R/C in general is a little bit new to me so I'm learning as I go and I've found rock crawling to be a lot of fun!!
I bought the Axial RTR crawler because building one would be a little beyond me trying to choose the electronics to go with it.. out of the box it was a lot of fun and I started to learn what works and what doesn't. It gave me a baseline for what needs improving and what really doesn't make much difference but is nice to have anyway.
First thing I did was get T-maxx metal links for the lowers which were nice as they are very strong and durable, didn't make a difference in performance though.. Then I replaced rears with bent lower links and that did help the rear tires to grab the rocks better when climbing, as the links don't lift the tires up away from the rocks. The 3 link setup wasn't working so well and the little ball socket that is bolted to the axle was getting very loose and I worried about it popping out from axle twist, so I upgraded to the 4 link setup from TCS and am very happy with it. Didn't make much difference in performance that I can tell but none the less a worthy upgrade in my mind.
I then Took the tires apart and star cut the foams and put 7.5oz of weight in the front rims and 3oz in the back.. This made the biggest difference in traction but slightly hurt side hilling as the sidewalls of the tires weren't quite as stiff.
The steering out of the box SUCKS and though the servo does *work* it leaves a lot to be desired.. The linkage bends so much the tires would be pointing all different directions when binding in tough spots and made it impossible to navigate.. Upgraded to Axial aluminum links and problem solved... Added a Hitec 645MG servo with aluminum horn for a bit more torque.. Still not as much as I"d like, but it's doing pretty well so far.
The stock motor worked OK but I wanted less speed and more torque... so I got an Integy 55T lathe motor and 12T pinion gear and that made a drastic improvement in extreme crawling conditions..
The stock tires work ok but the traction is definately lacking on steep climbs such as up the sides of rock ledges.. so I got some Losi Rock Claws and the traction when WAY up.. It'll go places now I would've never dreamed of.
The stock driveshafts never gave me a problem but I kept hearing how they pop off and break and everything else so as a pre-emptive strike against a future breakdown I went ahead and got the MIP driveshafts, they ROCK!! I love them and it is my favorite upgrade so far.
The body is kind of goofy and the side body posts always got hung up on rocks in tight places and I kept losing body clips so off the body went.. I'm using the stock battery plate and a 6-cell NiMH stick pack so I did need protection against roll overs, so I went to the hardware store and got some 3/16" steel rod and welded up a simple little roll cage.. it's not pretty but it works great! I also bought a thick plastic for sale sign and made little side protection panels to go inside the chassis to protect transmission and engine from side damage and to give the crawler a little tiny bit of body..
And here is where I'm at! I'm having a blast with it!
If you have any suggestions on other things I can do please chime in!!
THe only thing I'm not going to do right off which I know many of you will mention is to mount the battery on the front axle but I like it just fine where it is.. It can climb VERY steel rock ledge right now and I just don't like the look of the batteries on the front axle like that.
I'm still fighting with torque twist a little but it's not as bad as when it was NIB. I put 90w gear oil in left rear shock and a preload spacer and it helped.. Doesn't effect articulation too much that I've noticed so I'll keep running it like that for a while.
I think the next thing I"m going to do is get the TCS skid plate and mount hte lower links inside the chassis plates.. The links get hung up on rocks sticking out on the outside of the chassis quite often.
I bought the Axial RTR crawler because building one would be a little beyond me trying to choose the electronics to go with it.. out of the box it was a lot of fun and I started to learn what works and what doesn't. It gave me a baseline for what needs improving and what really doesn't make much difference but is nice to have anyway.
First thing I did was get T-maxx metal links for the lowers which were nice as they are very strong and durable, didn't make a difference in performance though.. Then I replaced rears with bent lower links and that did help the rear tires to grab the rocks better when climbing, as the links don't lift the tires up away from the rocks. The 3 link setup wasn't working so well and the little ball socket that is bolted to the axle was getting very loose and I worried about it popping out from axle twist, so I upgraded to the 4 link setup from TCS and am very happy with it. Didn't make much difference in performance that I can tell but none the less a worthy upgrade in my mind.
I then Took the tires apart and star cut the foams and put 7.5oz of weight in the front rims and 3oz in the back.. This made the biggest difference in traction but slightly hurt side hilling as the sidewalls of the tires weren't quite as stiff.
The steering out of the box SUCKS and though the servo does *work* it leaves a lot to be desired.. The linkage bends so much the tires would be pointing all different directions when binding in tough spots and made it impossible to navigate.. Upgraded to Axial aluminum links and problem solved... Added a Hitec 645MG servo with aluminum horn for a bit more torque.. Still not as much as I"d like, but it's doing pretty well so far.
The stock motor worked OK but I wanted less speed and more torque... so I got an Integy 55T lathe motor and 12T pinion gear and that made a drastic improvement in extreme crawling conditions..
The stock tires work ok but the traction is definately lacking on steep climbs such as up the sides of rock ledges.. so I got some Losi Rock Claws and the traction when WAY up.. It'll go places now I would've never dreamed of.
The stock driveshafts never gave me a problem but I kept hearing how they pop off and break and everything else so as a pre-emptive strike against a future breakdown I went ahead and got the MIP driveshafts, they ROCK!! I love them and it is my favorite upgrade so far.
The body is kind of goofy and the side body posts always got hung up on rocks in tight places and I kept losing body clips so off the body went.. I'm using the stock battery plate and a 6-cell NiMH stick pack so I did need protection against roll overs, so I went to the hardware store and got some 3/16" steel rod and welded up a simple little roll cage.. it's not pretty but it works great! I also bought a thick plastic for sale sign and made little side protection panels to go inside the chassis to protect transmission and engine from side damage and to give the crawler a little tiny bit of body..
And here is where I'm at! I'm having a blast with it!
If you have any suggestions on other things I can do please chime in!!
THe only thing I'm not going to do right off which I know many of you will mention is to mount the battery on the front axle but I like it just fine where it is.. It can climb VERY steel rock ledge right now and I just don't like the look of the batteries on the front axle like that.
I'm still fighting with torque twist a little but it's not as bad as when it was NIB. I put 90w gear oil in left rear shock and a preload spacer and it helped.. Doesn't effect articulation too much that I've noticed so I'll keep running it like that for a while.
I think the next thing I"m going to do is get the TCS skid plate and mount hte lower links inside the chassis plates.. The links get hung up on rocks sticking out on the outside of the chassis quite often.
Last edited:
