Redcat Camo X4 info, mods, tuning thread

[Hammerhead_75]

Next hurdle is the outdrives. They wear out quickly from what I have and understand. I’m thinking about machining some press-fit sleeves to give a bit more beef, but I’m not sure if it’ll have the desired effect. If anyone has tips or tricks, I’m all ears.

 

[bgredjeep]

I haven't tried this to confirm, but i believe you could probably use axial yeti outdrives if you also swap in the diff gears (side gears at least).

AX30390 and AX30381

 

[Hammerhead_75]

I haven't tried this to confirm, but i believe you could probably use axial yeti outdrives if you also swap in the diff gears (side gears at least).

AX30390 and AX30381

That would be cool.

 

[bgredjeep]

I finally found a spring option for the stock shocks.

Losb2963 is a pack of 8 (4 pairs). Losi ten scte rear tuning kit.

They are a good bit longer than the Traxxas gtr XXL springs i had initially tried for the front, but a lighter rate. Losi and Traxxas use different measurements for spring rates so i don't know the exact difference.

I initially only used the green springs in front, but last weekend I realized they are only slightly shorter than the rear springs, and stiffer as well. I swapped in the silver springs in the rear and it's much firmer. I'll try one of the other springs at some point.


2.7 rate Red springs
3.0 rate Orange springs
3.3 rate Silver springs
3.6 rate Green springs

Here's a comparison with the Traxxas XXL spring and the losi green.

 

[mtnwheeling]

There is a thread about outdrives for the Redcat Volcano outdrives here: https://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/redcat-racing-support-427/11360412-epx-pro-upgrades.html

The differentials are the same as the X4, housing is slightly different but that doesn't matter. The only problem is the traxxas shafts don't work well in the X4 since the universal pivots don't line up with the steering hub pivots. I'm still searching for something that will fit the X4 stub axle, Axial WB8 shafts maybe?

 

[bgredjeep]

Nice find.

A guy on the camo fb group posted that hpi nitro rs4 diff cups fit in the camo diff and are harder than stock. I haven't had trouble with mine yet so I can't confirm.

Part number: Hpia558

 

[mtnwheeling]

i wounder if there is anyway you could get a axial gear set in there

if not ive had good luck using red lock tight on the shaft aswell as the set screw i have one shaft on a redcat i did that to and now i cant get it off with out melting the transmission case they have been mated together so long now its time to replace bothe the shafts and the trans
drilling hardend steel isent alot of fun but i can be done with the right tools and alot of patience and some good cutting oil but even just making a divit it the flat will help alot and thats not that hard to do

I successfully installed Axial 13T/43T helical gears in my X4. It will require some shimming to get the mesh correct. This calms down the torque twist a little and gears the vehicle lower at the same time. Not many gearing options for the 0.6 Mod hardened steel pinions.



Anyway these pinion shafts have holes drilled in them so you can use the axial screw pins. I also used a TRX4 driveshaft (cheap and easy to find) for the intermediate shaft and replaced the crappy drive cups and dogbone setup.

 

[ferp420]

I successfully installed Axial 13T/43T helical gears in my X4. It will require some shimming to get the mesh correct. This calms down the torque twist a little and gears the vehicle lower at the same time. Not many gearing options for the 0.6 Mod hardened steel pinions.



Anyway these pinion shafts have holes drilled in them so you can use the axial screw pins. I also used a TRX4 driveshaft (cheap and easy to find) for the intermediate shaft and replaced the crappy drive cups and dogbone setup.

if you run the 38 / 13t gears set up front it helps keep the rig going in a straight line and makes the rig alot more controlable

 

[mtnwheeling]

Cool. I really dig the chassis / battery tray brace you made that relocates the battery. Mind if I steal that?

I was also wondering what you needed to do for fitment of the Yeti sway bar. I also would like something a bit stiffer.

I ordered up the Force RC Hammerjaw rear axles and spool I read about in another thread as a bit of an experiment. The axles are here, just waiting on the diff parts. I’ll be sure to post up the results here.

Spoiler: The Hammerjaw axle shafts are a different design and are not compatible with the X4. The center housing is the only thing they have in common. The HJ axle lockouts are shorter and the axle shafts are shorter too. The X4 has a wider axle and an extra bearing in the lockouts. Yeti rear axle would be the best upgrade / replacement.

