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Upgrade Philosophy
Track Worthy?
Time
of Purchase
Durability
Performance
Convenience
Battery
Charging
Battery
Building and Rebuilding
RC Motor Tuning
Tires and Suspension
Looks/Style
Misc.
Projects
The Project
Stampede
Ultra-Pede
& Thoughts on Upgrading
Complete
Upgrade List
The Project
Stampede
Ultra-Rusty
Traxxas Rustler
Upgraded
The Project
Stampede
Tri-Pede
Three Wheeled Stampede
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PERFORMANCE
RC Tuning Guide This is a great
reference for improving you RC's handling -
Site -
Adobe .PDF
Shock Pre-Load Spacers - Your stock Traxxas Stampede suspension allows for alot of tuning capability. In the bag of extra parts you get from Traxxas will be a shock parts tree with Pre-Load spacers attached. Everyone including myself wonders which to use or should you use any at all. The best course of action when just starting out is to go on the stiff side and install the two largest pre-load spacer sets 4mm (1 on each of the rear shocks) and 3mm (1 on each front shock).
These should be installed in between the upper spring retainer and the shock. As you define your driving style you may want more spring tension (add more pre-load spacers) or less (replace with thinner spacers). Jumping and general bashing, you should probably error on the stiff side. If you notice your truck bottoming out a
lot, you may want to add more pre-load spacers or even buy stiffer springs. To increase articulation for rock climbing and traction
for racing on flatter ground, you may even want to go with softer springs. Spring rates are defined by lbs. so the less lb. rating the softer the spring.
Traxxas Front 54mm Turnbuckels and Rod Ends - Not a requirement, but everything I have read indicates that the stock front camber links always area just ever so slightly out of whack, enough it drove me nuts and it will be something you will want to upgrade anyway at one point or another. The camber links control how far the top edge of the tire is from the body. Think of it as steering but on the other axis. If the camber is aligned on one tire but not the
other, the truck will pull to one side or the other and will not steer consistently.
To clarify these are the 54mm rods which are 62mm when assembled with the rod
ends. Although I ran stock plastic camber links until recently, the rears
take the 72mm turnbuckles (90mm with ends) or better yet the Jato
Camber links turnbuckles 58mm #5539 - See below.
Extra Spur and Pinion Gears - Buy an extra Traxxas 87,84,78 tooth spur gear, and a 15 or lower tooth pinion gear. The pinions are the little ones, the spurs are the big ones. These are kind of fun to play around with - gear your Pede for off road torque, or for on road speed.
Smaller spur and/or larger pinion = faster = less torque = hotter motor and ESC = short life
Larger spur and/or smaller pinion = slower = more torque = cooler motor and ESC = long life
Stuff for SuperCharge that Stocker motor break in - (see Useful Links) - Bushing lube, comm drops, Trinity Buggy Blast motor and shock cleaner. Do it before you run it even once. Yes, it does make a huge difference.
See this article here
How to Supercharge that Stocker
A Decent ESC electronic speed control - Yes, the ESC model comes ready to run with an Electronic Speed Control, but it limits you to only "17 Turn" motors and above, however I think it's more like 19 Turn +(Exception - See XL-1 electrical upgrade below). I know people that have run 17T motors on the Traxxas XL-1 ESC,
I am one of those people, but withouth my upgrade it is typically a short lived
adventure. 
Good choices are the new Traxxas XL-10 which I have heard good things about, the DuraTrax IntelliSpeed 12T Modified Reverse ESC (about $65), DuraTrax IntelliSpeed 8T Modified Reverse ESC (about $80) or spring for everything you will ever need - the Novac Super Rooster ($125)
- discontinued but now there is something new and improved. The Xtra Quake
Car ESC FWD/BK/REV - No Motor Limit for $80
has been highly rated on some forums. The Tazer 15Turn ESC for $29.99 has
also been rated well for the price. I currently
have Novac Rooster and love it. It limits me to 15 turns, but it is
virtually impossible to gear the Stampede with less than a 13 turn motor, so who
cares. And I am happy with the Titanite 15T Motor. As a general rule - The
better the quality of ESC and the lower the motor turn limit of the ESC the more
punch the motor will have with any given motor. As a general rule buy a
ESC with 2-3 motor turn limit less than the lowest turn motor you will intend to
ever use. For the Stampede, a 14 Turn motor is the lower limit of what is
recommended. Pictured is the MTroniks Sonik4 RV Max (8-turn limit) ESC. The main reason I purchased it was that it is completely waterproof.
