I'm looking for an alternative wheel/tire package for my Losi MTXL. The stock set look great and are huge, but it is clear they are just a wee bit too big for the truck and the wobble is robbing it of some power. I'd like to try something a little smaller, perhaps a set that's intended for the Redcat Rampage. Anyone tried this or know what I'll need to make RedCat rims fit?
Alternate Wheels/Tires for Losi MTXL
- Thread starter JoeyT
- Start date
This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
There is a video on you tube this guy has put smaller tires and rims on his. Looks good and seems to handle okay his name is Kevin Dechambeau look him up
atom3624
Well-Known Member
- Messages
- 8,284
- Location
- Cold, wet, windy St Helens, U.K.
That just looks plain wrong!
The MTXL wheels are great - I have them on my 'X'.
Agreed, it's your rig, and your call, but for me it just doesn't look right - IMhO!
Al.
Thrasher
Well-Known Member
- Messages
- 684
I threw the wheels from my Baja on the MTXL. Now that looked stupid. I think what he did in the vid works out really well. So far there just arent a lot of wheels to chose from for the MTXL. It is out of scale. Eventually and if it becomes more popular there might start to be an aftermarket, but so far the selection is very very limited. I would say it is in fact limited to the standard monster clawz that comes with it, and the wheels in this video, whatever they are.
OP, if you want to stiffen the wheels up some. Have you tried the ducttape trick people use to prevent ballooning? That does seem to make it a little less 'bouncy'.
- Thread starter
- #5
I'm not familiar with the 'duct tape trick'. Is that just a low-budget balancing technique? I just took the truck out for a test spin after some exhausting engine troubleshooting that I think is finally behind me...but now my problems are all related to steering & wheel-slop. I can jiggle each wheel far more than I should be able to. I fiddled with the camber & toe-in adjustments for a while & tightened up everything I could spot that might be related to the problem, but the issues were only slightly improved. My rear wheels are actually toed-in a bit for some reason, and there's no adjustment for that (that I'm aware of anyway). Also, I have to keep my steering trip all the way in one direction to get it to track mostly straight. I removed the servo horns and re-centered the steering servos, but that didn't do a thing.
Anyway, the truck is much too slow as it is, and this wheel-wobble thing is a real drag. Any other ideas that worked for someone else dealing with similar issues? I still think these wheels/tires were just a terrible choice on Losi's part, but I'm stuck with them for now.
Anyway, the truck is much too slow as it is, and this wheel-wobble thing is a real drag. Any other ideas that worked for someone else dealing with similar issues? I still think these wheels/tires were just a terrible choice on Losi's part, but I'm stuck with them for now.
Thrasher
Well-Known Member
- Messages
- 684
Are you using the radio that came with it? IN that case you can continue forever and its still going to be slobby. The default radio sucks donkey balls. I had the same problem as you. Also to one side it had understeer and the other oversteer. I got hold of a new radio/reciver and poof, problem went away because I now had full control of servo range etc. I got a used Ko Propo ex-10 Euros. Best one I ever tried even though its old. Most modern ones have the same options in them ,so pick whatever.
The duct tape trick is putting a round of duct tape inside the wheel. You sand the inside very softly, just enough to make the tape grip. Put a strip of tape all the way around on the inside. Two or three if you feel frisky, this makes the truck much less bouncy and prevents the wheel from balooning. If you feel the truck is slow you probably still need to set it up. With a Bartalone pipe mine goes apx 60km/h which is plenty for this type of vehicle. Otherwise you need a bigger engine.
anti blaoon/bounce trick
The duct tape trick is putting a round of duct tape inside the wheel. You sand the inside very softly, just enough to make the tape grip. Put a strip of tape all the way around on the inside. Two or three if you feel frisky, this makes the truck much less bouncy and prevents the wheel from balooning. If you feel the truck is slow you probably still need to set it up. With a Bartalone pipe mine goes apx 60km/h which is plenty for this type of vehicle. Otherwise you need a bigger engine.
Last edited:
- Messages
- 1,586
- Location
- The Rock QLD Aus
The rear toe in helps with traction.
You should have a little toe out on the front too.
I have my DR set to about 1/8 inch each side.
