Bought a pair if used trucks, how did I do?

[Broncomike]

Hi everyone! Glad to have found this forum.

I'm new to the RC world and picked up a pair of trucks. Both are 4x4 Ruckus. The guy I got them from was kind of new as well and I was hoping ro figure out about how old these are and what's stock or been modded. They each have a 2s lipo but don't seem to have any kind of low voltage sensor so I think I'll need to ad them. Other than that, is there's anything that I should do right away for reliability sake? One has a clicking sound when launching and he said he put a new slipper clutch in and maybe it's too loose?

 

[Broncomike]

More pics.

 

[KyleRC]

Not to bad. Fortunately those escs have low voltage shut off built in so you don’t need to use a LiPo alarm. It wouldn’t be a bad idea to look into a bigger and more interactive charger so it’s shows you what’s going on in the batteries because it’s safer to know. That stx2 radio isn’t the greatest and a lot of people have issues with them. They have bad lag and horrible range I had one of my trucks take off for no reason but luckily it was a slow crawler.

 

[Broncomike]

Appreciate the info. Any particular suggestions on what to replace the radio and charger with?

 

[Broncomike]

There's a Futaba T3pm radio for sale locally for $40. Can any Radio be used or do they need to be a set. Sorry for all the follow up questions, I don't know jack about this stuff yet.

 

[KyleRC]

the futaba should work unless it’s an old model, don’t bother with old am radios, otherwise people recommend the dumbo rc and it’s like $20 dirt cheap. The charger I use is the lectron pro ac/dc 10amp and it works great for me.

 

[Lephturn]

I ordered another DumboRC from Banggood and it is scheduled for tomorrow - 8 days.

[CA$39.99 23% OFF]DumboRC X6A 2.4G 6CH Transmitter with X6FG Receiver for JJRC Q65 MN-90 RC Vehicles Model RC Parts from Toys Hobbies and Robot on banggood.com https://www.banggood.com/DumboRC-X6...RC-Q65-MN-90-RC-Vehicles-Model-p-1545733.html

Add another receiver for $15 and you can run both trucks from it. If you want to run them with separate receivers grab a second one. It’s fast, super long range, 6 channel and you can’t beat the price. I am very happy with the first one I got so ordered the X6A - same but with a grippy finish on it. If you go that route use my link in my signature.
And grab a couple of the KS-3518 servos too. Very fast, 20kg torque and metal gears. $15 each. The radio and servo plus a zip tie on the servo saver totally transformed the steering on my Amp MT.

 

[Broncomike]

I think I'll order one of those radio sets to replace the stx2 and a couple of servos. Is that reciever water proof? Are the servos available on that app too? Is it a pretty good place for RC parts?

One more question, can you recommend a YouTube video of adjusting/replacing the slipper on a Ruckus? There's a clicking/skipping sound from one of them and the previous owner said he just replaced the slipper and thought, maybe he didn't tighten it enough.

 

[Lephturn]

I think I'll order one of those radio sets to replace the stx2 and a couple of servos. Is that reciever water proof? Are the servos available on that app too? Is it a pretty good place for RC parts?

One more question, can you recommend a YouTube video of adjusting/replacing the slipper on a Ruckus? There's a clicking/skipping sound from one of them and the previous owner said he just replaced the slipper and thought, maybe he didn't tighten it enough.

Bangood is a site that primarily ships products made in China, much of it from Shenzhen. Branded or not that’s where almost all of this stuff is made. I have found it a good place to get some good products for a great price. There is lots of crap too so the trick is finding the gems.

The DumboRC receivers are not waterproof. Even if they were I am in the habit of placing receivers inside a balloon. Run the wires out the neck and put a zip tie or elastic around the neck and it is not splash proof and stays clean. Receivers have exposed pins for plugging servos into, so although the receiver itself is inside a hard plastic sealed case, they aren’t submersible.
Yes Banggood is where I get the KS-3518 servos. They are $15-$20 Canadian Depending onif they are on sale. 20kg torque, metal gears, very very fast and waterproof.

That doesn’t sound like a slipper clutch Issue. Sounds more like a bad pinion or spur, likely from an improper mesh. I like this video: https://hobbiesdirect.com.au/blog/how-to-set-a-gear-mesh-on-an-rc-vehicle

Have a look at the pinion, spur gear and the mesh. Move the drive train by hand and see where the noise is coming from.

 

[Broncomike]

So it would appear the spur is no longer a gear and more of a tiny Frisbee. Pinion seems to be ok. I'm going to order the Hot Racing metal spur, I don't know if this pinion is hardened so should I swap it too? Should I stick with the 12t?

 

[Lephturn]

So it would appear the spur is no longer a gear and more of a tiny Frisbee. Pinion seems to be ok. I'm going to order the Hot Racing metal spur, I don't know if this pinion is hardened so should I swap it too? Should I stick with the 12t?

Well that certainly explains it. LOL.

I have replaced the plastic spur gear on my amp with a replacement plastic one and still used the stock pinion. Your pinion is probably fine since the spur is plactic and the pinion is metal. When you strip a pinion or spur when both are metal you'll ruin both. As long as the pinion teeth look OK you should be fine.

