Micro Mod bible

[8695Beaters]

I've only broken one shock and I have 3 crawlers. I use XMODS springs to soften the ride and they work fine for me, so I never went with the HR shocks. As for the chassis, different people will have different opinions. The only opinion I can offer is to not buy Hot Racing's chassis. Looks cool, but doesn't really do anything for flex or lowering CG. The Blade and Ridgeback chassis are very popular.

 

[olblueyez]

I've only broken one shock and I have 3 crawlers. I use XMODS springs to soften the ride and they work fine for me, so I never went with the HR shocks. As for the chassis, different people will have different opinions. The only opinion I can offer is to not buy Hot Racing's chassis. Looks cool, but doesn't really do anything for flex or lowering CG. The Blade and Ridgeback chassis are very popular.

Thanks!

Ok, so far this is where I'm at with my Trekker.

HR Gearbox <~Arched out the battery cradle to accommodate the larger gearbox

HR 56t Spur <~Glued to the clutch plates

The HR Gearbox & Spur should be your first Mods. The plastic gearbox is total crap. Mine was hosed after 15 runs on the carpet with the stock battery and no abuse. One of the 2x5 bearings had melted into the housing and the clutch plates were warped causing the spur to wobble like a mofo. I took Dan's advice and glued the clutch plates to the spur. Having two plastic plates hold your plastic spur is stupid. Its doomed by design.

HR Steering Link <~Steering is less spongy and clearance is much better on both top and bottom

DDT Predator 90-Turn Motor <~"THE BOMB"!!!!! Ever see "Crazy Mary, Dirty Larry"?

Hanks: [walking through police garage] Stevie! Stevie, ma boy! Where are ya?
Steve: Hey!
Hanks: Where the hell's that car at?
[referring to high-performance police car]
Steve: Over here... but she ain't got any siren or lights yet.
Hanks: Hey look, all I care about, is what you've got under that hood.
Steve: Take a look
[starts police car, car rumbles to life]
Steve: .
Hanks: [smiles broadly] So, what's my top end on this?
Steve: Unlimited.

Gobs of torque and decades of battery life. And with the LiPo??? You go fiddle farting around with all the Sanford & Son tinfoil chassis, rubber bands, BB's, and springs from a bic pen all you want. This is my recommendation for the number three must have add on johnny after the HR Tranny and Spur!

HR Gearbox Cover
Delrin 11t Pinion
HPI Goop for the Gearbox
Gear Head RC 8Trax Micro Crawler Wheels
rc4wd Rock Crusher Tires

Losi 300mAh LiPo <~Fits Perfect in the stock battery box and my choice for the number four must have add ons

Hi-Tec HS-5065MG <~Servo Mounts need to be taken down to flat to accommodate the 65MG servos

HR Chrome Body Clips <~These are great, they slip on easy. And the loops are bigger so you can grab them.

One Large Chrome Body Clip <~18 or 10 scale I imagine, is great for the battery box. You will be able to leave your 10 foot needle noze in the toolbox when you wanna remove the battery

(50 @ 5 Balloons) M2 Steel Locking Hex Nuts from RTL Fasteners <~Ditch those ghetto plastic wheel nuts and use one to top off your slipper when you rebuild your Tranny

So far everything I have done with the little Trekker has been fantastic except one. The "Rock Crusher Tires" although nice looking and a tad bit better at climbing are a dissapointment for me. The tread pattern is deep enough but too smooth and lacks adequate grip on the side walls.

I'm not sure if I wanna try pulling them and taking the foam out or just waiting until I get a new pair.

I guess Losi aluminum chassis Hop-Ups and HR shocks will be next. I keep looking at aftermarket chassis but the only thing that looks mildly attractive are the rc4wd scale units but I don't want those stiff azz leaf springs.

What is the absolute Top Dawg tire for crawling? My rims are 1" I believe.

Sent from my BlackBerry 9900

 

[8695Beaters]

The MiniQLO MiClaw. Biggest, stickiest tire you can get for these. You do need to space out the wheels to make the steering work, so either wheel wideners or modded rims. The difference between the MiClaws and anything else is night and day. When you search for them, they are misspelled on the website is MiClows. Thanks Hong Kong!

 

[olblueyez]

The MiniQLO MiClaw. Biggest, stickiest tire you can get for these. You do need to space out the wheels to make the steering work, so either wheel wideners or modded rims. The difference between the MiClaws and anything else is night and day. When you search for them, they are misspelled on the website is MiClows. Thanks Hong Kong!

Kool, thanks Buddy!

Would you use foams with those?

 

[Stoovey2004]

What kind of run times are you getting with that 300mah lipo?

 

[8695Beaters]

Kool, thanks Buddy!

Would you use foams with those?

You're welcome. Most people run the stock foams inside the MiClaws for some support. The foam only fills about half the tire, so you still get the flex, but not a squishy, useless lump of tire when you're trying to crawl.

 

[olblueyez]

What kind of run times are you getting with that 300mah lipo?

Played with it last night, 45 to 60 minutes. The DDT Predator motor also adds lots of battery life.

Well I haven't timed it and I've only had it since yesterday but I can tell you that even with the added voltage its gotta be twice what I got with the stock 220 NIHM. Seems that way anyway. Let's put it this way, fiddle farting around the house, I get plenty of time before I'm ready to quit for awhile.

I also noticed with the LiPo, if you wanna take a break, you can turn the truck off and come back later and its ready to finish off the charge you had. With the NIHM battery I would come back to a drained battery.

