My second electric rig, stampede 4x4 vxl

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HUGE difference in the bearing suze! I'll bet that makes a world of difference as does keeping the contaminants out! Good luck!
 
Got a t-bones front bumper for it installed today. I have no idea how it was supposed to be installed. Their website even says "the photo's are not the bumper we sell now as it has been updated". Regardless, they only had two photo's and you couldn't really see how things went together. I think I figured it out... then I didn't care for it. It relied solely on the 3 screws holding the stock skid on from the bottom. Nothing for the top like the stuck bumper has. They also included this 4mmx8mmx6mm (guessing here) block that screws to a plastic flap that screws to the backside of the face of the skid/bumper. I'm guessing that they are thinking that as the bumper gets pushed in, the block makes contact with the diff case. What's odd is they had recessed cutouts on one side of the block so it appeared it was supposed to screw to the stock skid where the stock bumper also screwed too, but the screws they included were at least 4mm too short. So, the bumper just sticks out and that "support" piece just kind of floats in the air.

Well, I didn't care for that, so I cut the top part of the stock bumper that screws to the top side of the diff case and trilled/tapped holes in the t-bones part to tie it into the chassis a bit more. Now if I pull the bumper forward, it doesn't bend/stress the 3 underside screws. I also have the holes I made in it so the block makes contact with the diff case all the time.

Hard to explain, but it's a goofy design on t-bones part. Well, goofy to me. They could have just as well taken a flat piece, cut a notch in it with a couple holes for screws and had the upper part of the bumper connect like the stock piece did. Oh well, will see how this works.

2017-0605-Stampede-TBoneFrontBumper01.jpg

2017-0605-Stampede-TBoneFrontBumper02.jpg

2017-0605-Stampede-TBoneFrontBumper03.jpg

2017-0605-Stampede-TBoneFrontBumper04.jpg
 
Seems like that was a necessary mod on that bumper. Strange to have designed it the way it seems to have been (as I understood it to be that is)
 
Yeah, if the 4mm screws they included were long enough to go through the block and upper plate and screw into the stock skid, it still would have only left the 3 very short 3mm skidplate screws doing all the work. It would make more sense if it was like the RPM skid for the baja 5b. The screws that went through that were 4mm, but also went into a decent amount of threaded plastic to hold. But on the stampede, the 3 little screws are only going into the bottom of the plastic bulkhead 3mm or so before they bottom out. If the upper plate had been a bit longer, I would have tried just heating it to bend it a little more then cut a notch in it to use the two upper stock bumper screws. Oh well. This doesn't look pretty, but I can lift the entire truck by the front bumper with two fingers and my thumb and it doesn't flex much.
 
I need to take off my roll bar and lower it a little bit. I made it a hair too tall. I did put rubber on it which added 1-2mm so as to cushion the sharp edges against the body when it makes hard contact, but it needs to be about 3-4mm lower so the body has to flex a little to hit it. Right now, it's kind of pushing the center of the body up. Or, I could shim up the body posts I cut off... will probably lower the roll bar. Just means more cutting and drilling.
 
Ultimately I guess I would choose based on the look of the body when it's lifted up slightly higher. Maybe also take into consideration the possibility of a different body going on at some point as well. I don't know if you're into that... Different bodies etc. By the vids I'm guessing not. I'm just guessing that lifting the body is going to be a lot less work and it sounds like the roll bar is working well as it is. My 2 cents anyways...
 
Yeah, I liked the body down lower and as for bodies... I just run stock painted bodies I get off ebay. I have a new one on the shelf. Probably won't even put stickers on it. I just don't care enough. Oddly, I like the look of body when it's lower like it is now. LOL!

The body I have is all black I think with splatters of green.
 
It looks good to me. Hopefully it wound be too much drama to change it
 
More videos: https://www.rcnitrotalk.com/forum/threads/my-latest-bashing-vids.113919/page-2#post-1113331

Lowered the roll bar on the stampede a bit, so now the body has to flex about 2mm before making contact.