The main reason I don't have one anymore is that it kept catching on fire.
Upgrade the Motor - If you actually follow some break in procedures the Stinger motor isn't bad. The SuperCharge that Stocker article from RC Car Action does work, so give that a try for some extra power. I have found that that method of water, cleaning, oiling, needs to be repeated about every week or so to keep up the performance. For a modified motor read on.
For the Stampede, a 14 Turn motor is the lower limit of what is recommended and will produce a shorter run time. Although a motor with less than 14 turns may work, and produce some killer speeds on flat surfaces, you probably won't be able to gear it properly for what the Stampede was Intended for. The quality of ESC does matter. The more powerful the ESC the more instantaneous power that is sent to the motor and more wheelie popping potential your Stampede will have. As a general rule buy a ESC with 2-3 motor turn limit less than the lowest turn motor you intend to ever use. I currently
have a couple motors including my favorite the 17T turn Trinity Pro Amber. The 17T is great, although
it does wheelie plenty and power wheelie, but not to the extent of a 15T motor, it really did bring the Stampede to life and I am very happy with it
and is my favorite overall motor for general bashing. The 14T-15T motors
are a little un-controllable for the novice and can offer to much wheel spin and
less torque. The Trinity 17T Pro Amber is a great compromise between power, torque, and longer run time.
From my experience the XL-1 ESC is the most limiting factor of the Stampede's
performance. Upgrading to a good ESC right off the bat, will provide those
wheel popping experiences you are looking for.
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 for 4 tires) are still considerable better, however this will get you 70%-80% there, add a tougher look to your ride, and allow you to drop that same $36 dollars on something really cool, say... a new motor.
Airing the tires - The act of drilling a 1/8" hole in the tire rim to let the stock and after-market tires inflate and deflate naturally while driving. Keep in mind that the 1/10th scale RC car of today are light enough that their tires don't need air inside to remain "inflated". ProLine as well as other tire manufacturers will sometimes provide foam inserts on softer compound tires to give the tire extra body and shape. That said the Stock Stampede Terra
tires are more than stiff enough to run without foam inserts. Why air the tires? Airing makes a huge difference in overall traction, flat prevention
(via suction), and allows the tires and suspension to do their jobs (i.e. absorb shock and keep contact with the driving surface). The stock rims are sealed and make the Stampede a little bouncy and can take minutes-hours rather than fractions of a second to re-inflate after hitting a harder object. Thumpa, Thumpa, Thumpa. Drill a 1/8" hole on the back inside of the rim, behind one of the rim's spokes (so you can't see it when the wheel is installed).
Try to center the hole as much as possible on the rim. Be careful not to drill through the tire. This entire process should take about 30 minutes with removal and re-installation of the wheels.
Hub Nut Replacement - Buying extra bag Traxxas self-locking wheel nuts is a great idea. The nuts will generally not stay put and will need to be replaced after removing/re-installing the wheels every 15-20 times.
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RPM Bearing Carriers and 5X11 Bearing upgrade
This is one the more expensive of the upgrade at about $30-$40, but well worth the price. Although I haven't run speed tests, people who have claim a 2-5 mph speed boost. From my perspective the Stampede seems to move noticeably faster and my run times greatly increased. Pretty installation - Buy the front and rear RPM Rustler/Stampede bearing carriers and 8 5x11 bearings, pop in bearings on each side of the RPM bearing carrier, and replace the original stock Stampede Bearing carriers. Remember the order - axel, bearing carrier, little washer, axel post,
hub, wheel, nut. Spring for the better quality Duratrax or Traxxas sealed stainless steel bearings (about $20 for 8 - but usually sold individually). They may not have the spin of the shielded bearings, but the environment the Stampede will be subjected to the sealed are a much better choice to keep debris out of the bearings.
Sticky Hub Fix and Creating Easy Wheel Spin - Something I noticed before and after my RPM bearing carrier upgrade was the two of my tires would not freely spin when the wheel nut was properly snug. Originally I thought this was normal, due to the stock bushings, but it turns out that the inside of the hub (Hex Adapter - the plastic piece that keys into the rim), was slightly to thick and was pressing against the washer and in turn the bearing carrier when the wheel was tightened. A easy and permanent fix is to use some extra-fine
sand paper and sand down the inside of the hub (about 5-7 passes should do). Some of the four injection molding marks were raised and also needed to sanded down. Wash it off and give it a spin. You may need to give the hub a second sanding to make it work. I think you will find you you'll want to do this on all four wheels after you see the huge improvement.
