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WL TOys 124016 124017 Top 5 Mods*

26/7/2021

17 Comments

 
*To be clear my car is still under preorder but I have 3 cars of a very similar spec so do have a good understanding of what makes these tick and how to improve
The WL toys 124016 and 124017 are faster and more efficient brushless version of the hugely popular 124018 and 124019. If you want to know more about these new brushless cars then check out the preview article I wrote here: ​WL TOYS 124016 124017 PREVIEW: FIRST FACTORY BRUSHLESS WL TOYS RC CARS
​
In this  article I'll be taking you through my top 5 mods for this car
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If the stock car is anything to go by, the brushless model will be at least as fast but with much stronger acceleration and better battery life. With the understanding that you will be going faster for longer, there is an increased change of breakages on what is not an especially weak but not an especially strong car either. In addition, the extra speed and acceleration will show up the handling. For these reasons and but one of the 5 best mods below to improve your 124016 or 124017 will focus on DURABILITY and HANDLING and maybe just a little more POWER
Mod 1: Metal Steering Knuckles/spindles
Based on my experience with the 144001, 124019 and 124019 (which share the same part), the most commonly broken pieces are the front steering knuckles/spindles. 
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This is the most common break I see on this car - the front steering knuckle. I broke it on this car when it was still running the slower brushed motor
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Here is the broken piece. With this broken it stresses the driveshaft too which you can see bent in the background
You can either buy spares of the standard part or if you want a simple upgrade you can get the Wltoys 1/14 144001 124018 124019 Front Wheel Seat Upgrade Metal. Please note this part has been improved since my early review on metal parts. The new units linked here fit with all wheel options including the Remo P6973
​
The highest quality parts for this upgrade however is the LC racing CNC Metal front spindles. If you do go down this track though, you will also need the LC racing bearing kit which have a larger outside diameter. ​
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​Stock front steering knuckles for the 124016 and 124017
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Wltoys 1/14 144001 124018 124019 Front Wheel Seat Upgrade Metal
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Shown here are the LC racing CNC Metal front spindles and also the CNC metal front hub carriers from the Stage 1 124018 mod article
My pick? I'd go with the updated metal WL Toys steering knuckles as above as they are cheap and come with useful spare hardware. Unlike earlier metal knuckles, these do fit all wheel options.
Mod 2: LC Racing CVDs
The next most commonly damaged (or lost) parts are the drive shafts which for these cars are dogbones in the rear and CVDs in the front. Only every replace either with CVDs as the are most efficient and unlikely to be lost in a crash. As with the front knuckles you can get either direct replacements, an upgraded WL toys option or of course the stronger LC racing CVD drive shafts. All of these are direct bolt in options
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Metal Drive Shaft 1315 Wltoys 144001 124018 124019
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WLTOYS 1/14 144001 Upgrade Front Rear Drive Shaft CVD RC Car Parts - Black
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LC Racing 1/14 RC Car CVD Drive Shaft For EMB-TG RC Car Vehicle Models Parts L6126
My pick? I'd plump for the LC racing driveshafts in the front and put the stock CVDs from the front into the rear of the car.
Mod 3: LC Racing Anti-Roll bars (124017 only)
With more power to accelerate or hold speed in a corner, the brushless car will encourage more body roll and so the car will tend to wash out more during high speed cornering. Assuming the shock absorbers are working correctly then the biggest improvement here is by installing the LC Racing antiroll bars which are a direct fit. This is the most underrated upgrade for handling improvement and better yet, having 3 different stiffness options for front and rear means these can be personalised precisely to your driving style.

Unfortunately these are not an option for the 124016 because the anti roll bar mounts on the 124016 are used for the lower shock mount.
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Unfortunately the anti-roll bar won't fit on the 124016 since the rear arms are flipped - same reason you can't used the droop screws as circled. See this article for more difference between the 124016/8 and the 124017/9
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I've got my LC Racing anti roll bars! The aliexpress seller I linked has been fast and reliable for me. I put this on my 144001 which is identical mechanically to the 124016 and 124017
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Installed on the front - no mods needed
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Installed on the rear - no mods needed
My pick? Definitely get this one, it improves the handling quite significantly
Mod 4: Better wheels and tyres (on and offroad)
Stock tyres on the 124019 were pretty awful but the design on the 124017 and 124016 looks to be better suited for offroad. Regardless I am still expecting the Remo P6973 wheels and tyre set as reviewed here to be a stark improvement that does not compromise effective gear ratio.

