First upgrades to a Traxxas TRX-4 Tactical

[cpl666k9]

I need some suggestions for what I need to upgrade on this vehicle. TRX-4 was purchased late 2018 and I am the third owner. The TRX-4 is stock. This is also my first Traxxas.
The TRX-4 will be my wife’s vehicle and she just wants to drive. She is not hard on her vehicles. She does not want a lot of upgrades nor does she want to do any wrenching. She’s leaving that to me. Grandkids will be supervised while they drive.
I want to set it up, so it does not need a lot of work or maintenance as I have my own RCs to work on.
I will run the Traxxas 3S 5000 mAh batteries.
I am looking for suggestions on an upgrade to the steering servo and horn as I have heard this is the weakest link. I will most likely rebuild the shocks and put in 20w oil. If the stock motor and speed controller can handle the 3S then I will leave them alone for now. If not, I am open to suggestions.
We’re housesitting in Indiana right now, so I am limited in tools too. I will do a complete R&R when I get back home

 

[NO_Signal]

I put a hobbywing axe combo and use a 25kg lewansoul 20 bucks on Amazon. I put a castle bec on instead of the bec in the hobbywing because of the light kit I use and so I can run everything high volt.

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[high plains drifter]

Some people run the Titan 550 stock motor without issues. I have one still going strong on one of my TRX4's. The other bit the dust and I replaced it with a Holmes Hobbies 21t Sport motor ( only $20). Simple install and great motor upgrade. No need to upgrade factory esc with this.

That being said, most TRX4 owners are upgrading the XL5 esc to a Hobbywing 1080wp when they are dropping in a higher amp draw servo. You could upgrade the stock servo to a DS3218 and keep the stock XL5 esc without issue ( really cheap servo... gives you a little more torque and fairly reliable... just not that strong) .

But if you get into a really strong servo then for the most part you're gonna have to upgrade the esc and/ or run an external bec. The way that I got around that was to get a Holmes Hobbies shv500v2 servo that comes with a lead to run directly from the 3S. This isn't a cheap servo coming in at about $120 but it has loads of torque and because of the bypass, I can still use my stock esc.

So if you go with a high end servo you'll likely need to replace the esc ( unless you get the HH shv500v2) or just get something like a ds3218 or similar for a 'little better than stock' servo and keep the stock esc.

 

[mass-hole]

I went with the DS3225 servo on my sport kit, which is supposedly a higher torque version of the DS3218(25kg instead of 20kg.) so far it has been fine but it doesn’t sound like there is much history with them on here and i only have a handful of hours on it.

I am also running a HW 1080 esc and holmes sportmaster 21T motor. Again, both only have a few hours but its a very popular combo.

 

[magic_yeti]

I Run mine Defender Version with Stock ESC and Motor only Upgrade was the steering Servo to a powerhd 20kg waterproof (20$) over 1.5 years on 3s with no issues.
Now i have upgraded to a HV500 V2 Servo, cause with all the weights (Brass portal Covers and Portal weights) the Power HD still works but on the Limit. And lately i changed the Motor to a HH trailmaster sport 21t, need the Titan for another Project and the HH was waiting on the shelf.
So only upgrade needed is a better steering servo and you're done for the start. Make sure to set the endpoints for the steering.

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[cpl666k9]

But if you get into a really strong servo then for the most part you're gonna have to upgrade the esc and/ or run an external bec. The way that I got around that was to get a Holmes Hobbies shv500v2 servo that comes with a lead to run directly from the 3S. This isn't a cheap servo coming in at about $120 but it has loads of torque and because of the bypass, I can still use my stock esc.

This is what I'm going to do for now myself. Not cheap, but most of the time you get what you pay for.

I Run mine Defender Version with Stock ESC and Motor only Upgrade was the steering Servo to a powerhd 20kg waterproof (20$) over 1.5 years on 3s with no issues.
Make sure to set the endpoints for the steering.

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I'm going to stay with the stock ESC for now myself. Thanks for the reminder on the endpoints for the steering.

I didn't originally see the Thread: new2rocks Guide to the TRX-4. Have got a lot of information form this thread. I ordered the battery lowering kit and the servo bracket also. Will order the HH Servo also. I also have a metal servo horn on order.

 

[Inspector86]

If you are the third owner I doubt the TRX4 is completely stock since the stock steering servo has been a known weak spot and is routinely replaced early on. I have the Savox 1230SG installed in all five of my TRX4s the oldest being 2 years without a single issue all are also equipped with aluminum servo horns. I have the HW 1080 ESC and CC 10A BECs installed in four of my TRX4s one still running the stock Titan 550 21T motor after 2 years. All of my TRX4s have some form of portal weights front and rear with my favorite being the SSD portal weights.

 

[cpl666k9]

Does anyone know if the servo horn that ships with the Holmes Hobbies shv500v2 servo will work with the steering linkage of the TRX4?

 

[high plains drifter]

I didn't remember what horns I have on either of my TRX4's so I just looked. Neither are from the shv500v2 but whether or not there was a reason that I used different servo horns, I'm not sure. I didn't measure hole to hole but I can if you need.