 

[mtnwheeling]

if you run the 38 / 13t gears set up front it helps keep the rig going in a straight line and makes the rig alot more controlable

I've done the overdrive front on my crawlers, but never with a higher speed rig. Seems like this would cause a lot more binding in the drive train. What's your experience with this besides better control? I was thinking of trying a gyro / AVS setup.

 

[ferp420]

I've done the overdrive front on my crawlers, but never with a higher speed rig. Seems like this would cause a lot more binding in the drive train. What's your experience with this besides better control? I was thinking of trying a gyro / AVS setup.

i havent noticed any downsides yet there might be some drag on pavement other than that i dont see any issues



it gives it a forward bias so it kinda feels like a front wheel drive

if you have open diff in the rear it will be hard to break the rear end loose

 

[mtnwheeling]

I finally found a spring option for the stock shocks.

Losb2963 is a pack of 8 (4 pairs). Losi ten scte rear tuning kit.

They are a good bit longer than the Traxxas gtr XXL springs i had initially tried for the front, but a lighter rate. Losi and Traxxas use different measurements for spring rates so i don't know the exact difference.

I initially only used the green springs in front, but last weekend I realized they are only slightly shorter than the rear springs, and stiffer as well. I swapped in the silver springs in the rear and it's much firmer. I'll try one of the other springs at some point.


2.7 rate Red springs
3.0 rate Orange springs
3.3 rate Silver springs
3.6 rate Green springs

Here's a comparison with the Traxxas XXL spring and the losi green.

Thanks for finding springs for the X4! I have been searching a while and couldn't find anything long enough. How much shorter are the Losi springs than the rear X4 springs?

 

[bgredjeep]

Thanks for finding springs for the X4! I have been searching a while and couldn't find anything long enough. How much shorter are the Losi springs than the rear X4 springs?

I took a quick measurement.

Losi - 2.9"
Redcat rear - 3.25"

 

[skatecyco]

Great thread and thank you. Ive got a Camo arriving tomorrow, and ive been thinking seriously about sending it right back and ordering a bomber. Change my mind? I really like the Camo. I know its not going to be perfect out of the box, but eventually i would like a good balance of speed and crawlability, strictly for fun. The main thing thats got me changing my mind is just the availability of parts. I have 2 local hobby shops and neither one carries anything by Redcat.

 

[bgredjeep]

Great thread and thank you. Ive got a Camo arriving tomorrow, and ive been thinking seriously about sending it right back and ordering a bomber. Change my mind? I really like the Camo. I know its not going to be perfect out of the box, but eventually i would like a good balance of speed and crawlability, strictly for fun. The main thing thats got me changing my mind is just the availability of parts. I have 2 local hobby shops and neither one carries anything by Redcat.

I have ended up with both as I recently picked up a used bomber, so here are my thoughts.

First, the Bomber is awesome. I have a real rock crawler, and I'm an ultra 4 fan (Erik Miller and Miller Motorsports is my team) so having the rc based on a real ultra 4 buggy is great.

Second, I feel like my bomber has better handling, but its also not quite as fast as the camo so that plays a big part. Mine does have a sway bar, which I don't think are included stock, and it needs it when you add power. It absolutely crawls better than the camo. So much so that I'm thinking about adding a spool to the front of the camo to give it a little rock capability. Going to try some 200k diff oil first, once i can find it.

Next, I mentioned the camo being slightly faster. From what I've seen, the Bomber is slow out of the box My bomber came with several hundred dollars worth of upgrades. I'm not sure the seller knew all the details, and I haven't added it all up, but its a lot. All metal links, savox servo, castle mamba x. Those parts would nearly double the price of a new bomber. If you mostly want to crawl, it should do that well with no major changes.

The camo, while pretty quick in stock form, is also going to need some upgrades for reliability. Metal links are among the top items, as well as a skid plate to beef up the chassis. I haven't broken mine, but I've seen several guys with chassis failures, from minor to snapped in half. No idea what they did to break it but I suspect either big jumps, or immobile objects played a part. The down side is, no one makes a proper skid plate for the camo so you'll be on the hook to make that. So far only redcat makes links. I think losi rock rey links are close enough (within a few mm) that you could use them, but i haven't tried myself. There are also other hsp and redcat models that parts can cross between for things like diff housings.

