Thinking of getting in

[slravene]

I'm thinking about getting a RC Crawler and came across the Wheely King.

I know they aren't an out of the box crawler since they are fast and have tires that aren't designed with crawling in mind...

My questions are since I'm new to RC (not new to 1:1 crawling) and don't know much about the Wheely King....

1) What all do i need to convert this to a crawler? (please provide links if necessary...)
-Tires
-Wheels
-Motor with lower gearing?
-How to lock the axles? Tranny?
-Stronger Steering?
-New, lower chassis? Tube?
-What else?

2) How will this compare to, say....an AX-10?

Any other info is great. I can build and design a link suspension also, so if the suspension needs to be tweaked, i can do that. I don't need the best of the products, i don't want to spend tons of money as this is just going to be a toy...i have my real rig to spend $$$$$ on.

Thanks.

[bigblazerboy]

http://www.hpiracing.com/news/2007061801/

i had maximizer diff lockers and strc kit on mine. also had servo on axle and axial 8 hole bead locks, but wanted a more scale look so i traded the axles for some tlt axles. i am going to be making a new chassis out of 3/16 lexan to make it more scale using stock tranny and shock mounts

my advise, dont lock the tranny ot will strip. if you want a better tranny get an axial tranny.

[rebman]

Hey man, Im just starting out with a wheely king I got on monday... check out my thread, It has a list of parts I ordered and just some good info..

PROJECT: Mayhem...

Hope it helps!

[Pete from Houston]

Here's a link to a good thread on performing the chassis flip.

Chassis Flip Guide

Here's another thread...similar info:

Flipping, Extending, and Rotating Questions

[Locked Up]

Originally Posted by slravene

I'm thinking about getting a RC Crawler and came across the Wheely King.

I know they aren't an out of the box crawler since they are fast and have tires that aren't designed with crawling in mind...

My questions are since I'm new to RC (not new to 1:1 crawling) and don't know much about the Wheely King....

1) What all do i need to convert this to a crawler? (please provide links if necessary...)
-Tires
-Wheels
-Motor with lower gearing?
-How to lock the axles? Tranny?
-Stronger Steering?
-New, lower chassis? Tube?
-What else?

2) How will this compare to, say....an AX-10?

Any other info is great. I can build and design a link suspension also, so if the suspension needs to be tweaked, i can do that. I don't need the best of the products, i don't want to spend tons of money as this is just going to be a toy...i have my real rig to spend $$$$$ on.

Thanks.

Careful,
I was in the same boat and now my Jeep is collecting dust

Compared to the AX10 the WK is not as much of an out of the box crawl machine. With a little tweaking it is a perfect starter rig and can be made a great comp rig. The WK axles are a little wider than the AX10 which is nice but the AX10 does have a more crawl friendly chassis IMO.

-Tires - Most folks like Losi Claws, or Proline Moabs/Masher 2000s in the M3 compound. The tires you run can make a huge difference depending on your terrain.
-Wheels - Beadlocks are the thing to do because unlike the 1:1 world it actually makes mounting easier and faster. (Getting glued tires off is a PITA). I like Axial Rocksters but if you wanna save coin and are only planning on 1 set of tires, the stock WK wheels are fine. Just narrow them.
-Motor with lower gearing? Yep. I recommend an Integy 55t Lathe motor and a 96t spur gear and 15t pinion (48 pitch)
-How to lock the axles? Tranny? Drop in spools are available. I run maximizer units. Locking the tranny usually leads to stripping the plastic gears, so I advise against it.
-Stronger Steering? Is a must. I run Tower Pro MG945r servos. They are cheap and provide good power. You can get away with the servo in the chassis and do pretty well, but having it on the axle is nice.
-New, lower chassis? Tube? It all depends on what you want it to look like and how much $$$ you have. it's not necessary to get a new chassis to be competitive, but it usually helps
-What else?
Stretch it and move the battery to the front. New links and link mounts will help you slide over things. Consider a new ESC. I love Castle Sidewinders and mamba Maxs. Some lighter 2/3 or 4/5A nimh batteries will also help. If you do decide to go to some comps, get a TQ3 radio/receiver (traxxas 3 channel) and make yourself a dig setup like I did. Best thing I ever did.