- Thread starter
- #8
I agree that I need to balance the tires (any thoughts on the Hot Racing Dual System Wheel Balancer?), but there's definitely more going on here. I recall noticing the wobble during break-in, but it went from putting a smaller wheel/tire combo on my wish list to comically unstable. Well, not really all that comical - 2k into this truck and maybe 45 minutes of total runtime in a year of ownership. I have a Victory R/C pipe & 60km/h would be awesome - I never clocked it, but during the short time I was able to really go full-throttle, I don't think it made it to half that speed.
I've been so focused on just getting the @#(*$& engine to start, and there have been a few hands in the cookie jar...so it's hard to say exactly what preceded it. When I eyeball it while sitting still, it looks like the camber/toe-in is pretty even (aside from that rear toe that I swear has somehow increased).
I shot some video while piloting the thing with one hand - you can see what I mean if you look closely.
I'm really at the end of my rope with this truck...forgive me for all of the complaining...even if I can find a way to fix the wobble, I dunno if I'd even want to take it out for a proper bashing for fear of breaking one of the other weak parts & potentially driving the resale value down even further. Losi should be ashamed of themselves for selling a truck like this with a primary marketing message of durability & 'go-anywhere monster truck toughness'. It's one thing to include a crappy radio to cut costs after deciding to make it an RTR (awful decision I could do another rant about)....I didn't even begrudge them for the underwhelming top-speed, figuring it's a big, heavy truck that doesn't need to be a speed demon as long as it's unstoppable...But a $1300 truck that requires several hundred bucks in mandatory aluminum upgrades right out of the gate? Come on now. I think I busted those crappy spindles in the 1st 5 minutes of my first post-break-in run. It's hard not to think about what an awesome XMaxx I could have now with the money I've put into this, not to mention the hours of wheel-time. </end-rand>
I know many of you have had better experiences with this truck, and I do appreciate the tips. If there's anything else you can think of that I might be missing to stabilize the wheels/tires....
I've been so focused on just getting the @#(*$& engine to start, and there have been a few hands in the cookie jar...so it's hard to say exactly what preceded it. When I eyeball it while sitting still, it looks like the camber/toe-in is pretty even (aside from that rear toe that I swear has somehow increased).
I shot some video while piloting the thing with one hand - you can see what I mean if you look closely.
I'm really at the end of my rope with this truck...forgive me for all of the complaining...even if I can find a way to fix the wobble, I dunno if I'd even want to take it out for a proper bashing for fear of breaking one of the other weak parts & potentially driving the resale value down even further. Losi should be ashamed of themselves for selling a truck like this with a primary marketing message of durability & 'go-anywhere monster truck toughness'. It's one thing to include a crappy radio to cut costs after deciding to make it an RTR (awful decision I could do another rant about)....I didn't even begrudge them for the underwhelming top-speed, figuring it's a big, heavy truck that doesn't need to be a speed demon as long as it's unstoppable...But a $1300 truck that requires several hundred bucks in mandatory aluminum upgrades right out of the gate? Come on now. I think I busted those crappy spindles in the 1st 5 minutes of my first post-break-in run. It's hard not to think about what an awesome XMaxx I could have now with the money I've put into this, not to mention the hours of wheel-time. </end-rand>
I know many of you have had better experiences with this truck, and I do appreciate the tips. If there's anything else you can think of that I might be missing to stabilize the wheels/tires....
Thrasher
Well-Known Member
- Messages
- 684
I keep looking at that video and I don't see an issue. You have a huge wheel a lot of rotating mass and a lot of air generating bounce stuck, to a small rod, it is going to be lively. Having a solid axle monstertruck style in both ends could eliminate it some but the behaviour is to be expected with this kind of setup. This truck is hands down one of the RC's I have seen taken the most fierce beatings stock ever, and come out the other end without scraps. I only have an updgraded pipe and steering thingie (the one that conects the servo horns to the steering) and it was cheap. I might get metal center diff cup so I can run it dry. The only thing I have found absolutely unforgivable is the radio.
(Skip to 3:05)
Botajell drives his like he stole it and he has only upgraded, that steering thing (which have no business being made from plastic to begin with, boooo Losi!) and the center diff cup and he put in another engine, because he had one laying around. He have only spoken praise about the one that comes with it tho. And I agree with thim. Have you tried putting ducttape inside the wheels? It calms it down a lot. Have you considered that you have gotten what we here call a 'monday model'. One that escaped QA with a bunch of stupid issues like bad measurements, small bends etc.? But I will say this. There is a trend among RC companies as of late that the models need more and more upgrades to work as intended and I think its BS. I think the thinking is that most people get the RC and hophup everything anyway so why bother. But for those of us that doesn't want to hopup everything its a pain in the ass. But I have so far not found my experience with this excessive in that regard.