For onroad sponge is the best and these drag fronts are the perfect diameter. There are a range of different grip levels available denoted by "shore" rating. The lower the shore number the softer and more grippy (but less durable) the sponge tyre is and vice versa. I recommend getting them from Amain Hobby - they are fast and the shipping prices are really fair.
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Remo P6973 wheels and tyres (with sponge inserts) are sold in pairs. Hands down my favourite bashing wheels on this car.
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Contact drag racing foams are the best diameter for this car. 
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I don't like the rear drag tyres as I feel they look too wide (fronts on all 4 corners here)
My pick? It's hard to go past the Remo P6973 tyres for bashing. Even on Tarmac they give improved grip. 
Mod 5: Hobbywing 2-3s ESC
The stock ESC will no doubt be built to a price. Unfortunately this means that it is a compromise on it's ability to manage 3s reliably, the smoothness of the power delivery and the adjustability of the settings. For those who wish to have these benefits I strongly recommend the hobbywing range of ESCs for this car. At the lower end the Quicrun WP 16BL30 30A ESC would be able to run the stock 2845 3400kv motor on 2s or 3s without too much fuss but would probably recommend the Quicrun 10BL120 120A ESC instead due to the overhead if you wished to run a bigger motor at a later time. If you do decide to get a different ESC be wary and remember they space available is very limited - both of the ESCs mentioned here are physically small and fit well in this chassis.

This is a mod I would probably consider last.
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​Hobbywing QuicRun WP-16BL30 Brushless Waterproof 30A Sensorless ESC. This is a surprisingly strong ESC for the size and should handle the stock 2845 3400kv with ease
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Hobbywing QUICRUN 10BL120 Sensored 120A 2-3S Lipo Speed Brushless ESC. With stock motor you can easily remove the fan as I've done here.
My pick? Let's give the stock ESC a go first, it may well prove to be fit for purpose. If you do want to upgrade I'd recommend the Quicrun 10BL120 which has proven itself for me over several builds as a compact, precise and reliable ESC.
Bonus round mod 5 and a half - 3s battery
Upgraded to a Hobbywing ESC? Then this mod is a no brainer. This *should* be possible with the stock ESC as well but of course I will need to confirm with testing first. This upgrade would be the single biggest power improvement you can make to this car - and instant 50% over and above the stock 2s battery. I really like the CNHL 3s 2200mah pack which fits beautifully in the stock location as below:
Picture
My pick? Do not attempt this on the stock ESC until we have more test data. If you've chosen to upgrade the ESC to a reliable brand like hobbywing though then 3s with a 3400kv motor will be a beautiful thing.
Conclusion
This brushless car will start to push the limits of handling and durability which is why most of top 5 mods (well, 6 really) revolve around improving handling and durability with just a splash of power. My recommendation is to drive the car and get a feel first before you choose your handling upgrades but please consider at least key spares first because the biggest shame is to break a part on a barely run car only to wait weeks for parts out of China if you don't have a local reseller.
Full list of parts recommended here:
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Wltoys 1/14 144001 124018 124019 Front Wheel Seat 
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LC Racing 1/14 RC Car CVD Drive Shaft For EMB-TG RC Car Vehicle Models Parts L6126
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LC RACING Anti Roll Bar EMB-1 #L6134
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Remo P6973 Rubber RC Car Tires​
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Hobbywing QUICRUN 10BL120 Sensored 120A Brushless ESC
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CNHL 2200mAh 3S 11.1V 30C Lipo Battery with XT60 Plug
Thanks for reading, if you found this article useful please feel free to like or share, the facebook links below directly link/like this article. I don't believe in asking for money by patreon nor by paypal but if you do wish to help me, the affiliated links in these articles help me buy the bits and services I need to produce this type of content. If you are looking for RC ​cars, quads or parts check out my coupons and discounts page which I keep updated with only the RC cars, parts and quads I like at a proper discount
17 Comments
Lawson
31/7/2021 07:50:35 am

