WPL C14 build

[Dungas]

So i pulled the trigger on one of these little trucks from gearbest.
Firstly I was expecting it to be of sub-par build quality and come with at least one thing wrong straight out of the box.
I was not dissapointed, rear 4 link was missing a screw and the drivetrain is looser than my ex and the power from the 6v pack wouldn't pull the skin off of custard. now that the pissing and moaning is out of the way lets get on with it.



Detail is pretty good for a toy, it really is quite a visually appealing unit. Now i just need to make it perform as good as it looks.

Steering lock is pretty poor, partially due to the piss poor steering friction motor arrangement , I've already ordered all new electronics for this little rig so just waiting on my 20a ESC to arrive then it will get a full overhaul, in the mean time I trimmed down the stoppers on the inside of the steering knuckles about 1mm either side, doesnt sound like much but makes a hell of a difference on something so small.

Flex is not that spectacular either, mostly limited by the absolutely terribly designed shocks, these will be replaced down the track with something that actually dampens and isn't as loose as a wizards sleeve. For now a quick trim of the shock housing and end link with the dremel and some sand paper gave us about 4 mm more travel, this translates to a reasonable amount extra flex on such a small rig. didn't bother to do the fronts as the wheel arches are the limiting factor up front. i will look into swapping out the internal springs with something a bit lighter, perhaps from a retractable pen or something.



Tyres are way too firm for my liking, might try and sipe the tread blocks to free them up a little, perhaps soak them in something too to help them soften up and get a little stickier.

Overall performance out of the box is nothing thrilling but thats to be expected of a cheap kids toy. It has a lot of potential for mods and that's why i bought it.

Mods to come are : turnigy 1000mah 2s 20c lipo. low voltage alarm, 20a esc, turnigy micro servo, hobbyking 2.4 rx/tx and whatever else i impulse buy between now and whenever. I have tossed around the idea of replacing the motor but i really don't have any faith in the drivetrain so i'll see what a new esc and lipo power does for me, if that's not enough then i'll look at ways to break axles with a bigger motor.

[Dungas]

Just went to go for a little bash, steering motor appears to have died already. I was expecting failures, but not 5 minutes into driving it. gearbest is gonna get a disgruntled email from me.

[Brake Weight]

The drivetrain is a lost cause. With a new ESC and 2s the speed increases and crawlability diminishes immensely.

[Dungas]

yep I was expecting drivetrain failure to be the first hurdle but I guess there's still plenty of time for that to die haha.

despite the poor build quality (which I was well aware of) its still a cool looking bit of gear and I will persist with modding the hell out of it till it does what i want it to do. axles/diffs are cheap as so i'll order a heap of those to keep on hand till i find a more robust solution

[Dungas]

Got tired of waiting for the postman and took the big esc (no idea what power) out of my drifter and chucked on the little 2S i had for it, made for a fun little truck for the 10 minutes i got out of it before cooking the poor little motor haha.
A quick browse thru Ebay resulted in a couple of 3000rpm/6v rated 130 size motors which i'm hoping will have a little more torque than the stocker, i also purchased a pair of 180 sized motors rated at 4800rpm/6v these look like they "should" fit perhaps with a little finessing of the gearbox housing and driveshaft
Also grabbed a couple of front and a couple of rear axles and driveshafts as spares because surely they have to be the next thing to crap out.
tinkering with this little rig has really rebooted my love for all things rc even if it is just a dinky little toy. keen to see what i can do with it for cheap, i have a few suspension mods in mind but i wont go into those just yet.

[rj_dio]

Thanks for sharing. I have one on the way and I think you hit what makes this worth getting. Fun, I have lots of great rc trucks, I want more of that fun that I had in my early days of rc. Cheap, simple and cheap to mod.

[TooOldForThis]

Originally Posted by Dungas

Tinkering with this little rig has really rebooted my love for all things rc even if it is just a dinky little toy. keen to see what i can do with it for cheap, i have a few suspension mods in mind but i wont go into those just yet.

I'm really happy to read this because it's exactly what I was hoping for from this truck; cheap back-to-basics fun. Let us know how those new motors work out.

[Jim85IROC]

Originally Posted by rj_dio

Thanks for sharing. I have one on the way and I think you hit what makes this worth getting. Fun, I have lots of great rc trucks, I want more of that fun that I had in my early days of rc. Cheap, simple and cheap to mod.

There's really something quite rewarding when you can see your reflection in a turd.

[twomicros]

I have a vaterra slickrock that I find myself not using very much anymore. I'm pretty sure I could just take all the electronics, axles, etc... from it and throw it onto this chassis. I'm about to pull the trigger on ordering one of these but first I figured I'd ask your guys' opinions on the viability of transferring everything over.

[Ty@Tekin]

No point in telling gearbest the trucks are junk, they already know that and don't care. Plus they don't manufacture them. Really the only things usable are the frame rails and the bodies. The rest is toy grade and won't live very long at all.

[ferp420]

I just ordered one of these too so as i wait the 2 months for it to show up ill be keeping a eye on this project there only $8 on ebay right now so i just couldent resist i wish i had more money to through away i would buy a few of them im thinking it would make a nice indoors truck /shelf queen

[twomicros]

yeah I just went ahead with it. it looks good and I think it's the right scale for me to throw the slickrock's parts onto. I also have a mini scale brushless system that I might try to throw into it until the stock drive train explodes. once I get everything I'll be sure to make a build thread.

[Brake Weight]

Originally Posted by twomicros

yeah I just went ahead with it. it looks good and I think it's the right scale for me to throw the slickrock's parts onto. I also have a mini scale brushless system that I might try to throw into it until the stock drive train explodes. once I get everything I'll be sure to make a build thread.

It will take longer to install the brushless than it will last before breaking. LOL.

[spaceman5280]

Mine showed up with a broken radio...


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[Dungas]

Just resurrected this little thing with the motor from the steering unit, it too will die in a very short while but for those not silly enough to run it off a full sized ESC it will serve as a handy spare to have.

[Mg42man]

Sounds awesome, I just got the C-24 version in blue, looks good, runs like shit, lol.
I'm already replacing steering with an actual servo, 2ch rx, ESC, standard battery. Steering alot better now, eventually i need a different ESC, one i had available is a racing type, so truck is still kinda on/off..but has better speed and actually climb over some rocks now, the suspension is not great.
It's all stripped down, is going thru a custom paint job, pics soon. Cheers!