All of those parts are available from towerhobbies.com except the Losi Claws & the servo which can be found at JPcustomrcs.com. One thing I didn;t mention are the rear axle lockouts you can get from RC4wd.com. That kit and the matching axle shafts are my favorite thing they make.

I have a bunch of junk I have done to mine with writeups on my website. It starts off stock and works it's way up to a pretty capable rig IMO. Just click the 2.2 link below and welcome aboard.

[gearmonkey23]

oh boy..
its fun. alot of work, and a little heartache haha. most of your questions, in fact, all of them can be answerd with a lil searching on this forum. most important things to do to get you over the rocks
1) lock front and rear axles via JB weld. (go back to wheelyking section, and find the top thread "hpi converts wheelyking.."
2) 55t lathe motor, 96 12 gearing (varies from higher to lower, depending on your liking)
3) better tires, moabs are cheap, and great tires, losi rockclaws look, and perform great, but a bit pricy.
4) extend the links. allthread, and alum tubing. read the thread i talked about above.
have fun mang!

[rebman]

Yeah start simple, with the "free-mods."

1.) Flip the chassis:
Chassis Flip Guide

2.) Lock the diffs:
http://www.rccrawler.com/crawlerking1.html

-Then get ready to spend some money!!!

3.) Extend the links:
http://www.tcscrawlers.com/



Have fun!!

[chrisjlittle]

I like the hell out of the WK and am not anywhere near jumping on the AX-10 bandwagon. I'm only using the stock WK axles though. The WK is really fun in stock trim and it will get you into the hobby for relatively little. If you intend to compete with your WK you need to know that there is only one manufacturer making beadlocks with the proper offset for WK axles, and those are the Visionary Fabrication wheels, which are pricey aluminum units. Now this is just my opinion, but any less backspacing makes the truck hard to clear gates. If you don't want to drop the coin, you can make your own beadlocks out of stampede wheels, pvc pipe couplers and electrical conduit reducing washers How-To: Functional 2.2 Beadlocks for under $30 Read through the whole thing, there was a design revision that works better somewhere towards the end. For my opinion on how to build a good WK based comp rig, see my build thread Bowser the WK!.

Some other build threads I like and have found useful
GC-1 Wheely King
The Real Dogman's Wheely King Tuber Build
Custom Chassis'd WK Crawler

There's also a lot of good ideas on Locked Up's website. The best (and sadly most expensive) way to do all this is to experiment with different setups and parts. I locked my diffs with JB weld, it seems to be holding up, though I like the idea of a spool better. Tires? That all depends on your terrain and personal taste, but the losi rock claws, Proline Badlands, M3 mashers are all good choices. I wouldn't bother with moabs personally. The Tower pro servo is a decent choice, generally I'd say get the most powerful servo you can afford. Motor wise, I really really like my 35t warrior Yes, it's pricey-ish but it works so well. There are lots of good chassis out there, I think setup makes a larger difference than chassis choice does, at least when you're dealing with high end comp stuff like the SW3, GC1, Blackjack etc... I prefer TVP chassis to tubers, mostly because they are generally lighter, but whatever floats your boat, go for it. That should be enough

[phase10]

hate to say it but if i could do it all over again id just get a scorpion. since im replacing all electronics, well.. everything but the axles. i even wanna get an ax-10 transmission since its locked and compact, and you cant lock a wk tranny since the gears will strip ( rc4wd is making hardened gears to solve that problem) but the ax10 trans is just a lot more conveniently designed. the only problem with the axles are the center diff casing seems to be bigger then the axial or tlt axles. so they snag on rocks a lot. ( im using 2.2 moabs ) the width is another issue for the same reason, too wide so i get caught up a lot on my axles. but the stampede rear wheels make it the same width as the ax-10. problem solved. im even gonna get some tcscrawler offset beadlocks to make it the same width as a scorpion also. hope my ranting helps a lil. ( i run a widow chassis by the way, spectrum radio/reciever, gonna get a sidewinder esc, lipo battery, and high torqe steering servo )

ps. if you ever wanna get hardcore and get a "dig" setup, VF makes a bolt on dig setup for the ax-10 transmission. and lets face it dig owns all =P not that ill ever get it =P
link - http://www.rccrawler.com/vfdig.html

[slravene]

OK...so what Im getting from this is that some things will need to be changed before I crawl.

