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QUADIFYRC RC Car Review and Upgrade Guides

WL TOys 144001 / 124018 / 124019 Setup: 3 things you must do before you even turn it on

25/5/2020

66 Comments

 
Note, this is not a review. You've probably seen a ton of those already. This is about how to set your car up once you've already bought one.
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The WL Toys 144001 is a 1:14 scale offroad RTR 4 wheel drive buggy that has rightly been labelled as one of the best value RC cars around in the budget category where it can typically be bought for $70-$90. All 3 of mine were ordered from Banggood who ship worldwide. The primary purpose of this article is to cover the 3 things you must do to this car before you get started. The 124018 and 124019 is essentially the same car but longer so all of these mods are applicable here as well. This will be the first in a series of articles on the 144001 on tuning and modifying getting a maximum of bang for buck. Other articles I have planned include choosing the right upgrade parts to make it bash-proof, a brushless upgrade for best handling and a brushless upgrade for maximum top speed. Parts are ordered!
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Banggood have an exclusive new package that includes a larger, more powerful 2s 2600mah lipo battery
Firstly, "must do" is a bit strong and a bit of a pisstake of the clickbait Youtube videos out there. With that said I do strongly recommend them if you can to get the best performance out of you car and extend it's life. I've arrived at these recommendations by comparing the 144001 directly to the car it was copied off - the excellent LC Racing EMB-1h plus basic fundamentals of rc car operation of which I've been around for years. 

PictureFactory shocks are overfilled
1. Fill (or empty) the fluid in the shock absorbers to the correct level
After a lot of feedback to the community, WL toys has started filling up the shocks with oil but now isn't too little but too much they are putting in. Too much oil in your shocks means that the shock cannot be fully depressed it will ultimately force the oil past the orings and in doing so damage them. The fix is easy and if you follow the method below you won't need any extra oil to top it up.

Remove the shock from the car by unscrewing the lower philips screw and upper lock nut.
  1. Remove the lower plastic shock collar and spring. Wind off the spring tensioner (optional)
  2. SLOWLY unscrew the top cap by holding it upright till it comes right off and then screw it back on about half way.
  3. Should should now be able to full depress the shock. Some of the oil should leak past the top cap - this is what you want.
  4. Screw the top cap back on and see if you can depress the piston all the way. If not repeat steps 2-4.
  5. Wipe down the shock with a rag, reinstall the spring tensioner (if you removed it), the spring and collar. Re-install and complete for the 3 other corners. Note: while the shocks are off consider doing the diffs (below) as well.
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All four shocks will need to be removed for testing and emptying to the correct level
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All four shocks were similarly overfilled for me. These would soon blow the o-rings if run as is.
Now that the shocks can fully compress it allows the spring to do their job properly. I found with the stock setup I needed to loosen the spring tensioners right up on the front and about halfway down on the back for the right right height. This is a good starting point and probably the next place you'd consider with the shocks is increasing the oil weight in the back because the dampening is pretty light - probably around 60wt oil would be ideal (see my second tuning guide here for more details on that)

Picture...And factory diffs are underfilled
2. Fill the diffs with grease
The stock differentials have just enough grease in them to lube the gears but this runs like an open diff which compromises traction on low grip surfaces and runs the risk of overloading a diff too which drastically shortens it's life. In more premium models, diffs are similar in design but are sealed so as to house a high viscosity diff fluid which provides resistance to the diff actuating. This makes for better traction but is not an option on the 144001 due to the lack of diff seals. The best solution then is to fill the diff (and I mean TO THE BRIM) with grease. This will provide the resistance you need as well as lubrication but should be thick enough not to escape the diff case. To get to front and rear diffs you will need to:

