ORIGINAL: ARG0220
Hi guys, I'm new to the forum, so sorry in advance if I'm reposting anything. But im in quite the hurry, I'm writing this at work and kind of shouldn't be. Anyways like the subject states I havea Redcat Caldera 10e MT. I have already eaten one of the 51t spurs up (pebble got lodged in tranny.) and I was wondering what other options were available as far as gearing goes. I've seena kid online with a 60 something tooth steel gear for his Volcano. I know the Volcano is a smaller MT but was wondering if any Redcat parts are innerchangable. Up until now my buddies Traxxas Rustler couldn't hang with my Caldera MT. But just recently he has slapped a Castle 3900 brushless system into it, and has upgraded to most of the hop ups. He's one of those (I always have to be better.) kind of people. So any help anyone can offer would be great. Also you'd be assisting me in sweet vengeance. Lets put his foot in his mouth, and his $700.00 Rustler up his a**. :-D
not sure on any direct spur gear swaps. A custom job is possible tho.
Easier way to help the stock spur gear last longer is to adjust the punch control on the ESC...especially if you are running lipos. That, and the braking force. A hobbywing program card is the best way to do this. they can be bought on ebay for $15 or so. It can be programed just with the radio (listen to beeps, count them ect...a real pain)
on to the rustler. Your caldera is heavier, and runs 4wd. It also has a 380 finned out motor...and not a true 540 can motor like the rustler. so, it doesnt have as much torque. and its stock gearing is pretty close to the max it can run without overheating the esc/motor.
You can install a 1/8 scale motor and esc and cream the rustler....but doing so will put more strain on the driveline than it was meant to handle. There are upgraded diff gears availible, but even so, the caldera has no slipper clutch or center diff (as is the case with most 1/10 and 1/8 brushless trucks) so there is no point in the driveline to absorb the shock/loads placed on it.
But it can be done. a buddy of mine did. He ran a 1/8 scale system...80a-4s lipo ESC with a 2500kv brushless motor. some chassis mod (or rather hacks) were needed. It was indeed fast, but no longer durable.
what type of battery are you running now? If you are running 2s lipo, you can up to a 3s as long as you swap the ESC's fan power lead to get power from the reciever and not the ESC itself. a 3s lipo will provide to much pwoer to the fan threw the esc and thus burn out the fan. wireing it to get power form the reciever will allow it to get the proper voltage no matter what battery you run.
If your friend isnt running a 3s lipo, then you should still be able to best him by running a 3s in your caldera. but if he is...or does in the future, his rustler will keep a higher top end due to less weight/drag/mass.