Hi, all!
I recently bought my wife a Ruckus to drive while my son and I race our SC10's at the local Club Races at St. Louis Dirt Burners. After a few weeks of "once or twice a week" use, i did some modifications to it to try and make it "Competition Worthy."
As far as i can tell, the Electrix Models that use the Drive shaft set
ECX1031 will all benefit from this upgrade/mod.
First, was the Upgrade to a Lipo/ESC and a Traxxas 2.4Ghz Tx/Rx (the ~$80 Combo). I went with the Taser 10 Esc (~$50) and a couple Onyx 2S 7.4V 5KmAh (~$35/ea.). All was fine for a spell, but noticed that the Yokes on the Drive shafts were showing more distortion than before with the stock ESC/NiMH Combo. Obviously, LiPo is more power to the motor = more wear on parts. Noted...
Second was a complete change to a matched ESC/Motor Combo.
I chose to get the Transmission upgrade Metal Gears (ECX1022, ~$22) as well as the Element System from Castle, branded as Duratrax (~$120). This consists of a renamed Sidewinder (Gen.1, Castle Link Compatible) ESC and a 540 3900kV 4 Pole Brushless. I kept the Stock Ratio. I did get a Robinson Racing Pinon of same Pitch/Tooth (~$6), as it was a wider mesh surface, as opposed to the stock pinon mesh being half as wide as the spur, leading to teeth on the spur being worn on front or back half of mesh surface. As this Motor/ESC (I discovered after the sale) is designed for High Speed 2WD 1/10 or 4WD 1/10, you can imagine the Torque makes for some amazing acceleration and top speed. It will keep up with 1/8 Nitro on the Hole-shot/Straight dashes at Dirt Burners. As mentioned before, the wear on the yokes became much more pronounced and eventually the right side (Spur Side) gave out at the Hub.
Ok, what now? Go get the same ones again or try to find a heftier upgrade solution better able to handle the new torque? UPGRADES!! I went to the LHS and inquired of other parts that resembled the Electrix Parts in Design/Shape/Dimension. Low and behold, the Traxxas guys have a set of Heavy-Duty drive shaft/u-joints/yokes as a set for one side (Traxxas P/N: 6852X, ~$10). they are a nearly perfect fit. Some slight mods need to be made to fit these to the Electrix Diff. Out-drives and the Rear Wheels. the length is great and fits the "standard" bearings used. The Traxxas Diff Out-drive is Flat-spotted on two sides, like the Slipper plate openings on the Electrix, but the Electrix out-drives are round. so, first, you need to get a twist drill of same O.D. of the Out-drive and "ream out" the extra plastic designed to fit the flat spot on the Traxxas Out-drives. you need no power tools for this, can be twisted by hand, with slight pressure, don't over-do it. you need to take it deep enough to slide the yoke onto the out-drive enough to line up the retaining pin holes. save the Electrix Retaining pin, it is longer and seems more suited to hold up than the Traxxas Pin... you'll see what i mean on close comparison. I use a jewelers flat-head or a straight pick/scratch awl to remove excess material inside the yoke to get it to slide back to where it needs to be. The shoulder/collar on the back of the yoke may/may not need to be trimmed, i did on one side, and did not on the other side. If you feel it necessary to trim it, only remove half the material, not the whole shoulder/collar on the back of the yoke. Use shims on the out-drive as you deem necessary.
Next you need to check the fit of the Wheel Hex and plastic washer on the shaft. the same twist drill will help with the fit as used for the Yoke. You want the Hex to be flat and not "Wobble" as you rotate the shaft. if it wobbles, address the material some more with the twist drill. it may help to use a hobby/exacto knife to remove some material on just one edge if the twist is not going through centered. again, once the Hex is good and settled on the pin and doesn't "Wobble" when the shaft is rotated, test fit the wheel to the shaft/hex... I did have to remove some material from the wheel shaft-hole. Someone at te track who did this said they did not have to remove material inside the wheel shaft-hole. the wheel should fit as before on the shaft/hex when done correctly. the wheel doesn't have to be "Perfect/Snug" on the shaft, as this would make removal harder once dust/dirt has accumulated after a good hard run. finally, test fit the washer that goes between the nut and wheel. it too may need to be "Trimmed" with a twist drill or exacto. i believe the Traxxas Shaft is 5mm so a 5.5 or 6mm twist drill should take care of all the mods for this upgrade. The Electrix wheel nuts will fit this shaft's threads, however, i lost a nut that backed off, as the threads are shorter than the Electrix... so either invest in shorter nuts (nylon Lock rings embedded in the crown) or shave the washer down with a scrap of sandpaper, a mill bastard, or anything else yo can use to get an even removal of material across the backside plane of the washer. Consider getting some Traxxas nuts and a appropriate sized metal washer. I also added a Traxxas Waterproof Servo to replace the Stock Steering Servo. Not too fast, plenty of torque. but this is mitigated by the TOO WEAK servo saver, which will be my next upgrade: cement together or spring-steel ring replacement, as it is currently a weak plastic ring.
Finally, after running this for a while, with Torque Control set to 7.5 in Castle Link, i have had no new/recurring issues, save for one... LiPo batteries keep going dead after 15-30 minutes...
It never ends.... this ruckus is raced in 1/10 4x4 SC/Nitro/Buggy, 1/8e 2/4WD
This truck only gets passed in the infield turns.
