Building a stock kit

[fatcalves]

Im getting a clod kit to build with my son. I was into clods for alot of years but have been away for quite a while now.

Id like to keep it mainly stock for his first one. Are there any parts I should upgrade while we build? What electronics should I run? Thanks

 

[ferp420]

i would say get the adjustable motor mounts and smaller pinnion gears and some decent shocks other than that run it break it then upgrade
lots of upgrade options for down the road depending on what the truck realy ends up being used for

 

[87lc2]

What are you looking to do with it? Crawler, basher, etc? As you know it's easy to go crazy modifying a Clod, but you dont need to just to have fun with it, I'm sure your son will love it either way.

If it's just going to be a backyard basher I'd recommend the Hobbywing 880 ESC and just run the stock motors. If you feel you need a bit more speed just run a 3S lipo, no need to go messing around with upgraded motors. I would upgrade the stock aluminum pinion gears to Robinson steel gears. The aluminum pinions wear quite fast and gum up the gearboxes pretty good.

Most people's biggest complaint with the stock Clod is the steering. With a few easy mods it can be quite good in stock form. Get a 30kg servo from Amazon and use a longer horn (dont use the stock horn, it has almost no throw). This will be adequate and saves the expense of axle mounted servos.

For suspension the stock dampers are pretty useless as you know, but for bashing around they can be OK, most of the damping comes from the tires anyway. If you want to upgrade the shocks later there's plenty of options.

From there it's really up to you to upgrade where you see fit. If you're looking to crawl with it then that's a different story. Good luck either way, Clods are the best.

 

[tamiya]

FULL BALLBEARINGS definitely a must, don't build without it or you'll need to rebuild to install later.

SuperClod manual suggests T is still not supplying full BBs in that kit; then again SuperClod still shows MSC usage.


Stock pair of 540s work find for just bashing around; decent brushed ESC can run both without a sweat. If changing to other motors with advance timing remember that Clod needs a MIRRORED PAIR, one runs in reverse.

Brushless will need 2 combos, need 1 brushless ESC per motor.

 

[Old-N-Grey]

If you’re not upgrading anything on the axles, I’d get the axle stiffeners (inner and outer) and some cvd axles, so you don’t have to do it later.

 

[JatoTheRipper]

Bearings and the motors. The stock motors are too slow.