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The Project Stampede
Ultra-Pede
& Thoughts on Upgrading
Complete Upgrade List

The Project Stampede
Ultra-Rusty
Traxxas Rustler
Upgraded

• You DON'T have to use all the decals/stickers they give you
• Traxxas Front 54mm Turnbuckels and Rod Ends
• Custom Cut Stock Tire
• RPM Wide Bumper
• RPM Gear Cover for Rustler/Stampede
• Floppy Antenna Fix
• Multi-Compartment Box
• Brushed Stainless Steel Motor
• Baja Pede - Bodywork on the Cheap

You DON'T have to use all the decals/stickers they give you - Man, some people, think they have to use every freaking sticker they get free. Remember, less is more unless you actually have some artistic vision about what your replica Baja racer should look like covered with the hundreds of DIFFERENT sponsor decals, limit your use of decals. No one needs to see the words Traxxas or RPM appear forty times on your Stampede. And by the way, if you do have your ride covered with decals, it better be one mean machine.

Custom Cut Stock Tires - If you have a Dremal tool with an appropriate cut off wheel and a 1/8" thick coarse disk grinder bit this a no cost upgrade.  One thing that really drove me nuts about the Stock Stampede Tires was that they really allowed for sideways sliding and 180s during turns way to easily.  Following my upgrade philosophy above, I just couldn't upgrade to those Pro-Line Masher 2000 until the Stock tires had at least seen some good wear.  What I did was copy the a similar tread pattern by cutting the tread with the Dremal cut of bit and them widening the outer cuts to 1/8" using the grinder bit. The results were amazing.  After cutting the tires, the Stampede actually turns and corners without executing a side slide or a 180.  After a couple of months of testing the custom cut tires on everything from road, grass, snow, dirt, and rock, I can say this was an outstanding upgrade. Masher 2000 ($36/4 tires) are still considerable better, however this will get you 70%-80% there, add a tough look to your ride, and allow you to drop that same $36 dollars on something really cool, say... a new motor.

RPM Wide Bumper - What ever model you chose MSC or ESC, buy the freaking $5 RPM wide bumper.  The RPM bumper will save you a lot of money. Even in stock form the Stampede is a little faster than you would think and despite your best efforts you WILL hammer the front of the Stampede into poles, the garage, the curb, the wall, your friends, your car,...your get the idea.  When this happens without that huge RPM bumper you could crack or break the body, the front shock tower, camber links, stripe servo gears,... again you get the picture. A very wise investment indeed that will pay for itself over and over. OK, maybe that huge RPM bumper isn't cool looking, but is does protect all the cool stuff you have added on your Stampede.

RPM Gear Cover for Rustler/Stampede - The reason for this upgrade is that the stock gear cover leaves this small gap near the axel and allows debris to get into the gear box.  Along with protection, the RPM cover also gives the back end a rounder fatter look, than I think looks a little better. The $5 RPM gear cover one provides complete coverage.  If you are all about color, your can get the RPM cover in a rainbow of colors. The first time you pull a small twig or leaf into your gear box and shred a spur gear you will wish you had bought one.

Floppy Antenna Fix - A floppy antenna just does not look cool flopping around, especially after you shred it. After flipping your Stampede a couple of times you will start to notice that the extra 2-4" of antenna wire flopping around  and hanging out of the antenna rod is taking quite a beating.  Sooner or later if you don't secure it it will get ground off and you will have to replace your antenna. One easy fix is to spiral it down the rod and use a piece of electrical heat shrink to secure it.

Multi-Compartment Box - Nothing more irritating than looking for a part you swear you have, but can't find. Also really un-cool to show up looking like a bag lady. You have probably now have about three or ten zip lock bags full of parts.  Organize all your crap and buy a couple of clear multi-compartment storage boxes with the separators you can move around to divide up the box.  They run about $2-$5 in various sizes, and you can probably get your mom, girlfriend, boyfriend, or spouse to buy them for you under the assumption you will be more organized and neat.

Brushed Stainless Steel Motor - Do yourself a favor and on your next motor cleaning session and add some cool to your stock Stinger motored ride.  Yank the Stinger Sticker off the motor, clean any sticker residue off with some Buddy Blast and grab one of those green ScotchBrite pads from under the sink and brush in the same direction going around the motor with the ScotchBrite pad.  Soak the entire motor with buggy blast, let dry. re-lube, and enjoy the comments.  If you perform the SuperCharge that Stocker (under the links area) at the same time, everyone may think you actually have a different motor. Also upgrade the power leads to 10 gauge with Deans plugs for increased performance all around.

Baja Pede - Bodywork on the Cheap

Yet another crazy on the cheap project from Project Stampede.

I was cruising thorough Lowes the other day and this half sized black plastic paint tray caught my eye. $1.49 I think it was, hey why not right.  Should be a perfect basher body, it measure 1-2 mil thick and is about 1-2 inches wider than a stock body, but can sit really really low. Should be pretty durable. Trim it it fit and it looks kind of military jeep ish. Throw on some spare decals and I have a brand new body to break.

One of the other things I did nix the rear body support and mounted ala Rusty, except I ground off the normal mount and screwed in a 1/2" body mount stud to clear the shocks. The front I also went with h a front Rusty body mount with low trimmed body posts. The stock body also still fits other the than the need for an extra hole for the new center mount.

Gotta say this was the easiest project I have ever done and probably one of the cheapest, No hot forming was done, just trimmed the tray and attached it.

Weight? - About the same as the stock body, maybe a little heavier.
Fit? - Yeah it just fit great like someone at the paint tray manufacturer said, well we should also make it fit a Traxxas Stampede.