I recommend picking up a set of 3-5 different sized pinions so you can experiment a little bit. If you could get a 12,13,14,15,16 pinion set that would be perfect. If you increase the pinion size be sure to monitor your motor and ESC temps and go back down if they get too hot. The motor can burn up if it gets up over 170f. I found a cheap $25 infared thermometer on Amazon I use to check temps. Works great.

 

[Broncomike]

I was more concerned with having a hardened pinion with the hot racing spur, as they say a hardened steel pinion is necessary. I ordered the HR spur and a pinion set so we will see how it goes. I'll have the existing pinion and I have a spare plastic spur if needed.

How do I get the spur out? Will it and tge bearings lift out once I disconnect the driveshaft pin? Do I need to loosen the slipper nut first?

 

[Lephturn]

The bigger question is now that you don’t have that designed failure point with the plastic spur, what fails?

I don’t have that truck, just a 2WD amp MT, but back that grub screw out and remove the drive shaft and you should be able to get it off. On my Redcat when I moved from the plastic to a steel spur I had to only use three shims behind the spur gear instead of three.

 

[Broncomike]

I considered that. My hope is that sticking to 2s that everything else will hold up. I'm going to try my spare plastic spur first and hope the previous one just wasn't meshed properly. If that doesn't hold up then I'll swap to metal. Are the differentials in these things pretty durable?

I feel like I got hosed one these trucks, I should have done a little more research but I'm determined to get them fixed and have some fun with them.

 

[Lephturn]

I considered that. My hope is that sticking to 2s that everything else will hold up. I'm going to try my spare plastic spur first and hope the previous one just wasn't meshed properly. If that doesn't hold up then I'll swap to metal. Are the differentials in these things pretty durable?

I feel like I got hosed one these trucks, I should have done a little more research but I'm determined to get them fixed and have some fun with them.

Most people don’t take the time to check and properly set gear mesh. Even the mesh is good a hard jump landing with wheels spinning wide open may strip a spur. The good thing is they are $5 - so no big deal to have a couple spares.

You only got hosed if you paid a lot for them. They are decent trucks, pretty tough, you can get parts and the parts are cheap. You got a lot with them including a charger.

 

[Broncomike]

You're right, just frustrated with not being able to drive them right away.

Let me ask you this, is the redcat 3300kv or kinexis 4000kv a better motor? I'm think I'll put the best parts from the two into one chassis, along with the new servo and rx/tx I ordered and use the rest on the other chassis at 50% power and the nimh batteries I have for my daughter to learn with.

 

[Lephturn]

Well lower KV generally means more torque and less top end. Lighter cars like road cars with low drag and rolling resistance can use a higher KV motor. You can run either one with the right gearing. How heavy is the truck and what are you going to run it on for terrain?

 

[Broncomike]

Horizon lists the weight at 6.45lbs. The pinion in it now is a 9t and the spur is a 45t. I ordered a 12t-17t pinion set. I've read that the Ruckus doesn't handle well at real high speeds so I think 35-45 is all I'm aiming for. I don't drive well enough for more than that anyway. Seems to be all original, the cv shaft/outer shafts are steel though and the shock caps are aluminum, everything else is plastic, a arms knuckles, etc. I'm still learning to drive so I'm primarily just in grass and dirt fields, local park stuff. There's a skate park I've been eyeballing but haven't had the guts yet. Lol.

 

[Lephturn]

Nice. I would go with the lower KV motor especially for the terrain and your stated goals. More torque is better than more speed in this case. Stick with the 9T pinion for now. Moving up to 12T is a big jump up in gear ratio from a % perspective and you would need to monitor engine and motor temps. If you are too fast with 9T pinion, see if there is an option for a larger spur gear. A larger spur = lower gear ratio. You may be able to find a larger spur that will effectively put your gear ratio you have now = to the middle of the set you just bought. There are RC car gear ration calculators on the web that will let you calculate it.

You want lots of good plastic in there - plastic will flex and bend but return to it's original shape. Aluminum is stronger but once it will either transfer that energy further and break something else or break. If aluminum bends it stays bent. Mostly plastic steering with some slop to it is perfect for bashing and learning. That extra slop saves breaking things.

Of the terrain you mentioned, grass is the one that you need to be concerned with. Grass is much higher drag than dirt or other smoother surfaces. Especially longer grass. The same ESC/Motor and gear ration that works great and runs cool on dirt and smoother surfaces can overheat and burn up a motor when running on grass. Get one of these: https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B07L5GHKHR/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Check your motor and ESC temps every 5-10 minutes especially on different terrain. If your motor gets over 170 F you can burn it up. Not sure on the ESC exactly but I'd use a similar rule of thumb. If you are pushing the limit on temps you can get a fan for the ESC and motor if you have extra channels on the receiver.

I've taken my Amp MT to the skate park - what a blast! It took a serious amount of abuse but you will likely break something. I did a big jump and landed from 6' up dead flat and almost stopped on pavement - with the wheels spilling at full throttle. Ooops. Munched a spur gear. A plastic one, but still. Now I'm careful to let off the throttle in the air so that I don't shock the drivetrain like that when I land. I'm new too, and certainly new to hucking my RCs off of huge ramps.