RC10Talk - The Net's Largest Vintage R/C Community

So yesterday was it. After cashing out of the hobby back in the early 90's, I got back into it 8-9 years ago, buying parts and kits and building and fixing stuff, exactly what I enjoy about the hobby. But not one of my near-30 cars was/is a 100% runner. Seeing a deal online a few weeks ago, I bought a WLtoys 144001 4WD buggy, complete and ready to go minus transmitter batteries for the grand total of $90. This thing and cars like it have a big following and parts are cheap and easy to find so it was a easy decision. Hell, the thing is practically disposable at that price.

I did some of the recommended things to it before I ran it for the first time, like making sure the diffs had enough grease (they didn't) and the shocks were filled and bled right (they were). I tweaked some of the rods to my liking and put on a set of old crappy rubber touring sedan slicks that I wanted to use up. Perfect for the underground parking garage where I work. I had three charged 1500mAh batteries so I was good to go.

It was fun! I didn't build this thing but I had done enough teardown and tweaking to it that it felt good to see it run, and it ran well. I assumed with the 550 motor and what appears to be pretty high gearing that it would have been faster but the small sedan tires kept it a little slower than I was expecting. It's probably fast enough with the taller off-road tires it came with so I'll have to do that on dirt someday. But at least I have a baseline first of its speed and overall performance before I start tinkering with it. I already have a Dynamite 3000kv brushless motor and ESC combo waiting in the wings. That said, it was fun to drive something again and not worry about it since my time and money investment in it was minimal.

Cool. I picked up one of those in an eBay lot with a bunch of motors, batteries and ESCs, with the goal of upgrading and rebuilding it for my 11-year-old daughter. It's nice to see all the quality items in such a small, inexpensive car, and they're a pleasure to work on. I have a build thread here, we probably covered much of the same ground with upgrades, I'm sure. I've almost finished painting the body. Good luck with your 144001!

https://www.rc10talk.com/viewtopic.php?f=114&t=45819

The biggest obstacle to going brushless on this chassis is you'll need to yard out the original 5-wire servo for an upgrade 3-wire servo, and one that swaps in with the same dimensions is kind of an odd-ball item. I think I mention the part number in my thread, if you go brushless with yours.

Yes, I already have a new 3-wire servo waiting in the wings, a JX Servo PDI-1171MG. Which is not the 1181MG that is recommended everywhere. From what I can tell the only difference is the 1171 uses a standard 25t spline output and not whatever the fine tooth spline the 1181 and original WLtoys servo uses.

Nice...I'd be interested to follow your brushless upgrade experiences if you make a topic for your car.

Yes, with the distinct lack of room on the 144001, I figured trying out a Dynamite Tazer Twin would be a good choice from a packaging standpoint. And it's red, too. lol

25 years?! Wow thats crazy. Life does get in the way. Due to covid and not meeting with friends much, Ive probably only ran a car 3 times in the past year. And I thought that was bad hahaha. Glad you're out and running again.