Was lucky enough to buy a used G3 prototype minus esc, battery and remote from George at BajaBoards.
Planning to refresh/upgrade as I go along.
First of all I’ll be doing a mechanical rebuild and check for any problems.
I’ve ordered two new Optibelt drive (timing) belts, I’ve used these before on various machines and never had a problem. About double the price of the alternatives, I believe the quality is better.
Ordered a complete set of ball bearings Japanese made NSK and Koyo. Although I’m sure the originals are fine I’m not comfortable chancing it on used bearings.
I have stripped one thread out taking the suspension arms apart, so I think I’ll use thread inserts (helicoils) in critical locations.
Some photos of progress so far:
Removed deck and started disassembling suspension.
You should use Torqueboards VESC 6 that might support 13S. Do you have a spot welder to make batteries? I’m sure lots of people would love to give input on a custom Bajaboard battery.
I’ll be working to get it mechanically right and upgrading where necessary.
I’m thinking of running something basic for testing and tuning then upgrading.
In the interim might just buy the baja esc and controller, then upgrade to Trampa VESC 7s when I decide on what batteries Ill use.
I also got my hands on a Baja G3 without the battery. I just got an arduino spot welder and I have been asking bike shops around for broken batteries to refurbish them and put them in the board.
Removed what I’ve been calling the main pivot bolt, essentially what the “trucks” pivot on.
Wherever you have dissimilar metals you really want to apply something to prevent galvanic corrosion leading to seized bolts. I’m going to use this wherever I can to make sure I don’t end up having to drill out seized bolts.
The three bolts only have a 4mm hex and had threadlocker applied, was only just able to remove them by grinding down my allen socket for better engagement, applying heat and penetrating oil.
When I reassemble i’ll use the anti seize and rather than threadlocker probably Nord-Lock washers to prevent them backing out. I have used them before and they work, unlike spring washers which I assure you do not.
Removed the original bearings from the drive wheels and cleaned them up. Pressed in new bearings with a small amount of medium strength threadlocker. Although the original bearings felt fine it looks like a fair bit of grease has melted out of them, why you have to be careful purchasing bearings.
I noticed a bit of wobble in the drive pulleys, initially I put that down to worn bearings. Turns out that the stub axles they sit on were about 0.1mm - 0.15mm undersize on the unworn part of the axle (I measured with calipers and a micrometer.) This causes a fair amount of deflection at the outer edge of the pulley, and premature wear of the axle. How much difference this makes in reality I can’t say for sure.
Please do be aware that this company will not allow you without a high penalty to cancel your order (I tried) and they will not take reasonable returns. I tried to return my recently purchased G4X and they offered 30% less than I paid plus I pay for shipping back. Also, when a suspension arm failed with regular maintenance, after only a couple of months of ownership, they did not pay for replacement but assumed user error. If you pay the crazy money for one of these boards, assume you are on you own.
