Got my first nitro RC.

[iwannadie]

I picked up a TMAXX 2.5 for pretty cheap and am rather excited about it. I've herd all the people tell me how much $$ I will dump into it but whatever, for the moment I am excited to just run it around. I don't plan on doing 50ft jumps with it ever ha.

This thing seriously rips though. The guy I bought it from showed it off in a big parking lot and then I got it home and tore around my back yard a bit. I have some big open dirt fields near me and plan to make use of them for sure.

Is anyone familiar with this particular truck, I plan on a tune up and replacing the shock. I was looking on RCplanet.com for some replacement parts. They have three listing for the Tmaxx, Old, 2.5 and 3.3. Am I to assume I have to only use parts listed for the 2.5 and they are not interchangeable? The Old model listing has a Ton of stuff where the 2.5 is rather limited oddly. They have a full set of big bore shocks for the Old model I was eyeing but they are not listed under the 2.5. At the moment I plan to keep the engine stock it's way to fast for me as it is. I want to build it up for durability the best I can first and do a tune up on wear and tear parts.

 

[Phil]

Take it in to your local hobby shop and show the guys that work there. That's what my roommates do. Our local hobby shop is pretty well priced, compared to online plus shipping time.

 

[98XJSport]

Stay away from aluminum parts. plastic parts bend and spring back, and are cheap. Aluminum parts snap or cause other parts to snap, and are pricey.

http://traxxas.com/forums/

 

[.40CalPatriot]

Stay away from aluminum parts. plastic parts bend and spring back, and are cheap. Aluminum parts snap or cause other parts to snap, and are pricey.

http://traxxas.com/forums/

X2. Although I would use aluminum for the front and rear bulkheads. But as 98XJSport Stated plastic parts bend and then come back. For the a-arms and shock towers and body mounts go with RPM Parts they are the best IMO.

 

[Fastdemise]

RPM a-arms are highly recommended. Grab extra bulkheads and shock towers as a good smack into a curb/wall will damage 'em. 3.3 stuff is stronger but requires a lil bit of parts swapping to get em to work with the older models. I'm running the 3.3 drriveshafts for the strength. Welcome to nitro

Just look at the diagrams of the 2.5 and 3.3 off the traxxas website to compare part numbers and see where you can swap parts. I'd recommend stronger driveshafts or just alot of spares as after a while you'll notice they twist until the ujoint pops out. I have a 2.5 with a 3.3 motor and 3.3 RPM a-arms. very fun truck and the shocks are interchangable. Same length and such

 

[iwannadie]

Thanks for the input guys, I actually stopped by the Only hobbytown in the area today. It's a really cool place and nice guys as expected. They are a bit more pricey but it's nice having that customer service right on hand. The old tymers seemed all excited and wanting to teach me whatever they could. I didn't have the truck with me and was just there for fuel and a glow plug. They did seem to have a very nice inventory on hand though, I sorta expected them to be light on parts for some reason.

I was reading about the aluminum parts and it makes sense if you are adding strength in one area you are creating a weak spot next to it. Again, for now I'm looking to stay stock except the shocks and maybe exhaust.

I am going to start my research and leaning though that's for sure. The truck seems to run hot, it shuts off after like 8 minutes. I figure I need to tune it as the PO had it sitting for a long time and I just replaced the glow plug. The hobby town guy said I should be getting a nice steady stream of blue smoke and I don't see any smoke at all really. It also takes a little bit to get it started, it doesn't just start and idle right away. Having that electric start is nice though.

 

[iwannadie]

http://traxxas.com/forums/

Wow, the traxxas site is pretty impressive. It's nice to see them offer that level of support providing PDF's of manuals(even box panels!) and the forum is also very impressive.

 

[Fastdemise]

just turn your high end needle a .25 turn counter-clockwise initially and see where that gets you with your smoke and such. Youtube has a abundance of videos walking you true the tuning process. Running lean like that is bad for your glow plugs life span and wears heavily on the motor. nothing wrong with too rich. It's also makes a difference on which grade of nitrous the PO was runnning. If he used 33% and u are running 20% makes a big diff. with how the motor was tuned. Check into that.

 

[iwannadie]

just turn your high end needle a .25 turn counter-clockwise initially and see where that gets you with your smoke and such. Youtube has a abundance of videos walking you true the tuning process. Running lean like that is bad for your glow plugs life span and wears heavily on the motor. nothing wrong with too rich. It's also makes a difference on which grade of nitrous the PO was runnning. If he used 33% and u are running 20% makes a big diff. with how the motor was tuned. Check into that.

