FTX Mauler Rock Crawler Owners Thread

[OllieNZ]

Hi All,

Newb from Oxfordshire here. Got one of these wee beasties for chrimbo, not had much play time yet but have already made a few tweaks. It coincidentally happened to come with a TGY1501 servo and a couple of 4000mah 2s lipos . I've also removed the body hinge and pushed the bumper in further to improve the approach angle.

 

You can just see in this shot the original holes in the bumper mounting bar have pretty much been pushed through the bumper mount this has moved the bumper back about 6mm

 

The body had to be trimmed a touch to clear the bumper

 

New bumper postion from above

[OllieNZ]

Took it for spin earlier and found a nice ice rink

 

[bigdar44]

Hi and welcome,mauler is great bit of kit and very capable out of the box 

loving mine 

[Stumpy65]

Hi All,

Am a newb from suffolk and its been about 20yrs since I have had rc cars. My wife bought me a mauler for Christmas and my question is can you run lipo batteries using the stock esc as there are pins marked NIMH or LIPO on it.  I see Ollie you are running lipos and they came as stock , mine came with a 2000 MAH NI-MH battery.If so is much advantage running lipos or just go for a 4000 / 5000 MAH battery . Have found the mauler quite capable. Thanks in advance for your advice.

[OllieNZ]

11 hours ago, Stumpy65 said:

Hi All,

Am a newb from suffolk and its been about 20yrs since I have had rc cars. My wife bought me a mauler for Christmas and my question is can you run lipo batteries using the stock esc as there are pins marked NIMH or LIPO on it.  I see Ollie you are running lipos and they came as stock , mine came with a 2000 MAH NI-MH battery.If so is much advantage running lipos or just go for a 4000 / 5000 MAH battery . Have found the mauler quite capable. Thanks in advance for your advice.

Yes you just swap the jumper to run lipos.

Mine also came with the NiMH stock, I just ordered the lipos at the same time. The advantages of the lipos are power density and current delivery, I have some 2700mah lipos for another car that are much smaller and lighter than the 2000mah NiMH.

With the 4000mah lipos I have I reckon you'd probably get around an hours runtime, I was out for 40mins and the battery was still 7.2v (6.6v low voltage cutoff)

In this particular car I'm not sure how much of an advantage lipo will give in terms of outright performance as it's geared so low the motor doesn't really have to struggle at all even on quite steep inclines so burst current draw is going to be quite low. You could use a similar capacity lipo to the stock battery and gain some weight reduction. Lipos do have their advantages over NiMH and I'm already set up for lipos so buying more lipos over NiMH was a no brainer for me.

[just rolling]

great vid, thought it was gone for a moment into the ice, i run 2s lipos in mine, snowing here at the moment so might just have to head out there with some rcs

[Stumpy65]

Thanks that's a big help . What current draw lipos do I go for thanks and do I need a fail safe.

Edited December 29, 2017 by Stumpy65

[OllieNZ]

1 hour ago, just rolling said:

great vid, thought it was gone for a moment into the ice, i run 2s lipos in mine, snowing here at the moment so might just have to head out there with some rcs

Thanks, the puddle was only ankle deep but I did hold my breath when it went in the drink. Just shows how capable this thing is, if that was one of my bashers it wouldn't have climbed back out.

 

[OllieNZ]

1 hour ago, Stumpy65 said:

Thanks that's a big help . What current draw lipos do I go for thanks and do I need a fail safe.

To work out the max available current from a lipo you need to multiply the mah by the C rating and then divide by 1000 to go from milliamps to amps

Mine for example are 

4000mah X 30c /1000 = 120amps

2700mah X 30c /1000 = 81 amps.

 

A typical brushed 540 will draw around 10a or less, the higher the turn count the lower the current draw. Low gearing will also give lower current draw.

Based on my estimated runtime of an hour from a 4000mah battery (most of that at wide open throttle) the average current draw will be 4 amps with the max maybe 6-7 amps.

[johninderby]

Finally getting round to fitting the 1/8th scale Ford F-150 Supercab body to the Mauler. Made up new carbon fibre links to lengthen the wheelbase to 360mm so that the tyres will fit the body properly. Body is just roughly trimmed out at the moment and will have to sort out the body mount posts.

 

Think the body suits the Mauler rather nicely.    BTW Axial Ax10 axles have been fitted.

 

            John

 

 

[just rolling]

2 hours ago, johninderby said:

Finally getting round to fitting the 1/8th scale Ford F-150 Supercab body to the Mauler. Made up new carbon fibre links to lengthen the wheelbase to 360mm so that the tyres will fit the body properly. Body is just roughly trimmed out at the moment and will have to sort out the body mount posts.

 

Think the body suits the Mauler rather nicely.    BTW Axial Ax10 axles have been fitted.

 

            John

 

 

good work John, what colour you going for? i got a few trucks running that shell all done metalic blue kinda like a old bigfoot colour

[johninderby]

It’s going to be yellow. Already have this.  .

         John

 

 

[Kev T]

Hi All,

 

I intend to get one of these ordered this week and finding this thread very helpful , so thank you to those posting the info , especially any mod photos

and product links.

 

So I`ve got a few questions to those who already have the FTX Mauler.

Straight off I`ll get the suggested servo fitted, but similar models seem to need metal lockers ( such as hsp 180009 ) and talk of a need to grease the gears so any update on this would be appreciated.