I looked at that HPI site and liked how they did everything for like $65. That still seems to be cheaper than the AX-10 bc the WK comes packaged with everything, including controller, battery, and charger (right?).

Granted Ill still need to get some better tires and wheels...

[slravene]

Also, instead of replacing the motor with a 55T unit, what about jsut changing the Spur and Pinion? Will that slow me down enough to crawl well?

[chrisjlittle]

Originally Posted by slravene

OK...so what Im getting from this is that some things will need to be changed before I crawl.

I looked at that HPI site and liked how they did everything for like $65. That still seems to be cheaper than the AX-10 bc the WK comes packaged with everything, including controller, battery, and charger (right?).

Granted Ill still need to get some better tires and wheels...

Honestly, I'd buy the WK roller rather than the one with electronics. The stock electronics are all junk imo. You can't even use the stock radio with a digital servo, because the radio has no end point adjustments (you need these with a digi servo, or else you'll burn it up) It still comes out cheaper that way, unless you only want to use the axles.

Originally Posted by slravene

Also, instead of replacing the motor with a 55T unit, what about jsut changing the Spur and Pinion? Will that slow me down enough to crawl well?

You can crawl with the stock motor, but I think it's a pretty junky motor, and you'll have a hard time gearing it down enough. Really, if you're leaning towards an integy (there is a huge difference between a good motor and an integy, but I've already spoke my piece about that, and Integy motors are still a lot better than the stock motor) the 20 bucks are absolutely worth it, considering the difference it'll make.

One thing I think has not been said, you should try to find some local guys who are into crawling and go out with them some time, see what works for them. Different terrain requires different setups, so what's worked for me may not work for you. It's also a lot more fun to have a little comradery.

[slravene]

All the guys that I wheel 1:1 with just got Axials. They like them....but they are a bit more pricey than I want to spend on a toy that I will probably break and get tired of sooner or later, lol. I was just looking at the WK because its cheaper and comes RTR. I dont need the nicest of the nice stuff. I have a nylint now and im happy with it....i just want something to step it up a little. I dont need (or want) a super expensive, nice crawler (bc quite frankly i dont have the RC expertise, time, or drive to really get into it seriously....i just want to have a campground/backyard toy to have fun with)

[reds06jp]

if you're not wanting a comp rig just fun i run mine on some rocks. sure you know what terrain gray rock is, dirt mud and rock. i run mine more like scale gray rock conditions. mine is only 11.375 wheel base axial beadlocks and runs great with comp cut mudslingers and 3 0z. of bbs in each front tire. i had only to buy 6-32 all thread, tubing and modify driveshafts. only problem i have is break over for chassis center but wheel speed to make up for. i think driveshafts bought would be around $30.

[Rock_abuser]

Originally Posted by slravene

OK...so what Im getting from this is that some things will need to be changed before I crawl.

I looked at that HPI site and liked how they did everything for like $65

Don't believe the site. It will cost almost twice that :-( The WK is a great place to start, but if you are real serious about crawling then just get the axial ax10.

Some people call buying the axial ax10 jumping on a band wagon, but if saving time, money and head aches is a band wagon then I am all for it.

[Locked Up]

Originally Posted by Rock_abuser

Don't believe the site. It will cost almost twice that :-( The WK is a great place to start, but if you are real serious about crawling then just get the axial ax10.

Some people call buying the axial ax10 jumping on a band wagon, but if saving time, money and head aches is a band wagon then I am all for it.

