WLToys 12428 Mod Log. An ongoing story.

[Granddad Stinky]

Here’s one of my Xmas presents. I was pleasantly surprised when it arrived, as it’s the better, later version with the aluminium skid plate and one-piece cage.

It’ll be an ongoing project, so I hope this is the correct place for it.

[Granddad Stinky]

My first job is to change the battery area, for longer run times.

 

The curved support arms limit what will fit in. I’m planning to double up some of my boat batteries, in parallel.

 

In the parts bin, I found a few ball connectors, some Kyosho steering rods and some Tamiya brass ball screws.

 

A bit of fiddling and I’ve doubled my battery capacity.

 

Next job - Suspension upgrade.

[nowinaminute]

Heads up mate, they just released upgrade metal gears. The user base has been begging for this for about a year! Considered by most to be the only major weak spot of this thing.

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Wltoys-12428-12423-RC-Car-Upgrade-metal-differential-or-differential-gear-12428-0091-12428-0133/32846124508.html?spm=2114.search0104.3.52.T6SlM0&ws_ab_test=searchweb0_0,searchweb201602_2_10152_10065_10151_10344_10068_10130_10324_10342_10547_10325_10343_51102_10546_10340_10341_10548_10545_5130013_5000013_10084_10083_10307_5080013_5920011_10312_10059_10313_10314_10534_5790011_100031_10604_10103_10605_5060013_10594_10142_10107,searchweb201603_25,ppcSwitch_5&algo_expid=e3480b04-ac70-422d-951f-6af2e6356b94-7&algo_pvid=e3480b04-ac70-422d-951f-6af2e6356b94&transAbTest=ae803_5&rmStoreLevelAB=5

Very reasonably priced too.

[Granddad Stinky]

Thanks for the info but .......

On it’s fourth trip out, it’s fried it’s RC/ESC unit. I’ll be battling for a refund, so no more updates.

Thank God for PayPal!

[Country Mike]

Look forward to see what you do with it. 

[Granddad Stinky]

22 hours ago, Granddad Stinky said:

Thanks for the info but .......

On it’s fourth trip out, it’s fried it’s RC/ESC unit. I’ll be battling for a refund, so no more updates.

Thank God for PayPal!

I’m sending it back,

[Country Mike]

I moaned about my feiyue when it burned everything but now I see it as a blessing. They're defo the weakest link but I'm well pleased with all the hybrid kit I fitted in. Esp that 18V cordless drill motor. 

[nowinaminute]

Might be worth trying to negotiate a half refund or something so you can buy another ESC/servo. The electronics are often hit or miss with these Chinese models.

 

[Granddad Stinky]

I’ve sent a message through PayPal. I’ll see what they offer. 👍

[Granddad Stinky]

Well waddayaknow, BangGood are sending me a replacement RX unit. 

I’ve been advised to take the new one apart and check for any soldering shrapnel left in the box. I’ll coat it in water repellent and drill a drain hole in the box as well. 😁

[Granddad Stinky]

The 12428 is up and running again! 😁😁

Now it’s sporting a stainless screw conversion and aluminium front arms.

I only bought the arms to test the quality. They’re very chunky and nicely anodised. It would have to be a huge shunt to break these and only a fiver.

[Country Mike]

Great news! 

[Granddad Stinky]

On 20/01/2018 at 1:56 AM, Country Mike said:

Great news! 

Ahoy @Country Mike

After fitting the red suspension arms, it had toe out of monsterous proportions. It now has steering turnbuckles and I’m trying to match the green with some paint to keep to the theme.

Another little custom part for my car. The aluminium gearbox brace was doing it’s job but not much in the way of protection at the front. I had a piece of hard 6061 aluminium plate leftover from the shock towers on my Monster Truggy.

It was just big enough......

[Country Mike]

Sa weeeeeeeet!!! 

[Granddad Stinky]

 

My latest upgrade.

I have a stock of TrackStar turnbuckles and I notice that the rear axle drive stub is at a slight downwards angle.

I’ve found the correct paint colour, so I’m replacing all of the green plastic with turnbuckles. 

Just doing the rear tie rods has made a huge difference to the slop and straight line stability. I’ve also angled the axle stub slightly upwards, to reduce the chance of a breakage. 😁

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Granddad Stinky]

The lighting grills blocked most of the light from the LEDs, so I went for a restyle. Now they work!

[Country Mike]

Love it. I keep toying with the idea of altering the pinion angle of the rear drive shaft. If you were to lengthen the top two bars of the 4 link suspension, you could essentially rotate the rear axle counter clockwise an 8th of a turn. The stress would greatly be reduced on the rear axle and esp the last UJ on the rear prop shaft. Good for me that 😂.

Looking fab tho. My feiyue whatever now is bullet proof easily on par with anything out there. If I bought another, I'd do exactly the same bar a proper tamiya motor mount and silver can, and the electrics and shock upgrades and set about hacking the chassis. It's a fun little thing! 

Keep up the good work! 

[Granddad Stinky]

Had a quick trim at the back, to reduce snagging. The spare wheel went as well to lower the C of G. I’m thinking about a styrene tool chest thingy in its place.

[Granddad Stinky]

Addressing the pogo stick problem now. Enter.... a handful of bits from the “cuminandy” box. The green ends of the original shocks are now turnbuckle ends.

Fronts are sorted and nice and smooooth. Just waiting for the metal gear kit and a couple more red bits to arrive and the front with be finished.

[Granddad Stinky]

The aluminium upgrade swivels were a real sloppy fit on the plastic stubs.
1. Cut stubs off.
2. Drill and tap M3.
3. Machine bushes.
4. Assemble and wait for metal gear upgrade.

[Country Mike]

The engineering tolerances are close to the nearest potato sometimes with these parts. I watched a guy fit an all alloy front and he had to re engineer the whole lot. 

[Granddad Stinky]

3 hours ago, Country Mike said:

The engineering tolerances are close to the nearest potato sometimes with these parts. I watched a guy fit an all alloy front and he had to re engineer the whole lot. 

I know the feeling. The pivot play in the hub carrier to hub joints is worse than the plastic originals. I’m having to bush everything to stop the wheels looking like a clown’s car in a circus!

[nowinaminute]

Blimey I had no idea you'd been doing all this work.

I have trouble even seeing this "other makes" forum. I swear it doesn't show up in the forum list sometimes.

[Granddad Stinky]

@nowinaminute

It is cold and lonely down this end of the forum. 😂

I hope you’re following my three build threads as well. Monster Truggy Upgrades, the Basher Bug and the Lancia.

Your parts are in the post. 👍

[Country Mike]

On 23/02/2018 at 12:13 PM, Granddad Stinky said:

I know the feeling. The pivot play in the hub carrier to hub joints is worse than the plastic originals. I’m having to bush everything to stop the wheels looking like a clown’s car in a circus!

Makes you wonder what approx tolerances the machines they use to build these parts are set to!