  1. Remove the top plate from the car. Take note of which screws went where.
  2. Remove the steering rack from the car (see picture below)
  3. Remove the 6 screws on the top of each diff housing
  4. Remove diff housings which are also connected to shock towers. Although I didn't I'd probably recommend removing the nut from the top of the shock for better access.
  5. Lift the diffs out of their lower housings, pulling out the drive-shafts as you go. Note which side the large gear (crown gear) on the diff goes - if you put it back in wrong that diff will go backwards😱
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Top plate removed
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Steering rack removed
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Rear orientation of diff crown gear)
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Front diff housing removed (note orientation of diff crown gear)
Now you can fill 'em up with grease as below. I used a heavy bearing grease because that what I've had. Practically any grease works well, many also recommend marine grease.​
  1. Unscrew the four screws holding the diff housing on
  2. Remove the crown gear that has the drive cup and the small sun gear attach. Set aside.
  3. Remove the two sets of planet gears - each has a shaft with a small recession in the middle and two planet pinions. Put these aside.
  4. Load the diff gear housing about half way up with grease
  5. Reinstall each set of planet gears. The recessions in the shafts should align against one another as close as practical
  6. Full this diff gear housing the rest of the way up with grease. ALL the way up.
  7. Push the crown gear back on, twisting as you go so it aligns with the keyways. You will probably see grease extruding through the screw holes This is good! 
  8. With the crown gear properly seated, twist the drive cups in opposite directions back and forth until it is smooth. This will seat the depressions of the planetary gears shafts from step 5 up against each other correctly
  9. Wipe off the excess grease and reinstall all 5 screws.
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Four screws holding the crown gear on to come out. Front and rear diffs are identical
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Crown gear off. You can see the planet gears and shafts
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Planet gears and shafts out of the housing. Now it halfway and replace planet gear set
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Once planet gears are in fill it right to to top
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Crown gear back on and aligned with the keyways. Grease pushing though the screws holes is good - you *know* it's full!
Now pop the diffs back in facing the correct way (look at my pics if you aren't sure, I can confirm mine definitely goes forward when it is meant to!) and pop some more grease on the diff crown gear and diff drive pinion. Then reinstall as the reverse of the above. Once everything is back together you'l find it runs very smooth and quiet. You'll feel more resistance in the diffs but it will be a smooth resistance. As well as improving tractions you will also get more life out of you diffs. Win win!

PictureTierods need a bit of adjustment
3. Get the camber and toe (roughly) corrected
With you ride height correctly adjusted as part of fixing the shocks you can now correct the camber and toe front and rear. Toe is the amount your wheels point inwards or outwards looking at your car from above and camber is the amount they slope inwards out outwards looking at you car from the front or rear. Mine have been adjusted by eye only but a square object will be more accurate.

Note: This car uses adjustable tie rods. This means the plastic cups that ultimately bolt to the car have opposite threads - one regular one reverse so that if you twist the shaft with both cup straight the both loosen (get longer) or tighten (get shorter at the same time), the idea being you can lengthen or shorten without moving from the car. Good in through but poor in execution here - cups are threaded so tightly they pop off the ball mount on the car when you try to rotate the shaft. Regardless here we go...

  1. Install the battery as you car will need to be correctly weighted.
  2. Choose a tie-rod you wish to adjust and remove it. You'll see the rod is assymetrical - the plastic cup closest to the hole is reverse threaded and the one farthest has a regular thread. Use this knowledgle to shorten and lengthen as needed More on this below. Always try to make sure you adjust both ends by about the same amount
  3. Resinstall, check camber or toe and repeat step 2 as needed.
Camber is adjustable front and rear using the uppermost tierods front and rear left and right. Adjust these first. I like a tiny bit of negative camber on the rear (wheels leaning in at top) and none on the front because the caster acts as dynamic camber. Once this is set look at the toe in. For the purpose of this article the toe is set correctly in the rear and is fixed for best stability during cornering. For front to get the steering it its most neutral position where servo horn and steering rack is in its centre-most position. This is important to have even steering. Then adjust the tie rods as above to get the toe in/out you want. For me I like this to be neutral i.e. parallel - pointing directly ahead.
Picture
Back to some fairly neutral camber and toe
Correctly adjusted toe and camber will make you more accurate in a straight line and more predictable when cornering and going over obstacles. Like when you get an alignment on your car you'll also get more even and consistent wear on your tyres (especially if running onroad). 

