DROP IN Brushless Upgrade Guide for WL TOys 144001, 124018 and 124019 [QuadifyRC]

WL toys have had a series of hits with the 1/14 scale 144001 and now more recently with the 1/12 scale 124019 and 124018 - same car just a little longer. In order to hit their price point though they have had to compromise on the power train - opting for brushed motor technology that although surprisingly fast offers poor long term durability and even worse efficiency leading short running times. Upgrading to brushless is a solid option but has required hacks and workarounds in the past to get anything other than basic speed run builds. This new guide aims to be drop in solution with no mechanical modification required.

Just to recap I've already made 3 brushless builds. If you have the ability I still highly rate the ultimate brushless upgrade as I believe the motor and gear combination is perfect for fast, reliable and efficient 2s running.

• 144001 ultimate brushless upgrade guide (2838 4500kv and 17t pinion) - also for 124019 and 124018
• 144001 no cut option (as above with 15t requires rebore of the pinion) - also for 124019 and 124018
• 144001 speed run build (3650 5200kv on road only) - also for 124019 and 124018​

​144001 ultimate brushless upgrade

144001 no cut option

144001 speed run

Build objective

The core objective for this build is to make the process as simple as possible - servos, receivers, motors, gears all bolt up directly without having to re-drill, slot or fabricate anything. For full disclosure the ONLY cutting that is required is removing a little of the thin plastic on the motor shroud - purely cosmetic and can be done easily with a craft knife or nail scissors. The end result of a car that is very quick (48mph/78kph on 2s and 68mph/109kph on 3s) and has superior handling due to reduced weight that is suitable for on road and offroad with markedly improved battery life

Competed build - I've installed in the 124018 but it would work as well as or even better in the 124019 or 144001

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Parts I used plus alternatives

All parts are listed below. I've listed alternative items with same or similar specs should there be stock issues. 

Radio
Radio will need to be replaced, you cannot use the stock item for a brushless upgrade. DumboRC make an excellent budget model or you can upgrade to the FlyskyFS-GT5

The Dumbo X6 (with gyro) is typically the best value option: review is here

The X6a is identical to the X6 but cosmetically a little different: review is here.

The flysky FS-GT5 is a little more expensive but offers a lot more features, especially if you want to use it to control multiple cars. Review is here.

Servo
The stock servo will need to be replaced with a 3 wire servo. I recommend the reliable PDI-1181MG but it is often out of stock. The Emax ES3054 is a good replacement as is the newly released surpass hobby 17g metal servo

JX Digital Servo 17g Metal Gear PDI-1181MG This is a direct replacement for the stock servo that is faster with metal gears but often out of stock

Surpass-Hobby 17g Metal  Gear Servo. A new one from Surpass is working well in a new build I have. Good alternative to the 1181MG if unavailable

​Emax ES3054 17g 3.5kg 0.13sec Metal Gear Digital Servo. Another good alternative to the 1181MG if unavailable

Motor
On to the fun stuff! The motor is the most unique part for this build. For size I've chosen the 2445 as the longest barrel 24xx motor available. It has the correct mounting points for the stock bracket and importantly has m2.5 mounting screws (no drilling of the motor mount) and a 2.3mm motor shaft meaning no re-boring of the 15t pinion gear. Ideally I  would have liked 4500kv but have gone with 5400kv and will use exclusively on 2s. Consider 3500kV as a milder option that is capable of running 3s quite happily

Racerstar 2445 Motor Senseless Brushless Waterproof 5400/3600/3000KV. As Above I recommend 5400kv but 3600kv is a good option if you want it to run a little slower and cooler.

Surpass Hobby 2445 KK Series 2S Brushless Waterproof Motor 3000/3600/5400KV. Make no mistake, this is the same motor but under it's original name - Racerstar is a house brand for Banggood.

Brushless ESC
I don't think anyone will question my use of a premium hobbywing ESC (such is their quality and performance) but I know I will ruffle a few feathers by recommending the 30A 16BL30 model. My reasoning is simple. This is the unit that is OEM'd for the LC racing EMB series which run 2838, 2938 and 2850 motors ranging from 4500-5000kv on 2s AND 3s. These are well made cars and have shipped with these ESCs for years with little to no complaint on the ESCS even on 3s. I've also listed a budget surpass equivalent but strongly recommend the 16BL30. If you remain unconvinced, consider the 120A Hobbywing 10BL120 as an overkill ESC that has a massive amount of overhead yet remains highly compact for a simple build.

Hobbywing QuicRun WP-16BL30 Brushless Waterproof 30A Sensorless ESC. This is a high-quality programmable compact ESC that is well suited to motors in this size range. Rated for 2s and 3s.

X-Team Brushless Waterproof Sensorless ESC 30A. One of the many less-known brands available. I have not personally tested this one but plan to soon. I strongly recommend the Hobbywing instead for now.

Hobbywing QUICRUN 10BL120 Sensored 120A 2-3S Lipo Speed Brushless ESC. Much higher rated ESC if you want the additional power overhead. Not waterproof but capable of running sensored motors too.

Other parts
These are the must-have other parts needed for the upgrade. Not sexy but crucial - especially the unicorn pinion that I found after a months of searching and testing.

