Brushless motor and controller for under 700$
 

Hey everyone,

I'm new to the R/C monster truck world and need some help with upgrading my E-Maxx to brushless. I am thinking of running 24 cell battery packs if I can fit them on the stock chassis. What is the recommendation? I want this truck to go through soft, dry beach sand faster than this stock truck goes on pavement. I don't want to sound arrogant or anything, but money isn't really an object at this point, but I'd like to stay with a motor and controller for under $700. If my demands are going to go above $700, then so be it.

Please specify the following:

- BL Motor model
- BL controller
- Gearing needed
- Speed potential

If there is some setup that will exceed $700, can you please specify how much of a boost I will get from spending more money? Thank you all.

Brandon

yeesh, 24 cells is a ton! i don tthink you'll need taht many if you wnat power. I say get a 9920 with a XL motor since you like using alot of cells. If you want to use 24 cells If you want to use OVER 20 cells, then you'll have to spend bout 400 for a contorller, rather then 200.

My truck has just a Feigao 9L with the warrior 9920 on 14 cells. This setup (motor & controller) will cost you under $300. It is then recomended to upgrade the idler gears in the tranny and some upgraded CVD's as well.

I clocked it with a radar gun last week at 38mph. Compare that with the stock setup that does about 25mph and I'd say that's a pretty big jump. Anything more than 14 cells will be hard to put in the stock chassis. Although I am getting ready to ad 2 more cells to each side for a total of 16. But most of your "ready made" battery packs out there are 7cells. My gearing is 66/19.

dont forget you'll have to invest a good amount of cash to make yoru e-maxx brushless ready. Gotta beef up the idler, diffs, etc. So i'd got with the cheaper setup.

if you really want to run that many cells i would go with a gorillamaxx chassis like johnny does and would go with a bk 3695 or 36120 and make a lehner 1950 or even a bk xl motor although i wouldnt recommend to run in sand. if you do i would tape up the end bell to make sure sand doesnt get into it. its not to pretty when it does. if you went with the xl motor and 3695 controller then thats 500 and you said you would spend 700 on a setup. that leaves 200 for the gorillamaxx chassis to run that many cells. also, you might want to invest in a ubec.

Would you have to beef up the drivetrain being in sand?? even with paddals there would be constant tire slip. :)

That's right c6rvette, I forgot about the UBEC that you will have to get also.

Not as much strane on the drivetrain when the tires are slipping as apposed to when they have massive grip. But if he plans on running all those cells, not a bad idea none the less.

I agree :D Hey c6rvette what are you going to do with this truck? Bashing, playing, racing, showing off etc...

Well you can stay with your stock machine and put in a 1930/10 + 9920 and 18 cells. Gear it : 17:55 and you will get some power and stripped diffs, idlers,etc...this setup would cost you over 500 like squeeforever mathed it.

Hey fellas,

Thanks for the reply. This is not a show truck. I will however be running it in any terrain you can think of (asphalt, dirt roads, wood chippings, sand, mud and just about anything I can think of to try to have fun). I am not satisfied with just 38mph. I am aiming for 50+mph on asphalt. How much money and what parts will I need to meet or exceed my goals?

Thanks fellas.

Brandon

the setup i suggested if geared properly should exceed 50mph

I'd like to keep the stock chassis because I barely have time to play with the car so I am trying to avoid disassembling the chassis and putting in a new one. If I wanted to run 12-14 cells, what do I need to get this truck going as fast as 12-14 cells will allow me? Money is not an issue if it is possible.

If money is no issue get some real good lipo batteries! you'll save heaps of weight and it will make your truck much faster on sand and everywhere else. I dont know much about lipo, but i know there are people on here that know alot about it.

i would say 6s lipo on a 7xl or 1950 on a 9920 would be pretty fast.

what about some like 10s lipo that would be cool!! is there 11s lipo? or 12s? 13s?

