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Dazzerboy

Baja champ

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Hi there, just getting back into rc with my boys now. 4 and 7 years old, I've got a Baja champ with standard motor, took it out tonight and the battery only lasted 10 mins, is this about right, I used a 3300 battery , cheers Darren ,

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That does sound a bit low, but it depends on a few factors.

Are you running bushings or bearings? Are you running an ESC or old-school MSC? What chemistry is the battery? When was it charged? How old is the battery?

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Don't worry - no such thing as a dumb question.

The kit is supplied with a bunch of solid white plastic (and two metal) bushings that the gear shafts, axles, etc ride in. Most people replace these with ball bearings (like the ones you'd find in skateboard wheels but smaller) to reduce friction, thereby increasing speed and runtimes, and keeping the motor cooler.

If the battery is brand new, it needs a few cycles to reach full capacity. You'll no doubt find that it will last longer next time.

It is also worth bearing in mind that NiMH batteries self-discharge quite quickly, so you'll get better runtimes if you leave as little time as possible between charging the pack and running the car. Back when NiMH was used for serious racing, people tried to leave mere seconds between finishing the charge and starting the race, so as not to lose capacity.

The motor would normally get warm after running, but it shouldn't get so hot that you can't keep a finger on it for about 5 seconds.

Oh, and another factor I didn't mention - terrain type. What were you running the car on? Hard surfaces such as asphalt, packed clay, etc give less rolling resistance, and better runtimes, as opposed to something like grass for example, which would use up the battery quicker.

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Thanks for that, will look into the bearings, where is the best place to get them from, It was on grass come gravel track, . I might try another car to see if that makes a difference. What is the best charger to use as well, and how long to charge,

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RC Bearings (rcbearings.co.uk) is one of the best places to get bearings from if you are UK-based. They offer the choice of bearings with rubber seals or metal shields. I would recommend rubber seals for an off-roader.

As for chargers, any NiMH-capable charger with a peak detect feature would do the trick, as you wouldn't have to worry about charge time - the charger would shut off automatically when it is done. If you think you might want to try LiPo batteries in the future, you might want to get one that can handle both battery types. (Most LiPo chargers also have a NiMH mode.)

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I bought Baja Champ a few years ago and I was really surprised how slow it was. XV pilot is bang on - replace the bushings with bearings and it will make a huge difference...

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What charger are you using?

A common issue is that the battery (especially over 3000mah) isn't actually fully charging and the charger is reaching its safety timer rather than hitting peak charge cutoff. A simple plug in charger is unlikely to have the oomf.

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If you're still running the standard pin tyres I found the super gripper tyres gave amazing levels of grip (Just like it says on the tin 😏) on my TL01B which is the same chassis as yours, but if ran on grass they just weren't able to spin off any excess energy. The motor would heat up very quickly and run times would drop dramatically.

I changed to some less grippy Kong style tyres and it improved the overheating and run time issues immediately. They were even a larger diameter (90mm) than the super grippers but still ran cooler! Ive now got some 96mm Kongs on there but have yet to try them out properly.

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What charger are you using?

A common issue is that the battery (especially over 3000mah) isn't actually fully charging and the charger is reaching its safety timer rather than hitting peak charge cutoff. A simple plug in charger is unlikely to have the oomf.

Think its a pro peak 2500. But will check tomorrow

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According to the instructions I just downloaded, the ProPeak 2500 has a 1-hour cutoff timer for fast charging. That ought to be enough time to charge your 3300 - if my research is correct, a full charge at 5 amps should take about 40 minutes.

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If you're still running the standard pin tyres I found the super gripper tyres gave amazing levels of grip (Just like it says on the tin ) on my TL01B which is the same chassis as yours, but if ran on grass they just weren't able to spin off any excess energy. The motor would heat up very quickly and run times would drop dramatically.

I changed to some less grippy Kong style tyres and it improved the overheating and run time issues immediately. They were even a larger diameter (90mm) than the super grippers but still ran cooler! Ive now got some 96mm Kongs on there but have yet to try them out properly.