Results
I'll be honest, I didn't even want to run the car before this was done - If I ran as setup from the factory the shocks would leak in no time and handle obstacles poorly, the loose diffs would make for poor traction and wear out quickly and the car would not have tracked well in a straight line or cornering with tyres wearing out quickly. With these free mods (tuning really) done the suspension is much better and more accurate, the driveline is smooth and the diff offers decent traction and the car tracks really well.
Recommendations
If you do nothing else to your car I STRONGLY recommend this tuning. Assuming you have the tools, the only disposable item you need is grease and that is available at any hardware store for very little money. Your car will run fine without it but it will run so much better with it and give you better durability and more enjoyment over time.
What next?
I've got lots planned for the two 144001 cars I have. The first will be set up as a track beast with a focus on handling and efficiency as well as speed and this will be modelled after the LC racing EMB-1h I also own. The second setup will be as a more durable high speed road car with a larger brushless motor ESC setup - probably the surpass hobby 3650/60a combo I reviewed here which has proved reliable on a much bigger truck. My son will have a third to keep strictly as a basher and for that one we will see what parts break and how they can be upgraded/improved.
Part 2 of free and budgets uprades has now been completed here:
https://www.quadifyrc.com/rccarreviews/wl-toys-144001-free-or-budget-upgrades-part-2
And Brushless 2838 upgrade article is now completed here:
https://www.quadifyrc.com/rccarreviews/wl-toys-144001-ultimate-brushless-upgrade-guide
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Two brand new 144001s flanking a nearly new LC Racing EMB 1
​​​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. Links are affiliated and help me buy the bits I need to produce this type of content. If you are looking for cars, quads or parts check out my coupons and discounts page which I keep updated with only the parts and quads I like at a proper discount
Thanks for checking out my article and please let me know on my facebook page or in the 144001 group if it worked out for you. I've created a reference page below for all of the 144001 articles I've published here:
144001 UPGRADES - EVERY ONE OF MY GUIDES HERE.

All available spare parts are here otherwise see key parts below:
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Stock 2s 1500mah lipo battery
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Upgrade 2600mah 2s lipo battery. I think this is the biggest that fits?
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Replacement f/r wheels
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Upgrade metal parts multiple colour options
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Upgrade steel drive gears
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Replacement ESC/transmitter
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Upgrade shock towers
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Replacement body and wing
66 Comments
fab
29/5/2020 07:57:42 pm

Thanks for your article !

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Quadify RC
5/6/2020 11:17:24 pm

My pleasure, I'm writing a second up now ;)

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Nic C link
12/9/2020 05:40:11 am

These posts got me into R/C thank you!

PHIL
6/3/2021 12:57:23 am

question for you, did the greasing slow your car down? both my 144001 cars could wheelie on my floor with the remo tires you recommended. then grease them and they are much slower, no more wheelies. any ideas? love your tutorials, just disappointed before greasing and after greasing made them slower. i would guess 20% loss in power instantly. is it possible to put too much grease? any other ideas besides take it apart and remove the grease? i want it fast again. thanks

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Nico8D
19/6/2020 10:54:46 pm

Actually I have found metal arms that has holes for adjusting the droop on both front and rear.

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ian williams
21/9/2022 09:06:56 am

Have you got a link to the metal upgrade

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Fabien
20/6/2020 09:31:01 pm

Merci beaucoup pour les super conseils !
Fabien from France !

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Quadify RC
21/6/2020 09:39:28 pm

De rein

(Sorry I cheated with google translate!)

