AMP MT Kit, Questions about steering.

Hey guys,

I just finished my ECX AMP MT Kit, i had a good experience assembling it, however i ran into some issues at the very end.
This is my very first hobby grade RC car so sorry for the very newbie questions coming up.

• The front wheels seems to be able to turn more to the left side then to the right? Did i assemble something wrong or is that how its supposed to be?
• The servo doesn't seem to be able to put the wheels back into neutral position after turning the wheels, even when i'm holding it in the air.
• There is a lot of blueish light coming from the engine when running full speed, is that something i should be concerned of?
• I feel the car is understeering, but not being an experienced driver i may be wrong.
  Also i saw videos of the AMP doing donuts (they might not be running stock motor/battery), mine is not capable of that. Could it be related to the servo issue?

Hopefully you can answer some of my questions

Mr.Whiskers said:

Hey guys,

I just finished my ECX AMP MT Kit, i had a good experience assembling it, however i ran into some issues at the very end.
This is my very first hobby grade RC car so sorry for the very newbie questions coming up.

• The front wheels seems to be able to turn more to the left side then to the right? Did i assemble something wrong or is that how its supposed to be?
• The servo doesn't seem to be able to put the wheels back into neutral position after turning the wheels, even when i'm holding it in the air.
• There is a lot of blueish light coming from the engine when running full speed, is that something i should be concerned of?
• I feel the car is understeering, but not being an experienced driver i may be wrong.
  Also i saw videos of the AMP doing donuts (they might not be running stock motor/battery), mine is not capable of that. Could it be related to the servo issue?

Hopefully you can answer some of my questions

Click to expand...

Hello Mr. Whiskers,

Maybe I can help as I just built an AMP MT with my Niece. Give these a try and let us know if they work for you. I will address your issues in order.

1. You may have to remove the screw from the center of the steering servo and then power the servo on. Next you want to set the steering adjustment on your transmitter to neutral or zero setting.

2. It is very easy to over tighten the screws on the steering system. When you have your screw removed from the servo on item 1 in my post, check the steering system. It should very easily move left and right, if it doesn’t then something is too tight.

3. When you see this blue light is it at night? I have not ran my Nieces car with her at night and I have all brushless so that blue light MAY be normal. Maybe another member can chime in here?

4. Your under steering may be a few things. Start with the first two things in my post and add checking the slipper clutch for proper adjustment per manual. You may have a loose slipper clutch.

Please let us all know how you make out and I hope I could be of some help at all!

RandomCreeper said:

1. You may have to remove the screw from the center of the steering servo and then power the servo on. Next you want to set the steering adjustment on your transmitter to neutral or zero setting.

2. It is very easy to over tighten the screws on the steering system. When you have your screw removed from the servo on item 1 in my post, check the steering system. It should very easily move left and right, if it doesn’t then something is too tight.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the answer

This is exactly what i did wrong. I had tighten the screws too much, and thus limiting the servo's ability to bring the wheels back to center.
I loosened the screws and that helped immensely, but i still feel the car is understeering a bit, will take a look at the slipper clutch later.

I noticed a faint clicking noise when driving and it gets louder when in reverse, i tried looking at the gears, but i could not see anything stuck between the teeth or similar. Is this normal?

Regarding the blue light, it's only visible at night, so i'm assuming that it's normal.

If it is a stock brushed motor the blue light coming from the motor is completely normal in fact every single brushed motor I have ever seen omits some sort of radiation from the commutation in the motor. So what’s happening is the rotor turns when the motor is given power and these are direct current motors so the brushes are essentially brushing along the commutation bars and the magnetic field pushes/pulls magnets around and they can’t meet up because the commutator switches the power to a different winding. The blue light comes from the electricity arcs jumping from the brushes to the comutator bars or the bar to the brush. Sometimes if it is an older motor it will make more blue light and sometimes brighter white or yellow, and usually older motors will make ozone O3 which smells pretty bad.

For the first bullet point you posted, perhaps you are suffering from the same issue I had. Read about it here.

My 2 circuits (basically amps) both turn sharper to the right. There is a way to adjust steering endpoints individually, but I can't get any of my 3 dx2e remotes into program mode. You might also want to do what xldoom suggests, even if there is no interference now, as mine where when I first got them, after a few full speed head-on crashes, it might start to rub.

Thanks for the response.

I tried the fix @xlDooM mentioned and it cleared the steering up a little, but its still present - all though i'm still not sure how nimble the car should feel as it's my first 1:10 car.

Overall i think i'm pretty unimpressed with the car - it feels slow and heavy with steering that leaves some to be desired.

So i'm at a point where i either wanna upgrade some parts or sell this one used and buy a different car.

Would a brushed 15t motor and a new servo fix the issues i feel i'm having or should i turn my eye towards a different ECX car? Any advice would be appriciated. I mostly wanna run the car around the backyard and nearby dirt tracks, maybe add in some jumps in the future.

I am sorry to say that if you expected the Amp to handle well the platform and the parts were never really designed with that in mind. It's a entry level rc it's meant to be tuff not turn on a dime. Get a Losi or Associated if your looking for something to handle well on the track. Get a metal gear servo, RPM servo saver eliminator, adjustable turnbuckles to take some of the slop out of the steering doing those things will help it handle better. If you want more speed get a lipo capable esc (Hobbywing WP1060), a new receiver ECX13003, 2s lipo or 8.4v nimh , and a 15t motor plus to be on the safe side the ECX metal gear diff ECX9001. You could go brushless also.

The whole 2wd lineup uses most of the same parts so not much improvement with another unless you want something that sits higher off the ground like the Ruckus.

