Traxxas Summit 1/10 Brushless conversion

Introduction:

Having built so many planes in a row, I wanted a brief distraction by getting back into the car side of things. My RC adventure actually started with RC cars, but I just ended liking planes more. An opportunity presented itself and I was able to acquire a Traxxas summit roller in poor condition, but for a good price. I guess it would be an understatement to say it was in poor condition as I ended up paying more for parts (not even including electronics) than I did for the roller. Ultimately, I got everything working again and learned a lot about the Summit in the process.

Components:

• Traxxas Summit 1/10 roller
• Tons of parts (diffs, bumpers, driveshafts)
• JX Servo x2
• Misc 9 gram servos x3
• Blaze speed passion 1/8th scale 1800kv motor (unsensored)
• Hobbywing QuicRun WP 8BL150 (150amp esc)

Conclusion:

I basically ended up tearing the whole truck down to the diffs and replaced everything that was broken. Some of the diffs were all chewed up with no teeth left. All the bumpers and driveshafts had to be replaced. None of the electronics worked although it did come with a working dewalt motor with no esc. I would've stuck with the dewalt motor if the esc was still there, but I didn't want to invest in a brushed esc when I knew that I wanted brushless power.

To be honest, I was never really interested in the Summit as I don't have a strong affinity for large scale trucks. The biggest vehicle I had prior to owning the summit was the Associated FT RC8.2e. I really liked bashing that one since it is built like a tank. I am also not a big fan of Traxxas although I do own a lot of their trucks for the simple reason that their parts availability never expires. This is a very good thing for people like me that don't run their trucks often (a couple times a year), but intend on keeping them for a long time. They're a little overpriced, but in return, I basically never have to worry about not being able to buy spare parts for it.

It took me a couple of nights to tear down the different sections for the rebuild. The great thing about doing this is that you learn all the weak points in the vehicle. I had to replace all the driveshafts, but was amazed that the center driveline had held up. I guess the dewalt motor doesn't put out as much power as I thought (given all the hype around it). I replaced the steering servos with JX servos, which are inexpensive digital servos (but still much better than stock). They've proven to be the weak link in the whole setup so far, but I'm going to keep them just because they're good enough for now. The 3 servos for the locking diffs and speed shifting are controlled by various 9g servos. They work very well and I can't believe people buy the stock traxxas servos for that at $20 a pop.

In the end, I got everything running again and hooked it up to my Turnigy TS4G radio. I used the 3rd channel for locking or unlocking both front and rear diffs and the 4th channel for changing the speed (shifting gears) of the truck. I've run it on 3s so far and it handles really well. I'm running a 18T pinion and the temps for the motor are really low (130F on a warm 85 degree day). It has tons of torque and I was able to pull my two kids in their wagon around the block (~80lbs). The weakest link here are the tires as they do not always have sufficient grip (esp. on loose dirt). The motor has tons of torque. I didn't want to push it too hard as I was somewhat skeptical of the plastic driveline.

Overall, although I wasn't really interested in a Summit before the project began, I've converted to being a fan of the truck. It really is not like any of my other trucks and can do things none of my other trucks can. It's not exactly portable or fast, but it wasn't meant to be any of those things. It is just a fun truck that can do a variety of fun and quirky things. For that, it's probably going to be a long term keeper. :)