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Daagel S Fossati
23/6/2020 12:51:48 pm

This is probably one of the most impressive in depth RC car articles I've ever read and it does an excellent job at explaining things for someone new at the hobby like me. The 144001 is my first RC car and I have been able to follow your tips on your first two articles to a T. Thanks so much!

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Quadify RC
23/6/2020 12:57:49 pm

Hey Daagel

Thanks for the kind feedback! Feel free to share it round. I have 3 articles on the 144001 published now and another drafted with more planned so keep an eye out. Happy driving :)

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Syd
9/7/2020 03:40:34 am

I'm torn on the diff grease/oil debate. The standard setup is something like 5-7-3 (front to back). I've heard the same that you said about this car not being equipped for thinner oil like that.

I'm debating whether I should get a thicker oil like 10 and 7 for front and back or go with a thick grease like you did.

Any thoughts on what the car can handle and what's best for dirt rides?

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karl
5/8/2020 01:15:13 am

Awesome guide, but can't wait for your bash mod as I really just want to run it around on grass. Seen someone fit emb-truggy wheels and explode their diff so interested to see what you'll do.

PS your diff housing removed pictures are round the wrong way. Engine is at rear.

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Quadify RC
5/8/2020 08:53:48 am

Hey Karl

Thanks! Yes on grad I find it gets stuck easy because the wheels are narrow which to be fair is typical of buggies. I've found some wheels that are bigger but not too big so hopefully not so big that the put too much pressure on the running gear. They are due to arrive this week maybe next week for the article.

PS thanks for the heads up on the captions ;)

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Karl
5/8/2020 10:07:16 am

Found some slightly bigger batteries that fit.

https://m.aliexpress.com/item/4001045733969.html

Jerome Urbain
18/8/2020 06:37:30 am

Hi! Thanx for this in-depth article and description. I'm looking to put some lights on this 144001...would you have any idea how or where to get them? Thanks a lot. Best regards from Brussels ; ) J.

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Quadify RC
18/8/2020 09:16:01 am

Hi Jerome I hope you are keeping safe over there in Brussels. Adding LEDs is simple, the 144001 ESC has a port for them (the little 2 pin one). I use these ones on another car but they should plug in easily. Not super bright but help you see the car in the fading light https://bit.ly/3bRLPan

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Trihet
24/8/2020 11:36:20 am

This is great, thank you. I have just got the 144001, have sorted the diffs today and going to sort the shocks as soon as I have bought some oil.

Can you help though? I don't know if the cars was like this before I took it apart to do the diffs but the steering column moves up and down slightly meaning there is some wobble in the wheels that I presume the car can do without. Maybe it was like this before, I don't know. I don't know anything about steering columns so I don't even though why it is made up like it is, for example the spring and the threaded bit that looks similar to the top of a shock. I tried to take the column off at one point to see if I needed to make an alteration where it is threaded but I couldn't undo the screw in the chassis, I'm in danger of stripping it. Any help would be much appreciated.

Thanks again.

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Quadify RC
24/8/2020 04:52:25 pm

Glad to hear you enjoyed the article.

The steering setup has a bit of play but not too much.The part with the spring on it is the servo saver and is designed to flew under load - the spring returns it to home position. The screw on the chassis shouldn't need to be undone but check in this article where I took the steering mechanism apart and replaced with metal parts. This might tell you if anything looks wrong otherwise post some pics on my facebook page https://www.quadifyrc.com/rccarreviews/wl-toys-144001-upgrade-metal-part-upgrades

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TRIHET
24/8/2020 10:50:49 pm

Thanks for the response. I have had a look again this morning and I think I was just looking at things too closely yesterday after sorting the diffs. Their is a mm movement up and down maybe slightly less so not a lot really so I think everything is fine.

Nic C link
12/9/2020 05:35:51 am

Great guides!

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Matto link
22/9/2020 09:08:25 am

Hi! Thanks a lot for the great guides! I really appreciate them :)

I followed your advice and even before the first run I filled the diffs with multi purpose bearing grease and then went to the first run.

