoy with out doing that walk of shame lol
 
best thing to do , well what I do anyways is when I buy a 2nd rig I usually strip it clean it and get a list of everything that need replacing or repair ,last you whats what then you can go and enjoy with out doing that walk of shame lol

Except it's a Jato. You really, REALLY don't want to hear it apart to if you don't need to. Because... well they really hate being put back together. A lot of people call them a pile of parts because people don't want to put them back together.
 
Of course there's no servo horn that fits my spektrum.
 
they are no harder to spanner than most rigs ,I've had one apart many times with no instructions.
what spline count is your spektrum ,I fitted 2 spektrum servos to my n 4tec and used the stock hardware . from memory stock is 26 spline I think
 

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