ecx 1/24 temper micro crawler review/mods
03-29-2016, 07:46 AM
#1
Thread Starter
ecx 1/24 temper micro crawler review/mods
I bought 2 1/24 temper crawlers for me and my son.
On the surface, these are copies of the losi micro crawler.
While many of the parts look similar, none appear to be from the same molds. That said, some losi parts could surely be made to fit with a little work.
Out of the box the temper has a serious flaw. Even though the suspension setup looks much like the losi's, the links are not triangulated! This means the axle can move side-to-side...and it actually has to in order to get any flex. Even then, on the front the servo hits the shocks limiting flex a lot and on the rear the upper arms tend to hit the chassis. Basically, you can only get 1/2 inch of flex before another tire lifts off the ground.
The temper is also just a bit down on power. It isn't fatal, you can have fun with the stock power. But a bit more wheel speed and in some cases a bit more torque is needed. On the upside, the electronics can handle a 2s lipo (no low voltage detection though)
The tires don't have as much tread as I would have liked, but on the other hand they are softer than stock Losi tires. Overall, they do well for stock crawler wheels.
Steering is acceptable. No complaints really. Servo has enough grunt and angle is decent.
I have already bought a 2s lipo for mine and I have been working on a new suspension setup. I wanted to find a way to use stock parts but make the suspension better. The best option though, would be to make a torsion setup like many do for the losi MRC.
This is what I came up with. The weird side-to-side movement of the axles is because the upper links are parallel. The lower links angle in toward the axle, so the uppers "should" angle out toward the axle. By flipping the links upside down and moving the chassis' ball links to the inside of the frame I was able to make the links work proper. Hardly any side-to-to side movement of the axle now. This however makes the original shock upper mount not work as the upper links will hit the shocks.
The upper shock mounts have to be moved inward to the center of the chassis. For now, I just have a metal rod for them to sit on. I will likely remove the original battery mount, make a cross brace onto which 2 ball studs can be mounted on. But for testing, the rod proved that mounting them in the center will clear the upper links and everything can move well without binding.
Original flex. Note that the tires closest isn't even touching the ground!
Note how the axle has to shift to one side in order to flex at all. And that's only with one wheel going up 1/2 and inch!
Flex with just the rear suspension modded. tripled the amount of flex.
You can see the shocks with their temporary rod upper mount. This center mounting of the shocks is like how the venom creeper crawler was setup.
You can see how the upper links were flipped upside down, and the chassis side mount moved to the inside of the chassis.
Potential body for it.
This suspension setup may not work on the front of the truck...I haven't tried yet but it is possible that even center mounting the shocks on the chassis side will not prevent them from hitting against the steering servo. But just doing the rear alone triples the amount of suspension movement and keeps the truck from flipping over onto its side a lot.
Basically, other than the poor link geometry and bad shock layout, the truck is solid. Tires, steering, power...all very acceptable for a $80 RTR micro crawler. You can even get it for $60-$70 under the HSP branding. I figured it was worth the extra $10 to get it from ECX, that way if there were any problems I knew I could return it or get it fixed.
I am still likely to go with a torsion chassis mod on mine. But the rear suspension mod will be enough flex for my son's truck.
On the surface, these are copies of the losi micro crawler.
While many of the parts look similar, none appear to be from the same molds. That said, some losi parts could surely be made to fit with a little work.
Out of the box the temper has a serious flaw. Even though the suspension setup looks much like the losi's, the links are not triangulated! This means the axle can move side-to-side...and it actually has to in order to get any flex. Even then, on the front the servo hits the shocks limiting flex a lot and on the rear the upper arms tend to hit the chassis. Basically, you can only get 1/2 inch of flex before another tire lifts off the ground.
The temper is also just a bit down on power. It isn't fatal, you can have fun with the stock power. But a bit more wheel speed and in some cases a bit more torque is needed. On the upside, the electronics can handle a 2s lipo (no low voltage detection though)
The tires don't have as much tread as I would have liked, but on the other hand they are softer than stock Losi tires. Overall, they do well for stock crawler wheels.
Steering is acceptable. No complaints really. Servo has enough grunt and angle is decent.
I have already bought a 2s lipo for mine and I have been working on a new suspension setup. I wanted to find a way to use stock parts but make the suspension better. The best option though, would be to make a torsion setup like many do for the losi MRC.
This is what I came up with. The weird side-to-side movement of the axles is because the upper links are parallel. The lower links angle in toward the axle, so the uppers "should" angle out toward the axle. By flipping the links upside down and moving the chassis' ball links to the inside of the frame I was able to make the links work proper. Hardly any side-to-to side movement of the axle now. This however makes the original shock upper mount not work as the upper links will hit the shocks.
The upper shock mounts have to be moved inward to the center of the chassis. For now, I just have a metal rod for them to sit on. I will likely remove the original battery mount, make a cross brace onto which 2 ball studs can be mounted on. But for testing, the rod proved that mounting them in the center will clear the upper links and everything can move well without binding.
This suspension setup may not work on the front of the truck...I haven't tried yet but it is possible that even center mounting the shocks on the chassis side will not prevent them from hitting against the steering servo. But just doing the rear alone triples the amount of suspension movement and keeps the truck from flipping over onto its side a lot.
Basically, other than the poor link geometry and bad shock layout, the truck is solid. Tires, steering, power...all very acceptable for a $80 RTR micro crawler. You can even get it for $60-$70 under the HSP branding. I figured it was worth the extra $10 to get it from ECX, that way if there were any problems I knew I could return it or get it fixed.
I am still likely to go with a torsion chassis mod on mine. But the rear suspension mod will be enough flex for my son's truck.
Last edited by nitrosportsandrunner; 03-29-2016 at 07:49 AM.
01-09-2017, 05:16 PM
#2
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Just purchased this for my son and was having the same issues. Good stuff! Did you do anything with the front yet? Also...ball links are very tight...how do you loosen them up? Car isn't heavy enough to work the suspension with the tight links.
02-22-2017, 02:10 AM
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Awesome Micro Crawler after a quick setup change!
I know this is a little old but awesome setup! What an awful design flaw but quite easily rectified thanks to you! I just bought one and did mine very similarly (it cost nothing- I had the little M2.5 standoffs/threaded spacers and screws/nuts to move the shocks inward at the top- see pics. If you don't, you're looking at a couple bucks). Night and day difference and it competes with my Losi Micro Crawler now (running a 2S lipo). I also backed out the ball studs for the upper links a couple millimeters at the axle side to get full clearance (Can go further if needed with a screw into another M2.5 spacer/ coupler/ standoff and the ball stud screwed into that- same way I did the shocks). I've only done the back for comparison (no more sway, lots of travel) but the front will be easy after moving the servo forward a bit with spacers or nuts and longer screws. Tires are RC4WD SS by the way.
01-14-2018, 03:06 PM
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Hello I know this is an old post but, I can't seem to get the links to go on the front like the last pic, there just isn't enough room under the motor for the ball stud? Any Advice, thanks
Last edited by capntravis; 01-14-2018 at 03:09 PM.