this is a bit off topic
but when i was using my brushless upgraded 144001 i plugged the battery in as normal and all of a sudden the red light went on and before i could chuck it out side the esc had gone up in smoke (my house stunk🤣😣)

i have contacted banggood about this

but would u (because of your experience) know why this happend
i was using stock battery and charger

i used your recommend esc
Hobbywing QuicRun WP-16BL30 Brushless Waterproof 30A Sensorless ESC

Reply
QuadifyRC
31/7/2021 10:16:55 pm

Did you change the battery connector from the stock tamiya one? Sounds like you may have got the polarity wrong if you did

Reply
Tristan S
31/7/2021 10:53:33 am

Is it worth putting in the article that the recommendation for Mod 4 ( Remo P6973 wheels ) is incompatible with recommendation for Mod 1 ( metal WL Toys steering knuckles ), as detailed in your metal upgrade guide...

Reply
QuadifyRC
1/8/2021 11:09:31 pm

Thanks, have updated the article show the new front knuckles from WL toys which do fit the Remo P6973 tyres

Reply
El Jenzo
17/8/2021 09:13:12 pm

New knuckles compatible with my tyres? Great!

Raymond Yeo
4/5/2022 04:08:39 pm

Thank you for such a comprehensive article. The 124017 version 2 has a 2845 4300kv motor with 19T pinion. In your expert opinion, do you you think this can be upgraded to a better/faster motor assuming ESC and Lipo are concurrently upgraded? Just tinkering with the idea of triple digits speeds! Haha. Thank you!

Reply
Joe Hansen
10/10/2022 11:25:06 am

Whats the motor u used in this car? Provide a link if possible

Reply
QuadifyRC
15/10/2022 10:38:03 pm

Hi Joe

Lots of different options were used in the images here. The one you choose depends on you application. Here is the list of all my articles: https://www.quadifyrc.com/rccarreviews/144001-upgrades-every-one-of-my-guides-here

Reply
Ollie
27/12/2022 02:31:55 am

Can you plug in led lights with J connector into the receiver or not?

Reply
QuadifyRC
6/2/2023 10:40:02 pm

Yes you can

Reply
Razvan
3/1/2023 08:56:04 am

I’m running this issue on 124017 that the wheel nuts get undone and the wheels come off barely 1 min after running the car. Any advice?

Reply
QuadifyRC
6/2/2023 10:40:48 pm

Assuming you have them done up tight enough? If so then try some different wheel nuts.

Reply
Tim
15/1/2023 08:19:34 am

Hi.
Can I use the Hobbywing 16bl30 with the 124017 v2 motor too?
Will there be any drawbacks with this given that I will only use it with this motor?
Best,
Tim

Reply
QuadifyRC
6/2/2023 10:41:23 pm

Yes you can but this will be at the top end of what this ESC is capable of. It'll be very smooth.

Reply
Tim
6/2/2023 11:20:18 pm

Thanks for you feedback.
I ended up going a bit sheep and buy the Surpass Hobby KK 60A. hope it outperforms the standard ESC and doesn't catchi fire. =)

Drew
22/1/2023 08:25:05 am

Hi.
I'm fairly new to the rc hobby world, but discovered the wltoys series thanks to this website and have recently purchased a wltoys 124017 v2 that I run using a dumborc controller with an x6fg receiver. However, I have been disappointed to discover that the car will not run a 3s lipo battery, despite all the youtube videos of people doing so. The fan on the esc will start running and the steering will work when I plug a 3s battery into the car, but the motor itself won't run. Is there a simple fix for this issue (possibly changing the programming for the esc), or do I need to consider putting in a new esc? Thanks!

Reply
QuadifyRC
6/2/2023 10:42:47 pm

I wouldn't be disappointed,, 75 km/h stock for a 1/12 scale is very fast. You'll need a more capable ESC like the 16BL120 to do this safely but even then it would be tough on the car.

Reply



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