<--Upgrades left menu
Although I enjoy my track time and hold my own, I recognize I am not a professional track racer, I'm just a guy that loves to terrorize the neighborhood, parks, friends and family get togethers, etc. with my Stampede. I am the kind of person that would rather wait until something breaks before replacing it, however I will make upgrades to prevent cascading breakages or cascading maintenance (i.e. blowing off a shock cap and having to deal with the clean-up or adding a bumper to prevent breakage.) I am also all for no-cost upgrades.. hey why not, its free.
I tend to focus my upgrades on strength and long-term durability rather than reducing weight and increasing performance to a point that you spend more time maintaining the RC instead of playing/using it. Some of these guys will hop-up there RC to a point where they burn through an idler gear, a motor, or in general break something every other run...fast but not fun for long - I need durability. I prefer something that will always work rather than something I always have to work on. That said, I have a very quick and lively Stampede, Rustler, and a unique three wheeled Stampede with outstanding durability and performance (the Tri-Pede is working but questionable). Each has been re-engineered and renamed to the Ultra-Pede, the Ultra-Rusty, and the Tri-Pede. I am sure more R/Cs will follow.
There are some truly great sites out there for upgrading the Traxxas Stampede - for example Ultimate RC focuses on racing performance and MisBehavin RC focuses on the how to basic maintenance. My focus with building the Ultra-Pede, my other R/Cs and this site is on using low cost modifications to deliver an almost indestructible bashing platform for the average RC nerd - namely me. I have made an attempt (though not always possible) to use Traxxas stock parts or at least widely available parts for all my modifications - I believe Traxxas parts to be some of the best in the RC industry, so why use something else unless you have to. Some of the modifications may require some skill, ingenuity, creativity, and craftsmanship but most should be fairly simple and straight forward.
Plastic Rules
I don't go for the titanium and aluminum stuff unless I really think it's necessary. Frankly it's just way to freaking expensive and in my opinion the cost versus performance is usually inversely proportional - i.e. you pay more for less performance and usually more weight. The titanium and aluminum bits are neat but in my opinion, simply eye candy for the wealthier RC'ers out there. There are exceptions such as a few choice FLM parts such as a shock tower if tower breakage is an issue, or Swami's Wheelie bar which now features the same full x-brace coverage as my original ABS plastic custom transmission and motor cover design. If you want to go the metal route, FLM has some gorgeous chassis kits that are pretty much plug and play, however I could buy nearly three Stampedes or Rustlers for the price of putting one of those together.
Don't Get Discouraged While Upgrading
Remember the Stampede, Rustler, and Bandit are stellar RC trucks right out of the box, so don't knock what Traxxas has put together in these rigs. Although some of you may be able to duplicate my Ultra-Pede in one trip to you hobby shop, most won't. I think a lot of people get disappointed and discouraged when upgrading and after seeing guys/gals out there with super upgraded Stampedes and other RC cars. Unless you are just insane into the hobby, it takes most people around a year or two to get all the standard upgrades done. Whether it is a time, talent, or money limitations, just relax, there are tons of easy no cost or low cost upgrades that you can make.
In my mind there are only a handful of preventative upgrades that your should absolutely make right away. However, everyone wants to do it all right away. I think NOT taking the time to do some real long-term testing (5-10 bashing sessions minimum) and see how each upgrade affects your vehicle is a bad idea for several reasons:
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You learn more by seeing how each component/upgrade added changes the behavior of the vehicle. If you do a bunch of upgrades at once you may misinterpret which upgrade made the
car perform better/worse. This is how the pros upgrade, that way they can trouble shoot why the vehicle is not performing as expected or tune for certain conditions.
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As you get into the hobby you will find that some of your most enjoyable hobby moments will be planning, looking forward to, performing, and testing the upgrades.
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Don't get in a hurry to spend money. This hobby can get really, really expensive fast, so take your time and enjoy each upgrade.
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No matter what parts, pieces, and upgrades you have planned in your head as the ultimate RC car, you may change your mind later after some of the upgrades start to increase the performance, looks, and durability of the RC race and talk with others who actually have some hobby experience. You may find that you really don't need some of the upgrades you thought you had to have (yeah!! - extra money for motors)
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If you make all the upgrades at once, I think you are missing the whole point of "a hobby"...it should be a long-term thing.
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If you don't have time for testing each upgrade, you probably don't have time for this hobby and probably won't enjoy it for very long.
Why the hobby has kept my attention so long
Modifying and running the Traxxas Stampede has been one of the most fun hobbies I have yet to divert my attention to for an extended period of time. It was challenged my skills as a craftsman, driver, mechanic, electrician and artist. That said I almost feel at times like I have done it all, then I think "what about a "Swiffer-Pede" or "Ultra-Pede", or lately homemade carbon fiber camber links and tie rods. Funny how the Stampede just keeps you going and going. I picked up one of the new Novak GTB 4.5R systems and am started tinkering away to find the best gearing (12/87 by the way), batteries, and setup for that project. I can say that the Project Stampede Ultra-Pede now is very Ultra and supper nutty fast. Maybe I should call it the Super-Ultra-Pede. The Paint Tray body has been a hoot and is simply indestructible, and totally freaks people out.
In May 2006 I was officially at the point where I needed to tackle another RC project. The Ultra-Pede was about as durable as a brick and faster than should be legal, so I started thinking of doing an ultimate light weight Rustler (I think I can better even Jang's Rusty - maybe I thought), or a full aluminum extended Stampede or Rustler from FLM (Fast Lane Machining) or doing an Ultra-Rusty or wait for an electric Jato ... who knew. I talked with my dog extensively about adding another RC to the family for him to chase and he was all for it. In the end its depended on is the charity of my wonderful wife and selling a ton of junk on Ebay to use for another RC. My wife who has been extremely supportive of my little RC hobby, the odd credit card charges, trashed kitchen (my preferred shop - with a glass of wine), my incessant project'ing during any free moment finally gave me the nod to go for another RC. The fun started all over again when I picked up a Traxxas Rustler (which later become the Ultra-Rusty) on Ebay among other little juicy Ultra-Pede additions such as a TQ3 three channel transmitter and receiver - insert evil laugh. Ahhh... it never ends, that's why I love this hobby.
Take a look at the Upgrades section to the left for some of my modifications and diversions.
Handy gear ratio sheet
Lower ratio = Faster but lower torque and hotter electronics
Higher ration = Slower but more torque and cooler electronics
| | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 |
| 78 | 6.50 | 6.00 | 5.57 | 5.20 | 4.88 | 4.59 | 4.33 | 4.11 | 3.90 | 3.71 | 3.55 |
| 81 | 6.75 | 6.23 | 5.79 | 5.40 | 5.06 | 4.76 | 4.50 | 4.26 | 4.05 | 3.86 | 3.68 |
| 84 | 7.00 | 6.46 | 6.00 | 5.60 | 5.25 | 4.94 | 4.67 | 4.42 | 4.20 | 4.00 | 3.82 |
| 87 | 7.25 | 6.69 | 6.21 | 5.80 | 5.44 | 5.12 | 4.83 | 4.58 | 4.35 | 4.14 | 3.95 |
| 90 | 7.50 | 6.92 | 6.43 | 6.00 | 5.63 | 5.29 | 5.00 | 4.74 | 4.50 | 4.29 | 4.09 |
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