The car runs great, but it has something that as a newbie I can't tell if is normal or not. When I move the car over the ground with my hand, the movement is not really smooth it makes a gear noise. If I lift it up, the diffs work great and smooth, but when the 4 wheels are on the ground this happens.

A YouTube video is better than a thousand words, so here we go: https://bit.ly/32NvOjo
(please listen to the sound)

Other than that, while running the car does NOT do any grinding noises and drives perfectly, but I am a little worried about that.

Is this normal?
Thanks again!

Reply
QuadifyRC
22/9/2020 09:17:25 am

Hi Matto

As far as I can tell from the vid that is the movement of the car overcoming the motor poles (magnets) as it moves and is sometimes called cogging which is perfectly normal. Best fix is to go out and drive and enjoy :)

Reply
Matto link
22/9/2020 10:30:57 am

Oh, that's a relief :)
Thanks a lot for your prompt reply!

Ahtlon
23/9/2020 10:43:39 pm

Hello, great article , I have the 144001, but also the 12428 ( sale, couldn't resist ) but I struggle with cSt ( Wt) thickness for the shocks.
I Mainly drive the rc on grass, sometimes on the road or car parking, but I want to drive also on the scatepark and do some jumps.
What would be a good starting point for buying the silicone oil, I have silicone oil at home.
For the diff. I have used the Maxima waterproof grease that I have.
Best Regards.

Reply
QuadifyRC
20/10/2020 09:27:29 am

Sorry I missed your question. If you want to do jumps you want something thick so it minimises the chance of bottoming out. I'd start with 60wt but you may want to buy a few and experiment given you are looking at lots of different surfaces.

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Apator
19/10/2020 10:08:20 pm

Hi, great great article for beginners and very very begginners like me. My car just arrive to me on friday sooo, I'm starting. Question: what silicone oil so you recommend?, and where can i buy it?. thks

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QuadifyRC
20/10/2020 09:29:43 am

Great, glad you found us! Exciting time for you, anticipation is half the fun. I used team associated oil because that's what my local hobby store had. All silicon shock oils are much the same for a given weight so get whatever is cheapest and most easily accessible. Grab some from your local hobby store or whatever is online and has cheap shipping :)

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Apator
23/10/2020 07:31:54 am

Hi, again, waiting for arriving "upgrades" , Do you have any video of this fabulous web?. Something we can see more detailed the upgrades you propose. for example: "2. Fill the diffs with grease" for begginers ;)

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QuadifyRC
23/10/2020 09:36:51 am

SOrry video isn't really my thing but I've tried to be as detailed as possible in my guide with pictures and comment.

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Apator
23/10/2020 06:20:44 pm

Thks so much for your contributions.

Jean-Michel
1/12/2020 12:34:34 am

Hello
Your blog is fabulous and full of teaching.
I have ordered a 144001 and a 124019 for my sons.
The 144001 is going to be modified for bashing with a 2838 and your tires and the 124019 to go fast with a 3650 Castle.
I will follow your valuable advice to the letter.
Thank you again for this sharing.
Do you have links for differential grease and shock oil?

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QuadifyRC
1/12/2020 08:51:27 am

Hey Jean-Michel

Thanks for the kind feedback :)

The 144001 really comes alive with the 2828 motor, it is worth the work. The tyres I recommended grip so much better offroad as well but they are often on back-order now. The 124019 will be quick with the castle motor, if you are running it on-road check out some foam tyres like the contact ones I used on my speed run build.

Sorry I don't have a link for grease and shock oil. Since they don't ship fluids internationally I'd recommend getting silicon shock oil from a local or online hobby store. For grease you can use anything but I found heavy duty bearing grease that I used on my motorbikes worked well. Have fun with your boys!

