What maintenance is needed on a T-Maxx?

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Pr3ssure

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So I got a T-Maxx long ago, before the 2.5r or the 3.3 ever came out. I was around 12 or so, I never got into the hobby a lot and about 6 years ago I was running it and forgot to put the air filter back in after cleaning it. Need less to say after a few minutes of running it shut off and never started again. So I put it in my closet and never messed with it again until abut 2 weeks ago. I decided to clean it up, take apart the engine to see what was wrong. Turns out the crank was stuck. So I put a drop of PB blaster in the front and back and voila, it turned like new. So I got some gas and glow plugs and ended up having to clean the goop out of the gas line and it started for the first time in atleast 6 years.

After about a week of re tuning the high and low speed needles and the idle I've got it running consistently. Although it doesn't seem to have the torque it used to have. I remember it was hard to keep the front tires on the ground when accelerating quickly. Now I can't get the front tires off the ground. I'm sure being 11 years old with no real maintenence is the reason but what would I need to do to make it run like before? Or am I just looking at a total rebuild?

I'm going to be getting all new servos and upgrading the transmitter/reciever from the 27 megahertz to the 2.4 gigahertz soon. I know that won't help the torque but it's well needed upgrades.
 
So I got a T-Maxx long ago, before the 2.5r or the 3.3 ever came out. I was around 12 or so, I never got into the hobby a lot and about 6 years ago I was running it and forgot to put the air filter back in after cleaning it. Need less to say after a few minutes of running it shut off and never started again. So I put it in my closet and never messed with it again until abut 2 weeks ago. I decided to clean it up, take apart the engine to see what was wrong. Turns out the crank was stuck. So I put a drop of PB blaster in the front and back and voila, it turned like new. So I got some gas and glow plugs and ended up having to clean the goop out of the gas line and it started for the first time in atleast 6 years.

After about a week of re tuning the high and low speed needles and the idle I've got it running consistently. Although it doesn't seem to have the torque it used to have. I remember it was hard to keep the front tires on the ground when accelerating quickly. Now I can't get the front tires off the ground. I'm sure being 11 years old with no real maintenence is the reason but what would I need to do to make it run like before? Or am I just looking at a total rebuild?

I'm going to be getting all new servos and upgrading the transmitter/reciever from the 27 megahertz to the 2.4 gigahertz soon. I know that won't help the torque but it's well needed upgrades.

The engine may not be the issue ,you could have worn clutch shoes causing slippage ,also .you need to make
sure that the spur isn't slipping as well!...:thumbs-up:
 
When I first ran it the engine was too far from the transmission so it was slipping but I fixed that before i drove it. I can't hear or see any other slipping though. It just seem it lost torque taking off. It still gets to speed and shifts gears.
 
Where this is something that has NEVER been maintained, I would run thru the whole truck. I would clean and lube ALL the bearings, the joints in the steering and suspension, put fresh oil in the shocks and go thru the diffs and the trans, clean and lube as well. I would also check out the clutch, the slipper and brake. Run thru the engine and check out the bearings in there. If it was really gooped up in there, it's likely the bearings are in need of cleaning if not replacement. Go thru the ez start system as well (if it has one) Be sure to replace the glow plug and the air filter too. I know it's a lot to go thru but after sitting that long, esp with no prep for storage, I would just plan on finding a lot that needs clean and lube. Doing it all once will help eliminate broken parts and provide you with a solid RC with lots of FUN, not breaks for the future!
 
This would be an EXCELLENT time to upgrade your clutches, brakes, etc... Gear ratios (spur and it clutch bell for sure!) If you want to get more speed (at the cost of low end power) or the reverse of these. Suspension parts as well. If you choose to upgrade here, be careful. Its easy to get sucked in to the 'bling' of aluminum parts however the aluminum stuff isn't usually your best bet. Rpm makes parts that are designed better, made of more durable plastic than stock and they are much lighter than aluminum. Aluminum does NOT take impact well! It tends to spead the energy of an impact to the parts it's attached to and breaks or bends more difficult to replace parts. I can't stress enough staying away from aluminum. HOWEVER... There ARE some aluminum parts that I would recommend using (and upgrading) now! The steering is a great example! Replace with aluminum and put in ball bearings to replace bushings. Hubs are another good place for aluminum, although I am not sure if this is recommended for the Tmaxx. Another upgrade that I would DEFINITELY do is a long chassis conversion.
I would also be sure to polish up anything that has any surface rust on it. Any of the suspension pins etc especially.
 
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