My first crawler...picked up an MRC

[JEB21]

Hey Everyone, I'm brand new to Rock Crawling and to this forum, although not to RC cars. If there is already a thread somewhere regarding my questions please feel free to direct me there. I don't want to clutter up the board with redundant questions.

Is there a list, as well as a how to thread somewhere that has all the "must do" freebie mods that are needed for this rig? I've only ran it for about 30 minutes on some boulders near my house and I've already got the issue of the pins coming out of the drive shafts. Whats the quick fix for that...shrink tubing?

Any info or links would be great as I'd love to get this little guy tuned up for an upcoming camping trip. Thanks in advance for any help for the new guy!

[speedcrawler]

Things you need to get that dont cost alot
Get metal front/rear and center lockers
Add weight to the wheels
Move electronics to the front and battery
And buy a rcbros full size servo mount
Things you need to get but are pricey
New tires and rims
Better motor/ more powerful
New shocks
Lipo if you want
And if you want a new chassis

This should help you out major and also just tweak it and find what you need out of it then improve that.
Hope this helps

[soundcolor]

Welcome!
There are a ton of threads just like this, the search button is your friend.

Here is what you can do for free
1. Lower the body down as far as you can by popping new holes higher up on the body.
2. Flip the motor/trans (just unbolt the skid plate, drop it out from the bottom, turn it around, and put it back in just like it came out)
3. make "shelves" on the front and rear upper 3 link. mount your battery on top of the front servo, move the esc to the front upper 3 link shelf you made, and the reciever to the rear upper 3 link shelf.
4. Remove the batter tray, and junk it.
5. pull the shocks off, dissassemble, put a 1/4 or 3/8ths inch of fuel tubing on the shock shaft to limit the amount of articulation you have. Re-assemeble shocks with at least 50wt shock oil.
6. Mount your newly "adjusted" shocks to the axle in the stock location, and to the TVP's where the battery tray once mounted. Use the stock ball links and secure them down with nuts, then just clip the shocks back on.

Heres what you can do on the cheeeeeeeap to get even more performance.

1. Do the stock wheel beadlock conversion (there are a number of "how to's on here, just search).
2. add 2 rows of bb's to the inside channel of the wheel held in place by electrical tape. (you dont really want to push the weight to far with the stock servo... its horrible)
3. get some metal lockers. At the very least, get the front and rears. Seriously consider the center. Tho the center doesnt break often, you might as well do it while your doing the others. The front and rear tho... yeah, dont look at them the wrong way or there toast.
4. Pick up some 4-40ss all-thread and some end links and make your own rear 4 link (no plate needed here)
5. new shocks wouldn't hurt here either, your choice on which ones to get.
6. NEW TIRES. dont eff around and wait. The stock tires suck giant donkey.......... Ask around, learn what kinda of rocks, and terrain is in your area and buy tires accordingly. What works for me on my rocks, in my area, wont neccissarly be the best on your rocks in your area.

The slightly more pricey stuff (but still under 60 bucks) goes something like this

1. Repeat after me... NEW SERVO... the gold standard seems to be the hitech 645. others work well, just make sure to ask around. There isn't a "crawler" specific servo out there, so the good folks that have been crawling for a while have tested, and tried, and fried just about every servo out there... you can rest assured, the 645 wont let you down.
2. motor... Get a good, crawler motor... some motors are faster, but whats the point in being able to go fast if you dont have the torque to power your way out, up and over.
3. chassis kit. again, your choice, but do your homework
4. ESC. there are alot of choices, but then again not. ask around, most people run the tekin fxr, or b1r. Some like the mongoose, and some like the sidewinder.
5. full 4 link front and rear. Must do, must have, the end.


you can spend countless hours, and ungodly amounts of money, but if your like me, cheap stuff that dominates the expensive stuff is cool. I cant afford all the wicked gear thats out there. So I look around, and search for what I think is best. Take your time, build your rig the way you want it. Be smart about your money, or it'll be gone before you know it and you will waste a bunch. There are alot of guys around here who comp, and are very, very good. There are alot more guys that pound their crawlers ever day and most everyone on here has done something to their MRC... lots of experience. But its up to you to search and ask...

welcome aboard!

[Dad Dong]

Wow!! Awesome info sound!! Thanks from another MRC noob.

[mattlosch]

can you go into further detail about the rear 4 link without needing the plate?? any pictures?? and also what is the advantage of flipping motor tranny??

[amorton94]

Originally Posted by mattlosch

and also what is the advantage of flipping motor tranny??

There really isn't any advantage. It tires the motor quicker from what I've heard. I haven't done most of this as stated. I have relocated the shock mounts, relocated the electronics and battery (battery on rear axle, reciever on front 3link, and esc on rear 3link), and did the beadlock mod to the stock wheels. I think it runs extremely better than stock. And I think that it looks better and runs just as good with the battery on the back axle instead of the servo. But I think the most important thing is the lockers. You MUST get the metal front/rear lockers! And the center is a good idea while you're at it. And getting a new chassis is a good idea. I think the stocker is junk. I bend it all the time. But yah, that's all I have done to it. The only money I have spent on it was for the lockers, so I'm into it for like $45. And it performs noticeably better. But all in all, do what is stated above, well except for the tranny flip, I see no point in doing that.

