Fallen's RC4WD Miller Motorsports #4421

[Fallen]

Sure. It's pretty quick to remove / reinstall so I can probably hook you up tonight.

I want the interior parts just for the plastic C-clips to mount a fire extinguisher. But I'm not paying $60 just to get one plastic part.

 

[Fallen]

The grill is 35mm tall measured at the center.

 

[bgredjeep]

The grill is 35mm tall measured at the center.

Perfect. Thanks

 

[Fallen]

You're welcome!

Well #4421 is back up and running. I replaced the front ring gear again. I also replaced the front axle differential shifting arm. The interface between it and the shift fork which it fits onto had gotten so sloppy, it wouldn't shift anymore.

The horn is a soft plastic part, and the fork is a metal part with sharp edges. I probably misaligned and mashed the horn onto the fork one of the times I was reinstalling it. Metal beats plastic everytime.

I've put two batteries through it so far and it's holding up. I put some pretty high torque through it too while crawling. Well, as much as a 1200KV, 540 sized motor can muster on 3S.

A photo for photo's sake:

Because who wants to read a post with no photos?

The Tamiya TS metallic blue paint on the wheels is holding up better than I expected.

It's still the most fun offroad RC car I have when it's running. It really does perform like a 4400 rig. In that regard, I think RC4WD did a great job on this model. Hopefully this new ring gear holds up and I'll eventually stop feeling so tentative about this truck.

 

[SteveB1]

Fantastic thread and great review.

 

[Fallen]

Thanks for checking it out!

I bought some parts to get that rear light bar lit up. I also picked up an FPV set-up to try in this truck. FPV isn't that cool in surface applications but I'm going to try it again anyway. Not being able to feel the sensations of movement really takes away from the driving experience.

If I can get the FPV system installed in time, there might be two Miller Motorsports #4421 trucks competing in the 4400 class this year at KOH!

 

[Fallen]

My rear lightbar is working! RC4WD doesn't make lights that fit in the stock light housing, so I was on my own.

I cut up a piece of lexan to hold the 3MM white LEDs in place.

I cut the holes then installed the LED holders. I added a drop of CA glue to each one for my own peace of mind.

Then that lexan piece got screwed to the inside of the light housing. This is the lexan piece attached to the light housing:

The LEDs are the Losi LED set for their RZR Rey vehicle. It's just a string of 4 white 3mm LEDs that fit this housing quite well. The red lights look pink, the yellow light looks pale and the white light looks blue. Oh well, close enough.

I also installed an FPV system. It's Spektrum's Heavy Duty 25mw camera with built in video transmitter. It's powered off of RX power, so it's a very plug & play unit. It's nothing to write home about, but it works.

Yes, the lens cap is still on. And the camera is just double sided taped to the driver's seat. I'm powering the rear lightbar & FPV system off of the unassigned 5th channel port on the RX.

It's still more fun to drive 3rd person view. But now when I want to don my FPV goggles and look like a dork I can!

 

[JimK]

A great thread on a very cool truck. I enjoyed reading this one start to finish! "thumbsup"

 

[Fallen]

Thanks Jim, hopefully some more upgrades will eventually be released for this truck and I can keep making progress.

I'm going back to the stock body panels while I do some repairs on the bug body. A kid who probably just got a Slash for Christmas was driving at the track near our house today. His parents weren't really paying attention to him nor teaching him how to drive, so he crashed into my truck several times. Fortunately the only thing broken was some lexan. Nothing some E6000 and drywall tape can't fix.

 

[Wraith1985]

Loving mine! I was on the fence about the tires, but after reading this I will get some dual stage foams and run it.

Sent from my SM-G986U1 using Tapatalk

 

[Fallen]

Sweet. It really is a fun truck to drive.

If you get the Pro-Line dual stage foams, the width has to be trimmed. They're too wide to work with the stock wheels. Trim them to the same width as the stock foams and you can make them work.

The Pro-Line foams are a definite upgrade over stock, but really are too firm for crawling. Maybe some other brands' foams would work better with these tires.

But the tires are pretty nice. The lugs are nice and meaty so even though the compound is soft, the lugs don't just fold over. They bite and hold like a well trained dog.

 

[Wraith1985]

Sweet. It really is a fun truck to drive.

If you get the Pro-Line dual stage foams, the width has to be trimmed. They're too wide to work with the stock wheels. Trim them to the same width as the stock foams and you can make them work.

The Pro-Line foams are a definite upgrade over stock, but really are too firm for crawling. Maybe some other brands' foams would work better with these tires.

But the tires are pretty nice. The lugs are nice and meaty so even though the compound is soft, the lugs don't just fold over. They bite and hold like a well trained dog.

That's good to know thanks for the advice. I usually lean a little more toward crawling so maybe I should do a little more research on foams. It's hard to find a happy median for crawling and bashing lol.

Sent from my SM-G986U1 using Tapatalk

 

[Fallen]

The new front ring gear has been holding up just fine. I've put about 10 batteries through the truck since the last replacement, and no damage.

I'm thinking the failure was induced by the shift from unlock to lock not completely taking place. Since replacing the shift arm and tightening the cable up it's been fine.

I did suffer a pretty righteous failure though. My 5 year old son was driving in high gear and hit a fairly deep, rocky ditch. The impact broke the lower link, front rod end on the driver's side. It also sheared the axle shafts right behind the threads for the wheel nut.

