Motor Guard and Tires - looking for recommendations

[netmatt]

I need a new motor guard, as the screw holes ripped out of the one I have. Once ripped, I re-tighten, and it pulls out, rine and repeat. It seems like with the seam there, this is going to be a common occurrence (it did it very soon after I bought, just getting around to replacing it) Any tricks for preventing this?

Also, my son got an Arrma Granite Voltage (LINK) and the tires on it look HUGE compared to my AMP. It cruises through the higher grasses and such, has a lot more cushion on the jumps as a result. Is there a recommended tire size upgrade for the AMP?

 

[WithinU]

Do you have a Amp buggy? The holes that are stripped are they the ones on top? Or on bottom, I guess it doesn't really matter per`sae. You could try drilling the threads out and putting a larger threaded screw in them, maybe a bit of locktite? Other than that you may need to replace the gear box that the screws screw into.

As far as putting monster truck tires on, I dont know for a fact but maybe a set of wheels and tires off of a AMP Crush might work. Just make sure the backspacing clears the a-arms, and body if that comes into play. Just a thought.

 

[netmatt]

Sorry its the Amp MT. It is that Motor Guard, but the bottom. The screws are really close to the edge already, so drilling them out would weaken the plastic. The screws hold...the plastic around the screws tears away. I can upload a pic later. There is a seam on the bottom that things catch onto and yank the motor guard and eventually it tears away from the screws.

Thanks for the info on the wheels, I am looking around, I just did not know if there was something common everyone used. I can check those out.

 

[WithinU]

So you are just needing a beefier motor guard? The threads that the screws, screw into are fine?

 

[weave]

netmatt, if the motor guard is split at the screw holes at the bottom plate, you can use M3 flat washers to keep it in place. You can also just buy another motor guard. If the screw holes are stripped out, get rid of the self-taping screws and replace them with M3 socket-head, flat-head machine screws x 12mm long. In fact, you should change out all the Phillips self-taping screws to M3 Socket Head machine screws. Dynamite sells an M3 stainless steel socket-head screw set for $ 25.13 on Amazon. Another place to buy is, Monster Bolts, they are very reasonable when it comes to price. They have Stainless and Black Oxide. It's best to have all the different sizes if you have a place to store them. I have 4mm up to 40mm in length, flat-head, and button-head.
If you still can't tighten down the motor guard with the 12mm length, try a 14mm. If that doesn't work, then you have to replace the bottom plate, ECX 1092. You can try and tap the bottom plate with an M4 x 0.70 tap and see if that works out for you. And, as withinU stated, you can try Loctite.
As for Tires, I run Pro-Line Trenchers, a great tire, and made in the USA. They also come with wheel extenders so there's no problem with suspension interference.
Hope this helps you somewhat, upgrading, repairing, racing, bashing, and just having fun. Happy RC'ing

 

[netmatt]

Thanks all for the tips. Here is the pic I promised...the red arrows point to where the plastic ripped out. There is not much plastic there, and when something catches at the location where the blue arrows point, it just tears that little bit of plastic. I am gonna have to buy a new one, and will try some ideas to prevent it this time. As far as the tires, thanks for the suggestions I will look at those.

 

[weave]

So Net, you're saying the chamfered area of the holes is elong-gated, that's what I see. it looks to me like you might want to move your motor to a different set of mounting holes. Move it away from the motor guard. To me, it looks like the motor is pushing against the motor guard, thus pushing it outward. If the holes are stripped, tap them out to an M4 x 0.70. Drill in just enough to start the tap, about 3/16th, and tap the hole 1/8 in, then let the M4 socket head machine screw make the rest of the threads. It's a pain to change out that bottom plate, it can be done, but faster if you have the proper tools. I made a modification on that part so it would easier to remove the suspension pins. The small holes are there to push out the suspension pins with a paper clip or a straight pin. Hope this helps out some what.

 

[Stef]

G'day,
Can't really help on the engine mount issue, but I have tried some different wheels out, on the Amp Buggy at least. See images, one shows the difference in size from the original front wheels to the new ones. I'm currently using 1/8th proline rims with the 1/8 buggy proline badlands with of course an axle adaptor for the 1/10 to 1/8 issue. I found the ECX wheels to be very strangely too big of normal 1/10 but a little smaller than 1/8th. Anyway, all good with these, faster and great grip.
Good luck.