Need help with new crawler king

[jerms78]

Hey guys, first post here! So my wife bought me a new crawler king for Christmas and after doing some wheeling with my buddies that own Axials, it appears mine is need of a little attn. I'm hoping for a little more speed. The 55t just isn't doing it for me. The stock gearing is 90/21 I believe. Those of you who have a lot more knowledge and experience, what do I need to do first? If it was yours, how would you go about getting the higher end speed and still be able to crawl.

[rcnick157]

Get a axial 20 turn or a traxxas titan 12 turn

[Lentsnh2012]

Volt up on your battery and then gear down. That should make it all much more enjoyable to drive.


What battery are you running right now?

[Johnnysplits]

35T...A 55 way too slow.

[Johnnysplits]

Originally Posted by rcnick157

Get a axial 20 turn or a traxxas titan 12 turn

Too fast

[jerms78]

Originally Posted by Lentsnh2012

Volt up on your battery and then gear down. That should make it all much more enjoyable to drive.


What battery are you running right now?

Onyx 5000 2 lipo. What gear would you suggest?

[Johnnysplits]

35T 90/14 on 4s

[Lentsnh2012]

Originally Posted by jerms78

Onyx 5000 2 lipo. What gear would you suggest?

If you are running a 2S lipo right now, I would bump it up to 3S.

The gear ratio is a bit of trail and error, you just have to watch your motor and ESC temps.

I would start out with an 87T spur and keep the same tooth pinion. Here is an excerpt from another forum regarding the gearing:

"a lower tooth count spur will give you higher top end speed, slower acceleration, and higher temps. a "taller" or higher tooth count spur will give you more torque, faster off the line speed, lower top end speed, and lower temperatures.

also remember a smaller pinion is the same as a taller spur and vice versa and that changing your pinion is like changing your spur up or down (respectively) 2 to 3 teeth."


"Bigger pinion/smaller spur = more speed, less torque, increased temps.

Smaller pinion/bigger spur = less speed, more torque, Lower temps."


You don't need to run a 4S lipo.... That's silly.

[jerms78]

Originally Posted by Lentsnh2012

If you are running a 2S lipo right now, I would bump it up to 3S.

The gear ratio is a bit of trail and error, you just have to watch your motor and ESC temps.

I would start out with an 87T spur and keep the same tooth pinion. Here is an excerpt from another forum regarding the gearing:

"a lower tooth count spur will give you higher top end speed, slower acceleration, and higher temps. a "taller" or higher tooth count spur will give you more torque, faster off the line speed, lower top end speed, and lower temperatures.

also remember a smaller pinion is the same as a taller spur and vice versa and that changing your pinion is like changing your spur up or down (respectively) 2 to 3 teeth."


"Bigger pinion/smaller spur = more speed, less torque, increased temps.

Smaller pinion/bigger spur = less speed, more torque, Lower temps."


You don't need to run a 4S lipo.... That's silly.

What motor do you recommend?

[Johnnysplits]

Originally Posted by Lentsnh2012

You don't need to run a 4S lipo.... That's silly.

So you say.

[Lentsnh2012]

Originally Posted by jerms78

What motor do you recommend?

You'll probably be fine with the stock 55T.

[Lentsnh2012]

Originally Posted by Johnnysplits

So you say.

Not in a Crawler King...

[Wraith1985]

I wouldnt go with the Titan 12t, it will get very hot very fast. I would go with a 27t-35t good power for crawling and better speed than a 55t.

[crazy nick]

RCCrawler Brand Specific Tech - HPI Wheely King at RCCrawler.com go here, all the info you'll ever need for that rig.

[Johnnysplits]

Originally Posted by Lentsnh2012

Not in a Crawler King...

How come it wouldn't work?

[OregonCrawlerKing]

I used 19/83 gearing (A good year too!) But that stock ESC will not handle 3s or 4s. (Not to mention there is no lipo cut-off on that ESC, you will end up ruining your lipo). A 35 turn would work best for it though to give it more speed and still crawl well. Get it too fast and you will just roll the thing over all the time. The Axials have a much lower center of gravity so they can go faster without the rollover issue. The rig is very top heavy so the whole chassis and battery location will need to be addressed. Same thing with the cantilever steering setup. Although its nice to have the non-waterproof servo up and out of the way, it does not steer well at all. Turning radius is not good either, that's why most guys get the rear steer setup. I know I did. You will also have the torque twist problem which will require shock tweaking (harder spring in one rear shock and/or heavier weight oil. The Crawler King was my first crawler (Hence the stupid ID name I wear here in the forum). I still have it, however all that is remaining are the axles. They are sitting under a Gatekeeper chassis with one of those AX10 tube chassis kits. Doesn't look TOO bad. I used the tires/wheels on my 2.2 scaler. Very good in the snow, mud. They suck at crawling. Rock grabber my @$$. I swapped them out for a pair of HB Rovers. IMHO one of the best crawling tires out there. Not scale however but very effective if you want it to get over anything. I have spent the most time and money on my X Crawler King (usually happens that way on your first rig, you figure out the hard way what what works and what doesnt).