0.7m 15t pinion with 2.3mm bore. The only pinion available in this size. The magical piece that allows for this upgrade.

Motor mount for 124019 124018 144001. I recommend this as a critical part because it is difficult to remove the stock item in 1 piece

M2.5 Countersunk Screw (50 pcs). Buy in 8mm length. More than enough to use for the motor mount and replacing damaged items. Require a 1.5mm hex driver.

Amass T Plug Connector Male Female With Sheath. These will need to be soldered on in place of the mini Tamiya plug. If you want to save a little money and have heatshrink there is this option too.

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Install Guide

Now that you have all the parts it's time to put it all together. I've installed in a 124018 here but images are the same for 124019 and 144001 as well.

First remove these screws to remove the upper deck. You'll note these first 6 images are from the 144001 but the process is the same

Remove the whole assembly above by unplugging the motor bullet connectors. You can also remove the gear shroud

This is how it should look now, you can remove the servo at this stage.

These are the two screws you'll need to remove for the motor mount which use a very strong loctite. I was able to remove without heat on 2 cars but needed to drill out on 1 car. Never fear, the screws I recommended (m2.5x8) work here as well

Screws are out

Now if you rotate the motor and mount about the bearing on the bracket you can remove. I strongly recommend against reusing this bracket because even if you do get the motor screws out, the pinion will strip 99% of the time. Just leave this unit as is

Here I've used m2.5 x 6.5mm screws to mount the motor but the m2.5 x 8mm i've recommended are a better length. New motor mount of course - always have one of these spare for a build like this.

You can see the at M2.5 countersunk screws fit in the close mounting position PERFECTLY - unlike when you use M3 countersunk redrilled as per my other guides

Hex driver here is pointing to where a small amount of material needs to be removed from the gear shroud to allow the motor to fit in this closer position

I used a (blunt) craft knife to remove this material but it is so thin an flexible that a pair of nail scissors will probably give you a better finish

Not a beautiful job but the motor will be covering this all anyway.

Now loosely slide the pinion on the motor shaft and reinstall the same way you removed from the car. ​New m2.5 x 8mm screws going back in that you bought. You did get them right?

With the motor mount fixed in place, tighten the pinion with a good 1.5mm hex driver so that it sit square with the spur gear

End result looks like this. The one positive with a fixed motor mount is that when you use the right motor in the right location with the right gear then the mesh is just PERFECT

Next I marked out where the material needed to be removed on the upper gear shroud...

... And removed

Keep test fitting to make sure you don't remove too much. You can see when enough have been taken away it sits square with no fouling.

Top plate goes back on. Try not to lose any screws like I did 🤦‍♂️

Here is the first test location I had for my gear. Before you fix anything down make sure you test with the body on in battery in place etc to make sure everything fits cleanly.

Since this particular install is on a 124018 I found the canopy fouled on the top of the servo plugs coming out of the receiver as seen above. This wouldn't be a problem in the 144001 or 124019

Ultimately I landed on the receiver between motor and ESC. It will get warm but receivers don't really mind the heat. This is only possible on the longer wheelbase 124019 and 124018

I like to secure excess motor wire with a cable tie but with no obvious points to run it through I drilled a 3mm hole in the top deck as above

And got just the security I needed

Here it is all reassembled - not a lot of room in the 124018

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Performance results

For those that follow me on facebook (here if you want: Quadifyrc on facebook) you'll know that I've been testing this for about 2-3 months at time of writing in order to give you the best possible view rather than slapping it together and hoping for the best.

Weight and weight distribution
Moving to this setup will save you weight (130g to be specific) in all the right places, namely the rear of the car. This will be a minor improvement to the balance of the 124019 and 124018 given the longer chassis length and a major improvement for the 144001. This will make the car more balanced through corners and a lot more even over jumps. It will also make the suspension much easier to dial in,making the rear springs a little more suitable given they are not carrying excess weight.

Power and speed
You probably didn't come here to read about improved weight balance though so on to the speed. With the 2445 5400kV motor I got 78km/hr (48 mph) using the stock 2s battery on stock tyres running on the road. It's not speedrun-fast, but it is more than fast enough to know that you need to take care when cornering. Running it offroad, (even on the P6973 tyres I heartily recommend in this article) it is *barely* controllable and  faster than the 2838 brushless upgrade I talked about in this article. Another benefit over the original 2838 brushless upgrade article is that the ESC is much smoother, cogging at even the lowest speeds is all but gone. Combined with a perfect gear mesh this is just such a smooth car now.

Update: On 3s I got a whopping 109km/h (68mph) - more than I was expecting! The cooling mod I mentioned below has really helped and was happy with motor and ESC temperature. Perhaps even more amazing was the battery pack voltage after a down of these passes. I was expecting it to be near depleted but look what I got below... Just to be clear, I got this speed using a 30A ESC and 30A Xt30 connectors. I may have found a new niche class - efficient speed runs 🤣

I used a China Hobbly Line 2s 2200mah 40c pack for this run. Does the job well. 