[mattlosch]

thanks for the info.. i couldnt see the advantage of the tranny flip either... thanks again...

[JEB21]

Great info guys, much appreciated. And, thanks for the welcome! I'm looking forward to having some fun with this thing. I've already moved the electronics and will be looking into the bead lock mod next. I have a NIB 645 sitting around which was a backup throttle servo for my 1/8 scale buggy. Might as well drop it into the MRC and put it to work.

[JEB21]

Do have a question about the universal joints. Does anyone have a problem with the pins constantly falling out of the stockers? Is there a quick fix for this? Thanks.

[Drvnbeing]

Originally Posted by JEB21

Do have a question about the universal joints. Does anyone have a problem with the pins constantly falling out of the stockers? Is there a quick fix for this? Thanks.

When I first got mine, the pins fell out within 5 mins. I simply found some brad nails that were about the same size and cut to size, and for sh!ts and giggles I put a dab of jb weld on the ends to insure that they would not fall out again. But I do recommend upgrading to the MIP shafts!! No problems yet with quite a few packs through them and plenty of abuse. If you plan on upgrading your motor you will edventually want to upgrade your drive shafts.

[JEB21]

Thanks for the advice. I did the drop of CA but I'll give the brads a shot once these are lost in the rocks.

[Sneed]

Another helpful thing to use is the traxxas body pins. Cut were loop begins to go around, making a J. Then insert through u-joint. Cut the remaining of the pin leaving a small amount to bind around the joint. Whenever your done you should have the pin through the joint with both sides "looped" around a little bit. It held for me long enough to get replacements.

[fordmike65]

Originally Posted by mattlosch

thanks for the info.. i couldnt see the advantage of the tranny flip either... thanks again...

It does allow for a larger LiPo to be installed on the front upper links. Worked for me

[JEB21]

OK, so now I'm ADDICTED. Had a blast with this thing up in Mammoth. I had a buddy, my cousin, and my dad arguing over whose turn it was on the campsite course. Of course involving beer into the mix made it that much better...

I've taken some of the advice on the forum already. The stock tires were ditched and some Flatirons are being mounted to Axial beadlocks tonight. I've got the HS 5645 going in as well. I got some carbon plate which I fabbed into a battery tray for a lipo over the rear axle, and to make electronics trays for the upper links. The RCBros skulz v2 frame is installed with some bent links as well. New shocks and lockers are next on the list. Of course a hotter motor/esc won't be far behind.

I used to drive around looking at the hills and think "that would be good spot for flying my RC slope planes".

Now all I do is check out the rocks.

[fa1rch1ld]

If you get a 2.2 it only gets worse! You will sell everything that is made for the air!

[pcsourced]

what's the point of getting a stock losi MRC!

Doesn't it make sense to build one from scratch with all these aftermarket parts??

[soundcolor]

The point to buying a stock one is simple. Not everone has several hundred dollars, and tons of time to build and test a custom rig. Most people want something they can start crawling with now, and upgrade as they go.

[snowblader13]

Originally Posted by soundcolor

The point to buying a stock one is simple. Not everone has several hundred dollars, and tons of time to build and test a custom rig. Most people want something they can start crawling with now, and upgrade as they go.

i Agree with you 100%.

Thank you for the info you supplied for the newbs as i am one myself.

I Have had my MRC for a week now completely stock:-( and don't have enough Cash for building from the ground up and wouldn't want to wait around with just a few parts.

Buying stock lets you play around and see how you like it and what you want to do to it in the long run. Now for those out there that already have a crawler may have the patience to build from scatch, Thats for them to decide.:-P

Any way I and us Newbies do appreciate all the help that we can get from you more experience crawlers!

[JEB21]

I bought one because I wasn't sure if I'd be into rockcrawling and it was RTR. If I didn't dig it I was't out a huge chunk of change. If I knew for sure I was going to pursue it, I probably would have built one from the ground up. I'm fairly certain that within 2 months the only thing stock left on this car is going to be the axles.

[Pdog7]

I would recommend moving the battery up front on the links. This can be achieved by flipping the tranny which gives more room for the battery up front. Much more traction is gained by having the weight up front over the axles. When the battery is on the rear it can be damaged in a roll-over and the crawler has to haul all that weight up every hill. Think about it this way, is it easier to push weight up a hill or pull it? In a break-over situation the battery on the rear axle will hurt you. With the battery up front the weight will help the front axle crest and pull the front axle down in contact with the rock and pull you over the crest. When ever you chassis-out on an angled rock the forward weight bias will help the front end fall over the edge and the front wheels can then pull the rear end up and over. I have seen crawlers with the battery mounted on the rear axle point out on a gate that drivers with the battery forward mounted walked right up. Make sense?