Bargain T-maxx?

[Beddo]

Hey guys,

I've bagged myself (what will hopefully be) a bargain from eBay, a T-Maxx 3.3 with controller for £102. (approx $140usd)
The add said it has a problem with one of the steering links, but whether he means the turnbuckles or A arms or what I wasn't sure until it arrived yesterday.

Anyway, assuming its a runner, whats the first thing thats gonna need upgrading or would I be better off waiting until something breaks, and then replace with upgraded parts then?

Coming from a "retro-Tamiya" background, Nitro is a bit new to me, but I'm hopefull that it will all come good.

OK, so the truck arrived yesterday and I guess to my untrained eye, the damage doesn't look too bad; broken front lower A-arm, bulkhead and crossbrace as well as 2 bent shock shafts, but from the shots, can anyone see any other damage that I may have missed?

I'm waiting for a new EZ start box to arrive (only £11, so I thought Id get one) before I can tell if the engine is ok, but I've tested the radio gear and and all the servo's seem to work ok except that the gear selector is missing its screws.

Is there anywhere on the engine that says if it is a 3.3 or a 2.5 as the only place I can find it is on the body which isnt original, its completely unmarked!!

Spares ordered and came to £23 which is pretty reasonable I think. I've gone with stock, but will change to RPM A-arms next time I bust one......

Finally, there is a wire hanging from the Opti Drive box, can anyone tell me what this is?

*edit* I'm wondering if it is for the temp gauge? Maybe??..... :\

Thanks.

 

[Bartek]

that is a opti drive sensor for the Reverse,it controls the reverse gear and with out it your reverse won't work,you should have a place for it on the gearbox.
it controls Reverse by indicating the move of gears,if gears are moving then it won't switch to Reverse...
to switch to Reverse you need 3 channel Radio plus 3 channel receiver.

and that T-Maxx looks like a bargain to me and it looks good as well,the engine is 3.3 in my opinion as this T-Maxx has new layout.

 

[ChucksCity]

check on the crankcase behind the exhaust to find out if its 2.5 or 3.3

 

[alpinehyperlite]

It looks like the original 3.3. Not the new one.

 

[flatblack]

IMO, ditch the EZ start, save yourself the headaches and strengthen your forearm: get a pullstart!

 

[Beddo]

Pile of bits....

Stripped the front end down over lunch at work and found a couple of other busted parts.
The upper A arm is broken as well as the pin which holds the lower A arm in place.

I've managed to get all the bits together from a couple of different UK suppliers, other than the suspension pin for the A arm......2 week flipping delivery!!

Dont suppose anyone has a spare one kicking around they fancy sending me?:\

 

[.21Rc10GT]

Wow, someone was running it without the body on... That cooling head and ez start wire are mangled!

 

[flatblack]

Ya, that front end took a serious hit!

 

[traxxas t-maxx]

What the hell did this guy do to this thing how in the hell do you bend the cooling head. Also I know that somebody else tryed to say use the pull start, don't trust me I tryed mine today and I thought I was going to die. Man how did he wreck that that bad. I have hit curbs with mine, hit trees, even climbed a tree about six feet, only once did I brake mine I hit a stump destroyed the hole right side. Anywase get that thing up and running and get it durty.

 

[flatblack]

A properly tuned motor is easy to start with a pull start. Saves a lot of weight, battery charging and more moving parts to break and go wrong.

 

[frickenjoey]

A friend of mine crushed a front bulk just doing wheelies and flipped. The lorrie you have is the first generation of the 3.3 It was a pretty good MT other than the opti-drive sensor that is hanging out. If I were you I would leave it out, they were rubbish which is why they are not on them anymore. Also it is suggest that you upgrade your bulks to aluminum. RPM A-arms would nor hurt either. The cooling head only has one bent fin no big deal. Put some heat shrink tube on the EZ-start wire and by the way the EZ-start help prevent frustration if you are starting out in nitro....I would keep it for now. Learn to tune then go to pull-start if you please. But for a 100 quid.....not too bad at all mate.

 

[Beddo]

Had a bit of time this morning when I came into work, so I've cleaned the truck up a bit, stripped the front end off and ordered some more parts.
I've managed to find a set of the suspension pins from ModelSport in Otley, so thats all the bits ordered up now.
Hopefully, I'll get a run out of this thing next week 28)

I also stripped the cooler off to check the condition of the piston and bore, and to my refief, it all looks in pretty good order.

Any thoughts on the condition?

Comments appreciated.

 

[XxVASSAGOxX]

yea you got a normal deal, the tmaxx has no value, plus thats a older version with reverse. put a few bucks in it and you got a good basher. thats about it. dosent look all that bad accully. looks like a $150 tmaxx. lol have fun with it man

 

[Skwerly]

I may actually have that pin, I'll check in a bit!

I kind of have to agree on the EZ Start bit - pull start is SO much less hassle man. It saves a ton of weight, is cheaper to replace, and you do not have to worry about charging any batteries so that the engine will start. Put a few drops of fuel in the carb, pull and bam - off and running. That's just my opinion, but I've tried them both and MUCH prefer the pullstart.

I recently broke my Maxx in similar fashion and had it back on the road for like 20 bucks - gotta love these things hahah.

 

[Beddo]

Was bored this morning STILL waiting for the a-arms and bulkheads to arrive, so, I decided to fit some alloy shocks I had which were meant for my Wild Dagger, but I think they are better suited to the T-Maxx.

The springs are quite a bit stiffer than the stock ones, but hopefully not too stiff. The shocks only cost about a tenner off ebay, so probably arent really good, but we will when we get running.

 

[alpinehyperlite]

If they are that stiff, only run one per axle. try that and see how she does.

 

[Beddo]

Well the parts finally arrived. Got the truck finished this morning and have taken it for its first run today.

Not sure if I did the right thing, but not really knowing the history of the truck, I decided to treat it as if it was new. So I've wound all the mixture screws back to the factory settings (as per the manual) and set off on the first tank of fuel as though I was breaking the engine in from new.

The engine took some starting, but struck up eventually.

1st tank went well, made some minor adjustments, but nothing massive.

Got to the second tank of fuel and was doing some 2 second counts on half throttle when the engine just stopped....

Went to have a look and couldnt turn it over, so stripped the head off and it would appear that the little-end of the con-rod has given up and took a section of the bottom of the piston with it.

The piston and sleeve are completely unmarked, but like I say, the rod is goosed and the skirt of the piston is missing.

To say I'm pissed off would be an understatement. I've checked and a new rod is £22 and a sleeve and piston is £54

Anyone got any bits kicking about that they want to donate? :upset:

 

[ChucksCity]

i know how ya feel man I'm sorry to see that happen

 

[Beddo]

OK, so it seems that repairing the engine isnt very economical, will I better buying a new engine complete?

I've read a bit about the Picco .21 but I think it needs an engine mount mod? Does the Picco .26 drop straight in, and is it worth it or should I go for soemthing else?

I'm trying to keep cost's down to a minimum really so any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Beds