Misc. bits of info on my Xmod truck

crazydave · Post by **crazydave** » Thu Dec 29, 2005 8:52 am

stampede_dude wrote:
Are the upgrade motors any torquier? The stock motor with the off-road kit is sluggish and doesnt have alot of torque, while this is acceptable it is a little disappointing.

I disagree. The stock setup has lots of torque. Enough that it will lift the front end when going from reverse to forward, and accelerate almost instantly. The stage 2 motor had no torque at all, and I mean at all. It is very sluggish, and took forever to accelerate up tp speed. I dropped down to an 8-tooth pinion and torque was improved, while it still had an increase over speed from stock. I just didn't like how you could hear the motor winding out, and it was still barely moving. So I went to the 23-tooth idler, and 9-tooth pinion with the stock motor. That seemed to be better, but my batteries died at that moment, so I still have to test that setup out.

I'll tell ya, so far I am disappointed with the speed, but I'm holding out for the bearings before I form any real opinions. If the bearings don't fix the wheel slop, and allow me a faster motor and/or gearing, then I won't be very happy with this car.

The damn bodies are just too freaking heavy, my biggest bitch about Xmods, past and present.

stampede_dude · Post by **stampede_dude** » Thu Dec 29, 2005 9:32 am

I think either my motor or differential is shit, I just hope it isnt the electronics. I was using old rechargeables, and I popped in some rayovacs you can get on sale at the grocery store for a buck and pack and it was improved for about the first 10 minutes, but none of the wheelie popping action, although it has the offroad kit. I replaced the mags with spinbrush mags too, I just dont know

crazydave · Post by **crazydave** » Thu Dec 29, 2005 10:00 am

Sounds like its the batteries to me. If those Ray-O-vacs you're talking about are carbon batteries, then I'm surprised you got better performance for even 10 minutes. Even Alkalines have a higher internal resistance than NiMHs, and will only perform as long as the voltage is above 1.5.

Rechargables may have an average voltage of 1.2, but the lower internal resistance means they'll kick better from beginning to end, due to a higher current flow.

I got some rechargable Engergizers the other day, and it would seem that the off the shelf rechargables have improved in the last couple years. These are 850mah compared to the 700mah I was seeing, and they got a nice kick through out the run.

On a side note, I love how you need only remove two screws to remove the motor and change the pinion, and only 2 more screws to remove the gear cover and change the idler. Much improved over the original Xmod that basically required you to take the whole rear end of the car apart.

... and if the old stage 2 hop up gave you 4 of the same motors with different pinions and idlers for $17, why is it still $17 for one motor with the different pinions, a couple idlers, and a cheap plastic pinion puller? Can't quite figure the math on that one.

Maxximum Attack · Post by **Maxximum Attack** » Thu Dec 29, 2005 10:53 am

crazydave wrote:... and if the old stage 2 hop up gave you 4 of the same motors with different pinions and idlers for $17, why is it still $17 for one motor with the different pinions, a couple idlers, and a cheap plastic pinion puller? Can't quite figure the math on that one.

That's cuz RS knows that we aren't going to be using they're stage 2 very long. So we're paying for the option to easily swap in aftermarket motors. That's my reconing, eventhough I never thought of it before you said it.

Maxx

stampede_dude · Post by **stampede_dude** » Thu Dec 29, 2005 12:08 pm

Thanks alot for clearing that up dave. Im going to buy me some nice rechargeables and probably a holder to peak charge them for max performance. Is this the reason I have shitty torque too? My performance improved some when I locked the diff with epoxy,but now it went back to how it was since the alkys crapped out.

crazydave · Post by **crazydave** » Sun Jan 01, 2006 9:54 am

Alright, I've been haveing some fun with this.

So there was this black dust everywhere. I vacuumed my floor again just in case, meanwhile wondering why it couldn't pull a faster gear, and why my runtimes where getting shorter and shorter.

When I realized, duh, I was shaving away at my tires, that's where all that black dust is coming from.

It was that damn wheel slop causing it. So I put the stock tires on the wheels that came with the offroad set, because they're a tad wider, and holy crap what a difference that made. It was kicking ass with the 9-tooth pinion, 23-tooth idler, and stage 1 motor.

Yesterday I finally found me a bearing set. It did not fix the slop at the wheels. The slop is in the way the bearings fit into the carrier, they seem to fit the axle pretty snug. It did help slightly though. The bearing set is also not complete. The idler can not be bearing supported. A bearing supported idler would be a good hop up for like GPM to sell, if they don't already have one. There is also a counter gear, that is supported by bushings, but no bearings are suppllied for it. Meanwhile I got 4 extra bearings that I wont need until I get AWD. I'm still trying to find the logic in that, as I hope its not too expensive to buy the bearings I need individually somewhere.