Also ripped the screws through the upper bumper brace I made:
2017-0605-Stampede-TBoneFrontBumperBraceBroke.jpg


So, I replaced it with a hunk of plastic from a revo front/center skid that I broke in half recently. It's quite a bit thicker, you can see it here along with my new tires:
2017-0701-Stampede-ProlineTrenchers12mm-Front.jpg


I increased my shock oil to 70/60 front/rear before my last bash. Seemed to help quite a bit with the jumps. Not sure how high I can go before I blow out the stock shocks, but will go with at least 70 in the rear shocks since they are 1/8th buggy. They can take it. It's pretty good with this setup, but still needs a bit more resistance on the big air. I think the new tires added quite a bit of cushion as well. The tires added a lot of top end speed. They didn't seem to be that much larger than the chevrons I replaced, but they do balloon a bit at high speed, so guessing that adds some roll out. Seems fast now. I put a set of the chevrons I took off and put them on my jato, now it seems slow. LOL!

Found out what it takes to break an arm. Snapped one yesterday 6 minutes into my offroad run. Ran it for 30 minutes at the skate park prior to that. Just had a bad landing in the dirt. Got a full set of RPM arms in the mail already.
2017-0702-stampede-offroad-bustedarm.jpg


It was about 85F out and after the 30 minute run at the skate park, things didn't get too hot. I ran it pretty hard on the concrete and in the grass. Got up to 103/114/123 for the battery/esc/motor. Running 14/54 gearing with the castle sct sv3/3800kv system.

Forgot to add the tire comparison:
2017-0701-2.8Tires.jpg

Left to right:
Duratrax 2.8" hatchet
Pro-line 2.8" trenchers
Traxxas 2.8" chevrons
Pro-line 2.8" trenchers
Traxxas 2.8" talons
 
That's a heck of a roll bar @olds97_lss! How's it doing in regards to helping save the body?
Yeah, it's pretty hideous to look at, but the aluminum was so soft, I didn't want to stick with a thin piece. It was very easy to bend it by hand, including the rod in the middle. So far, it's doing a great job. The body is nearly destroyed, but is holding on by a thread... or zipties. It really hasn't gotten any worse than it was pre-roll bar, so I think it's doing what I intended. I'll probably switch over to a new body soon. Would like to figure something out for the body mount areas yet though as they still tend to be a very weak spot. Could just be the stock body.
 
Missing quite a few updates...
Previous updates:

RPM Arms (2017/07/08):
2017-0708-Stampede-RPMArmsInstalled01.jpg


Hot racing servo saver/ackerman bar (2018/07/17):
2018-0717-Stampede-HotRacingSteering02.jpg


Center diff, started running 3S in it (2019/01/03):
2019-0103-Stampede-CenterDiffFLM02.jpg


GTR Shocks with dubro ends on the front to raise it a bit (2019/01/08):
2019-0108-Stampede-GTRShock-Dubro2319End02.jpg


Hot racing 17mm adapters (2019/03/08):
2019-0308-Stampede-HR17MM.jpg


Broken castle 3800kv motor shaft... not sure why/how it snapped, hit an i-beam at a relatively slow rate of speed and walked up to find this (2019/03/09):
2019-0309-Stampede-BrokenCastle3800kvMotorShaft.jpg


Replaced with max10 sct/3660 3200kv system (2019/03/13):
2019-0313-Stampede-HWMax10SCT-3200kv-BatterySide.jpg


Got a little rough on it with the new system (2019/03/21):
2019-0321-Stampede-BrokenChassisDisassembled.jpg


Tried something different to help the body last, got tired of working around the roll bar (2019/03/21):
2019-0321-Stampede-T2T-TraySide.jpg


Hot racing upgrades, c-hubs, axle carriers front and rear (2019/03/31):
2019-0331-Stampede-HotRacingFront.jpg

2019-0331-Stampede-HotRacingRearTires.jpg


3660 motor ran hot, replaced with hobbystar 3665/3100kv (2019/07/08):
2019-0708-Stampede-Hobbystar3665EndInstalled.jpg


Extended the body support to support the roof and made a spot for the camera for onboard POV running (2019/07/14):
2019-0714-Stampede-BodyBraceLeft.jpg


Sway bars (2020/03/09):
2020-0309-Stampede-SwayBar-Front02.jpg


GPM Front c-hubs with bearings, tired of slop and hope these help (2020/04/09):
2020-0409-Stampede-GPMSLA019A-FrontRight-NoTire.jpg
 
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After running my stampede 4x4 on 3s, I've been chasing a heat issue. Also, it's very twitchy in the air with it's short wheel base. Before Covid happened, I was thinking of replacing it with a maxx 4s. But now, my job has cut pay quite a bit, so my RC slush fund has been cut drastically for the foreseeable future...

