LNC upgrades

[Jeepguy91]

We just picked up a used Losi night crawler for my son the other day and have some questions on it. What are some good upgrades or mods that I should be looking at for this rig? It already seems pretty capable as is but I know there is always room for improvement. It does seem that the steering servo could use to be upgraded but add to what i'm at a loss there. Any help or ideas I could get would be great.

[dentonmac]

Originally Posted by Jeepguy91

We just picked up a used Losi night crawler for my son the other day and have some questions on it. What are some good upgrades or mods that I should be looking at for this rig? It already seems pretty capable as is but I know there is always room for improvement. It does seem that the steering servo could use to be upgraded but add to what i'm at a loss there. Any help or ideas I could get would be great.

Welcome.

The Losi is a great platform. I have been running it for many years. Love it!

This is what I would do.

First, make sure the axles have grease in them and go through OlleP's Friction reduction thread. Lots of great info to reduce the biggest electronics killer....friction. As well as learning your rig.

Second, Place your battery and electronics as low and close to the axles as possible. Lowers center of gravity.

Next step - not necessarily in order of importance.
Servo - IMO atleast 300oz torque, and BEC. If you plan on comping, look closer to 400oz.

Tires and foams - I am partial to the Rovers or Sedonas, but there are many options that will work well. Stock foams will get you started, but Crawler Innovation Foams make a world of difference. The stock wheels served me very well, might look at Junfac wideners to get a little more width (the red ones). Be sure to put some weight on the wheels (stick on works great), 6oz in front and 3oz in rear is a good place to start.

Softer springs - I like the feel of Losi Black in front and Losi Golds in rear. Also shock oils, get a range from 30 to 60 and work to get what feels right for you. Search for Del Monte's LCC thread - great read on setup.

Those will totally transform the performance of your rig.

Next step - down the road.

Upgrade motor and ESC - Kind of a 'Ford vs Chevy' question. Brushed or Brushless. I have had great success with brushless with the Losi platform (LNC and LCC), but others prefer brushed. It's a hot topic with enough opinions to make your head swim. When you get to that point we will broach that elephant.

Metal lower links - LNC stockers are good starters, but will weaken over time. The LCC lowers are good, but if you want bent links DLux makes good ones. I ran the stock LCC in the front and DLux bent in the rear. Had very good success with that setup.

You will have a good solid ring that will perform well. Except for the electronics, nothing very expensive. You will be close to the point where you will just need to replace what breaks. Though in reality, I keep up with replacing the grease on the spool and worm, I have had VERY little break.

I know that is a lot of info blasted at you. Please ask questions about what did not make sense.

[Olle P]

I pretty much agree with Dentonmac, with a few clarifications...

Originally Posted by dentonmac

Second, Place your battery and electronics as low and close to the axles as possible.

Easier said than done!
A stock LNC has a NiMH stick pack if I'm not mistaken, and that can't really be placed anywhere but on the top.
For better electronics arrangement you'll need a smaller LiPo battery and a new charger to go with it. If money is an issue then you can make it a lower priority.

Originally Posted by dentonmac

Tires and foams - I am partial to the Rovers or Sedonas, but there are many options that will work well.

The original Rock Claws on the truck used to be the tire of choice, so no need to hurry a replacement.
Nowadays Rovers and Sedonas (white dot!) are the most capable all-terrain tires around. They're both larger than the Rock Claws and will therefore raise the COG and somewhat impede steering. (Which is why wideners are recommended.) I use Rovers because Sedonas are just to darn big.
(For pure rock/stone terrain I'd use Boss Claws (red) instead.)

Originally Posted by dentonmac

Be sure to put some weight on the wheels (stick on works great), 6oz in front and 3oz in rear is a good place to start.

This is a cheap and effective method to improve the performance!
I'd rate this as the first thing to do after reducing the friction.

(Even better, but also a lot more expensive, is to use knuckle weights. That can be a future upgrade.)

Originally Posted by dentonmac

Softer springs... Also shock oils...

No need to hurry there, as the heavy stick pack and axles will make the original ones soft enough.
It takes quite a bit of driving to see what changes you want later.
Just moving the upper links between the different holes makes notable differences.

Originally Posted by dentonmac

Upgrade motor and ESC - Kind of a 'Ford vs Chevy' question. Brushed or Brushless.

After reducing the friction this hopefully won't be a near imminent "must do" after burning out the stock motor.

The main reason for an upgrade should be a felt need for more speed, which is where the stock LNC falls short. It has all the torque and smoothness required.

[pajey]

A stock lnc doesn't come with a battery. So it would be best as Ollie p said to go with some small lipos from the start.

But I would also completely agree with dentomatic and also Ollie p. They both have lots of experience with losi's and give greats tips.

The best thing to do first is run small lipos and make a small battery plate out of lexan or aluminum and zip tie it to the the front links. Put some Velcro on it and the batts.

As said, put some weight in the front wheels. You can wrap solder around the rim or wrap some lead around it.

Three are a fairly cheap improvement. That will make it 100x better.

[Olle P]

For some pics of those mods, as I did them:

Battery plates

The black one didn't work that well, so it's the plastic glass version I use.

In place



Wheel weights (90g of zink per wheel)

[dentonmac]

Originally Posted by Olle P

Really liking the spacer idea. The plate rubbing the LCC driveshafts (even the LNC) has always been a problem when the uppers are in the lowest hole. Very nice!