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Niadh

Upgrades to 2017 Bigwig

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Good afternoon.

I got a rere Bigwig at the end of 2017 and a rere Terra Scorcher( which i had as a kid on first release and had until i could no longer get new chassis). I race them around with my daughters and am looking at upgrades for both.

For the Bigwig i was given a surpass 5 13.5t brushless motor but need advice on suitable esc as there are just so many out there. I'll be putting the Bigwig motor in the Terra Scorcher

I am also looking for pointers on improving the suspension on both Terra Scorcher and Bigwig. 

Can anyone help?

Many thanks in advance.

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1 hour ago, Niadh said:

Good afternoon.

I got a rere Bigwig at the end of 2017 and a rere Terra Scorcher( which i had as a kid on first release and had until i could no longer get new chassis). I race them around with my daughters and am looking at upgrades for both.

For the Bigwig i was given a surpass 5 13.5t brushless motor but need advice on suitable esc as there are just so many out there. I'll be putting the Bigwig motor in the Terra Scorcher

I am also looking for pointers on improving the suspension on both Terra Scorcher and Bigwig. 

Can anyone help?

Many thanks in advance.&

What ESC do you have? The kit TBLE-02S should run the 13.5T in the Bigwig. Get the 17T pinion too, the brushless motir needs this. Set timing about 40deg on the endbell, the combination of low gearing and lowish timing means the TBLE-02S shouldn't need a fan.

If you have a brushed only ESC then a cheap option is the Trackstar 80a Turbo. Hobbywing 10BL120 is popular here too, or the SkyRC TS120 is decent for the money.

No idea on suspension, I just run my Tamiya buggies at kit settings and set expectations to match, seem fine to me on grass

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Ok thanks for that. It is the TBLE-02S that i have in it at the moment. I have seen posts elsewhere suggesting that this esc couldn't cope with the power requirements and that you shouldn't use bullet connectors on the cables you solder on to the motor. I did get pointed in the direction of the hobbywing xerun10 but was wondering if that was overkill. I'll take a look at the esc you listed though as these may be better long term options especially if i also decide to go down the lipo route.

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13 minutes ago, Niadh said:

Ok thanks for that. It is the TBLE-02S that i have in it at the moment. I have seen posts elsewhere suggesting that this esc couldn't cope with the power requirements and that you shouldn't use bullet connectors on the cables you solder on to the motor. I did get pointed in the direction of the hobbywing xerun10 but was wondering if that was overkill. I'll take a look at the esc you listed though as these may be better long term options especially if i also decide to go down the lipo route.

I've run the TBLE-02S with a Trackstar 13.5T with 17T pinion in a Boomerang without issue. Used bullet connectors too.  I directly solder my race cars, bullets direct to battery etc but wouldn't get too caught up in 'the best' since you're running an old design buggy anyway. If the ESC thermals then look at a fan or swapping it out.

I don't know that Hobbywing model,  as long as it runs sensored motors it'll probably be fine

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As far as the suspension goes i'll maybe just put in the thickest spacers. I always felt that it sinks down more tgan necessary on when fully loaded.

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I’d maybe look at/get the A5 reinforcements for the TS to help make it as reliable as possible. Both those cars are good runners with spares now available too.

Can check there isn’t slop in the steering adding shims if needed and check the servo saver isn’t weak/sloppy. They will feel a bit more nimble with faster servos than the old ones from the 90s.

similar comments on the -02S esc. It works well for that setup if you don’t overload it like running on grass.

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On 7/27/2021 at 9:58 PM, Niadh said:

Good afternoon.

I got a rere Bigwig at the end of 2017 and a rere Terra Scorcher( which i had as a kid on first release and had until i could no longer get new chassis). I race them around with my daughters and am looking at upgrades for both.

For the Bigwig i was given a surpass 5 13.5t brushless motor but need advice on suitable esc as there are just so many out there. I'll be putting the Bigwig motor in the Terra Scorcher

I am also looking for pointers on improving the suspension on both Terra Scorcher and Bigwig. 