The rod end was plastic, no big deal. The suspension link suffered no damage. Fortunately RPP had both the rod ends and the CVD axles in stock. The truck is all up and running again.

But the crash and damage does confirm my suspicion that in stock form, this truck wouldn't be up to U4RC racing outside of a stock class. I also think the stock electronics are a solid choice for this truck, as even those can push the truck to speeds that some of the components can't survive crashes at.

It's still a fun truck to drive and I'm glad to have one. For scale Ultra 4 performance it's pretty sweet. For U4RC competition I think you'd regret spending $500 on this.

And yes, I know Erik Miller doesn't run King shocks or blue wheels. But this truck is mine, not Erik's. However, if Fox wants to send me free shocks, I'll happily install them!

 

[JatoTheRipper]

The new front ring gear has been holding up just fine. I've put about 10 batteries through the truck since the last replacement, and no damage.

I'm thinking the failure was induced by the shift from unlock to lock not completely taking place. Since replacing the shift arm and tightening the cable up it's been fine.

I did suffer a pretty righteous failure though. My 5 year old son was driving in high gear and hit a fairly deep, rocky ditch. The impact broke the lower link, front rod end on the driver's side. It also sheared the axle shafts right behind the threads for the wheel nut.

The rod end was plastic, no big deal. The suspension link suffered no damage. Fortunately RPP had both the rod ends and the CVD axles in stock. The truck is all up and running again.

But the crash and damage does confirm my suspicion that in stock form, this truck wouldn't be up to U4RC racing outside of a stock class. I also think the stock electronics are a solid choice for this truck, as even those can push the truck to speeds that some of the components can't survive crashes at.

It's still a fun truck to drive and I'm glad to have one. For scale Ultra 4 performance it's pretty sweet. For U4RC competition I think you'd regret spending $500 on this.

And yes, I know Erik Miller doesn't run King shocks or blue wheels. But this truck is mine, not Erik's. However, if Fox wants to send me free shocks, I'll happily install them!

Bummer that it has typical RC4WD "durability". It is a great looking truck though!

 

[Fallen]

I played with the tire foams found a slightly better set up than the Pro-Line 2.2 XL dual stage. I replaced the outer ring with Pro-Line 1.9XL dual stage outer foams, but kept the 2.2 inner. My tires are noticeably softer now.

I replaced some broken parts. My steering servo horn took a direct hit which bent it. It hit the front axle truss and broke the truss. I replaced the truss, and straightened the horn back out. The servo needs to be replaced, but it still works (mostly). I think I stripped a gear or two from the servo gears.

I painted my sway bar arms to make them stand out a bit more. Matte black plastic tends to disappear from sight.

And I scored an old set of Axial 2.2 IFD Method wheels which were hanging around in my hobby shop. I painted them blue, and installed with the included narrow hex adapters. This brought the track width in slightly which I think looks better.

Eventually I'll replace the servo with an ECO Power WP120T. My hobby shop didn't have any in stock, but ordered some.

That's it for now. There hasn't been much aftermarket support for this truck. Most customization for this truck has been dependent on my creativity & skill. Neither of which comes in abundance.

 

[SteveB1]

I think you've done a great job with this, but I'm on the fence about adding one to the fleet. I'll keep pondering.



s

 

[Fallen]

Thanks.

Your hesitation is well founded. I like having this truck but I don't think it's a $500 truck. It looks great, but the durability just isn't what Axial puts out. $350 for a used one sounds about right to me.

The aftermarket getting behind this model would change my opinion. Some durability upgrades would make my day.

 

[SteveB1]

Was thinking that. Our rock racing track beat the Hammer Rey pretty hard, and it seems that our Ryfts are going through drag links at an alarming rate, so I would assume this Miller truck wouldn't make it to the end of a day.



That said, I think the scale look is where it's at for this machine, and for casual driving around, it looks interesting. Maybe fill that void the Axial Wraith Spawn had in my fleet.



s

 

[Fallen]

It does do scale Ultra 4 driving very well. And by scale I mean keeping one eye on going fast and the other eye on completing the race. It's pretty fun to drive that way, and it can handle that.

It's a quality build, it primarily lacks the simplicity that makes other trucks more durable. This truck is just more complex. Some parts that don't need to be complex are, like using E-clips to hold the driveshafts together instead of captured pins.

And comparing it to a Wraith is spot on. Race class, size & performance wise they're a good match. The Miller Motorsports has the edge on the Wraith when it comes to speed though, due to the unlocking diffs & sway bars. And scale looks are better too on the Miller Motorsports.

But with the right upgrades the Wraith can survive crashes that the Miller won't.

 

[Fallen]

Argghh! 3 batteries after my steering servo repair got the truck running and my shift cable for 2nd gear pulled out of the shift arm. That's a pretty simple repair by itself, but I have to disassemble a lot of the truck to access that cable / shift arm. Maybe by the time I've put 50 batteries through this truck I'll have the durability dialed in and all these gremlins will be straightened out.

I had hoped disassembling the truck upon receiving it and rebuilding it would help with that, but no such luck.

The good news is that the ECO Power WP120T servo is handling the steering just fine for this truck. For $70, it's a pretty good servo. It's definitely not overpowering the steering but it gets the job done.

It's back on the bench for a few days at least. The tear down / rebuild on this repair is probably a 2 hour job.