Add ~$8 for shipping... and since you are a 1:1 guyy I assume you have JB weld lying around ;)

Robinson Racing Pinion 6 pack - towerhobbies.com - 10.99
6996 96t Spur - towerhobbies.com - 3.89
K&S 3031 1/4 x .049 Round Tube (4) - towerhobbies.com - 8.99
4-40 Lock Nuts - towerhobbies.com - 0.79
HPI 86059 Balls (2) - towerhobbies.com - 11.60
HPI 85230 Rod Ends (2) - towerhobbies.com - 15.40
6-32 Allthread - home depot - 2.69
12” 4-40 Allthread - home depot - 1.30
Integy 55t - towerhobbies.com - 19.99
Misc clips, nuts & bolts - home depot - 10.00
Traxxas 4928x Yokes (2) - Hobbytown USA - 9.58
Traxxas 4951x T-max long half shafts - Hobbytown USA - 7.69
Total = 102.91

I'd actually suggest getting the roller ($130) then buying a TQ3 with a receiver ($30) , a decent servo ($20), a new ESC ($40) and a good nimh 4/5A or 2/3A battery ($35). It'll cost a little more but you'll get a lot more for your money. And when you are reaady to drop another $30 you can install a dig

The AX10 is out of the box a better crawler but you'll end up buying a lot of the same stuff anyway. Radio, ESC, battery, Motor, Servo, driveshafts, pinions ...

The nice thing about the WK complete is that you can buy it and play with it right out the box, then decide how much crawler you need and yes you can crawl around with the stock electronics for a little while before you get aggravated.

[dacaur]

Here is a link to my build thread Dacaur's wheely king build.

Originally Posted by slravene

Also, instead of replacing the motor with a 55T unit, what about just changing the Spur and Pinion? Will that slow me down enough to crawl well?

I changed my pinion to 14T and spur to 96T. crawls way better even with the stock motor. I have a 45T ready to go in, but haven't flt the need yet, maybe once I get my mashers on i might change my mind.

Originally Posted by phase10

i even wanna get an ax-10 transmission since its locked and compact, and you cant lock a wk tranny since the gears will strip ( rc4wd is making hardened gears to solve that problem) but the ax10 trans is just a lot more conveniently designed.

The WK tranny is "locked" when a vehicle has a center differential, then its said to be "not locked" The wheely king has no center diff. I have heard people say that the wheely king has a slipper clutch, but i have never been able to get it to slip. But having a slipper clutch isn't the same as not being locked.

Originally Posted by chrisjlittle

Honestly, I'd buy the WK roller rather than the one with electronics. The stock electronics are all junk imo. You can't even use the stock radio with a digital servo, because the radio has no end point adjustments (you need these with a digi servo, or else you'll burn it up) It still comes out cheaper that way, unless you only want to use the axles.

Well, technically you could use a digital servo, since the stock wheely king radio does have steering dual rate, so you could just turn that down till you arent going past the end of the servo any more. That said, I do like having individual end points so i can get the max possible travel out of each turning direction. (I got a futaba 3Pm for my WK)

Originally Posted by Rock_abuser

Don't believe the site. It will cost almost twice that :-( The WK is a great place to start, but if you are real serious about crawling then just get the axial ax10.

not true. Whats on the HPI site can definitely be done for $65. If you are serious about crawling an AX-10 isn't the best ether... AX-10's dont win comps, rigs built with their axles do, but so do rigs built with wheely king axles.... If you are serious about crawling, you will want to build a custom rig, but newbs dont know if they are serious about crawling.... The way I did it, I bought a wheely king, played with it stock till i got tired of wheelys while waiting for my strc kit to come in. stretched and flipped it, and played with it some more. then I got tired of the low traction of the stock tires (a problem you will have whether you get a wheely king or an AX-10) and so got some masher 2K's and beadlock wheels. (which I haven't put on yet, beadlocks are a PITA to but together!)

[Locked Up]

I can assure you there is a slipper clutch



I don't know about $65 ... maybe in the $80s but it a drop in the proverbial bucket anyway