Can anyone help?

Many thanks in advance.

By Surpass 5 I'm assuming you mean the surpass V5R, which is a sensored brushless motor. In the interest of cost effectiveness, a hobbywing quickrun 10BL60 (60amp) sensored esc should do the job just fine, while the 10BL120 would also work if you have the extra room in your car (it's a bigger esc), and the extra funds in your pocket.

Having tried both of those, I'd vouch for them. I also agree that it's not a MUST to solder the esc wires to the motor directly, as long as you use decent bullet plugs.

Don't forget to ensure that your cars are fully ballraced, and that you've accounted for the weak A5 part in the front suspension of the TS. There are several metal braces you can find across the web to reinforce that area.

Steel pinion is a plus as a well; 13.5t is enough to turn the stock aluminum pinion to dust after a few runs.

As for the suspension, both the cars you mentioned are from an era where big jumps weren't a thing, so the stock setup is naturally not designed for rough landings from high places. That being said, you could just use "medium" shock fluid instead of the supplied "soft" and that will stiffen them up a bit. Don't use the "hard", or you will eventually blow your shocks.

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@Niadh I messed around with the suspension on my BigWig re:re, changing to different dampers to make it 'look' better but after a couple of months I just put all the kit parts back on and set it up as per manual. As pointed out above, adding the largest spring stiffeners does help. It's a re:re, it has a certain character and ride height, it's of its time, and I've had a lot more fun since I set it up as Tamiya intended. I love it!

One change I did make was fitting a TT02 aluminium prop shaft and (I think) Hotshot cup joints. That old coathanger drive shaft doesn't half wobble about even with the kit GT Tuned motor, so not sure how well it will cope with high RPM brushless 

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Thanks for all the suggestions and pointers folks. I had already headed down some of these routes. 17t Steel pinion medium suspension oil.

I remember the a5 weakness from the original and will be getting the steel replacement part. I am hoping to get the structural model to be able 3d print replacements. I also broke a fair few TS chassis at front mounting points and will be reinforcing it somehow.

If i remember rightly it was possible to get upgrades for the suspension on the ts to carbon fibre parts.

As far as the prop shaft goes i had been thinking of the blue upgrade but wasn't sure it would fit. 

For the esc i'll check that hobbywing quickrun 10BL60. The surpass rocket v5r apparently maxs at 49a so there should be headroom. 

The motor is going into the Bigwig which is already ballraced so no probs there. I am wondering how the plastic parts in the gear boxes particularly the rear will cope.

For the suspension i'll put medium grade oil in with the 2 hole and maybe increase the sizes of the holes (dremels are such useful devices). The largest spacers are in place. 

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2 hours ago, Niadh said:

As far as the prop shaft goes i had been thinking of the blue upgrade but wasn't sure it would fit. 

I put a blue aluminum TT02 propshaft and Hotshot propshaft cups on my Firedragon. I'm assuming you can do the same for the TS. Some very minor grinding is required to clear one of the chassis braces due to the thicker propshaft, but it's VERY small and easy to do.

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4 hours ago, DeadMeat666 said:

I put a blue aluminum TT02 propshaft and Hotshot propshaft cups on my Firedragon. I'm assuming you can do the same for the TS. Some very minor grinding is required to clear one of the chassis braces due to the thicker propshaft, but it's VERY small and easy to do.

Are there instructions on this mod? I have not dug into the manuals to check on this yet admittedly 

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It’s a easy mod with a little trimming to the plastic as stated. The centre prop looks to flex a lot with a car like this or manta ray I think is longer when wheels in the air/ no load. In use the centre prop only has a little flex- and likely no real problem… but we all like mods right!!!

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It'll be a couple if mm at most. Tge difference in diameter is not huge and with the lack of oscillation in the upgraded shaft probably a good thing.

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