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Lightening the Chassis (Jang'ing the Chassis) - How to lighten your RC car’s chassis
So, the Ultimate Stampede Project got met all excited about the potential for the Stampede, however some of Jang’s modifications, such as his chassis lightening modifications, were in my mind a little to extreme and he left out a lot of “how to” details. After reading his self-criticized over-modification of his Rustler chassis and hearing some horror stories of ruined
chassises, modifying the chassis was planned as one of my last modifications. Hey, that’s scary stuff, putting a Dremel cutting bit to chassis,
right? Well, it’s not as scary as it sounds IF you do a little planning
and a new Stampede chassis is only about $10 should you really screw up.
Why would I want to do this?
The easiest answer to this is - power to weight ratio. There is a reason every race car, truck, and motorcycle is stripped of every non-essential part. The motor, brakes and suspension all have less weight/mass to manage and therefore can perform faster, quicker, and better. It is the same idea with RC cars. The lighter RC car, with all other things being equal will out maneuver and out accelerate the heavier car. The general idea is to lighten the car by removing the non-essential weight; i.e. everything which does not effect durability. Because this can be more of an art form for the home hobbyist than hard science, you may want to skip lightening your chassis all together if strength and durability are key in your driving styles. In fact you may want or need to add extra bracing and supports to handle some really crazy jumping/crashing. If you haven’t done some of the standard base performance
upgrades such as the RPM 5X11 bearing upgrade, you may want to do those upgrades first. Although you don’t have to wait until all the basic upgrades are completed, lightening your chassis should be considered more of an advanced upgrade and is best performed after you have some time behind the throttle.
 Considerations
So the first question is; how hard do you push your car? Do you break a lot of parts because you over-stress them? Contrary to what a lot of people say, lightening the chassis will decrease its overall strength. It may only reduce its durability slightly, however that reduction may be enough to break a chassis for those who like to jump and bash really hard. If you are a really heavy basher and are set on reducing weight, target dropping a 1/2 oz. This is still a 10% overall chassis weight reduction of the stock
4.75oz stock chassis. Use this weight reduction to offset some strength enhancements such as a Swami Brace. I would highly recommend against extreme chassis lightening or removing any vertical cross members. This type of aggressive chassis lightening exponentially effects the integrity of the chassis’s strength. Another consideration is moisture. If you drive in wet environments (snow, puddles) your
best option is avoid putting large holes in the chassis that will allow in even more moisture. I would skip the weight reduction option in favor of drilling some small 1/8” strategic weep holes to allow water to escape the chassis.
What you need
You do need a standard amount of eye to hand coordination, a Dremel type tool with a router adapter attachment, a straight router bit, small drum sanding bit, a corner rounding router bit (optional), some sandpaper, a drill, some drill bits, and the ability to take your time on the project without feeling rushed. My perfect time came after getting a little cocky and not properly winterizing my upgraded Project Stampede XL-1 ESC before going out in some really wet slushy snow. Yep, you bet I fried that sucker like a
well-done piece of bacon. So I had some time to kill until I was able to pick up a new ESC. I would set aside about five to seven nights to have the time to do a good job.
The approach
Start by removing all the electronics, unscrewing and freeing the chassis so that it can be completely stripped. This will make it much easier to work on. The next thing is take a day or two and really look a the chassis, flex it, see how it moves, figure out what pieces are stressed members, which are load bearing, which cannot be removed and which serve little purpose. You are thinking, “What are you insane, I’m not taking a day or two to stare at the chassis.” Well the thing is that I had several epiphanies on the second day and several on the third.
These holey ideals never would have come to mind if I would have started grinding right away on the chassis. In short, I would have done something really stupid had I not thought through things. I still ended up making one mistake, which turned out all right, which I will highlight later. Planning is essential on this project, especially if you want it to look cool after you are done, so take the time to map out what you are going to do… and please, use a ruler.
Making Holes
There probably is not a perfect pattern for lightening your chassis, however ovals and holes seem to be the easiest. I have seen some really intricate cut outs, but I would hate to be the one doing all the finish sanding work. My big mistake was that I made several slits too small and put a lot of smaller holes in the chassis. At just over 1/8” wide they were REALLY tough to finish. The Dremel bits don’t really go that small and hand sanding these small areas are almost impossible.