Yea I've only ran it like 3 times, first time for like 2 minutes the first day I got it. Then the next day I ran it until it shut off which was about 8 minutes and the last time I ran it maybe 2 minutes before I shut it down, I let it cool down before running it the 3rd time.

I plan to attempt to tune it before running it anymore. I am running the traxxas super duty plug which I read is supposed to be a great plug and traxxas 20% fuel. I am reading up on tuning and hope to get it tuned over the weekend. The PO said the last time he ran it was during the winter and it's been in the 100s when I ran it so I'm sure the tune is way off.

I am likely going to end up back at the hobby town again tomorrow lol, I can see it becoming a regular thing fast. I am going to grab some air filter oil so I can pull the filter out and clean it up really well. I also need to replace the glow plug wire, the shielding is a little frayed and also see if they have the big bore shock kit on hand. Any odds'n'ends recommended I get while there, any sorta tools or something I may not know I need yet?

 

[Fastdemise]

I get all my stuff 2nd hand to save money then I just completely dismantle, clean, and inspect everything so I know what I'm doing with. It also helps greatly learn alot about the vehicle. Doesn't hurt to dissemble the entire nitro motor and ensure no old fuel and junk is binding bearings. Same goes with fuel tank, fuel lines, and carb.
With your warmer weather I would still recommend the .25 turn CC and a 1/8 turn cc on the low-end needle.

What kind of steering servo you got?? The big truck tires and such put alot of strain on the little motor. Eventually getting one with metal gears is recommend. ahh...there's lots but you'll get the hang of it soon. Once you get the hang of tuning the truck will really come alive and you'll have a hard time keeping it on 4 wheels.

 

[iwannadie]

I was actually thinking about totally tearing it down and clean-reassemble just to get familiar with it. I want to tune and run it a little bit before tearing it all apart though ; p . I am all for buying used but some stuff I'd rather just buy new of course. The used market is very price friendly though, sad these things do not hold value but I don't plan on selling mine. I am in the mind set when I buy something like this it's mine forever even if I don't run it I will never sell it ha.

I have no clue what kinda steering I assume it's all stock original though. The turning radius seems rather limited I noticed though. Is there improvements for that or is it better the way it is to limit flipping?

I will give those needle turns a shot maybe today and see what I come up with. I am glad I picked up a nice infrared temperature gun the other day, it seems like a necessity with these nitro cars.

 

[Fastdemise]

I upgraded to the 3.3 steering setup, and the Traxxas tunes exhaust header off ebay. Was way cheap and a tuned exhaust brings even more power to the motor. won't regret it.

The steering upgrade added strength and a bit more turning radius.
Just turn your controller and receiver on and turn back and fourth watching the linkage and see where it stops.

I'm a fan of run it till it breaks then upgrade!

 

[Lowrange2]

I've never had a 4wd truck but I've run a Losi- XXXnt sport and a Nitro Evader. They're both awesome stadium trucks!

 

[iwannadie]

I played with the HSN and LSN a bit and got it to pour a nice stream of blue smoke from the exhaust. It was way off, I am guessing it was tuned so far out for the cold weather the PO seemed to know what he was doing with it. Oh well, we can only move forward now ha.

I am going to run it tomorrow in a massive dirt field by my work and continue to tune.

 

[RCP Phx]

I plan on a tune up

I got a "kick" out of this when I read it this morning! I'm thinking yea lets change the oil,new plugs/wires/rotor/dist cap,adj the valves and check the timing!
:cheers:

 

[iwannadie]

First day out ended with quick carnage lol. I was in a nice dirt field and took off maybe 20 yards away from me, turned out and head back in when <bam> I hit a random chunk of concrete. Ripped the front wheel right off in dramatic fashion. I gathered up my parts and headed to hobbytown.

The people there are great though I must say. I plunked down my rig and a guy there looked it over and said it really wasn't too bad. The bulkhead plate was toast and the lower control arm was shot, the upper was ok just a little bent he said I could run it if i wanted. I decided to get a new control arm anyways. I liked when a sales guy recommends not buying something, that makes me feel comfortable with the things he did recommend.

The shocks on that side were destroyed also, I was eyeing the big bore kit which they didn't have on hand. They said they could get them in a few days and are actually cheaper than I saw online so I opted for those also ; ) .

So far I am enjoying the truck and liking the hobbytown a lot. I plan to shop there rather than order online which is rare for me ha.

 

[iwannadie]

Well, I spent some time earlier and got all my repairs made and moved some shocks around just to get it into a roller for now. I don't plan on running it with it's current shocks(5) but might continue to tune it over the weekend and run it on my flat grass backyard.