The steering out of the box is indeed terrible. As @Heyitsme said, you can fix it with upgrades but it will still be entry level RC. RPM servo saver eliminator, Power HD 1501mg servo and aluminium steering knuckles will sort out the front end, for the drive train you want stronger axles and brushless on 2s, which also requires a new radio solution and a charger if you don't have one. In the end you are looking at about $60 for the front and $90 for some speed, plus about $75 for battery and charger if you don't have any other RCs you can borrow it from...

Mr.Whiskers said:

Thanks for the response.

I tried the fix @xlDooM mentioned and it cleared the steering up a little, but its still present - all though i'm still not sure how nimble the car should feel as it's my first 1:10 car.

Overall i think i'm pretty unimpressed with the car - it feels slow and heavy with steering that leaves some to be desired.

So i'm at a point where i either wanna upgrade some parts or sell this one used and buy a different car.

Would a brushed 15t motor and a new servo fix the issues i feel i'm having or should i turn my eye towards a different ECX car? Any advice would be appriciated. I mostly wanna run the car around the backyard and nearby dirt tracks, maybe add in some jumps in the future.

Click to expand...

Hello Mr. Whiskers, great name. The Amp is an entry level (beginners) RC truck. It was my first RC vehicle and now i have 22. I learned from the Amp, all aspects of RCing, fixing, building, upgrading, and doing my own redesigning and modes. At this point of the game (I've been in the hobby for five years now) the AMP is one of my favorites. There is a world of knowledge out there on the RC forums and there are so many things you can do to make an RC vehicle better then how it came out of the box. Setting suspension, setting shocks, setting toe-in tow-out, tires. body lifts, the list goes on and on. Use your AMP to learn from, upgrade it, experiment with different size tires and so on.
My AMP runs a 3800KV Castle Combo brushless motor powered by a Gen Ace 7000mAh 60C/120C 3S battery, all metal transmission gearing, metal pinion and spur gears, lights for night running and BIG tires. The list goes on and on. Use your imagination and go for it, parts are cheap except for brushless motors and LiPo battery's. Long story short, the AMP is a Great truck when modified and upgraded. We here in our neighborhood do a lot of street racing, my AMP has been clocked at 68+ and has gone round corners at 30 mph. Just let your imagination and ingenuity run wild and see what you come up with, its a great hobby.

weave said:

There is a world of knowledge out there on the RC forums and there are so many things you can do to make an RC vehicle better then how it came out of the box. Setting suspension, setting shocks, setting toe-in tow-out, tires. body lifts, the list goes on and on.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the response - there are indeed a lot of information and knowledge. I think i'm a bit overwhelemed of it all sometimes

In your opinion what's the best upgrades to make to begin with?

I've been toying with the idea of adding a lipo battery and a lipo buzzer along with a 15t motor. Will the parts hold up or should i add metal gear set and perhaps a new servo before upgrading the motor?
Brushless seems a bit too much for me atm, both in money and experience with RC cars in general - so is a 15t motor a decent upgrade or should i stay with the 20t till i wanna upgrade to brushless.

@xlDooM
You mentioned aluminum steering knuckles. Can you throw a link to those? Do those help with the problem of shoulder screws coming loose?

Yes the aluminium steering knuckles are to stop the shoulder screws pulling out when you hit something. I got these from hot racing, but you can now also get them from Horizon themselves.

My first upgrade was a LiPo and charger, gave the truck a lot more pep. Then I fixed the steering (metal geared servo, RPM servo saver eliminator). Then I fixed the durability (Traxxas HD driveshafts, aluminium steering knuckles). Then I added a GoolRC brushless motor+ESC and a new radio (which you have to because the original ESC and receiver are one component).

I also have a second amp which runs the stock motor and electronics, otherwise it is the same as its brushless brother. My kid can keep up on nearly any off-road coarse with that one, even though it has lower top speed. I should either learn to drive or tone down the punch on the brushless ESC so it is easier to control... But I have no programming card and it's a bit unclear which one I need.

In retrospect, some things I wish I had done differently:
- buy a Ruckus or Circuit instead so you don't have the combo ESC/RX and can keep the stock radio when going brushless or frying the ESC,
- buy a goolrc combo that comes with a programming card,
- stock up on low-capacity LiPos when they were still cheap.

I run a 5000mAh LiPo and it's more than I need. It will last over 45 minutes. A 3800 or something would be more suitable for the length of my sessions, but that is of course different depending on your use case.

Xldoom, either goolrc card ( red "s" one or the grey one) works with either of their escs (original or updated water proof). They'll also program ocday waterproof 60a escs. And it'll do the 12 dollar no name black 60a waterproof esc. I've collected quite a pile of cheap escs in the last 6 months...

That's good to know, thanks. I will get a goolrc program card off ebay then

Hi guys and girls, again the AMP is a great open wheel truck when upgraded with the right components. Remember, its an entry level truck, but, when upgraded she will blow your mind. For beginners, if you want speed go with the lower turn motor and gearing, if you want to to do wheelies, go with the higher turn motor and gearing. You can also replace your stock rear tires with larger ones which also will give you more speed and do wheelies if you are in to that. Next would be a 2S 5000mAh 30C LiPo battery for even more speed and longer run times.
Now that said, you will need a good LiPo battery charger, and some good cooling of the motor and ESC as things will run a little hotter. Brushed motors don't last to long depending on how you use your truck that's why cooling is so important. You can buy ESC fans for the ESC but there really not that efficient on moving air. You an use the smaller computer fans and run them on an auxiliary battery which moves more air then the RC esc and motor fans. Most computer fans are 12 volt and will run on a 7.4 volt LiPo battery, or for around 24 dollars you can pick up a small 3s 11.1 450 mAh LiPo drone battery, the fan will run for ever as it has very little current draw. Use your imagination and ingenuity on mounting the fans. You can also mount a micro switch or a button switch to turn the fan on and off if you wish. HAPPY RC'ING.