The biggest piece of advice I can give is to keep the holes and cuts in the chassis as large as possible. The larger chassis cuts I did were started with a 1/2” drill bit and were pretty easy to finish. The bigger holes will be much easier to make and finish properly and (most importantly) will provide you with your largest weight reductions. If you do decide to attack the other areas, such as the side railings, receiver, and servo area, use one size smaller than the largest drill bit that will fit in the space. Remember bigger is better in this
situation. I started by drilling a few holes in the railings, removed some unused screw posts and drilled a few other holes here and there. I had about fifteen smaller 1/4” holes total, but no larger holes. I though “wow that probably knocked .75 oz off easy”…in reality, I had lost less than 1/4 oz. Remember your old physics class, area of a circle? Figure that it will take about three-four 1/4” holds to equal one 1/2” hole…bigger holes will drop your
weight much faster and easier. You could probably put three 1.5 inch holes in the battery tray and produce 70%-80% of your weight savings. In my mind the battery tray is where the most non-essential weight resides, so I suggest targeting that area instead of drilling a bunch of little holes everywhere. You can always come back later and drill more holes. As I found out the nylon composite material the chassis is made of is
really tough stuff and patience is required in doing the finish work. After all the rough forming work is done using the Dremel, you can expect to spend a couple of nights hand finishing all those cuts to look like they came from the factory mold. A dedicated countersink bit that flares out to over 1/2” or a Dremel edge rounding router bit come in really handy for the finish work and can speed things along by uniformly rounding all the edges.
Performance
I was able to achieve a 20% overall weight savings (.95 oz) with my chassis modifications and I saw no measurable loss in rigidity or increased flex.
As of this date I am still using the same chassis. I want to note specifically that I stating that the chassis seemed equally rigid to the stock chassis, however I am not saying it is just as strong and durable. Judging the performance of this upgrade is a little more tangible than believing that dogs smile. Using a borrowed stock ESC, I was able to do some testing. The truck seemed a lot livelier and more responsive. I know that it seems nuts to say that there is a noticeable difference just by loosing 1oz on a 4.5 lb car, but it’s there and you do feel and see the difference in a positive way. The best way to explain the feeling is with a question. Do you know how the Stampede feels somehow faster and more responsive when you run it without the body? That’s the noticeable difference this upgrade makes, by the way the body weights a couple ounces. So if
you like the way your Stampede runs without the body attached, start staring at you chassis and lighten up.
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The M'Troniks Sonik4 RV Max 8 turn limit ESC - It's waterproof!!! and a WARNING
- IT SUCKS!
ALSO READ THIS POST BEFORE BUYING
UPDATE 3-6-2006 - I killed the
bulk of this review on this due to the fact I think the design of this ESC
is/was defective based on the info I was able to find as well as my experiences.
Due to that fact I though the review was simply a waste of space so I trashed
it.
The
Cliff Notes version is that I blew two, count them two esc's also noting
everyone with this ESC has had the exact same problem. It would run then
smoke like a smoke bomb. In the end I bought a Novac Rooster which I love.
--------
THE FINAL OUTCOME
I ended up swapping for a Novak Rooster (the regular version) which at this point I am very happy with. The only exception being that I really like to get out in the wet and snowy stuff and that Novak is pretty allergic to moisture so I now have a sunny day only toy unless I again venture into another waterproofing project. HobbyPeople.net were REALLY good about taking everything back twice without any questions, then again I was honest about what happened and judging from the mass of problems similar to mine with the Mtroniks RV Max 8 Turn ESC, I would think that they know there is a design
flaw in there somewhere at fault.
Lesson - sometimes the newest thing out
there that no one has tested yet isn't the best option. So much for being
the pioneer.
The
Project Stampede Ultra-Pede
updated 3-6-06
The infamous Wide-Pede
Conversion - The Actual How To for Widening your Stampede -
Reference:
Documented Wide-Pede Modifications
Read
Jang's UltimateRC's Ultimate Stampede.
Read Inadad 's Losi adn HPI arm
Wide-Pede Mod
Read on for the Project Stampede Ultra-Pede Mod
Widening the Stampede (AKA Wide-Pede) or
the same performed on the Rustler - Wide-Rusty, finally got my
attention. Do I "need" a wide-pede? No. But I did want the
ability to rotate my tires front to back without having to swap the front and
rear rims, due to the offset difference between the front and rear stock
Stampede rims. I also wanted to actually document the process for everyone
out there wanted to do option A or B or C without buying a
bunch of junk they didn't need.
