My AX10 RTR arrived!

[amstel78]

Got home late last night to find a box from Tower sitting by the door. Opened it up, checked out the truck and charged a stick. From a cursory glance, everything looked fine. I was a little concerned about the plastic linkages, but they seem to be well made and appear to be flexible enough to withstand abuse.

Anyway, once I had a battery pack ready to go I fired it up. First problem to note was that the tires were out of round; when rolling they wobbled. I was able to take apart the tires, re-situate the foam, and reduce most of the wobble, but a little still remains. The rims themselves seem to be a bit out of round, so that may be the problem. The other problem lies with the included ESC. There's no drag brake function, so it's pretty useless for serious crawling. I'm contemplating a Novak, Tekin, or Castle ESC. The included motor is also a tad too fast when it comes to wheel spin, but it's manageable if you're easy on the throttle.

I also took apart the front diff, and installed the included locker. The 14t pinion was also installed. So far the truck works well as-is out of the box. This is my first crawler. My previous RC toys have been mostly nitro cars and helicopters. After moving to NYC, there's no where to fly a nitro heli without carrying a multi-million dollar insurance policy. My wife thinks I'm nuts for going back into RC, but my daughter who's turning 3 in September doesn't seem to mind.

Anyway, thanks to all for posting good info at this site. I'm interested now in getting some better wheels and tires, and perhaps converting this into a scale rig. Also, if anyone has suggestions for "must-do" upgrades, please let me know.

Cheers,
James

P.S. One last thing, the included white-grey springs are too hard. Also, the tires end up rubbing against the body during extreme flex. Will have to remedy that as well.

[Greenman]

You can take out the temper in the springs by taking a normal lighter to them for a few seconds to heat them up, then just let them cool. That softens them pretty well

[amstel78]

Originally Posted by Greenman

You can take out the temper in the springs by taking a normal lighter to them for a few seconds to heat them up, then just let them cool. That softens them pretty well

Thanks for the suggestion; never thought of that. Will have to give that a shot.

[oicu812]

A small washer and peice of fuel tube,tiny o-ring,or similar behind the 3-link mount (ball coupler?)on the rear axle. Torque will eventually pull it out and loosen it. If you take care of it right now,it will stay snug! The front torques into the ball coupler,so dont sweat it. If your not opposed,look for some cool pictures of how others have chopped their bodys to clear. Check the tightness of the shock caps now! It can be done in the truck.They are plastic,so dont get mighty joe on them! Check anytime after a good fall,or a harsh flogging!

[Reflection]

I can't see how the wheels are out of round. I can see how the tires could be not mounted dead on true. With a bead lock wheel you will get that in some cases. If the tire doesn't seat TIGHT on the wheel WITHOUT the locking ring installed,you will most likely see some wobble. The wobble can be dealt with to a point since we aren't running these things at 50 mph. Most rigs will run a bit faster than a steady walk. You'll see a difference in the brand of tires also. Some tires have better/worse beads than others. A good set of Aluminum or delrin wheels is always a good upgrade.

The stock motor is a 27t right? A very popular motor guys run is a 35t....not much difference. Gear it down some and you'll get a bit more low end grunt. If you wanna buy a better motor,a Holmes Hobbies hand wound would be a nice upgrade. I run a 35t HHH on a 3 cell and it works great.

I've not run the Tekin ESC's yet,but I've read allot of guys like them and they seem to work really well. I personally run Castle ESC's in all my rigs. Id also recommend getting the Castle BEC.

[jmantalk]

I have had my rtr for a couple days now, And i have been doing loads of things to have it perform better. Here is just a little list that you might want to do, that I have found to help a huge deal.

-Tire foam cut and rims driled with two small holes to let air flow.
-Body cut way back to allow twisting and articulation.
-Pute a 55t motor in.
-Got super soft springs, <----You will really want these, they help your articulation like you would never believe. And their only $12 for 4 springs.
-Just last night I made some custom upper-link plates to mount esc and relocate battery, heres the post Custom Upper-Link Plate
-Up-graded lower links

These are just what I have done so far, and it seems to hav helped a great amount.

The best part is after all these upgrades I have only spent about $100 or some where around there. If you think how many up-grades i have done for only 100 bucks its a great deal!

Anyways, Good luck on up-grading and make sure to post some pics as your crawler grows! :-P

[blacksmith]

Get memory foam and drill some small holes in tire tire .This lets out air and any water that may get in.

[amstel78]

Thanks for all the tips. Regarding the tire being out of round, I've managed to solve it for now by removing the foam. It seems with the foam in place, it can become tricky making sure the tires are perfectly mounted to the wheel. I don't know what sort of negative consequences this could lead to, but so far it hasn't been too much of a problem. In fact, the tires still have air in them and flex alot better without the foam; it's almost like a real 1:1 bead lock that's been aired down.

[amstel78]

Originally Posted by jmantalk

The best part is after all these upgrades I have only spent about $100 or some where around there. If you think how many up-grades i have done for only 100 bucks its a great deal!

$100 bucks aint bad for what you've accomplished. I'm thinking about buying the regular AX-10 kit from TCS at $199.00. By doing this, I get all the metal upgrades, plus have spare axles, chassis, etc. I am definitely going to buy the super soft springs. I'm still contemplating trimming the body; perhaps I'll buy a crawler body instead since this one looks pretty nice.

[jmantalk]

Originally Posted by amstel78

$100 bucks aint bad for what you've accomplished. I'm thinking about buying the regular AX-10 kit from TCS at $199.00. By doing this, I get all the metal upgrades, plus have spare axles, chassis, etc. I am definitely going to buy the super soft springs. I'm still contemplating trimming the body; perhaps I'll buy a crawler body instead since this one looks pretty nice.

I hear yah on the body, I have trimmed the crap about of myn, Its looks and works great, but I dont like the look of the chassis in general, Im looking for something a little better.