If i had to pick one of the 2 that I have, I'd probably go with the Bomber and here's why. I mostly (~90%) run around my house and the camo is really too fast for the space I have. I can rip it full throttle for maybe 2 seconds before I'm back on the brakes to avoid the fence. When I take it to the local rc track (rarely) it's great and I can really open it up (adv camo) . If I take them to the offroad parks on my wheeling trips, I will have loads of rock trails to run the cars on (adv bomber). Side note, working on the camo is so much easier than working on the Bomber (adv camo). Ex. I programmed the esc in the Bomber this weekend (rock racer/rock crawler mode is awesome). I had to damn near disassemble the entire car to get the receiver out so I could connect the esc to the program card.

Hope this helps.

Thankfully I don't have to choose and I can continue running both.

 

[skatecyco]

Thank you Yeah! Yeah man that totally helps....me to want them both! Lol naw since the Camo will be here today and I've been waiting impatiently for what seems like a week im going to keep it and get a bomber or maybe a Capra kit down the road a little. Then I can do whatever I want pretty much want to it right?
Short back story I haven't touched anything RC related since junior high age when I had a Tamiya F150 kit of some kind that me and my dad built. Had a lot of fun with it but eventually broke and I didn't have the skills then to fix anything. Fast forward 30 something years and I don't know what possessed me to buy one of these cheap WLToys buggies you see all over the internet. Holy shit i couldn't believe how fun it was. I proceeded to strip the diffs out the 2nd day and thats when my exploration started. Im not waiting a month for anything so locked diffs it was. Hit a car tire and broke the front diff housing and rebuilt that with JB weld and its better than stock, same with the front knuckles. The pins that hold the dog bones into the front hub broke and i got super creative with that too. Lol it was like every time I drove it, I broke it and just fixed it, but it was pretty fun anyways and I learned alot. I believe I burnt out the motor yesterday great timing because the Camo should be here any moment. Ill keep working on the little buggy just to learn more about motors and all that electronic stuff and for now the Camo is going to be awesome. Hey wait, is that the mailma............

 

[skatecyco]

BTW I noticed when I sent the Wendigo back, the drive train screws were loose as was the servo horn and some other steering gizmo. Anything I should loktite before I even go out? I don't have any extra parts and would hate to have my first run cut short. Oh I have the 25k servo arriving today and some aluminum servo mounts next week. Good addition?

 

[mtnwheeling]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts on the Bomber, I keep wondering if I should have bought one of those instead.

I know what you mean about the X4 being too fast for driving in your own yard. I run mine on 2S with the 13/43 diff gearing and I still run out of room pretty quickly. I think most people are running theirs on 3S which makes it 30+mph and that's probably why they are having chassis failures. Just because the ESC can handle 3S doesn't mean the rest of the vehicle can. I ran mine twice on 3S and broke something each time...no more of that.

I'm currently looking for a way to change pinion and spur gearing to something more readily available. Exceed / HSP makes an 81T 48P spur #70533 but it has been out of stock for quite some time. I think it is what originally came with the Camo as well before they went to 0.6 mod steel gears. The plastic spur didn't hold up well with the rear locker, seems fine on open diffs though. If anyone out there has any ideas, please post up!

 

[mtnwheeling]

Finally came up with a fairly simple 48 pitch gear conversion. I used Axial slipper part AX30411 and cut a 2mm slot in the "nose" for the cross pin then stacked a few shims between the E-clip and the spur adapter. Axial AX30665 80T spur gear and a 17t pinion. This increases the gear ratio but I have 13t/43t diff gears to help even it out. An 83/15 combo would keep it about the same with the stock diffs, but may require elongating the motor mount slot.

The X4 is much quieter now with the plastic spur and it seems to be holding up fine (open diffs with macks earplugs). If you go this route, an SCX10 83T is probably the largest that will fit and they can be found in steel. I prefer plastic spurs because they are quieter and offer a inexpensive point of failure.

 

[chazekxt]

Great Thread guy's any more update's on the x4 I also picked one up too.