With limited room in the chassis, it would be annoying to fit a larger esc or motor in it to combat heat. Even then, it would still be very twitchy in the air.

So much more room in this chassis. This is a blx185 esc and 3665/3100kv motor in it, the blx185 was from my outcast, which I upgraded to a max6 over Christmas. It still has the xt60 lead on it for the cap pack, so I just zipped it out of the way. Luckily, the esc uses 4mm bullets for the motor, so that was nice:
2020-0420-Stampede-SlashChassis-BLX185-3665-ESCSide-High.jpg

2020-0420-Stampede-SlashChassis-BLX185-3665-ESCSide-Low.jpg

2020-0420-Stampede-SlashChassis-BLX185-3665-Top.jpg

Could easily fit a 70mm motor in there. Maybe a 74mm.

I screwed up the body mount holes in the body... guess I have to live with it being a bit too far back. :(
2020-0420-Stampede-SlashChassis-BLX185-3665-Body-ESCSide.jpg


At least the sides extend a hair past the edge of the chassis:
2020-0420-Stampede-SlashChassis-BLX185-3665-Body-FrontSideHigh.jpg


Now I need to see if I have some decal stickers for the basic stuff.

I increased the pinion from 14T to 15T. I ran it through half a pack in my parking lot and in the grass. It was 63F out, so not overly warm, but I tried running it WOT a lot in the grass to see what the motor/esc temps did. Motor got to 125F, esc got to 93F.

The extended chassis combined with the 250k in the center diff killed my wheelies unless I hit a bump. It just unloads to the front tires when I punch it. Will see how I like it at the skate park and bmx track before I change anything else.

So, no maxx 4s... but hope this helps how this thing handles now on 3S speeds. With that esc in there, I could go up to 6S... but will likely stick with 3S for now, maybe 4S when my current packs I built for this and my eJato die. I'll have to move the max10 sct to the jato... may do that anyway so I'll be almost all "hobbywing" powered for all my electric rc's, except for my savage flux (castle mmx).
 
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Tomorrow is my first furlough day... one day a week now, which sucks... but better than some currently have it. Just hoping we are able to hold on until the trade show industry picks back up.

Supposed to get up to 68F tomorrow... may take a drive to the grass bmx track and see how this thing does now.
 
I couldn't stand it... made 4 new holes and moved the body forward.

2020-0421-Stampede-SlashChassis-BLX185-3665-Body-NewHoles-ESCSide.jpg

2020-0421-Stampede-SlashChassis-BLX185-3665-Body-NewHoles-FrontHigh.jpg

2020-0421-Stampede-SlashChassis-BLX185-3665-Body-NewHoles-FrontLow.jpg


Maybe I'll get those body clip retainer cables and mount them from underneath, then use the old holes for those, so they appear to have a purpose. lol!
 
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Have done a bit more to the stampede since April. The GPM c-hubs with bearings (GPMSLA019A) are holding up well though.

2020/06/04: I put traxxas HD cold weather arms on the rear and later put them on the front as well, but don't have a photo of that:
2020-0604-stampede-traxxasHDArms-3655P.jpg


2020/06/14 - Tried making an ackerman bar out of some old TRX rod ends, the HR one had a lot of slop already:
2020-0614-stampede-dragLink-3mm-vs-HR.jpg

2020-0614-stampede-dragLink-3mm-installed-fromTop.jpg


2020/07/02 - Swapped out the traxxas/castle 2200kv 4074 for the old motor from my Savage Flux HP which was also 2200/4074. When rotating the shaft, the field for the magnets is a lot stronger than the traxxas/castle one. Not sure it matters, but figured I'd run it:
2020-0702-stampede-TORK-2200Kv-motor-esc.jpg