3.93 volts per cell after 12 passes? Madness! Could have gone for more but I reckon I'd be tempting fate with a crash

109km/h is more than I was hoping. Remember this is not set up as a speed run car - I am using the tiny 15t pinion. I think this could go even faster with a 17t pinion if you really wanted but not really my thing.

The issues I've found + solutions

​Just to show you I'm not trying to shove this upgrade down your throat it isn't all rosy though. This combo does seem to run hotter on 2s compared to the 2838 upgrade and that makes sense - a side effect of the faster, higher kV (5400 vs the 4500kV 2838) means that it does produce more heat. In fact during my torture testing with the bigger P6973 tyres on thick grass with the 124018 chassis, I managed to get the thermal cut off on the Hobbywing 16BL30 ESC to kick in - lucky it has one and certainly a reason why I like this ESC. I haven't had this kick in since though just something to bear in mind. In order to balance this argument though the 124018 is the worst car for cooling - all gear is housed tightly under the canopy with very little airflow - I suspect this would be much better on the 144001 and 124018. Also it is the middle of summer here and was around 25°C during my testing. 

Efficiency and battery life
Based on the above it is understandable that power consumption was up on the 2838 4500kv, with the stock 2200mah battery lasting around 20 minutes. Although a massive improvement over the stock motor's 10-15 minutes the 2838 would probably run about 25 minutes on the same pack. After a full run I found the battery is only just warm, a good sign that the power drain is not so high as to stress that battery.

Venting
​I've written a brief article here (article to come soon - pics below for now) to greatly increase cooling without use of fans or additional heatsinks. This  solution is only suitable for driving in conditions that are not muddy nor dusty. Here is the link to this breakout article which is applicable to the 124018, 124019 and 144001. I've found this change has been really effective, even with ambient temps of 22-25°C

More air in at the front

More air out at the back

Forced airflow at speed over the ESC and motor helps keep it cool

Reducing timing via ESC settings
Another option to use instead or as well as the extra venting is changing some of the ESC settings (namely timing). Since the 16BL30 used here and the 10BL120 is fully programmable directly from the ESC as supplied you can easily turn back timing from the stock value of 11.25°. I haven't done this because I don't feel it necessary but if you do experiment with the lower values to see what works best for you. Remember, more timing = more power and more heat and vice versa

The stock setting for the 16BL30 ESC is 11.25 degrees, reducing this value will cause the motor to run a little slower and cooler just like reducing timing on a 1:1 car. I didn't find this necessary. Full manual to the right if needed

quicrunwp10bl30-10bl60-8bl150.pdf
File Size:	7513 kb
File Type:	pdf

Download File

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Reducing motor kV
Sadly the next step down in 2445 sized motors is only 3600kV and think this is a little low for 2s operation but would be good for 3s. I have ordered one to try for completeness and will report back on comparison to my expectations here with recorded speed. You will note that the 2440 motor is available in 4600kv but my genuine opinion is that this stator is just too small - more than 10% less volume than the 2445.

A riddle solved
When I set out on my 144001 journey, the motor mount with alternative mounting points always perplexed me. Why would they go to the effort of putting specific mounting holes in the mount if they weren't going to use them? - they obviously had something in mind. Weird thing was though that nothing was ever released to take advantage of them. Now that I've used the 2445 motor with 15t though pinion I do think this was the original objective - it just fits so easily and perfectly that I think this was the upgrade path that was planned all along. 

Recommendations
If you want a simple a straightforward brushless upgrade suitable for on and offroad for the 124019, 124018 or 144001 with no extra drilling or cutting then I strongly suggest that this is the mod for you. Yes, a 3650 brushless motor with stock pinion will also drop straight in but I stand by my opinion that I believe these are only suitable for straight line on road cars; the weight makes them corner and jump poorly plus the heat buildup is significant, even on lower kV motors. Cogging is also an issue with the tall stock gears on 3650 motors.

I have tried to make this guide as complete as possible with all of the parts and options clearly laid out so that you can swap if there are stock or pricing issues or even upgrade spec if you wish. You can of course use other parts but I've specifically mentioned products here that I have direct experience with that have held up to my testing. Banggood do have all of these available except for the 15t pinion gear which I'm working on (Hao, if you are reading this 😉). 

There are of course compromises that have been made to bring you a drop in solution such as a slightly higher kv motor than desired but you will still have a fast and reliable car as a result that is easy to build. If you are more of a tinkerer though I still rate my ultimate brushless build for the 144001, 124019 and 124018 as not the fastest but the most well balanced build.

Exact parts I used in this upgrade:

Racerstar 2445 5400kv Brushless Motor

Hobbywing 16BL30 Brushless 30A 2-3s ESC

Dumbo X6a radio gear with gyro

PDI 1181-MG 17g Metal Gear Servo

0.7mod 15t pinion gear

144001/124018/124019 motor mount

Amass T-plug deans connector

M2.5 x 8mm countersunk screws

Hopefully you have found this article useful, I'm focusing on making my guides and testing more technical and exhaustive so the choice is made easier for you. If you purchase via the links here or on any of my pages I receive a small commission at no cost to you which is enough to help my cover my hosting fees and other expenses related to quadifyrc.com - thanks!