The Ultimate pinion gear guide for WL Toys 144001 144002 144010 124016 124017 124018 12401930/4/2022 The WL toys 1/14 and 1/12 scale cars are fanstastic value and offer a myriad of options for tinkering and modding. One area where they are woefully inadequate though is gearing. They have chosen a very uncommon mod 0.7 gear pitch meaning there are very few options outside of stock because the standard 27t or even the more recent 19t offer very tall gearing only. In this gearing guide I have laid out all known available options in this guide to help you get the most out of your car. Let's start this conversation by saying that the stick spur gear for these cars (44 teeth) is fixed - an immovable object with no alternative options*. Thus it is only the pinions we can change to alter gear ratios. Next we can say that motors with a 36mm diameter (ie stock 550 brushed, 3650 brushless, 3652 brushless and 3660 brushless cannot move closer to the top brace and therefore cannot use a smaller pinion, even with this adjustable mount. This with these motors you can use the stock 27t pinion only and the tall gearing (4.074:1) This means that the only way to alter gear ratio is to use a smaller motor suck as a brushed 380 or 390 or a brushless 2440, 2445, 2838, 2845, 2850. This is a good thing because for the brushless motors in particular they are smaller, lighter, faster, more efficient and run cooler but with less torque they need the smaller pinions which provide shorter gearing. This is the basis of every brushless upgrade I have written which provide a much more well rounded performance for these cars. Anyway lets go directly to the options readily available. *Custom made Mod1 spurs are available, talk to Michael Koebbe on the QuadifyRC facebook group. Option 1: 27t stock pinion, drive ratio = 4.074:1 ![]() As I keep banging on about the stock 27t pinion gives very tall gearing and only really suited to speed running rather than offroad. The stock 550 brushed motor only just manages this one because of the large torque output it has at the expense of battery life. The downside of this tall gearing was best illustrated in the initial V1 release of the 124017 and the Eachine EAT14. Even though they used a decent sized 2845 with a relatively low 3400kv, the car cogged badly due to this gearing. For this reason I only recommend this gearing for the stock motor or for on road speed runs with a motor 3650+ in size as per this build Physically The 27t pinion gear has a 3.2mm bore meaning it will physically fit the following motor sizes: brushed - 540, 550. Brushless - 3650, 3652, 3660, 2838, 2845, 2850. Parts needed:
Option 2: 19t pinion from 144010, drive ratio = 5.79:1
Option 3: 17t pinion from A959, drive ratio = 6.47:1
Option 4: Unicorn 15t pinion, drive ratio = 7.33:1
With this pinion I have achieved to following speeds:
You can still achieve a top speed of over 70km/h on 2s with a 2445 5400kv motor and even 50km/h on 2s with a 2445 3600kv motor which is just magic for off-roading with bigger wheels and no risk over overheating. This pinion gear is something of a unicorn and is only available from two sellers on aliexpress. Both are reliable vendors and are listed below.
Conclusions In my experience this is a complete list of the pinion gears that are commonly available for these cars and should provide you with a decent range of options depending on your application and depending on whether you want a straight bolt up option or a more involved one that requires filing and drilling.
Other possibilities - the Motor mounts WL toys do not make an adjustable motor mount for the 144001 series of cars meaning you need their stock hole locations that fit pinions only of a specific size. It's amazing to think that for the same base car WL toys have actually made 4 different mounts:
If you are looking for a discount on this car, I will post any coupon codes or flash sales for it over here on my coupons and discounts page. Remember buying from any of these links supports my page without any cost to you and is appreciated especially since I don't ask for money via patreon and the like. If you want to get involved in this discussion, feel free to join the QuadifyRC Facebook Group Here or like my page below.
30 Comments
Idan harel
1/5/2022 07:49:51 am
Please help me understand something.
Reply
QuadifyRC
2/5/2022 01:47:01 pm
Hi there Idan. You can to that and it would improve current draw at full speed but cogging would still be an issue unless you used a premium ESC. The torque requirement is too much with this gearing for a brushless motor at low speed, especially offroad.
Reply
Jason
17/5/2022 01:33:47 pm
Just got the 19t pinion today and installed. No cogging with the 124017 v1 now, thank goodness!
Reply
QuadifyRC
28/5/2022 09:20:25 pm
Nice one Jason, glad to hear it worked for you too.
Reply
Dave
23/5/2022 03:37:08 am
I’ve just drilled my 15t pinion out to 1/8(3.175mm) unfortunately upon install I realized it was binding on the spur gear. Looks like my hole was off center 🙃. Does anyone know how to drill a well centered hole without a drill press? YouTube is turning up every result except what I need!
Reply
QuadifyRC
28/5/2022 09:22:07 pm
Unfortunately it is easy to get wrong without a drill press or lathe. One way I hear that sounds good is to put the pinion in the drill chuck and the drill bit in the vice. Alternatively see Ron Wilson's reply below, he's had good success with milling the motor shaft.
Reply
Ron Wilson
26/5/2022 04:16:46 am
Its easier to just mill down the shaft on the motor then drill the hole on the gear. Its much much easier to get the shaft true then it is to drill the pinion. Ive done atleast 10 motors so far ive had no issues with any of them. You have to go slow, keep the motor cool and stop at times so te motor doesnt overheat and ruin the bearings.