I have no opinion on the hot racing system. I have never used it.
Botajell drives his like he stole it and he has only upgraded, that steering thing (which have no business being made from plastic to begin with, boooo Losi!) and the center diff cup and he put in another engine, because he had one laying around. He have only spoken praise about the one that comes with it tho. And I agree with thim. Have you tried putting ducttape inside the wheels? It calms it down a lot. Have you considered that you have gotten what we here call a 'monday model'. One that escaped QA with a bunch of stupid issues like bad measurements, small bends etc.? But I will say this. There is a trend among RC companies as of late that the models need more and more upgrades to work as intended and I think its BS. I think the thinking is that most people get the RC and hophup everything anyway so why bother. But for those of us that doesn't want to hopup everything its a pain in the ass. But I have so far not found my experience with this excessive in that regard.
I have no opinion on the hot racing system. I have never used it.
atom3624
Well-Known Member
- Messages
- 8,284
- Location
- Cold, wet, windy St Helens, U.K.
Nice flat landing - shocks and floor OK?
Al.
Al.
Thrasher
Well-Known Member
- Messages
- 684
Yeah. You should see some of his other videos. He drive it like he hate it and so far nothing has broken on it. I also drive mine hard and have no issue what so ever with the exception of that steering thingie which can go"#& itself. SPend the 20$ on a metal on is all I have to say. Its particularly retarded since losi made the servo horns out of alloy.
- Thread starter
- #12
Thanks for the replies guys...I think I'm going to have to get some help reshooting the video, because it's really not showing what I intended. Driving with one hand while trying not to crash or get hung up on the neighbor's lawn without being able to turn around (don't get me started on the turning radius & Losi neglecting to include a reverse gear!) was my main goal! If you saw what I'm experiencing, you'd understand - there's definitely something screwy going on that must be repairable because it didn't happen when I first bought the truck. All I can think of is that something in the steering assembly is malfunctioning but it's one of those really minor hiccups that only shows its effect when the truck is running.
I can get past the possibility that I just got a ‘Monday’ model, but the truck’s been torn down & rebuilt carefully since, so any current problems are tough to blame on that lazy Losi technician.
I think Thrasher might have hit it on the head there about possibly having a 'Monday' model. After seeing so many other owners ripping around with careless abandon & being super jealous recalling the parts I broke on my very first run....I wondered if I just got a 'lemon'. Admittedly I did make a mistake when I first got it by believing it was truly 'ready to run', rather than tearing it all down to bear bolts & reassembling with all of the necessary loctite, etc. This is why it started to come apart after that first real run, but those weak spots still would have failed pretty quickly. In my defense, the lack of a step-by-step assembly manual (which seem to be all but extinct) and no place to comfortably wrench on the thing probably contributed to my lackadaisical pre-run inspection. It definitely feels like it was assembled carelessly, especially after noticing stripped receptacles in the steering assembly right out of the box. When I thought it would be cool to get into 1/5 scale & have a gigantic truck, I didn't think about fitting it on my workbench or spending another few hundred on a proper 1/5 work-stand. It’s also one of those vehicles with lots of gaps & nooks that make it needlessly challenging to clean and much too easy to eat up dropped screws or washers. The latter isn’t a big deal on a 1/10 buggy, but turning this monster upside-down to shake it loose becomes a whole issue by itself.
I’d been itching to get back into fuel-powered R/C as the new breed of vehicles powered by actual gasoline instead of nitro started to mature. I’ve stayed away because I hate spending so much time on engine tuning & have flashbacks of my one poor friend who decided to go nitro back in the olden days….watching (and laughing at) him yanking that starter cord & cursing while the rest of us ran battery after battery all day long (well to be fair, in 8-10 minute intervals…this was about 1990 after all). As awesome as electric-powered R/C has become, I feel like a monster of this size needs to be loud & obnoxious to get the full effect. The prospect of a low-maintenance weed-whacker-style engine combined with the sheer wow-factor of the size of this thing caused me to fall in love the 1st time I saw it at the LHS…kind of like when Wayne first saw that Fender Stratocaster in the window of the guitar shop (disregard this reference if you’re under 35).
