Shockwave 26 V3 for the grandson

[PawPaw88]

Grandson said the same thing about the Traxxas Stampede..... Hence the upgrades to the suspension and change to brushless motor and esc. ......

[J.W. Pepper]

...My biggest gripe with the IM26 is the steerable outdrive vs. strut and rudder...
IM26's never had the steerable outdrive, only strut and rudder... http://www.proboatmodels.com/Product...ProdID=PRB4200 - check out the gallery + pic below.

I think you meant the original Shockwave - it did have the steerable outdrive... http://www.proboatmodels.com/Product...ProdID=PRB3150 - check out the gallery - also there's a pic below.

Because the "new" Shockwave V3 boats are basically rebadged IM26's, they do not have the steerable outdrive, trust me I own one, mine does have the strut & rudder. Another cool feature is that it has a .150" flexcable inside a teflon liner with a strut bushing at the end and 3/16" prop shaft like you find on more expensive (fiberglass) boats.

I attached pix of the rear views of both the brushed & brushless versions of the "new" Shockwave V3 for you guys. Notice the difference in the factory applied graphics between the brushed & brushless... brushed is silver, brushless is black. The color'ed parts are what PB calls "consumer applied", you won't find them in the parts lists, I had to do some digging at HH's website to find them.

The brushed version... http://www.horizonhobby.com/products...d-sw26-PRB4221

The BL version... http://www.horizonhobby.com/products...sw26bl-PRB4223

Hope this helps to clear up any misconceptions caused by other posts or the good ole rumor mill.


Happy Boating all

Haha, my son is 5 and when we took his Miss Geico 17 out for the first time, he said "now go full speed!". I told him it was full speed and he hasn't had any interest in it since other than looks . He said he wants me "to get a better battery" for it lol.

My biggest gripe with the IM26 is the steerable outdrive vs. strut and rudder.

[kwiktsi]

Yes, I got confused between the two because the thread is about the Shockwave, but the post above mine mentioned the IM26, so you are correct about the steerable outdrive :). Sorry for any confusion :). However, the pics you show of the IM26 and V3 SW26 do not show a strut on them either though as you said they have, so now I'm really confused??? Looks to be just a straight shaft, which isn't much better IMHO- aside from no risk of losing a u joint :).

[PawPaw88]

What would be a good alternative prop other than the stainless option they list ?

[kwiktsi]

Nothing personal, please don't think I'm trying to pounce on you about it, just replying to your post :). Now, with that out of the way- I just found it ironic that you were trying to clear up the rumor mill by stating "trust me I own one, mine does have the strut & rudder" when they do not, they have a straight shaft :).

Anyway, I (personally) prefer having the adjustability of a strut vs. a straight shaft, that's all. Adjusting for prop, motor and condition changes is almost a necessity for a "good running" boat. Not that a straight shaft does not work, but you are limited with what you can do with it. I was really just confused when you said they had a strut on them more than anything. Either way, for a first boat, it will be fine, but you are limited with what you can do with it when the time comes.

[J.W. Pepper]

First off... this site went down last night while I was in the middle of updating my original post. I couldn't access the OSE store either, by 11pm (PST) I gave up. Forturnately I saved my message just in time, so I'll delete my original post & put everything in this one.

Nothing personal taken :)) --- Just trying to share experience's, but hey I'm only human, I do make mistakes, I'm not going to get offended because someone took the time to point them out to me.

...Looks to be just a straight shaft, which isn't much better IMHO...
My apologies, I misunderstood what you were looking for. I thought your concern was about the steerable outdrive setup that many people on this forum don’t like. You are correct they don't have a strut, what I was trying to say is they have a regular prop shaft with an offset rudder, I just didn't say it correctly.

Regarding struts... I spent a lot of time at both Kintec & OSE checking out struts to see if there's something that could be added on, I came up empty handed. Maybe one of those vendors does have something that will work, but I'm not seeing it cuz I don't have any experience with building boats.

That said, the SW’s stuffing tube is the same basic design as the AQ Rio EP has, Lenny's got his Rio up to 45mph (with a lot of mods), so not sure why you feel a straight shaft is a bad thing?? Please keep mind that this is a $150 boat that offers far more bang for the buck than it's competitor.

The stuffing tube is: 1/4" diameter & 1.825" from transom to tip and offset as described in the first paragraph of this tech note: http://manuals.hobbico.com/aqu/aqub1805-tech.pdf - 1.5" of that length is filled with a strut bushing that looks exactly like this one... http://www.offshoreelectrics.com/pro...s-spds-014-bsf - Specs: overall length = 1.5", body diameter = .230", tip diameter = .275", tip length = .120" - FlexCable specs: Overall Length = 12-5/8", prop shaft length = 1.680", teflon liner length = 9.25" + | all measurements were taken with an American made Starrett dial caliper.

