Brushless Motor & Buggy Champ

[Jamlot 1]

I recently picked up a TBLM-02S 10.5T brushless motor. I want to try putting it in my Buggy Champ but the instructions suggest a gear ratio of 9:1. Are there gears out there that give me this ratio and fit under the gear cover? If so, what's a good place to buy these type of gears?

-- Jeff

[GregM 1103]

At first, I'd check if the motor itself fits into the Buggy Champ's gearbox.

10.5 turns might be a bit too much for keeping an SRB under control, though. 16.5 turns should be enough and might be able to cope with the stock gearing.

Keep in mind I don't own an SRB by myself... yet.

[Jamlot 1]

Thanks for the reply Greg. The brushless motor does fit the gearbox, I would just need to drill an extra hole wide enough for the sensor cable and the third wire coming from the motor.

I've been searching for gears to give me the 9:1 ratio but I'm not finding any.

But now I've discovered a new problem. I originally bought the motor for my F104W but the box says its not suited for the F104 chassis. And because of that it doesn't give any ratio suggestions. I'm a bit disappointed by the fact that TamiyaUSA offered this new motor without specs of what it would fit or not fit.

I fear I may be out the $136 I paid TamiyaUSA to get this newly released motor.

The lesson for me here is to do more homework before making purchases like these.

-- Jeff

[BangkokBulldog 151]

I would think the only reason that it states it's not suitable for the F104 is that it's too powerful, I've run 17.5t brushless systems in my F104's for years with no issues. Just select a suitable pinion and turn the power down if it's a handful.

I wouldn't put that combo in an SRB though.

[Jamlot 1]

Thanks for the reply BangkokBulldog. I think you may be right about not trying to put the motor in my SRB. It'll probably give me more headaches than fun. And thanks for the headsup about the F104. As I get back into my RC cars I'm discovering I'm very naïve about brushless motors and gear ratios. Finding gears to give me ratios recommended by Tamiya is very hard. I may just sell these new motors and buy what you suggest.

Thank you again for the reply.

-- Jeff

[RMR110 11]

Hi Jamlot,

I put a 13.5T into my SRB and agree that its actually more fun with a mild boost up rather than too much power. I'd suggest the better path is to get a milder motor plus programmable ESC and the card to talk to, so you can adjust the initial power feed in, braking etc to protect the drivetrain. Many people have suggested the 13T Hobbywing series (there's a few examples on Youtube) as it slides in fine. After I made the upgrade I couldn't stop smiling and couldn't be happier months later, but beware that if your chassis isn't up to scratch, the crashes happen more frequently and at higher speeds (= more $$) so do you test runs on the beach or somewhere forgiving.

[Jamlot 1]

Thank you RMR110 for the suggestions. Very much appreciated.

-- Jeff