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Jean-Michel
1/12/2020 09:32:16 am

Thank you for the answer
I hadn't seen the foam tires on your blog but that's what I thought I'd take yes
I'm thinking of putting https://www.phatbodies.co.uk/ too
They are beautiful and the ESC will have more room I think
What viscosity do you recommend for the shock absorber oil?
https://www.rc-diffusion.com/huile-silicone-400-tornado-j17140/
https://www.rc-diffusion.com/huile-silicon-450-tornado-j17145/
https://www.rc-diffusion.com/huile-silicone-tornado-500/

I live near Ajaccio in Corsica there is no longer a RC store
Your blog is really a mine I still found ideas and advice to help me improve them

JP
8/12/2020 10:07:20 am

Great write-up! Thanks! 2 of these showing up under the tree this year, so want to be sure I'm set up before they start flying. Is there any way to get a bigger battery in than the 2600 mah? What dimension is the limiting factor? Think I saw a riser tray that raises the receiver/esc up a little to allow a thicker battery, but wasn't sure about length/width? Would be great to be able to slip a 4000 or 5200 in there?

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QuadifyRC
8/12/2020 12:05:23 pm

Hi JP!

I'd caution against going bigger than 2600 with the stock setup. The longer runtime means more heat buildup in the ESC and motor which is what I saw in my 144001. Even if it did physically fit a 4000-5000 battery I'd recommend against it for this reason.

If you go with brushless with the right gearing you'll get much better run time and it runs cooler.

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Mohammed Mahroof
17/12/2020 11:55:49 am

Brilliant for a beginner like me very in depth on doing the fixes.

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QuadifyRC
4/1/2021 10:08:16 pm

Thanks Mohammed, glad you found it useful!

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Josh Banks
4/1/2021 05:45:44 am

I love all of your articles so much on the WLToys 144001. Unfortunately, I'm new to the hobby and I've just purchased the a979 and have ordered a few upgrade parts for it. Is there any chance you could order one yourself and help me out?

All help appreciated, thanks.

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Josh Banks
4/1/2021 10:16:52 am

Is there any chance you could do an a979? I've just ordered one and i'm new to the hobby.

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QuadifyRC
4/1/2021 10:09:08 pm

HI Josh

No plans to look at the A979 sorry, it has been superseded by the 144001 and 124019

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Kevin
17/1/2021 05:58:27 pm

I took out my two diffs, one was smooth, one was smooth until it turned past a certain point. Damaged gear? No grease practically in either. I filled with grease and none of the gears were obviously bad.....so I put both back together and not smooth at all. Now the smooth one isn't smooth anymore after I put it back together. Not sure what I'm doing wrong. Both seems to "hickup" when I spin it past a certain point like it's hitting something. Why the smooth one didn't go back together smooth is puzzling me.

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QuadifyRC
18/1/2021 09:18:21 am

This is my best guess as I've seen it happen on mine from time to time.

There are small indents on the centre of each shaft that holds the internal gears in the diff that are meant to align. If there are not aligned that can bind. Mine self-corrected but it may need intervention on yours. Without more images and explanation, this would be a good place to start

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Hectoe
13/3/2021 01:04:16 am

Hola, ¿la grasa de litio para cojinetes se puede usar para llenar los diferenciales?

¿Este sirve?


https://www.amazon.es/EN-UNO-Profesional-34167-multiusos/dp/B00K7Y5HT8/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?__mk_es_ES=%C3%85M%C3%85%C5%BD%C3%95%C3%91&dchild=1&keywords=grasa+de+litio&qid=1615550340&sr=8-1-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUEyUDdFMFdJVlFJRkRYJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwNzQyNzE4MlVMOEVMN0M3R0M4WiZlbmNyeXB0ZWRBZElkPUEwODg4MDc4SUI1RDdMN1Y4SUE1JndpZGdldE5hbWU9c3BfYXRmJmFjdGlvbj1jbGlja1JlZGlyZWN0JmRvTm90TG9nQ2xpY2s9dHJ1ZQ==


Saludos desde Barcelona!

