Simple out-of-the-box upgrades?

[Matt_]

Long story short I just ordered a WK for my son and I to play with. Although he's only 3 years old, he can control an RC car better than most... and he's been treating my Losi Night Crawler as a "basher" (not real bashing, but driving it at top speed around the yard and running over stuff). Not wanting him to destroy my LNC, went looking for a MT that we both would enjoy, and the WK fit the bill, especially at $220... it wasn't much more than some of the Toys-R-Us crap.

So with that out of the way; are there any simple upgrades that you guys recommend doing right away? Adding grease or locker to the rear axle?

I was also thinking of adding some weight to the front to help prevent wheelies so its easier for my son to control. Can weight be added easily to the wheels (like I do for my crawler)? Otherwise i'll use some stick-on truck wheel weights.

Anything you guys recommend is much appreciated!

 

[Matt_]

Also, most of my searching brings up threads from 2008-2009 so im not sure if the answers apply to the newer 106173 WK.

I plan on using my 2S Lipos. Does the SC-15WP ESC still need a low voltage cutoff or alarm?

 

[road_rascal]

On page 32 of the WK manual there's directions on how to set up the lipo cut off. The main problem for me is that it's been very difficult finding lipos that fit the stock battery box. I had to dremel out the door/ latch to make an opening for the battery wires. For a 3 year old I'd let him bash the truck and just replace whatever breaks. For adding weight I'd put some on the front bumper- I don't think sticking weights inside the wheels would work because of clearance.

 

[Matt_]

I just ordered it so don't have the manual yet. Just had the bright idea to download it off the HPI site. :ror:

On page 32 I see the instructions for setting up battery type. It actually says the default setting is Lipo.... which is interesting because I thought it comes with Ni-MH :?:

...but I don't see where it says how to set up the cut off. EDIT: Let me rephrase this. The instructions mention the cut off mode... but not how to adjust it. I'm going to presume its just not adjustable (though I wish i knew what the voltage cut off was). Hell, i'm happy I don't have to buy one at least.

And i'll definitely replace stuff as my boy (or me) breaks it. I was thinking more along the lines of capability adding hop-ups. I've seen videos on youtube of WK's having trouble climbing over stuff, so I think locking the rear would be a good idea.

 

[Matt_]

Oh and it looks like I can adjust the start power. Default setting is "high", so I'll reduce that to "low" which should help prevent wheelies too "thumbsup"

 

[heinz357]

Servo mounted on the front axle will give you the single biggest improvement, closely followed by locking both axles, and performing the Chassis Flip, which has been well documented here on the forum. Set start power to normal, or standard, IME anything else makes it jittery when trying to be smooth at low end.
Hope this helps!

 

[Matt_]

Awesome thanks.

I actually read through the whole servo bracket stickie... just need to decide which template i want to use . I have a lathe/mill/drill machine to use so I might get fancy.

And thanks for the tip on the starting power setting.

 

[lemonhead]

keep reading thru this thread , there are alot of free/ great mods you can do to your WK. just did a quick search of WK upgrades and 13 pages came up
( all recent) should give you a few ideas

 

[Matt_]

Trust me man, im not new to forums. I did search, and I saw all 13 pages full of threads. Days worth of reading.... Also, being new to WK's not all of those threads touch base on exactly "why" they're doing that particular mod, so that lead me to more searching to see if its something that i really cared about.

I'm not looking to do every free mod in the book. Just wanted to know what the basic/simple ones are that every "WK expert" would recommend to a beginner, out of the box, to get started on the right foot.

When someone new signs up on a forum that im one of the "old guys" on, and asks a question that I think is simple, I look at it through their eyes and realize that there's so much information out there that searching for "simple" things isn't always so simple when you basically have to learn a new language, acronyms, etc. No different here. lol I remember when I first got a MRC last year and spent 10 minutes trying to figure out what everyone meant by MMP ESC....

 

[4wdbowtie]

X2 on the axle mounted servo and locking the axles. Plus I reccomend getting a stronger servo cause the stock one is crap. Hope this helps "thumbsup"

 

[Matt_]

Definitely!

