So a buddy of mine offered to sell me a traxxas rustler with the 12.5t brushed motor for $100 with a bunch of parts and tools, I had a bunch of spare cash and a really open schedule, so I accepted.

Since then I have grown to love these things, they shred, destroy, demolish, and they are fast as shit. I can't do the things I do with this anywhere around here with a real car, it really satisfies my need to shred and destruct pavement and other surfaces. Ive noticed I even drive my 335i tt slower and more relaxed.

Now a few of my buddies have joined the game and they all got nitro ones, they are much faster than my rustler, but dont handle anywhere near as good as my rustler, i have perfected the slip-clutch and suspension tuning and it is a surface destroying machine and a true tire melter ( ive ripped 3 sets of rear tires off the wheels )

I saw on craigslist a 3.3 revo nitro 4wd for $100!! this is a $600 nitro car, the guy claimed the transmission was busted and the car was stuck in gear, I immediately knew he was an idiot and didnt know what he had or what was wrong, I purchased it, and like he said as soon as you start it, the car went to full rev and wouldn't cut off.

So i took the battery pack out and air filter off, charged the batteries for the steering/throttle servo and receiver, started it again, still full rev and unable to stop without stalling it. So I looked at the carb, and at 0 throttle, it was wide open, im talking you couldn't even see the slide. Re-tuned the carb and now i have a $600 nitro car for $100 in perfect condition.

My rustler currently goes 40mph with a 86/17 gear setup, on 2 front sand tires with 2 rear all terrains, but this thing shines on the track, I have undefeated lap times in the area, even better lap times than most nitro cars.

The revo is still in the works and being tuned out, the previous owner tried putting in an upgraded receiver box and he shorted out the battery pack, but the motor and transmission are fine, probably needs a new clutch bell, its missing a few bearing but still runs good, just wont stay idle

Me and 2 of my friends have been building a track in my back yard

We have a mega jump ( 4 different jumps in 1 ramp with a big berm ), a little whoop section, and a giant berm with an old piece of fence behind it ( wall riding, and half pipe like tricks )

this is the revo



this is the rustler

Nice... I have a couple Nitro Tmaxx and 1 Lipo 4x4 slash ATM. Haven't ran any of them in about a year just been so busy with other shit.

Heres a pic of my old 2wd slash setup I sold



One of my Tmaxx I still got (extended chassis, .21 race motor, etc. etc. etc.)



This is a 1/8 scale buggy track I fuck around on near my house (im the first one to hit the jump)
The buggy's don't care for little 1/10 scale stuff being on their track so they tend to pick on me lol


This post was edited by Killerme99 on Dec 24 2014 11:09am

OLD ass vid of my 2wd slash setup wheeling at 30mph+ rolling on the trottle.. 3s lipo ftw ;P

Edit- this is with a 1/2 lb of wheel weights on the front end also



This post was edited by Killerme99 on Dec 24 2014 11:15am

wow is the brushless that much of an upgrade? i really like the way my rustler handles but it tops out at 40mph right now

if i went brushless would i see alot better acceleration ?


and i have a question about your tmaxx

my friend has the 2.5 tmax and his doesnt idle very well, it will idle for a bit but when you drive around and come to a stop it basically just cuts off

i read alot online and i see a difference answer every time

do you think one of these is the problem

- clutch bell bearings ( his looked alright but who knows, ive only been messing with nitro for 3 days now )

- low speed needle not being adjusted correctly

- or a piston being installed 180 degrees wrong

I would start with the idle needle. Turn it up a little bit and see if it helps. (I havent had a nitro rc for 5-6 years now)

Running brushless is like running a built motor. It isn't necessarily faster out of the box but it is better in just about every way and allows you to make a shit ton more power reliably. It really comes down the battery that you power it with. I could go on for days about battery's.. there is ALOT to choose from.

Here is the main battery specs you worry about.

Minimum Capacity: 5000mAh (essentially the gas tank.. 5000 is pretty good)
Configuration: 3S1P / 11.1v / 3Cell (There are Lipo battery's with 1 cell, 2 cell, 3 cell, 4 cell, etc.. the more cells the greater the possible power output. Each lipo cell has 3.7v so 3 cell lipo would be 11.1v total, 4 cell would be 14.8v and so on)
Constant Discharge: 25C
Peak Discharge (10sec): 30C (how fast the battery can let the power out. I usually run 40c which will allow huge power burst ;P)

As far as the tmaxx shutting off when it comes to a stop it could be a few things. The first thing that comes to mind is the low speed needle like mentioned. It is most likely running to lean and not letting enough fuel flow at idle to stay running. An easy way to tell if its running lean at all is to check the engine temp after normal operation for a few mins. You can find tons of guides online but needless to say if its over 270 degrees F it is running lean and needs to be changed asap to prevent permanent damage. It could also be at the opposite end and be running rich with would cause the opposite.. low engine temps and raw fuel coming out of the exhaust.

It could also be something as simple as the throttle trim being off. Time for process of elimination.

Tuning nitro cars can seem like a daunting task at times but it is really some of the simplest tuning you can get into.

I think the throttle trim is fine, but now that you mention it, I think hes running too rich at idle because you can see the exhaust drip every so often, ill check that when I see him later

I have 2 5000 mah batteries, one nickel and one lipo, both are onyx duratrax. I run these on my brushed motor and it has alot of power, 4 to 5 foot roosters on soft dirt. I really want to try swapping it to brushless

I was even thinking of putting a nitro 2.5 on my rustler but I dont know of I have the fab skills

This post was edited by t9x on Dec 24 2014 11:57am

Ya if its dripping fuel its gotta be running a tad rich. The traxxas manual is actually pretty good at explaining the proper tuning process(you can find it online ez). Best way is to just restore all the settings to factory and start adjust for right before peak performance.

yeah i just found the manuals online today, we both bought ours used we got a deal $200 for a tmaxx and a revo both needed nothing to run but are completely out of tune and not maintained


are gaskets used on these for the header? neither of ours have a gasket and sometimes you can see fuel spit out? i rigged a beer can gasket on mine and it seemed to help so i was going to go get some actual gasket material and put it on, but i dont want to ruin the compression or anything by putting too much distance between the block and header

This post was edited by t9x on Dec 24 2014 12:20pm