 

Finally I like almost everything about the Mauler but I can`t live with that body shell paint job...whilst I wait to buy a pickup shell sometime in the future ( and not get a clear Mauler shell ) I intend to overspray with a gloss/Metallic black and re sticker...any thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated.

 

regards

Kev T

[just rolling]

21 hours ago, Kev T said:

Hi All,

 

I intend to get one of these ordered this week and finding this thread very helpful , so thank you to those posting the info , especially any mod photos

and product links.

 

So I`ve got a few questions to those who already have the FTX Mauler.

Straight off I`ll get the suggested servo fitted, but similar models seem to need metal lockers ( such as hsp 180009 ) and talk of a need to grease the gears so any update on this would be appreciated.

 

Finally I like almost everything about the Mauler but I can`t live with that body shell paint job...whilst I wait to buy a pickup shell sometime in the future ( and not get a clear Mauler shell ) I intend to overspray with a gloss/Metallic black and re sticker...any thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated.

 

regards

Kev T

I got the orange one, the shell actually is not as bad in the flesh, still running mine all stock except xt60 connectors and 2s lipo

[just rolling]

Managed to fit some longer body mounts onto the mauler and fit a orange ftx mighty thunder shell on, looks great, like a trail truck now

[Kev T]

Just received the Orange version this morning....wouldn`t mind seeing a few photos of your body mount upgrade and new shell...also any one who has changed their servo , how would you advise I should go about the electrics..?

[johninderby]

Servo change is a must. Stock servo is incredibly slow and limited range of travel . This inexpensive servo is so much better.

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Turnigy-PowerHD-1501MG-High-Torque-Servo-17kg-cm-0-14s-Waterproof-Metal-Gear/321583502346?epid=14012123154&hash=item4adfded40a:g:2u4AAOSwOTVZptCB

 

      John

[Kev T]

1 hour ago, johninderby said:

Servo change is a must. Stock servo is incredibly slow and limited range of travel . This inexpensive servo is so much better.

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Turnigy-PowerHD-1501MG-High-Torque-Servo-17kg-cm-0-14s-Waterproof-Metal-Gear/321583502346?epid=14012123154&hash=item4adfded40a:g:2u4AAOSwOTVZptCB

 

      John

Hi John,

 

Thanks, and I intend to get the servo you recommend...however for now I'm keeping the stock esc but looking at the wiring its not totally straight forward for a novice like myself.

There is no unplug one and plug in another...I'm looking for ideas on best way to connect up .?

[johninderby]

Actually it is a simple as just plugging in a new ESC and a new receiver. You will however need to get a new radio system or you can get the separate FTX receiver and use it with a separate ESC.

 

ESC

https://www.modelsport.co.uk/hobbywing-quicrun-1060-brushed-waterproof-esc-sbec/rc-car-products/404964

 

Receiver

http://ftx-rc.com/ftx-mauler-optional-receiver-for-separate-esc-use-not-2in?search=Mauler&page=4

or

https://www.modelsport.co.uk/ftx-mauler-optional-receiver-for-seperate-esc-use-not-2-in1-/rc-car-products/422676

 

        John

 

 

 

[Kev T]

4 minutes ago, johninderby said:

Actually it is a simple as just plugging in a new ESC and a new receiver. You will however need to get a new radio system or you can get the separate FTX receiver and use it with a separate ESC.

 

ESC

https://www.modelsport.co.uk/hobbywing-quicrun-1060-brushed-waterproof-esc-sbec/rc-car-products/404964

 

Receiver

http://ftx-rc.com/ftx-mauler-optional-receiver-for-separate-esc-use-not-2in?search=Mauler&page=4

or

https://www.modelsport.co.uk/ftx-mauler-optional-receiver-for-seperate-esc-use-not-2-in1-/rc-car-products/422676

 

        John

 

 

 

Thanks again John,

 

But you misunderstood me...I'm keeping my existing esc etc for now...which leaves me wondering the best way to connect a new servo as existing servo wiring seems to lack an easy unplug option

[johninderby]

Replacement servo just plugs straight into the servo plug lead on esc/RX unit same as the stock servo.

 

 

Edited January 17, 2018 by johninderby

[Kev T]

8 minutes ago, johninderby said:

Replacement servo just plugs straight into the servo plug lead on esc/RX unit same as the stock servo.

 

 

Right...thats excellent...at a glance I didn't think that would be possible.

Really appreciate your help...will get that servo ordered tonight.

[OllieNZ]

6 minutes ago, Kev T said:

Right...thats excellent...at a glance I didn't think that would be possible.

Really appreciate your help...will get that servo ordered tonight.

As John says it's plug 'n' play. Once you cut the cable ties off you'll see where the stock servo is plugged in. I'm still running the stock ESC/Rx combo and the servo swap is definitely a worthwhile upgrade.

[Kev T]

23 minutes ago, OllieNZ said:

As John says it's plug 'n' play. Once you cut the cable ties off you'll see where the stock servo is plugged in. I'm still running the stock ESC/Rx combo and the servo swap is definitely a worthwhile upgrade.

Thanks Ollie,

I'll be doing your front bumper mod as well.

[Nickarla]

I'm sure there is an obvious answer but, why does the Mauler not have a chassis plate as seen in the Outlaw?