So to run the fattie BFG mudders, I used the offroad wheels that had the offset built into them. Then since the wheels didn't have the holes for the pins on the spacers that come with the stock wheels, I broke the pins off the spacers, so I could use the spacers with the off road wheels. That not only gave me the clearance to keep the tires from rubbing, but also helped with the wheel slop, since the nuts are pushing the wheels against the bearings tighter. It still has an annoying amount of slop though.

So I went ahead and stuck the Stage 2 motor back in, with the same gearing. It freakin' smoked ass for about 30 seconds before something sounded stripped. I went over and over the drive line, and couldn't find nothing wrong. Fortunately, the whole rearend comes apart with 4 screws, so that wasn't too much of a hassle to take it apart over and over, but it was annoying to realize the dogbone had deformed my diff's outdrive. I believe this was due to the excessive torque required to spin the tires when they were rubbing. I tweaked at the outdrive with some pliers. It seems to be working, for now, but now I'm nervous of what the driveline can take. I'm hoping when I get AWD it will relieve some stress by splitting the torque.

Now that nothing is rubbing or slipping, the stage 2 has plenty of torque, so I put the 10-tooth pinion in, to kill a little torque, and damn, I think this thing will take my Iwaver 04. I might have to clean the motor in my 04 or something. The 04 will take a jump better, but it's actually really cool how the Xmod seems to react more like a real car would. I'm kinda getting excited to get the AWD in this car.

stampede_dude · Post by **stampede_dude** » Sun Jan 01, 2006 2:30 pm

Sounds good, my wheels have alot of slop too, more front than rear though, and it has some bump steer up front but im not too worried about that. I switched to a gen1 controller and lcoked the differential and i have it running like a champ now, except my rechargeables mispeaked and burnt up:( I got those gp800s in the mail though, so ill probably be back running at friday on the latest.

viperdout · Post by **viperdout** » Wed Jan 04, 2006 10:34 pm

You need to do the articulation mod and lift kit. I didn't like my S2 and ended up throw in my old IW02 motor (IW xspeed arm in a bb can with neos and carbon brushes). I also adapted OL wheels and threw the xmod mud tires on, and it is FAST. Glad to hear you're having fun.

crazydave · Post by **crazydave** » Thu Jan 05, 2006 9:40 am

Definately need to lift the body, the back tires are hanging up in the wheel wells. Not sure about any more articulation, I'm a jumper, not a climber.

viperdout · Post by **viperdout** » Thu Jan 05, 2006 12:55 pm

crazydave wrote:Definately need to lift the body, the back tires are hanging up in the wheel wells. Not sure about any more articulation, I'm a jumper, not a climber.

You could always do this:

Yeah, I know it's pimpin'.

Tuner1989 · Post by **Tuner1989** » Thu Jan 05, 2006 1:45 pm

Hmm, maybe try out Metal shielded bearings from vbx CD?

I installed these on my truck and it took out mostly ALL of the nasty slop!

crazydave · Post by **crazydave** » Thu Jan 05, 2006 4:37 pm

Tuner1989 wrote:Hmm, maybe try out Metal shielded bearings from vbx CD?

I installed these on my truck and it took out mostly ALL of the nasty slop!

What size did you get?

Tuner1989 · Post by **Tuner1989** » Thu Jan 05, 2006 5:00 pm

http://www.vxb.com/page/bearings/PROD/X ... gs/kit7130

ynad · Post by **ynad** » Fri Jan 06, 2006 7:15 pm

crazydave wrote:Definately need to lift the body, the back tires are hanging up in the wheel wells. Not sure about any more articulation, I'm a jumper, not a climber.

CDave, if back tires are still getting caught up in the wheel wells even with the lift kit. Stiffer springs should keep body away and help with stability at high jumps.
there is another solution i have discovered:

it possible and easy to do. Place rear bumper further back

as can be seen in this pic (top of the pic)

may be this would be of use

crazydave · Post by **crazydave** » Fri Jan 06, 2006 8:08 pm

That there Mercedes body looks pretty damn cool on that chassis, viperdout.

Thanks, for the tip on the rear bumper, Ynad. I raised the rear of body a little, just enough so it sits even now, and its still rubbing, when I drive on uneven surfaces, and the rear end articulates. I shaved at the rear bumper, because the motor tabs were hitting it, I didn't think to move it.

I got tired of mine looking like everyone elses, so I just laid some paint, and got some pics up.
http://bitpimps.lixlink.com/pages/phpFo ... 6878#86878