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QuadifyRC
13/3/2021 11:09:34 pm

Ola! I've been to Barcelona, beautiful place.

Lithium grease is fine but I'd recommend the thickest you can find so it doesn't leak out of the diffs.

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Hector
14/3/2021 12:01:35 am

Okay, but wich one do you recommend? I've seen copper grease and more.

QuadifyRC
14/3/2021 12:03:04 am

Heavy duty bearing grease

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Marco
14/4/2021 01:26:01 am

Thanks for the guides, still useful a year later :)

The 144001 I just received seems to come with the correct amount of shock oil, they were filled to the top but I could still fully depress the shocks before opening them.

The diffs were still as you described, empty with only a little bit of surface grease. I filled them with thick lithium grease I normally use for the 1:1 scale motorcycles, feels much better already. Let's see if it holds up!

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QuadifyRC
14/4/2021 10:38:16 am

Hey Marco, glad it's helped. Yes I think they are making improvements here and there which is good. Nothing wrong with motorbike grease, I used the left over bearing grease from my Bonneville rebuild 🏍

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Adam
14/5/2021 10:22:35 am

Hi, I just got 2 of these. On one I filled the diffs with grease and the other I left stock. The stock one was certainly faster in a drag race and the motor on the greased one got really hot. I don't know if it matters, but I thought I'd share my experiences.

Thanks for taking the time to write such useful articles.

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QuadifyRC
14/5/2021 10:44:59 am

That's really interesting. In a straight line with good grip (which presumably a drag race has) then the diffs aren't operating - I wonder if something else is going on?

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Adam
14/5/2021 11:05:34 am

Thanks for the reply. It wasn't an official drag race, just on the road outside my house, not perfect grip.. but you're probably right about the diffs. Thank you for the thoughts, I won't remove the grease. One is certainly faster than the other though. Could it be battery related? Both fully charged on the supplied chargers. Maybe one took more juice? I'll try to work out my multimeter tomorrow.

phil
15/5/2021 03:38:36 am

as inindicated months ago previously on these comments, same thing happened to me. greasing the diffs makes the car much slower. not sure why but it consistently slows them noticeably.

Adam
16/5/2021 02:47:54 am

Thanks Phil, I remember reading your comment. Did you ever solve it with thinner grease or anything?

Vipul
21/8/2021 03:03:38 pm

Loved the YouTube videos. Keep it up !!!!
1 quick question.
What are the 4 modes on the controller ? How to change them !!!
Cheers !

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Bill
25/11/2021 10:14:57 am

I was checking the dampers on my recently purchased (and now lightly used) 124017 .
One of the front ones seemed a little different than the other side for the amount of damping.
I took them off to check the oil levels inside but ended up a bit confused on how they are supposed to work, and how they ACTUALLY work.

I've been a hands-on maintenance engineer for most of my working life and have a pretty good understanding of this kind of thing. So here's my take on how they SHOULD work....

When the damper is worked up and down, the oil should flow through the four holes in the piston and the small gap between the piston and cylinder wall. This provides resistance to the rod's movement in both directions as the oil is forced through these four holes and the small gap.
Correct?

Filling the shock with a thicker grade of oil will increase the damping, as it's harder for it to flow through the holes, and likewise, filling the shock with a thinner oil will reduce the damping, as the oil can flow through the holes more easily.
Correct?

So.....I take apart the shock and empty the original oil out. It's pretty thick, a bit like runny honey, and has a milky colour.

So, check that everything looks ok, and refill the shock with fresh silicone oil.
(The fresh oil is slightly less viscous i.e. Lower weight, than the oil that came out)
Screw the top cap back on and test to see what the damping is like......
Well its VERY stiff, springy, and not able to be compressed fully.

