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--CATEGORY-- General Information General Electric General Nitro HPI Savage Losi LST Sportwerks Mayhem Traxxas E. Rustler Traxxas E. Stampede Traxxas N. Rustler Traxxas N. Stampede Traxxas E-Maxx Traxxas T-Maxx Traxxas Revo --ARTICLE-- Ball Joints Brake Upgrades Bumper Adjustment Cut Wheels/Tires Exploded Views Forward Conversion Frequency Access Installing a Failsafe Metal-Gear Servos MIP CVD's Motor Head Swap Motor Swap Pullstart Conversion Receiver Pack Rerouting Fuel Line RPM Arms Servo Savers/Horns Shocks Shock Mounts Slipper Clutch Slipper Pegs Spare Screws Spur Gap Steel Spur Steering Bellcrank Throttle Bellcrank Throttle Return Spring Upgrades Work Stand |
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UpgradesIncreasing PerformanceThe T-Maxx has a huge selection of aftermarket parts available for you to spend your cash on. Some people throw every aftermarket item in the book at it which is fine, if you have a budget that allows it. However not everyone can afford to do that, and a lot of what is on the market doesn't have much of a benefit other than just looking nice. So what I've done is split some of the most beneficial upgrades into three categories. These categories are durability, performance, and a miscellaneous category. I've also listed several choices for several items, so you're sure to find one that fits your needs. Even though I'm providing links to online hobby stores for illustration purposes, please note that this is not the only location to purchase these parts. Often your local hobby store would often make a much better route for you to buy any upgrades from. There are two items you'll need to consider when reviewing this list. One, the items on this list are not given in any particular order that you should upgrade by. Other upgrades you have made, may make one item a better choice before another. So the order in which you should upgrade could possibly be different from someone else. So you'll have to determine what the best approach for your T-Maxx will be. The second thing is, that this list was written with the 2.5 T-Maxx in mind. However, some of these upgrades will work fine with the .15 T-Maxx. The 2.5, is the current model of the T-Maxx that Traxxas is producing, and I felt that I needed to narrow the topic of upgrades down somewhat as it's such a large area to begin with. I also figured that anyone running the older .15 T-Maxx already had a good handle on upgrades to begin with.
Clutch Tuning Tuning your clutch to engage at a higher RPM can provide a noticable difference in low-end performance. This can be accomplished by switching the clutch shoes so that the leading edge engages first. You can also trim the clutch shoes, which makes the clutch shoes engage at a higher RPM. For more information on this, see my section on Clutch Tuning.
Forward Only Conversion If you race, or want to squeeze the most out of the stock motor, you might want to consider removing reverse from your T-Maxx. This conversion has several advantages. The first is your T-Maxx will weight less. A lot of that weight lost is rotating mass inside the transmission which will really help add some punch to your acceleration. You will also notice the loss of "jerky" starts, since that is a result of the internal reverse gears inside the transmission. Obviously the downside to this modification is the loss of reverse, which may or may not be important to you. For more information see my section on the Forward-Only Conversion.
Metal Gear Servo One of the weaknesses of the stock T-Maxx is the steering servo. It lacks torque and prone to breaking if it suffers much abuse. A good metal gear servo will take much more abuse, and typically offers much more torque than the stock servo. More torque means the servo can turn the tires, and keep them turned while cornering. More torque is a necessity when running larger than stock tires, and still can be very helpful on stock-sized tires. For more information on this, read my section on Metal Gear Servos.
In addition to improving the performance of the steering servo, you can also increase your braking performance by using a servo with more torque in the throttle/brake position. The cheapest way to do this would be to take the stock Traxxas 2055 servo that is used for the steering, and move it to where it controls the throttle and braking functions when you upgrade your steering servo with one of the choices above. If you prefer you can also replace the stock throttle/brake servo with a higher torque servo from the above list instead of using the Traxxas 2055. Either way you will have a servo that can provide more torque and clamping power to the brake disk, which will improve your ability to stop.
Motor Without a doubt the best performance improvement you can make for your T-Maxx is to replace the motor. There are basically two routes you can take when upgrading the motor. One is a .18 or smaller motor (small block), while the other would be .21 or larger (big block). A .18 or smaller motor will fit on the stock chassis, and is a direct swap, although you may want to consider a better exhaust pipe when using a higher output motor. Recently a new breed of motors has been introduced called the "medium-block". These are .21 motors, which would normally require modifications to the chassis for them to fit properly. However the new medium-block design has a slightly smaller footprint, and therefore will bolt onto the stock chassis using a special motor mount.
While the power of a big block motor can be very impressive, switching to such a motor requires that you change the chassis to accommodate the larger motor. This can get expensive quickly. In addition many of the higher output big block motors will make it necessary to start strengthening many internal transmission, differential, and drivetrain components. The list below details some of the most popular conversion kits and big block motors available for the T-Maxx. Keep in mind that some of these conversion kits may require additional components to be purchased as well.
Radio/Receiver A better radio is a good investment. While many of the features on some high end radios may go unused, others such as adjustable rate control, end point adjustments, and subtrim, will be a big help to the experienced driver. Switching to a FM radio will give you a much cleaner signal to your truck which will result in less glitching as well. For more information on radios, read my section on Radios and Receivers.
Shocks With the weight of the T-Maxx, the shocks should be addressed in some manner for optimum durability. You have several routes you can take, the cheapest being strengthening the stock plastic shocks. As long as you haven't stripped the threads off of your plastic shock bodies, four pair of aluminum shock caps will make your shocks as durable as many of the aluminum shocks offered, in my opinion. Plus does so for a fraction of the cost. For more information on that, read my section on Strengthening the Shocks. While you can address the durability aspect of your shocks by strengthening them, if you're looking for performance you should consider swapping them for aluminum shocks. This is a more expensive route to take, but aluminum shocks are much smoother and consistent in their performance than plastic shocks. Prices and styles for aftermarket shocks vary considerably, so before you spend the money make sure you're going to be happy with the ones you choose. I run a set of Integy Silver MSR4 Piggyback shocks on my T-Maxx and feel they do an excellent job for me. For more information on aftermarket shocks, see my section on Aluminum Shocks.
Temperature Gauge Using a temperature gauge allows you to consistently tune your motor to an optimum performance level. Once you establish baselines for optimum performance, you can adjust your needles to put yourself back to a similar performance level even if the conditions change. I would avoid on-board, wire-loop type gauges. Their readings are not very accurate and can actually hinder you from staying in the correct temperature range. Below are some of the frequently used handheld temperature gauges.For more information, see my section on Temp. Gauges.
Tires Tires will make a big performance difference. As the old saying goes; if you're spinning, you aren't winning. The type of tire you need will be determined by the surface you want to run on. If you plan on racing, pay close attention to what the faster guys at the track run. After all tires are a large part of the reason they run so good. I've listed some commonly used tire options below.
You can also go with tires that are much wider and taller than stock, if you are looking at obtaining the ultimate in traction. However this route will come with a couple of issues you need to be aware of. One you cannot use stock sized rims to mount the tires on. The manufacturers will have a special rim that is required for their larger tires. Also these larger tires are heavier than the stock sized tires and will result in a decrease in top speed due to this. You may also notice that the heavier tires prevent the truck from pulling a wheelie, which depending upon what you're after, may or may not be something you want.
Tuned Pipes Currently there isn't much in this category that will improve on the performance of the stock 2.5 pipe. Due to improvements made to the 2.5, aftermarket pipes meant to be used on the older .15 will actually reduce the power you are getting from the Traxxas 2.5. Over time this should change, as manufacturers get a handle on how to optimize certain areas of the motor.
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