The first thing you will want to do is move that servo to the axle to get some steer-ability out of it. The servo is not strong at all so that would be the next thing to upgrade. Then the ESC would need to be replaced with something that can actually handle a lipo along with a 35 turn motor (I went cheap with Integy Pro lathe 35 turn). I went cheap again and got the RC4WD Outcry crawler ESC. It was nice because it was cheap and could handle up to 4s lipo and it had a drag brake. Although it was not adjustable it would stop dead in its tracks. Sometimes good, sometimes bad. It also comes with a little BEC to help power the servo a bit better. All around not a bad setup. Then of course a lipo. I get mine from Hobbyking.com. Cheap batteries that last a long time. I still have mine and its been about 5 years now. Only one of them has started to swell a little. You can get a good 4000mah 2s for about $25.

After that you will eventually want to get rid of it, or get rid of the monster truck chassis and too tall transmission (if you havent done the clocked transmission plate mod to lower the center of gravity). The axles are just as wide as the Wraith's.

Today my heavily modified Crawler King's wheel base has been stretched and it ended up being the same size as my Wraith, but can out crawl any crawler I have or any of my friends trucks. If you want I can upload some pictures and show you want I did with mine. But this forum has been like a bible for me during my builds. Keep using that search feature.

[jerms78]

Originally Posted by OregonCrawlerKing

I used 19/83 gearing (A good year too!) But that stock ESC will not handle 3s or 4s. (Not to mention there is no lipo cut-off on that ESC, you will end up ruining your lipo). A 35 turn would work best for it though to give it more speed and still crawl well. Get it too fast and you will just roll the thing over all the time. The Axials have a much lower center of gravity so they can go faster without the rollover issue. The rig is very top heavy so the whole chassis and battery location will need to be addressed. Same thing with the cantilever steering setup. Although its nice to have the non-waterproof servo up and out of the way, it does not steer well at all. Turning radius is not good either, that's why most guys get the rear steer setup. I know I did. You will also have the torque twist problem which will require shock tweaking (harder spring in one rear shock and/or heavier weight oil. The Crawler King was my first crawler (Hence the stupid ID name I wear here in the forum). I still have it, however all that is remaining are the axles. They are sitting under a Gatekeeper chassis with one of those AX10 tube chassis kits. Doesn't look TOO bad. I used the tires/wheels on my 2.2 scaler. Very good in the snow, mud. They suck at crawling. Rock grabber my @$$. I swapped them out for a pair of HB Rovers. IMHO one of the best crawling tires out there. Not scale however but very effective if you want it to get over anything. I have spent the most time and money on my X Crawler King (usually happens that way on your first rig, you figure out the hard way what what works and what doesnt).

The first thing you will want to do is move that servo to the axle to get some steer-ability out of it. The servo is not strong at all so that would be the next thing to upgrade. Then the ESC would need to be replaced with something that can actually handle a lipo along with a 35 turn motor (I went cheap with Integy Pro lathe 35 turn). I went cheap again and got the RC4WD Outcry crawler ESC. It was nice because it was cheap and could handle up to 4s lipo and it had a drag brake. Although it was not adjustable it would stop dead in its tracks. Sometimes good, sometimes bad. It also comes with a little BEC to help power the servo a bit better. All around not a bad setup. Then of course a lipo. I get mine from Hobbyking.com. Cheap batteries that last a long time. I still have mine and its been about 5 years now. Only one of them has started to swell a little. You can get a good 4000mah 2s for about $25.

After that you will eventually want to get rid of it, or get rid of the monster truck chassis and too tall transmission (if you havent done the clocked transmission plate mod to lower the center of gravity). The axles are just as wide as the Wraith's.

Today my heavily modified Crawler King's wheel base has been stretched and it ended up being the same size as my Wraith, but can out crawl any crawler I have or any of my friends trucks. If you want I can upload some pictures and show you want I did with mine. But this forum has been like a bible for me during my builds. Keep using that search feature.

Thanks for all of the info! Here is what I have done to date so far...i switched out the 55t for a Torque Tuned 25t. It has helped tremendously and I love the speed of the rig.
I installed the CKRC aluminum steering links and servo bracket to move the cheap servo up front, ran it for 5 minutes and then broke the stock servo horn. I still wasnt happy with the lack of turning radius I had with the stock servo, so I have now opted for the Futaba S3305. I installed it last night, but there's something that I dont think is quite right, or, this servo just isnt doing what I was told it would do. I still am not getting the turning radius I was expecting. Again, Im new to the sport, so my expectations were that it was going to turn just as well as my buddies Axial Wraith.
Were my expectations too high? Is there a combination of things like my ESC isnt good enough, need a BEC or something along those lines that is causing this rig not to turn? Or do i just need to sell it and move on?

[lemonhead]

Originally Posted by rcnick157

Get a axial 20 turn or a traxxas titan 12 turn

spoken like a true newb, both motors suck. look for something in the 35t range. plenty of wheel speed and torque

[OregonCrawlerKing]

No, your crappy turning radius is not because of the servo or your esc its because the steering parts will not let you go any further. I had took a dremel to mine. Took out some material that was holding it back.
Unfortunately it still wont get you the same angle of steering you want. There are mods here that you can do to make things better yet but then you run into your dog bones popping out of the c cups in your axles. Thats why most of us go with rear steer. Like I said, I spent most my time and money on my CC, so be prepared to spend both in yours too.