2020/09/07 - The ackerman bar I made didn't hold up, so I ordered an alloy traxxas one to replace it. But, before I did, I figured I'd try drilling out the worn out HR one and put some 3x6x2.5 bearings in it to see how it did. So far, it's holding up well and zero slop!
2020-0907-Stampede-AckermanHRDrilled-AckermanTraxxas.jpg


Boca 3x6x2.5mm flanged bearings
Yokomo 3x6x.2mm shims
2020-0907-Stampede-AckermanHRDrilled-Boca3x6x2.5Bearings-Yokomo3x6x.2Shims.jpg


Installed:
2020-0907-Stampede-AckermanHRDrilled-Boca3x6x2.5Bearings-Yokomo3x6x.2Shims-installed-topSide.jpg


The HR ackerman bar is .04mm thicker than the traxxas one. I put a bearing on the top and bottom with a shim between them as a crush spacer. Fit perfectly and allowed me to tighten the screws down really well. If I had to use the traxxas one, there would be a hair bit of slop up/down with the shim in there, but so far, the old worn out HR bar has been holding up. Now the only slop I have is in the ball ends and servo.

2020/10/02: @zedorda on the traxxas forum made me a sway bar out of some 2mm piano wire to try out:
2020-1002-stampede-2mmSwayBar-Front-side.jpg


Figured with the new arms that are stiffer than the RPM ones, I may actually benefit from the sway bars more. Also made a new plate out of some soft TPR for the top of the t-bone bumper/skid on the front. Seems to be holding up well.
 
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2020/10/27: The 2.8 trenchers I have been running on it are getting worn down pretty good. All the grass driving has put a sheen on them and they don't grip well at all anymore. I could probably run on concrete to rough them up again, but really, at the grass bmx, a bit larger tire would work better to get through the grass.

So, thought I'd dig through my stuff and try an old set of 3.2" 1/2" offset losi zombiemaxx tires I used to run on my ERBEv1 in the winter. They were a soft compound that works well in the cold.
2020-1027-stampede-ZombieMaxx-StableMaxx3.2-front.jpg


Clearance:
2020-1027-stampede-ZombieMaxx-StableMaxx3.2-clearance.jpg


They look pretty good from the side. Don't really look too big for it, especially now that it has the slash chassis on it:
2020-1027-stampede-ZombieMaxx-StableMaxx3.2-side.jpg


They did rub the body though quite a bit. I just ran it around my parking lot, didn't change gearing or anything. They were also noticeably heavy. But it did roll through the grass in my yard with ease.

2020/10/28: I found a set of 1/2" offset tires/wheels on amazon pretty cheap that were a bit narrower/shorter than the zombimaxx's. Also lighter.
Tires/wheels, .5" offset/3.8" wheels: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08G4T96VT

2020-1028-stampede-RCStation3.8MT-frontAngle.jpg


Unfortunately, one of the tires was on backwards, so I had 3 for one side and one for the other. I boiled one of the 3, removed the tire and remounted it. I let the seller know and I may get a new set of tires, haven't heard back after their first reply asking for my mailing info.

The orange goes with the body pretty good:
2020-1028-stampede-RCStation3.8MT-sideESC-body.jpg


The clearance is a bit better than the zombiemaxx tires as well:
2020-1028-stampede-RCStation3.8MT-front-body.jpg


I dropped the gearing from 20/54 to 17/54 after checking the speedcalculator site. Put's me at a theoretical 52.91mph vs 51.51mph with the 2.8 trenchers. I also checked to make sure the chassis bottoms out before the shocks/springs do, so that's good. One was out of balance pretty bad (not the one I remounted oddly enough), but I fixed that with a bit of weight on it. The other 3 all spin pretty nice up to WOT on my bench.

I read the reviews on the tires, many seemed to like them, but guys that tried running them on 6S trucks had problems with the hex's stripping out. So, I'm hoping they will hold up ok for me on this truck at least.

Hoping to get a run in this weekend. Supposed to get up to 55F on Saturday before the temp drops off again.
 
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