I can't wait to get the big bore shocks on it and have another go. I think I may skip the dirt field and stick to grass for a while though ; ) .

I really am impressed with how well built these things are and how easy they are to work on. It was nice working on my truck at the kitchen table...

 

[bjoehandley]

I work for a one of the HobbyTown's in suburban Chicago and I couldn't tell you how many T-Maxxes I've seen with that same kind of damage over the years I've been here:laugh3: All of the current 3.3 T-Maxx parts will bolt right on to the 2.5 Models and will mostly fit the original Pro.15 T-Maxx too. They did change the shock towers and body posts for the 3.3 models and the I-Beam posts for that one are stronger than the original Rod shaped ones and the bulkheads seem to be a lot stronger than the Pro.15 and 2.5 ones. If you do go aluminum, stay away from Integy, they use some of the worst aluminum out there, their engineering is non existent, and their product is out of warranty as soon as you open the bag the part comes in:smsoap: I have to agree with everybody who said go RPM, their products are much stronger than stock and have a fantastic warranty to boot! I've had my Stampede for 12 years now and still use the bearing carriers for those that I bought when they first came out in 2000 and have since added the shock towers, arms, caster blocks, and wheely bar/bumper mount to it as they've been released. The only aluminum on that truck is the New Era front bulkhead, Revo GTR shocks, and the Proline Chassis Saver for the Slash, every thing else is either RPM or the stock Traxxas plastics.

You'll like the Big Bores, they're a nice shock that is Hard Anodized and Teflon coated, plus all of the ones they've been selling for a few years now have the $10 a pair Titanium Nitride coated shock shafts too! If you decide to go with the 3.3 and/or upgrading the stock TQ3 radio at some point, talk to the folks at the HTU you've been going to and see if they'll do the Power Ups in house like we do. The 3.3 is only $115 if you trade in your 2.5 for it instead of $153 and the 2 Channel 2.4ghz Link version of the Traxxas 2 channel radio is less than $70 instead of the normal $86 (the 4 channel normally is $103, but I'm not sure on the trade in price of that one).

 

[iwannadie]

That's good to know on the 3.3 parts, just looking online now the 3.3 parts seem a little cheaper even. I have no plans to step up my motor any time soon. I haven't even got it to shift to 2nd gear yet so power is something I don't need ; p . I want to get my new shocks on and continue to do some preventative maintenance as the truck has sat a long time. I need to read up on differential fluid and that sorta stuff next. I got my air filter cleaned and re-oiled though.

I am looking at the hump battery pack, any opinions on it or a similar battery pack? Also I bent my suspension pins(control arms to bulkhead). The shop only had the pricier E-clip pins on hand, I wasn't sure if they would be stronger or better in any way at like 3x the price or just go stock screw in pins.

I will have to ask about the RPM stuff next time I am in the shop, I don't remember seeing anything on the racks though. It all seemed like OEM traxxas parts unless they keep them separate because I didn't look around too much beyond the stock parts.

 

[bjoehandley]

The older style hinge pins will bend up pretty easily in a wreck like that, one thing that I have noticed about the current ones is that they are made out of a metal that will snap in a wreck like yours instead get all bent up. Sounds like you may have gotten either teh Stainless Steel or Titanium pins, both of which should be stronger than the old style pins, just a royal pain to remove when you need to fix something. For the Rx pack, the truck will need a "hump" style 5 cell pack. I'd avoid the Traxxas 1200mAh one and try to get either the Reedy or Venom 1600mAh packs or the OFNA 1700mAh pack. For the pricing we have on the Traxxas packs, you could get any of the other 3 for less money. With Diff and shock fluids, the higher the number on the bottle, the thicker the oil and more it will slow down that parts reactions. Thicker shock oil will allow the shock to move in a slower, more controlled manner to a point before restricting the shock's needed movements. Diff oils will change how the diff acts, the thicker you go the closer to a locked condition you will see and can make a huge difference in how a vehicle drives. Putting thick oil in anything will be like having a limited slip in that diff, but sill still allow for some "diff action" or open diff behavior without going to a locked or spooled arrangement in that diff. I liked the OFNA Diff Lock in my Tamiya Mini Cooper (FWD BTW), and in the front of my 1/10 E-Revo with OFNA 12k in the rear, but I still need to try it in other vehicles that still use some form of open diff. I'm thinking about swapping the Diff Lock fill diff in that E-Revo to the back and putting 500k up front to see how it drives that way. Definitely ask on the RPM stuff, they should be able to easily get anything that isn't already on back order (which happens, too often with some stuff....) if they don't already carry it.