This is by far the most money I’ve ever dropped on an R/C, and with around 2K into this thing, I just hate to consider selling it at this point, because I know I’d be lucky to recoup 1/3 of what I spent. Also because of the sheer heft of this beast, it’s extra frustrating to get out to a good bash spot with all of my gear & fuel, only to pack up & go home with a sore shoulder & an engine I couldn’t start. Top that off with spilling premix all over the trunk of my car (still smells a little 3 months later), and you see how this attitude came about. In spite of all of the hassles I’ve discovered that go along with a truck of this size, I still think I would have such a blast with this thing if I could get it to run right…so I guess I still have some hope.
I wrote Losi several times after first signs of engine trouble, and let’s just say when I did get a response (about 50% of the time), they were less than helpful. I had expert mechanics go over this thing from every angle, at multiple shops, and still couldn’t come up with a definitive reason why the engine was so temperamental. It must have something to do with the fact that the fuel-priming bulb is totally unnecessary on my truck; if I use it at all, the engine will immediately become flooded. It took me a while to figure that one out, since I thought I was following the instructions explicitly by priming the engine before trying to start it. I was surprised I couldn’t find anyone with this or the DBXL that installed a roto-start system or even one of those fancy FID remote/electric starting systems, but I guess I’m just in the minority in my struggles with this engine that may just be defective. Horizon did instruct me to send it back to them for repair/reconditioning, but couldn’t guarantee their efforts would be covered under warranty. They did assure me that if they found a glaring defect that they would accept responsibility for it, but still not sure it makes sense to spend the effort/money yanking it out, shipping it to them, and potentially covering the cost of repairs to what is essentially a brand new engine. I could install a new carb kit myself, but I’m still not sure about putting any effort or money into an engine that seems so underpowered to begin with. The possibility of buying a more powerful engine and still being sidelined by dumb crap like this bouncing/steering problems is very scary. If I do go that route, anyone have a recommendation for a replacement engine that’ll provide the missing power & won’t break the bank? How much sense does a 2-speed transmission make?
I’ll try to get some help shooting another video when I get home after the holidays. Thanks again.
I can get past the possibility that I just got a ‘Monday’ model, but the truck’s been torn down & rebuilt carefully since, so any current problems are tough to blame on that lazy Losi technician.
I think Thrasher might have hit it on the head there about possibly having a 'Monday' model. After seeing so many other owners ripping around with careless abandon & being super jealous recalling the parts I broke on my very first run....I wondered if I just got a 'lemon'. Admittedly I did make a mistake when I first got it by believing it was truly 'ready to run', rather than tearing it all down to bear bolts & reassembling with all of the necessary loctite, etc. This is why it started to come apart after that first real run, but those weak spots still would have failed pretty quickly. In my defense, the lack of a step-by-step assembly manual (which seem to be all but extinct) and no place to comfortably wrench on the thing probably contributed to my lackadaisical pre-run inspection. It definitely feels like it was assembled carelessly, especially after noticing stripped receptacles in the steering assembly right out of the box. When I thought it would be cool to get into 1/5 scale & have a gigantic truck, I didn't think about fitting it on my workbench or spending another few hundred on a proper 1/5 work-stand. It’s also one of those vehicles with lots of gaps & nooks that make it needlessly challenging to clean and much too easy to eat up dropped screws or washers. The latter isn’t a big deal on a 1/10 buggy, but turning this monster upside-down to shake it loose becomes a whole issue by itself.
I’d been itching to get back into fuel-powered R/C as the new breed of vehicles powered by actual gasoline instead of nitro started to mature. I’ve stayed away because I hate spending so much time on engine tuning & have flashbacks of my one poor friend who decided to go nitro back in the olden days….watching (and laughing at) him yanking that starter cord & cursing while the rest of us ran battery after battery all day long (well to be fair, in 8-10 minute intervals…this was about 1990 after all). As awesome as electric-powered R/C has become, I feel like a monster of this size needs to be loud & obnoxious to get the full effect. The prospect of a low-maintenance weed-whacker-style engine combined with the sheer wow-factor of the size of this thing caused me to fall in love the 1st time I saw it at the LHS…kind of like when Wayne first saw that Fender Stratocaster in the window of the guitar shop (disregard this reference if you’re under 35).