What's a wide-pede?
Read
Jang's UltimateRC's Ultimate Stampede.
In my opinion there are a couple
advantages to the wide-pede conversion:
- Performance - Typically a slightly
longer wheelbase and wider stance.
- Improved articulation - better
handling
- In some of the conversions allows you
to rotate wheels from front to back to even out tire wear.
- It looks freaking trick.
The Flavors of Wide-Pedes
All the flavors and
variations of Wide-Pede's is where the confusion lays for everyone. We all
have a lot of respect for the creativity of Jang's initial conversion, but after re-reading
his project again last night and fooling around with the wide-pede conversion I
see where everyone starts to stumble. The original wide-pede mod which uses rear Stampede arms as new front arms has some issues, you need to do
some pretty serious cutting on the X-brace on the arms to screw the shocks in. I believe this serious of
a arm mod weakens the arms significantly, however that was not Jang's concern as he was lightening the
Pede for racing. Moving the shock positions on the arms also become a
complete pain. Additionally, even with Ultimate-Stampede's original and easier wide-pede mod,
getting the basics is a little bit cloudy when you actually start doing it with even a slight modification
from his original idea.
There is another well
documented and easier wid-pede conversion out there by
Inadad that uses Losi XT or HPI arms, however this mod
again gets into
more trimming and cutting on the arms than I am comfortable with, due to the fact that I think the non-Traxxas
arms and the modifications weaken the arms at the caster block to
much for the average basher. That said there are a ton of people out there
using this wide-pede mod without problems.
Stuff that is a little unclear is the camber link length and which one to use (I
think think everyone misses the cut it down part which you don't need with the
right camber links), the clearance/binding issue,
and the barring carrier which can greatly vary the length of the steering rod
needed depending on what carriers are being run on the front such as: stock, RPM,
modified stock rear, RPM
rear, Rustler Nitro front, ... etc. Then there is the question of which
caster block to use. Then which way do the arms go.. and on and on we go
with questions.
No wonder there are so many questions on wide-pede conversion.
Making Wide-Pede'ing Easier,
Simplier, and more Durable
I'm attempting to make it easy for everyone. Between all the Wide-Pede and
Wide-Rustler mods there are a lot of similarities. Some are similarities
which I think need clarification, some others just need to be changed altogether
because they cause problems. Whether you are doing my specific Ultra-Pede
modification or any of the others, some of my little innovations and discoveries
will help you avoid problems and guarantee success.
Here I will make an effort to list out the parts required for each Wide-Pede mod including what I believe to
be the easiest, low modification, and most durable wide-pede conversion to date - the Project Stampede Ultra-Pede.
Expectations
First off I would like to remind you that with the exception of the Project Stampede Ultra-Pede, all versions require
modification, drilling, sanding, and trimming of the arms and servo
savers and steering rods.
There is also a cost of about $30-$40 for the items at
your favorite hobby shop which are not "stock" items. If you
have some experience dis-assembling your Stampede then you are probably able
to complete the Ultra-Pede mode without any problems only one small shave on
each arm is required. Other conversions require a little more
modification experience. A Dremel tool with
a cut off wheel and some grinding and sanding attachments will greatly improve
the final product and speed this and future modifications in the process.
Also I am in no way responsible for any damage to your Pede due to this or any
other mods, it will perform the way it
performs, which is from my experience is a huge, no, enormous upgrade.
Version A Overview
Jang (Ultimate-Stampede) uses front Nitro Rustler barring carriers and casters,
and ball ends for some of the rods (for clearance/prevent binding), shock limiters for spacers, and trimmed stock Stampede steering
rods for the front camber link set up, a pair of 94mm (actually they are 96mm) E/T-Maxx front tie rods
with Traxxas rod ends and trims the servo saver for clearance. Rear stock pins
or optional king pins are used
top and bottom to hold everything together. Also requires the use of Nitro Rustler wheels and
bearings (that is, if you didn't already upgrade to RPM barring carriers and can
recycle the bearings).
Version B Overview
Uses stock or Stampede RPM front carriers, and stock caster blocks with spacers
to fit the rear arms as well as re drilling/widening the lower caster block
hole, eyeball socket rod ends, shock limiters for spacers, and trimmed
steering rods for the front camber link set up and trimming the servo saver
for clearance. Rear stock pins or optional king pins are use top and bottom to
hold everything together and a similar 94-96mm length of
rod for the new steering rod depending on what carrier you are running. Noting RPM
carriers
have a single hole and shorter arm than stock.