Reply
QuadifyRC
28/5/2022 09:22:35 pm
Thanks Ron, I keep forgetting to try this one!
Reply
Dave
18/6/2022 08:47:12 am
I don’t have milling tools.. do you think I could just run my motor bare shaft and squeeze the shaft with some sandpaper while it spins? 😂 Also accepting tool donations
Reply
Ben Gilbert
14/6/2022 06:59:13 pm
Hi I have done the 3600kv 2445 with the 15t pinion and I have terrible cogging any idea why cheers
Reply
Ian
18/6/2022 04:52:06 am
I've managed to eliminate cogging on my 144002 using 2 different approaches. My initial set up was with a 2445 3600kv using a surpass hobby 35A esc. There was some cogging on long grass and also as the voltage dropped.
Reply
QuadifyRC
29/6/2022 05:37:48 pm
Wow nice work on getting the 17t pinion to fit. That's be a pretty solid option. Still heavy but at least it addresses the gearing
Michael
16/6/2022 06:08:01 pm
Any insights on the motor mount and pinion of the
Reply
QuadifyRC
29/6/2022 05:37:02 pm
Nothing sorry, that car has been something of a red headed stepchild.
Reply
Marky
7/7/2022 11:32:11 am
Just ordered a 2600kv 2845 to run with 144010 gearing on my son's 144002.
Reply
QuadifyRC
12/9/2022 05:59:50 pm
Hi Marky. That should certainly help! I usually use the throttle dual rate with the little ones but making a kv and gearing change would make it much more efficient (and torquey).
Reply
Brian
3/8/2022 07:15:03 am
I found a motor mount the will open up more motor / pinion options.
Reply
QuadifyRC
3/8/2022 10:12:15 am
Hi Brian. Yes, that mount is also on Aliexpress. It fits the stock 550 and larger 3650 motors. Unfortunately (with stock spur) you are limited to 27t stock pinion due to clearance issues. If you can find out an alternative spur solution I think you will be the first! If you are on FB, join my group as we'd love to hear if it works or even if it doesn't. THanks for the kind comment, I'm glad my fun with these cars helps other people enjoy them too :)
Reply
Mark Visser
12/9/2022 02:36:08 pm
Might be a newbie question - why not switch both the pinion and spur gears to a more common module, and then just select a gear pair that is as close to the stock center distance as possible?
Reply
QuadifyRC
12/9/2022 06:01:58 pm
Hey Mark, it's a very good question. Unfortunately it's a unique spur mount and no one has yet gotten something other than stock to fit reliably. If you could change to a more common pitch with multiple spur options there would be nearly limitless options but alas it is what it is. Certainly much better now than when these cars launched though!
Reply
BOB BOBERSON
20/9/2022 07:07:27 am
First, this rocks. Man, you rock.
Reply
QuadifyRC
23/9/2022 11:30:28 am
Thanks for the kind feedback. Since I wrote this article these is a new adjustable mount in Aliexpress that will fit the 28xx sized motors so you can use the 17t without cutting. https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005004690287075.html
Reply
BOB BOBERSON
10/11/2022 09:52:37 am
great advice. worked perfectly!
QuadifyRC
28/11/2022 11:03:38 am
Hi Bob
Reply
Chuck
31/1/2023 09:07:30 am
Will the 17T pinion for a 12428 work? No drilling required to fir a 2838/2845 motor
Reply
Dani
1/3/2023 01:11:57 am
Any 15T pinion alternative for shaft 3.175 ?
Reply
Dani
3/3/2023 12:40:03 am
What motor 2845 3900kv with shaft 2,3?
Reply
Hello brother, I can machining gears myself. so, 0.7 modulus should not a problem for me, and also I can modify motor seat. I hope to save some power, god, endurance is too short, meanwhile I don't want lose too much maxspeed, So, if I use a smaller pinion gear, did I need a higher kV motor? The original motor seems like 3200kV
Reply
MASSRC
11/5/2023 03:55:16 pm
Hi , i've been following this forum since i bought 124017 V2.. this car is perfect until i upgraded the tires to a massive 115mm, 100 gram/wheel ( from 104001 upgrade part) .
Reply
Rick Zepeda
18/5/2023 05:37:29 am
Your Articles are awesome and they have helped me immensely with my first speed run build which is a Wl Toys 124017. I have changed out the esc so I can run both 2s and 3s. Car is still on the stock gearing. (44 spur 19 pinion). Do you think if I tried running the 27 tooth pinion it would tax the 2845 4300kv motor too hard. I see all these guys on YouTube running big pinions in their speed run cars, but all are running the bigger cans. I really want to stick with the smaller size motors if possible. I have the stuff to do mod 1 gearing on it and an adjustable motor mount now but it would take modifying the motor mount which I really don’t want to do. I tried to obtain one of the mod 1 spurs you mentioned in this article but they are no longer available. To me so far the gear pitch on these cars is the only downfall, I wish they would do something more common on them. I am gonna look into maybe having my local cnc shop here make me a driveshaft adapter to a standard spur gear then could run 32 pitch or 48 pitch spurs on it.
Reply
Leave a Reply. |
Archives
March 2023
Categories
All
|