I attached the pix that I was going to use for my original post. In one of them you can see the strut bushing, maybe that's what got me confused. It didn't come with the white washer, I got some 3/16" teflon washers last order I did with Kintec, I had to trim it down to get the OD to match the dog. These washers would probably also work… http://www.proboatmodels.com/Product...ProdID=PRB4114

I'm certainly no expert in designing boats; however it would seem to me that having a strut bushing in all but the first 5/16" of the exterior part of the stuffing tube will make it rigid enough. Of course the teflon liner keeps the flex cable spinning true on the interior portion of it.

Regarding adjustability... I also own a PB IM31-v1 which of course does have a strut. However the utterly oppressive heat wave that has been plaguing the west coast for the past month+ (normal temps = high 80's, this year - low 100's) have kept me inside - I bought another heli today for indoor fun Bottom line: I haven't had the oportunity to work with a boat that has a strut + trim tabs, only boats with trim tabs or outdrives.

I've been vacillating about whether to keep or sell the IM31, but not sure how much $$ I would be able to get for it.

Darin Jordan did a post listing things he recommends that could/should be done to the IM31's before the maiden run. Nothing major, just little things like adding extra layers of glass to various areas (especially the canopy) that will make the hull & other area's of the boat much stronger. But that takes time & money, how do I justify spending time & more money (I've already bought several upgrades) on a boat that I'm not sure I'll keep, and probably won't get to run this summer??

My SW is almost ready to go. I took the boat apart & thoroughly cleaned everything, when I reinstalled the motor I noticed that I was able to move it up & down a bit cuz the area under the coupler isn't rigid enough {see attached pic}; with a brushed motor probably no big deal, but with the extra power of a BL motor who knows?? Any ways I'm going to epoxy a piece of 1/8" bass to that area to stiffen it up. That's a simple fix that will only take a few hours. I'll be able to get some runs in when the heat lets up in fall.

...Either way, for a first boat, it will be fine, but you are limited with what you can do with it when the time comes...
Not quite sure what you mean by "limited with what you can do with it"?? Look at what Lenny has done with his Rio EP, great example of - your only limited by your imagination.

IMHO I think the SW26 is a great first boat, it's also a good fun boat for the wife/teenager/buddy or for those times when you just want to go to the lake/pond & play around for a little while. The BL version sells for around $210~$220 & only needs one batt at a time (3S for decent speeds) keeping running costs to a minimum.

THANK YOU for keeping things civil, certainly makes things a lot easier

Nothing personal, please don't think I'm trying to pounce on you about it, just replying to your post :). Now, with that out of the way- I just found it ironic that you were trying to clear up the rumor mill by stating "trust me I own one, mine does have the strut & rudder" when they do not, they have a straight shaft :).

Anyway, I (personally) prefer having the adjustability of a strut vs. a straight shaft, that's all. Adjusting for prop, motor and condition changes is almost a necessity for a "good running" boat. Not that a straight shaft does not work, but you are limited with what you can do with it. I was really just confused when you said they had a strut on them more than anything. Either way, for a first boat, it will be fine, but you are limited with what you can do with it when the time comes.

[J.W. Pepper]

The stainless option prop is the same one that comes stock with both versions of the IM31, it's a Prather S215.

Size wise (pitch & diameter), it's basically equivalent to the Octura x640. Compared to 1.4p props, it's a little bigger diameter than x440 - little smaller than x442, kinda like a x441 which of course doesn't exist - unless you make your own. For the IM31's, BHChieftan touts the x642 as being an excellent upgrade. I haven't tried it, so can't comment.

As for me personally, I bought the brushed version (to do my own BL upgrade). Since the SW26 is basically the same size boat as the AQ Rio EP, I'm going to start out with a x442 CNC'ed aluminum prop I got from Kintec because I've had good luck with that size on my Rio (upgraded to BL).

Also have... x438, x440 & x443, all are CNC'ed aluminum's that I prepped myself. Needless to say, I will be trying out different sizes to try & get a feel for what the boat wants.

I've had bad results both times I tried 3-blade props, 2 of the 3 I have - I CA'ed brass sleeve's in them so they would fit the Rio's 1/8" shaft. The 3rd is a 4mm bore - smaller than the 3/16" (4.76mm) shaft on the SW's. So can't use any of them.

That said, I have read many posts where people have reported good luck with m435's(3-blade) with this size boat. Trouble is: S&B "m" props will set you back bout $50 + wait time.

There's a place on eBay called VXP Performance that sells CNC'ed aluminum m436 & m438's-both 3-blade, price's are in the mid $30's with ship. I've already got bout $100+ tied up in props, so shelling out $30 somethin up to bout $50-ish for 3-bladed props that may or may not do the trick is not exactly something I feel all that good about.

For now I'll work with what I have, then go from there.

What would be a good alternative prop other than the stainless option they list ?

[PawPaw88]

Thanks much J.W................just what I was needing to know

[J.W. Pepper]

You're welcome

BTW: forgot to mention the stainless prop does need S&B. PB says it will help, elsewhere on this forum people say must do, I'll take the must do for $100 Alex.

Thanks much J.W................just what I was needing to know