This is by far the most money I’ve ever dropped on an R/C, and with around 2K into this thing, I just hate to consider selling it at this point, because I know I’d be lucky to recoup 1/3 of what I spent. Also because of the sheer heft of this beast, it’s extra frustrating to get out to a good bash spot with all of my gear & fuel, only to pack up & go home with a sore shoulder & an engine I couldn’t start. Top that off with spilling premix all over the trunk of my car (still smells a little 3 months later), and you see how this attitude came about. In spite of all of the hassles I’ve discovered that go along with a truck of this size, I still think I would have such a blast with this thing if I could get it to run right…so I guess I still have some hope.
I wrote Losi several times after first signs of engine trouble, and let’s just say when I did get a response (about 50% of the time), they were less than helpful. I had expert mechanics go over this thing from every angle, at multiple shops, and still couldn’t come up with a definitive reason why the engine was so temperamental. It must have something to do with the fact that the fuel-priming bulb is totally unnecessary on my truck; if I use it at all, the engine will immediately become flooded. It took me a while to figure that one out, since I thought I was following the instructions explicitly by priming the engine before trying to start it. I was surprised I couldn’t find anyone with this or the DBXL that installed a roto-start system or even one of those fancy FID remote/electric starting systems, but I guess I’m just in the minority in my struggles with this engine that may just be defective. Horizon did instruct me to send it back to them for repair/reconditioning, but couldn’t guarantee their efforts would be covered under warranty. They did assure me that if they found a glaring defect that they would accept responsibility for it, but still not sure it makes sense to spend the effort/money yanking it out, shipping it to them, and potentially covering the cost of repairs to what is essentially a brand new engine. I could install a new carb kit myself, but I’m still not sure about putting any effort or money into an engine that seems so underpowered to begin with. The possibility of buying a more powerful engine and still being sidelined by dumb crap like this bouncing/steering problems is very scary. If I do go that route, anyone have a recommendation for a replacement engine that’ll provide the missing power & won’t break the bank? How much sense does a 2-speed transmission make?
I’ll try to get some help shooting another video when I get home after the holidays. Thanks again.
Whoduh
Well-Known Member
- Messages
- 888
- Location
- Fairfax, VA
Get a Zenoah G320 for an engine. More torque. More power.
- Thread starter
- #14
I watched a few videos of the MTXL with this engine & it is so much faster than my truck it is ridiculous. At around $300 it might just be the least expensive best chance to see if I can make a go of this thing. If there were a bunch of other folks talking about troubles similar to the ones I'm having it'd probably be easier to make the decision to sell. If I could just reliably start the damn thing I know I'd be more motivated to troubleshoot & resolve all of the other issues. I think I'm either going to just buy one of those or send the stock engine back to Horizon. If that doesn't get me on the path to finally getting some enjoyment out of this truck, I don't think anything will. Thanks again for all of the input - I'll come back and post the results once I get it done.
- Messages
- 1,586
- Location
- The Rock QLD Aus
+1
I find the 320 has heaps of torque but the 290 revs higher
Either way if you put a Zenoah on it you'll be trouble free.
Just make sure you get one that has a carby with a choke on it.
If you get the 320 it will come with an WT1107 which has a choke.
Some 290s come with a WT 990 which is a PITA to start with no choke.
Whoduh
Well-Known Member
- Messages
- 888
- Location
- Fairfax, VA
You can gear up the 320 if you want..
Thrasher
Well-Known Member
- Messages
- 684
So what did you decide on? Have you seen this monster?
http://www.detroitperformancerc.com...ine-MTXL-package/p/97903458/category=15710807
I very much want one of those.
http://www.detroitperformancerc.com...ine-MTXL-package/p/97903458/category=15710807
I very much want one of those.
Gamefan
Well-Known Member
- Messages
- 684
- Location
- Denver, USA
Wow! Very nice engine! That should be loads of fun!
- Thread starter
- #20
Wow - that thing looks sick! A bit outside of the budget though. I think I'm going to pick up one of those Zenoah G320's ... should be a nice bump in horsepower. At the same time I'm going to see if I can install some type of roto-start system too. I already broke one pull starter & I just hate yanking that thing...I know if I had a reliable engine I shouldn't have to pull it more than a couple of times, but still. I have another car that's 'nitro' and it was such a pain in the ass to get it started with the starter box that I never drove it. I switched to a handheld starter & now it fires right up. I also hate having to remove the body to start it too, so hopefully I can kill a few birds with one big stone here. If I still have trouble after that, I'll have to accept defeat.