 Version C Overview
Version C is the Inadad
Widepede Conversion - uses HPI or Losi Arms and uses roughly the same
components as Version B. These are some things I really like about this
modification - it's quite a bit easier than than Jang's modification, it seems
more straight forward, and is better documented. The Inadad Wide-Pede
widens the front arms but maintains the stock wheelbase, that part I don't
like so much. Additionally although a well tested conversion, I just think the
Traxxas arms are leaps and bounds stronger to start with. The other
thing is I am not going to list this mode below in the grid because Inadad has
done a great job detailing this modification out on his own site with part
numbers and required items. This modification sits in between the
Ultimate-Stampede version and the Ultra-Pede as far as modification
difficulty.
Version D Overview - Project Stampede Ultra-Pede
My goal in putting this version together was to make it: 1. Easy for a novice to
assemble, 2. Use widely available parts, 3. Minimal modification, 4. Super durable, 5. Eliminate inherent
binding issues with the Stampede, 6. Allow for complete flexibility of shock attachment to the front of the
arms, 7. Allow for a wide variety of options for camber links or even multiple camber links. 8. Can use all
four wheels interchangeably.
The Ultra-Pede uses rear arms, stock Stampede or RPM
Stampede front bearing carriers, stock caster blocks, two stock piston heads as upper spacers, three small
washers as lower spacers, re-drilling/widening the lower caster block
holes, captured ball socket rod ends and balls, and 72MM Traxxas turnbuckles for the front camber link set up.
Rear stock pins or optional king pins are use top and bottom to
hold everything together and a similar 96mm E-Maxx Tie rod for the new steering rods. To allow each
shock to pivot slightly, each shock is
bolted on via a headless screw in bolt, a 5mm pivot ball, two small washers, and a Traxxas plastic shoulder sleeve.
The shocks are secured to the arms via a stock front shock screw.
Version E and Beyond
I will give you the recipe for A, B, C, and D you are on your own from there.
Stuff to Buy and Comparing the Builds.
Optional and really handy
1 - extra set of 4 Duratrax captured ball ends and screw in balls in case you screw some up.
You may like these so much that you may want to use
these also for the steering linkage.
2 - sets new 2.2" wheels. Hey your are doing the upgrade spring for new wheels
Just about any standard 2.2" wheel will work with a hex
hub just don't buy Stampede Rear wheels.
2 - sets new 2.2" Tires. Hey your are doing the upgrade spring for new
tires also - your choice
plus remember the tire
glue if you don't have some already.
1 - set new springs - This is really really optional - I kept the
stock springs in place.
* - Other upgrades you somehow can justify in your head while doing this
mod.
The first thing is
to disassemble either the right or left front suspension, however I would
recommend that you leave one side or the other in place so that you have a
post point of reference so you can put everything back together.
The Project Stampede Ultra-Pede wide-pede conversion
only request the removal of 1/2" of the rear top 
rib of the arm. This is the only arm modification required. Although not absolutely necessary, it will
allow for bind free clearance of the bearing carrier when it swings all the way in if using the arms it
their
most downward position. A Dremel tool with a mini-sanding drum works best for this.
The shock mount holes should be drilled out all the
way through one side of the arm with a bit that matches the size of the hole which I believe is a 3/32" or
slightly larger (in a standard home drill bit set).
Using a 1/8" bit re-drill and widen the hole in the
shock pistons and the caster blocks. Drilling the pistons is easy, however drilling the caster blocks
takes some time because what is really needed is a No. 30 or No. 29 drill bit to make the hole big enough that
it does not bind on the chassis pins when installed. What I did was let the drill bit spin in the caster
block hole for a minute to widen the hole a bit. This is trial and error. Stop once you can hold
the pin in your bar had and spin the caster block, the caster block should not spin freely on the pin or you
will need to buy a new set of caster blocks because it will be too loose. I
screwed up and went up one bit size during this part, because I was inpatient
and had to buy new caster blocks.
After completing these items attach the arms to
front of the Stampede with the shock holes facing to the front and the extra bracing on the arms facing down.
The arms should be installed/positioned
exactly as the rear arms are installed and not flipped or turned over. Use one shock piston on each side
of the chassis as spacers and screw the chassis pin in. On the bottom, attach the caster block using 3
#4 washers on only the front side of the caster block. The arm at this point should fit perfectly and be
as tight and secure as stock.
