Figured I should update this if anyone should find it later.
My murfdog was DOA (bought it used) and ended up swapping in an LRP 17.5. Gearing was (26/69) and everything worked pretty well. After some laps checked temps and everything was very cool. Moved up to 33/69 and really got some speed back!
Car handled pretty well. My older smaller lipo fits fine but using a gen ace is not going to happen. A shorty could help if foam was added to the front or rear but really dont want to invest in a new battery for just 1 car at this point. Ended up tapping a wall and noticed that the pass side knuckle ball popped out due to a crack in the plastic. Need to repair for more testing!