Getting Ruckus 2WD Brushed to Wheelie?

[JonnyO2]

Hey Weave - What size tire did you go with? I feel like the ruckus is an unusual in-berween size. 12mm hex usually goes with 2.8 wheels, but I feel like the stock wheels are a little larger. Then again, I'm new to this...

 

[weave]

@JonnyO2, you can use the Badlands 2.70x5.05 or the Proline Masher 2.78x4.90.
If you are new to this hobby I would start out with tires and maybe a good 2S battery (I use Gens Ace batterys) and see if your daughter or you for that matter, enjoys the hobby. From there, if you find it enjoyable I would start to upgrade and buy more vehicles.

The initial buy is the most expensive, the car, the 2 or 3 cell battery, the Lipo charger, which is a must for LiPo's. Other then that, parts are pretty cheap for RC vehicles.

I myself have 24 RC vehicles and go to our indoor race track to help the kids (and adults) with some tips and to keep their cars on their wheels. It's a lot of fun and so enjoyable watching these kids having a ball racing their car's.

 

[JonnyO2]

Awesome. Nice seup! And thanks for the specs on the wheels/tires - so it looks like a 2.8 12mm is the right size after all.

 

[weave]

Your welcome, and thanks for the kind words. I do have a lot of RC vehicles as I do a lot of experimenting and mods and repairs for the kids (and myself).
Here's a couple of mods (body lifts) on my Yeti and Traxxas.

 

[weave]

Johnny, I want to mention, if you put bigger tires on the rear you will get a little more speed and your brushed motor is going to run hotter. Here's how you can mount a fan on your Ruckus . I use computer 12 volt fans and run them on there own separate 11.1 3S 800mAh battery (about $24), I use them cause they push more air. You can wire it to a switch (the best way)
or wire it directly to the battery, either way you will have to change the plug on the fan to a JST male connector. If you use a 5 volt fan you can plug right into the receiver. You will have to change the plug to a mail servo plug.

 

[Joshnewb]

hey weave
that a 2wd ruckus? how does it handle steering those badlands if so?

 

[weave]

I did change the servo, only cause I wanted an all metal gear servo. In fact, I changed all gearing to metal gears, including pinion and spurr gears on all my vehicles . Also went metal axles as I run my vehicles on Genes Ace 7000 3S 60/120C Lipos.

 

[JonnyO2]

Installed the Kinexsis today - very easy to install! I couldn't get a good mesh with a 16T pinion so I went back to a 17T which is meshing OK (not great - for some reason I can't seem to get much adjustment with this motor.)

The bad news is it's raining so I didn't drive it much, but I think I can tell that this is going to require a tire upgrade for sure (was planning on it anyway) because the stock tires are spinning out like crazy. I reprogrammed the ESC for punch-level 4 (up from the default 3) but haven't taken it back out yet to try it...

BTW - A big plus on this motor is the temps. After that initial drive, temps were only in the 70s-80s - that's a very encouraging sign! (50 degree ambient temp.)

To be continued...

 

[JonnyO2]

Rain cleared up a bit so I took it back out for a few minutes. The wheels are just slightly coming up in the front (and I have the battery shifted towards the back a bit) on the dry(ish) pavement. So we're close... Maybe some new wheels today. It's definitely fun to drive, that's for sure! (And I'm not running into ESC overload or early-low-power mode like with the last system.)

 

[weave]

Johnny, if you want to use a smaller pinion gear you can file out the motor mount adjusting slot with a jewellers file that will give you a bit more adjustment. I also would recommend a 3S Lipo, you will see a BIG difference in performance.

 

[Biz73]

New tires should help. The stock ones are fairly hard rubber to last longer, but softer ones get way more grip.

 

[JonnyO2]

Success!

 

[weave]

Success!

Way to go Johnny, that the way to do it. Now you will have to practice keeping it on the ground when racing. That was a great wheelie

 

[weave]

Looks like you will need a wheelie bar!

 

[JonnyO2]

Thanks! It's just about perfect - it's got enough grip and punch now to wheelie in just the right conditions but it's not out of control. (On 2s anyway )

Thanks for all the advice!

 

[weave]

Johnny, if you don't put a wheelie bar on, you can attach a piece of 1/8 thick rubber onto the skid plate (the motor guard) to keep from wearing out the skid plate which you will after awhile, that's what happens to me, but I put on a wheelie bar. It's really a job to put a wheelie bar on the Ruckus as it has no bumper so you will have to use ingenuity and designing. Have fun and you and your daughter enjoy the hobby, it only gets better.

 

[JonnyO2]

Weave - OK, I'll look into at least attaching something to the skid plate. Good tip.

All - I took it out again today in drier conditions and it wheelies even more consistently. I really still think it's perfect - we've got the formula nailed now!

So when something's perfect, you mess with it a little more, right? So I tried out a 3S lipo "for science" and whoa Nellie! Crazy back-flips and back-skids. Really fun for me! But that'll be way too much power for the kiddo. In fact I reckon I'll be buying her a replacement body due to the scratches I just put on it.

 

[weave]

Johnny, here's away you can save the body. These are .99 cent drawer handles I bought at the hardware store, the save the body and, when the car flips, 90 percent of the time it will flips back on its wheels. I use this method on all my RC vehicles. I would also recommend body tools for cutting and making holes in the body and, a harden steel spear and pinion gears. And with all that torque a pair of steel drive cv axles. However, it seems RC Planet is out of stock on a lot of upgrades and I don't know why.