Camber Links
The easiest solution for camber links is to go with the Jato 58mm turnbuckles or
the X series set of Aluminum turnbuckles. They are a direct fit for both
front and rear camber links however the
Traxxas Shim Set Jato balls
#5529 will need to be put on the ends that are not already installed for
clearance with the big washer side out to prevent accidental pop-offs.
Standard turnbuckles 72mm turnbuckles can also used with standard Traxxas ball
ends with the Traxxas Shim Set Jato balls #5529 installed on the ends.
Dual Camber Links only Option
Making new camber links - I found that by using the 72mm Traxxas Turnbuckles, which you use for rear
adjustable camber links, I did not need to cut or trim the turnbuckles, however I did screw them pretty far
into the ends. Using the 72mm turnbuckles, attach a shortened pivot ball end (use a nail clipper to cut
off/trim back 1/4" from one of the long captured ball ends - shorter ball ends may not require this step) to
one end and screw down to pretty far onto the rod, then do the same on the other end with a standard captured
pivot ball end. Check the length from the caster block to
the camber link attachment point on the shock tower. Adjust the rough length as needed. Fine tuning can be
done after assembly. Repeat you need two.
Screw in the pivot balls into the back (stock
placement) caster block and the back (stock placement) shock tower. Also on the bottom of the steering
servo saver with two #4 washers each. Attach the threaded female pivot ball studs on the other side of
the exposed threads of each pivot ball.
TIP - use a electric drill and a crescent wrench or pliers to screw in
the ball ends
Making new steering tie rods - I found that there is
no such thing as a 94mm Traxxas rod (I couldn't find it) as specified in Jang's Ultimate Stampede project it is 96mm. Using the
96mm Traxxas Turnbuckles attach a ball end to one end, then do the same on the other end with a standard
Traxxas bar end. Repeat you need two. Check the length from the bearing carrier to the steering servo.
Adjust the rough length as needed. Fine tuning can be done after assembly.
Attach the steering rod and camber links
(front of shock tower to rear of caster block). The
steering attachment to the caster block should be set up exactly as the stock configuration.
Next attach the shocks by first screwing
in the grub screw, followed by a #4 washer, 5mm pivot ball (or some such idea), the shock head, that thing
that looks like a plastic shoulder bolt in the Traxxas piston head set. Then option A. a washer and nut. or B.
your previous front camber link fitted as a shock brace, then a washer and nut. The key here is NOT to crank
it down really tight and to assure that the shock does not bind when it pivots. The pivot ball only give you a
little wiggle room, and if it it too tight the bottom of the shock will not make the swing over to the front
of the arm for connection.
Attach the lower shock as normal with the stock front shock arm screw/bolt. Using, the second from the
top hole should give you about stock set up. But with the Ultra-Pede conversion you can use any of the
holes.
I have changed over to Jato 58mm turnbuckles since publishing this and have
attached at the front of shock tower to rear of caster block. Overall I
think this is plenty strong and in my opinion has a more linear path of travel
than other mounting options.
Roughly tune the camber links and
steering turnbuckles and attach your new wheels and continue tuning the chassis.
There should be no binding. The
cool thing is that you can also run dual camber links on each side, or better
yet use the Jato turnbuckle as
mentioned above for the camber link. Additionally you have the flexible
mounting options and can move your camber link to also attach on the
back of the shock tower. If you are running your suspension really low snap on the steering linkage on
top of the servo saver. This build gives you ultra flexibility - Have fun with the Ultra-Pede.
All modes
- Re-attach
the front wheels by assembling onto the axel as normal but add two locking star
washers just before screwing on the nut. The front axel is just a little
bit too long and the star washers assure the nut can properly tightened.
Other Pics. - Click on any for a larger view.
    
Also Dual Front Camber links
This is and example of the flexibility
of the Ultra-Pede build I was mentioning above. Yeah they work great and
are a permanent modification.
 
Traxxas Jato Turnbuckles on Rear for Camber Links
A direct fit is the Traxxas Jato Camber links turnbuckles 58mm
#5539 - also a direct fit for rear camber links on the Stampede. Don't think I am going to bust these.
Make sure you use the
captured ball ends and go with the Traxxas washer machine head screws otherwise
there will be to much play if you use the stock shoulder bolts without the
captured balls.
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