That 300 LiPo fits the battery box like a glove, get the dimensions from the battery and you will know exactly how much space you have to stuff a battery in there.

I was planning on modding the receiver box to fit in the battery compartment so I could set the larger battery above the tranny but I thought I'd see how it went before I started cutting up my receiver box and I got lucky. Made things nice and easy.


I searched high and low for another brand besides Losi for a battery with those approximate dimensions but no one seems to have one. I'd like to eventually run 2 or 3 in parallel with one over each servo and or one above the tranny. Problem is anything small enough is usually under 200mAh and it doesn't seem like it would be worth it.

If you put a giant stacked unit above the tranny than your left with way too much weight up high.

The added power is nice too, the Predator and Tranny sound better as well.

Right now I trying to hunt down some Male to Female Stainless Round Standoff's that could be used as screw on wheel extenders.

I'd also like to find some threaded swage in standoffs so people using the Trekker can use the HR Lockers.

What would it take to run the lockers on the wider wheel base Trekker? The wheels mount up but the thread ends just below the wheel.

Would Micro Crawler Hubs (I notice they are thinner) do the trick? It only needs about 3 or 4mm to clear and have enough thread for the nut.

Almost forgot, what do you guys think about the upper and lower shock mounts?

Run them low for more clearance? Or run them high for better COG?

I lowered the shock mounts when I got the truck for better turning and clearance but now that its running so well I wonder if bringing the chassis down would help it to stay upright.

Sent from my BlackBerry 9900

 

[Sh0rtBus]

I'm curious about something. First off......to stay on topic, here's what I've done to my Trekker.

--Custom Lower Links w/ CF tubing link sliders & Micro T Ballcups
--Decased ESC/RX
--GensAce 2s 450mah Lipo (fairly big)
--DANALLY Big Block Motor Kit w/ 59T Spur
--RC4WD Beadlocks
--RC4WD TTC Tires
--Hitec HS65MG Servo
--Chopped Front Bumper
--Truggy Cut Body & Rear Cage
--Outboarded Rear Shocks & Inboarded Upper Rear Links
--Micro T White Springs w/ cut reds on top (dual rate front shock springs)

My question is for those who've added the RC4WD beadlock wheels. I installed my TTCs on them w/o the foams to help them conform a little better to rocks/terrain. When I locked them in place, though, they hold air, almost like a 1:1 with about 8-10lbs of pressure. Are you guys leaving them that way, venting the wheels, or venting the tires?

 

[Fungi]

I noticed the same thing. I thought about using a needle and syringe to deflate it to whatever you want. LOL

For now I haven't done anything special. But they are not as soft as they should be.

 

[Slambaam]

i run hr rims and they hold air in them like no other. i drilled holes into my rims to solve that problem.

 

[b4d93r]

I moved my shock top shocks mounts down on the chassis. IMO the suspension is smoother this way"thumbsup"

Sweet chassis. I just picked up the Micro 4x4 which is based off the micro rock crawler from what the sales person told me. Where can I find the aluminum aftermarket parts for it?

 

[user unrelated]

I've got a few things to add here that I don't think I saw:

first off, for the owners of HOT RACING SCALE SHOCKS.
They have a lot of friction, no? Well, take them all apart, and look in the bottom of the shock body. there's a little nylon bushing, and underneath that, there's 2 o-rings like an oil shock would have.
TAKE THOSE SUCKERS OUT! It makes the shocks LOADS better!

and for all you out there who like the "every little bit counts" motto...
take some thick solder, or something heavy and similar
cut it to the length of the little "slot" in the lower links.
Apply CA glue
proffit.

also, you can apply some to the steering link. I tried wrapping it around, but it's too thick on the back side. I'm not sure how long these ones are going to stay, but we'll see.

You can also see all the solder I wrapped around the inside of each front wheel.

Here's a great, cheap LiPo. $3.50!
Value Hobby R/C Hobby Store (Bensenville, Illinois): GForce 20C 240mAh 2S 7.4V LiPO

also: this is a great servo, and I couldn't recomend it more!
Value Hobby R/C Hobby Store (Bensenville, Illinois): Towerpro MG90 Metal Gear Micro Servo

one last thing:... DDT predator micro motors... just buy one.
(orange driveshafts added since last pics just 'cuz. haha)

 

[gbean]

Does anyone know the length difference between trekker drive shafts and MCRC shafts?

 

[Fungi]

The length of the cylinder / plunger only.

Trekker = 17mm

MCRC = 11.5mm

 

[gbean]

They're M 2.5 thread. Your hobby shop should have something to replace them with. A bag of 50 cost me $8.

EDIT, NM, axle nuts are 2mm, not 2.5..


Where did you find your 50 pack of these?
I made the mistake of buying 4 2.5MM nuts without the crawler with me and they are too big. My LHS has nothing close.
I really want nylocks.

 

[user unrelated]

Also... for the heat-concious (like myself):
motor cooling fan.
cut a square hole in the top plate thing, but make sure to leave enough material at the corners for the screws to mount the fan!
(I used short self-tapping screws left over from my EXO build, and they thread into the fan holes perfectly)
might not work too well for a crawler, but fine for scalers!

 

[gbean]

subbin

 

[Nelanzor]

just received my hot racing gearbox and spur.
but i cannot get the gearbox to close.
On the upper part, it will not fully close (lower part does close), even though the bearings of the axle for the spur gear will not go in any further.
Anyone who recognizes this problem?

 

[Intashu]

Anyone used Soda cans to make cheap Rock guards for the axle?
well it not... Here you go!

 

[gbean]

So how is that aaffecting your rear articulation?