Have you got any pics of your tl01b with the kongs on mr crispy? I've got a tl01b baja champ and think it's a great basher. I want to turn it into a short course truck and found some wheels but they were 96mm. If they work wifh the standard pinion and don't overheat the motor I'll get some.

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I'll take some tomorrow Terz1 with the 96mm Kong tyres. I had already ditched the Baja King body and replaced it with a Kamtec lexan Sand Scorcher shell done years ago. Here's how it looked with the original super grippers.

968e8293.jpg

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I'll take some tomorrow Terz1 with the 96mm Kong tyres. I had already ditched the Baja King body and replaced it with a Kamtec lexan Sand Scorcher shell done years ago. Here's how it looked with the original super grippers.

That would be great, thanks. Sand scorcher shell looks cool. This will be the second transformation of my baja champ. Wish tamiya did a short course truck. The nissan titan is the best I could find. With some 96mm sct wheels it should look pretty good.

Sorry to ask about this on your thread dazzerboy. So much info is on this site I had to ask. Hope you sort the over heating issues.

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Don't worry - no such thing as a dumb question.

The kit is supplied with a bunch of solid white plastic (and two metal) bushings that the gear shafts, axles, etc ride in. Most people replace these with ball bearings (like the ones you'd find in skateboard wheels but smaller) to reduce friction, thereby increasing speed and runtimes,

Will I have to strip the rear axle to see if it has been done already, and what sort of job is it,

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To replace all the bushings with bearings, you would have to do quite a lot of disassembly as some of them are in the gearboxes themselves, and on the TL-01B you access these by taking the chassis apart down the middle.

However to check if they have been replaced already, I'd say all you need to to is take a wheel off, undo a lower hinge pin from the rear suspension so you can slide a diff outdrive out, and perhaps remove one of the propshaft gear covers. This would allow you to check if the hubs, diffs and propshaft have been ballraced. If they have been, it is highly likely that the rest of the car has been too. This shouldn't take more than a few minutes.

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Here's the pics with 96mm Kongs fitted. Just the cheap preglued Ansmann type. The hex hubs are the wider 10mm width to help the fronts clear the wheel arches.

E2C34F25-99D0-421A-AC5F-80E91EFD453B_zps

C89C0F2A-31FE-4810-B759-DA36D68F38D1_zps

Now it hasn't got any electrics or battery fitted ATM but the wheels along with the 70mm shocks give it a very off road friendly ground clearance of 45mm at the front bumper and 65mm at the rear! I fitted rubber tubing on the shock shafts to stop the wheels catching the body.

73BAA56A-FC3B-44E6-9DA8-F479263F56BC_zps

I've fitted rubber sealed bearings through out as it gets run in dirty conditions and none have failed so far. Got them from RCBearings who are UK based, very reasonable and sell good quality stuff. If you order their Wild Dagger set you'll get the same bearings that are used in the TL01B at a bit less 😏

http://www.ebay.co.uk/ulk/itm/251712031096

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They look amazing mr crispy. Some will be ordered! :)

+1 on the rc bearings. Get the rubber sealed ones. There are quite a few of these plastic bushings in there (22 plastic and 2 brass, I think). I stripped mine totally down and gave it a good clean and regreased everything while I was at it.

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Just took my front wheel of and removed the drive shaft carrier from the hub and there is a white plastic bush, so I guess it hasn't been done,

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Just took my front wheel of and removed the drive shaft carrier from the hub and there is a white plastic bush, so I guess it hasn't been done,

Don't be afraid to dig in the best way to learn about your cars is to strip them down and make sure all is sound. The bearings are s good investment but if your happy with it as is just play... I started with a WW M38 and a tl01 chassis. The learning process is all about digging in. Have fun..
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Definitely change them. When the kit is built with bushings (the white plastic things) they tend to be smeared in grease to prevent wear, but this also adds to the friction and slows it down. Replaceme them all with bearings and you should find a improvement in performance and runtime...

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And do it sooner rather than later too. A few runs won't hurt, but don't follow my cousin's example. He ran his Hornet for several years before upgrading from bushings to bearings, and when he eventually did so, the axles and shafts were so worn from rubbing against the bushings that the bearings wouldn't fit properly and we had to use seating compound on them.

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