Yes, LiPos will definately help you with the performance aspect. But if you don't want to make that investment, maybe somebody else will respond with the setup of choice for you to acheive your desired top speed because I am not the expert.
One thing I will tell you though is that the difference between my one Maxx that does 38mph and my dual BL Maxx that does about 50mph is the ability to control it. That 12mph difference is huge as far as controlability goes. Not to mention because of the power difference there was the rear diff that I blew, the 4 CVD's that I have broke and the tranny gears and input shaft that went south as well.
All stuff to consider, especially if you don't have the time now to wrench on it. Because that is all stuff that WILL go out on you quickly if you have that much power.

So what would be the recommended motor, speed control, gearing, and battery setup if I wanted the most power out of truck without breaking stuff? Please advise a speed controller that will allow me to just buy the most powerful motor later down the line when I actually have time to mod the truck with tranny and chassis upgrades. Thanks. Sorry to be asking so much from everyone.

I think any brushless set up will break stuff in your maxx unless you up grade it. So untill your ready to up grade the drive train i would stick with the stock motors. cause if you do get a brushless your gonna break something in the first run

that is true but i would go with maybe a 36120 controller and a 1950 motor if you have the money. but yes, any brushless setup with need a few upgrades and will those are being done i would do the rest. for instance, if you go brushless you will certainly need a steal idler from mike so why not just go ahead since its down and get the flm half case and gorillamaxx single speed.

Okay, how's about this? The budget has been raised to $1500 for upgrades. What do I need? Mike? What do I need to order to get this thing as fast and reliably as $1500 will buy me? Oh yeah, I want something that will last me longer than 15-20 minutes.

i would go for a 36120 and a 7xl (36120 incase the 7xl isnt enough for you, although it should be), ubec, flm hybrid bulkless system,ue 8 spyder gears, gorillamaxx single speed tranny, gorillamaxx skids, gorillamaxx chassis, flm half case, steel idler, cvds, flm shock towers, flm arms, titainium suspension pins, ti. tierods, proline powerstroke shocks, strobe slipper w/ ofna spur, strobe sprong kit, and a mod1 pinion.

by longer than 15-20 minutes, you mean before it breaks:L: ? or runtime? if so i would get lipos or a 9xl instead of a 7xl motor.

Dang that's a lot of parts to put together. I guess I'll just have the shop do it. Are these parts all on this website's store? Where can I get these parts if they are not on this site?

mike has all of it i think. it shouldnt take that long really. maybe 4 or 5 hours total.

So I noticed RC-Monster Mike hasn't showed up to take my order already. I tried looking for the parts but they are mostly sold out.

For the power you need I would bump the batteries up. 8xl or 9xl should put you in your bracket with 18 cells. 16 cells work real well. If you have a stock maxx. First on list would be a chassis up grade to hold the cells. The flm chassis or gorilla are good. the stock arms would do you for now. Cvds are a must and the steel idlers are as well. Esc I am not sure what all you want to do later on. I would suggest getting the 1/8 diffs for you truck to. The stocks may get it moving for a very short time depends on tires and style of driving. I hope this gets you started. As far as the two speed or single speed. It really depends on you. I like the two speed over the single for bashing.

Mike has been very busy with his day job and RC-Monster.com lately and doesn't check the forum every day. Your best bet to get a reply from him is to email him directly. If you're concerned about typing all of your questions out again, just email him and include a link to this forum thread.
Mike can also do some assembly for customers, so be sure to ask him about that as well.

This forum is always a great place for advice and guidance, but when it comes time to order the best place to get your questions answered is a direct email to mike@rc-monster.com

Hope that helps!

You should have your stuff by now, Brandon. Let me know if you have any questions.
Joe is right...e-mail is the best way to get ahold of me. I check the forums when I get time, but the holidays are a bit tough(shopping, shipping, working, etc.). You should be set up quite well with the stuff you have.

Hey Mike,

I do have the stuff and installing them now. However, I am trying to install the 1/8 diffs and the bearings don't fit the housing. What am I suppose to do? Are some of the stock parts going to be reused? What about the housing?

Brandon

Also, the special bearings you sent me for use with the UE 8mm CVD doesn't fit the Integy steering block.

I dont know which 1/8 diff u got, but when i got my supermaxx 8 spider diffs the bearings were a tight fit in the flm housing. i had to push them quite hard to get them in, and i had to have them flat, if they were slightly tilted a bit it wouldnt go in.