New Electronics for 1/18 Gelande II

[Lumpmister]

Hi All,

Has anyone upgraded the motor/esc on the 1/18 Gelande II from RC4WD? I recently picked up one from my LHS with the Blackjack body. It is an incredible little truck, however the motor/esc is very jerky and won't hold a constant speed when going slow.

Are there any options to upgrade the system? Preferably a sensored brushless setup. So far the servo seems to be holding up ok, but I might want to upgrade that as well.

Any help would be greatly appreciated, hope you all have a great weekend.

Thanks

Here she is:

 

[Terrordactyl]

Yes! I run the castle sidewinder 2 micro with the stock motor. So much more control. Here’s some video links:
https://youtu.be/rXBTmA_A6fM
https://youtu.be/Lb7OBLuaO_4


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[Terrordactyl]

The castle micro esc is brushless/brushed. I haven’t played with any brushless motors so I’m not sure how compatible they would be with the transmission


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[Lumpmister]

Yes! I run the castle sidewinder 2 micro with the stock motor. So much more control. Here’s some video links:
https://youtu.be/rXBTmA_A6fM
https://youtu.be/Lb7OBLuaO_4


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Awesome! I follow you on IG and love your little truck, it was one of the reasons I picked one up. I think I'll get the sidewinder for mine.

What else have you upgraded on the truck?

Keep up the good work on IG, look forward to your videos everyday. Subscribed to your YT channel as well.

**Edit** Just to make sure, it is this one:
https://www.amainhobbies.com/castle...th-scale-brushless-esc-cse010-0150-00/p487912

 

[Terrordactyl]

Yep that’s the one! And thanks! Only other upgrades so far are the receiver (which you’ll need to get when you ditch that stock esc/rec combo) and tires. I went with the spektrum sr310 receiver. It’s pretty small and easy to fit. I did move some things around like the battery up to the front and added some lead weights to front as well to help with climbs. Moving the battery will require some cutting of the interior floorboards though.


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[Lumpmister]

Yeah I was considering moving the battery to the front and the electronics to the back. The battery doesn't fit that well in the back anyways with the Blackjack body.

Do you run into issues with the micro sidewinder not being waterproof?

 

[Terrordactyl]

Yeah I was considering moving the battery to the front and the electronics to the back. The battery doesn't fit that well in the back anyways with the Blackjack body.

Do you run into issues with the micro sidewinder not being waterproof?

It comes in clear shrink wrap and I added some electrical tape around the openings at each end. I have run it in the rain plenty and no problems so far but I’ve never submerged it. It would be possible to seal it up though


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[R.Billy Rob]

As far as brushless motors go in this small scale, forget about it. There’s no sensored motors small enough for this scale that I know about. Because of that, brushless motors tend to be very jerky at low speeds. They also lack the torque you’ll get from a brushed motor. Stick with the stock motor, with a new esc/receiver it’ll be a whole new beast.

 

[Lumpmister]

As far as brushless motors go in this small scale, forget about it. There’s no sensored motors small enough for this scale that I know about. Because of that, brushless motors tend to be very jerky at low speeds. They also lack the torque you’ll get from a brushed motor. Stick with the stock motor, with a new esc/receiver it’ll be a whole new beast.

Yeah I was looking through the 1/18 brushless options and they all seemed to be very high KV. I'll stick with the esc for now.

 

[Lumpmister]

It comes in clear shrink wrap and I added some electrical tape around the openings at each end. I have run it in the rain plenty and no problems so far but I’ve never submerged it. It would be possible to seal it up though

Awesome, thanks for the advice!