Already ordered the lockers. Going to upgrade to the traxxas waterproof servo that seems popular and do front axle mount. For the time being I'll run 2200mAh LiPo to reduce weight in the rear and adjust the start power to "normal" as previously recommended.

I think those few things should make it fun to start.

 

[4wdbowtie]

And if you can, get an external bec I have yet to order one but its on my list todo.

 

[heinz357]

Many of the modifications mentioned on the forum are specific to a particular direction that the builder wishes to take with their rig, ie...trail rig, scale, crawler, basher, etc...

Work out what you want to end up with first, then choose the mods that make most sense to the direction you wish to take!

And if you can, get an external bec I have yet to order one but its on my list todo.

+1 ^^^ ...will save a lot of potential headache further down the line!

 

[Matt_]

Many of the modifications mentioned on the forum are specific to a particular direction that the builder wishes to take with their rig, ie...trail rig, scale, crawler, basher, etc...

Work out what you want to end up with first, then choose the mods that make most sense to the direction you wish to take!

Exactly the point I was making in one of my previous responses. To a complete beginner, sorting through the hundreds of threads of "mods" is quite cumbersome since, without being a quasi-RC-expert, it compounds on the searching to decipher the purpose of most of the mods out there.

It's no different when someone comes to my 1:1 offroading forum and asks why they don't need a front track bar for their 2008 Jeep Grand Cherokee (its common knowledge to me that IFS jeeps don't have track bars). Some people procede to make fun of them... i try to educate them. We were all "new" at one time :mrgreen:

With that said... im now off to figure out what the hell an "external bec" is and what kind of headaches it'll save :lmao:

Again, thanks for everyones help. I have a good Father's day planned for next weekend. Me and my boy are going to play with the new WK. Then after it breaks we'll order some new parts, and i'll brew a new batch of beer 8)

FWIW- i'm looking for moderate speed (20-30mph), relatively easy to control for a youngster, but capability to run over rocks/logs/snow/sand/etc, and relatively easy to work on. Hence why i felt the WK was a good platform to start from and tone down the "wheelie" part. My son may be only 3-1/2... but if im working on my 1:1 jeep and tell him to get me a 15mm 6 point deep socket and my long 3/8" ratchet, he comes back with the right tool!

 

[4wdbowtie]

An external bec supplies power to the servo(s) when needed. Because without it, your servo(s) will not put out maximum torque or speed when using full throttle. Which in your sons case all the time lol. Plus the stock gearing in a wk w/ 2s lipo will only go 10mph. Hope this helps

 

[Matt_]

Perfect man, thanks!

10 mph sounds good for starters. The little guy is great as steering, but pretty much only knows full throttle fwd/reverse (can't blame him, his hands aren't exactly sized for the controller lol)

I bought my LNC used and it has a Novac goat 3s brushless system w/ 18.5T motor. I can run a 3S lipo with that setup, which is major overkill for my LNC. I don't comp with it... its basically a toy that gets used while we're eating lunch on my 1:1 wheeling trips. I know i have some research to do, but I wonder if that motor/esc setup would be worth swapping into the WK after we get some hours on it. (then i'd upgrade driveshafts, gears, etc as they get destroyed of course!)

 

[4wdbowtie]

If you do swap over the novak I would watch out for any signs of stripped hexes. And I read you have a lathe so if you break any axle shafts you can easily make more out of some steel rod.

 

[Matt_]

Do you think that brushless setup would be worth swapping into the wk? I know its a crawler based system so I wasn't sure if that meant high torque but low speed... and if it does, is that "low speed" still faster than a stock wk?

I was reading your build and it sounds like we have similar goals.... crawling capable but still fun to do some low level bashing.

 

[4wdbowtie]

The bs even on a 3s lipo will still go slower than stock. So I don't think it will be worth it. Lol yea plus I do as many little upgrades as I can.

 

[Matt_]

Roger that. Was just reading up on the Novak and learned what some of the odd parts are.... looks like I have an external bec controlling the esc cooling fan (which is required for 3s).

Lol im having fun tweaking the wk and its not even in my possession yet!

But ill leave the Novak in the LNC .... and just upgrade the wk after my son burns up the stock motor.