Better crawling control

[visceral]

Without getting a new radio and receiver, what motor (preferably brushed due to $$$) and esc (is it needed?) would provide a good increase in low speed crawling over the stock set up. I currently run 3s and dropped the pinion 2 teeth.

Ideally I'd like to be able to crawl even slower but also get a bit more wheel speed. I run a pretty light rig so I don't need tonsssss of power, but for reference I am getting the stock motor pretty hot sometimes.

Thanks!

[allanon1965]

13T Holmes hobbies crawl master sport, at 34 bucks its a very good budget motor that's rebuildable. It's a 5 pole rotor for enhanced low end resolution and still has very good wheel speed on 3s. I have 2 of them and they are day and night difference over the stock motors.

You don't mention what gearing you are running, but if you are running a 56t spur, run a 10t pinion. Keep the ratio somewhere between 5.6:1 and 6.2:1 and it will be fine. The stock ESC works fine with the Holmes hobbies brushed motors...

[visceral]

Thanks for taking the time to respond. I'm currently running a 10p 56s spur, so this sounds like it could be a good fit. Did you do anything to break your motors in?

Any other sub $75 suggestions?

The only heavier stuff from stock are some steel wheels and put hull rock beasts, and vanquish links and stage one.

[allanon1965]

nope, no break in at all... holmes does a fine job with the motors... you can go up in quality to the expert series motors which do run a bit better but in my experience they are not necessary...save a few bucks and run the sport models...spend the extra money for other upgrades....

[RiderZ]

Tekin FXR speedo & Integy 35-45T lathe motor.The FXR is super smooth & linear.The Integy motors are cheap,reliable crawler motors with plenty of power.

[meatmonkey]

I've found one of the easiest ways to increase the "creepability" of my crawlers is to use the exponential funcion on either the radio, or programmed into the speed controller. This function allows more precise application of power to the motor at lower throttle levels.

The stock motor will creep along quite nicely if geared low enough. If your getting it too hot to touch, then it wants lower gearing.

If you insist on being able to go slower AND go faster, then you'll need to step-up to a better motor.

I vote you pick up either a Castle SV3 or an Ebay take-off Traxxas ET3-s and the required castle link. Both will allow you to set an exponential throttle curve, as well as a host of other usable functions such as punch control, and precisely adjustable drag brake.

Did your truck come with the AE-5 speed controller? I ask because those don't seem as smooth on the low end as the older (Castle produced, programmable) AE-2.

[allanon1965]

All of my brushed motors are running the ae-5 and its just as slow and smooth as the ae-2 they replaced...at least in mine anyway...plus I can go 3s and they are water resistant.....

[Norton]

I have three Holmes 13T pro's. Great motors fore sure!

[Wade]

Holmes Hobbies or Brood the two top notch motors.
And a Castle Creations ESC sv3 sidewinder or mamba max pro

Those two paired together are a great combo.


Cheers,
Wade

[Wade]

Forgot to add........ Holmes esc's too, they are castle based so will work with the castle link.

[Hotrodvw]

I still run 48P, 87/16. I was at a 14 pinion. I run a HH TMP 27T on 3S with an AE-2 and CC BEC. Like they say at HH, volt up and gear down. I found a smaller pinion does help with the low speed resolution, but I was looking for a bit more top end wheel speed. I switched to the 16T pinion. Seems to still crawl great, that motor does great for the application. I keep a close eye on motor temps when I'm out for a while. So far, so good.

[DowntownScience]

13T for crawling? That's definitely not going to give you control on rocks. On 3S you could go 35 to 45 turn and still have decent top end. All about gearing at that point.

[Hotrodvw]

Probably brushless speak

[DowntownScience]

Originally Posted by Hotrodvw

Probably brushless speak

Brushless is in kv. You'd want around 1800 to 2500 kv for brushless.

[Hotrodvw]

True it is, but some also rate them in "Turns" like a brushed motor.

[JohnRobHolmes]

Originally Posted by DowntownScience

13T for crawling? .

Crawlmaster is the name, it's the gold standard to compare other models on low speed and startup control! 13t on five slots, its about the same speed as 27t on 3 slots. maybe smidge faster.

http://holmeshobbies.com/info/3-slot-vs-5-slot/

[snapon boy]

Can't go wrong with Holmes hobbies service or products! I run 2 of the 13t sport motors one in my ax10 shafty and one in scx10.

[visceral]

Thanks for all the responses! My lhs guy recommended the castle esc (but he also works on big money cars a lot so his perception of necessary quality is a bit different from mine)...I just bought a house so cash is kinda tight so $35 vs $35 and esc feels a lot better

Anyways, I like all I'm hearing about the Holmes 13t, I think I'll give it a try.

[DowntownScience]

Originally Posted by JohnRobHolmes

Crawlmaster is the name, it's the gold standard to compare other models on low speed and startup control! 13t on five slots, its about the same speed as 27t on 3 slots. maybe smidge faster.

http://holmeshobbies.com/info/3-slot-vs-5-slot/

Thanks for that bit of knowledge!

[JohnRobHolmes]

You would hope I wouldn't name something CrawlMaster that wasn't awesome for crawling, right?