Now correct me if I'm wrong, but it shouldn't matter if the shock is filled right to the top with oil?
The oil should flow through the four holes in the piston, plus a little bit through the gap between the piston and the cylinder wall. The travel should be smooth from top to bottom and back again?
Am I correct?

But the shock doesn't work as it should when filled completely.
It needs to have a certain amount of air space at the top to allow it to have full travel.
Which means that this air mixes in with the oil..... resulting in the oil being aerated ( which is why the oil I took out was a milky colour)
This would obviously affect damping because the viscosity of the oil is very much changed by this aeration.

So.... Here's MY take on the damper....
The factory fitted oil is far too viscous for the damper to perform as a damper SHOULD perform.
OR....The four holes in the piston are far too small to allow this viscous factory fitted oil to flow through quickly enough.
The design or implementation of this design is very wrong.
What are your thoughts on this?

Reply
QuadifyRC
29/11/2021 04:45:45 pm

Correct, that is how it works and on increasing the dampening (bound and rebound). Milky colour is due to air bubbles being emulsified in the oil - changes refraction of the oil.

What you are experiencing following refilling is a result of the oil level being too high. When the shaft goes into the shock housing it needs to displace some fluid and if there is nowhere for it to go, well there is nowhere for it to go. I cover this in more detail including how to fill here: https://www.quadifyrc.com/rccarreviews/wl-toys-144001-free-or-budget-upgrades-part-2

Reply
Ron De Ronde
27/11/2021 09:54:46 pm

Update the types above with 124017.

Reply
Andrés
27/12/2021 10:25:31 am

Hello, congratulations for your work from Spain. I have read all your articles of the 144001 and they have been very helpful, especially for a rc newbie like me. I recently bought two 144001 for my 7 year old son and myself. We are very happy after 2 outings with them. today i cleaned them and grease the axles, tomorrow i will try to grease the differentials. I bought some bumpers for the LC to help minimize damage in accidents, some aluminum heatsinks for the motors, a charger / balancer and some extra 3,000 mAh batteries that im waiting. Although it is early for modifications, I wanted to ask you about the brush motors with that exist in the market for direct change, if it is really worth the change or is it better to directly make the change to brushless. For now, after two sessions, we do not need more speed or power, most of the sessions are with power between 20-40% capacity, but I wanted to know if a brand motor like the Titan would be more efficient and smooth for future update. Another thing I'm considering is changing the wheels for ones with better grip on dirt and grass. I've seen the ones that the 124017 mounts. What do you think? Finally, I wanted to ask you what kind of configuration do you recommend for a learning and fun use. Above all, I want my son to learn and enjoy this wonderful hobby. Thank you

Reply
Andrés
7/1/2022 04:56:24 am

Hello again, my son and I have had a lot of fun with the cars, and I have tried some aggressive and neutral settings, for now we are left with the more neutral ones, they seem more flexible to me since one day we can go to the road and another to asphalt, plus a neutral setup seems more fun. Diffs still in stock. We already have the 3,000 mAh batteries, the motor really gets very hot, even if it is not used 100% after 20 or 30 min of fun with the stock battery there is to let it cool well, I hope the heatsink help with that, if nota i will try to put a heatsink with a fan. All the brushed motor have this issue? For i read, surpass brushed motor Heat a lot. I think now I will order oil for the shock absorbers to set them correcto. Thanks for your work.

Reply
Martyn
15/1/2022 12:19:58 pm

Great tutorial. Thanks.

Just received two models from BG with big quality differences. Red one runs quietly and was set up well - perfect shock rebound, no leaks, balanced, almost silent running. Correct battery carrier length and velcro strap straight out of box.

Green one had no oil at all in shocks, short battery carrier (with too short velcro strap), leaks oil from all 4 shocks once filled correctly, was not set up symetrically (random attachment points where there were multiple holes) and noisy rear diff. At least I think it is rear diff - could be mitor to flywheel too tight. I did your mods - slightly reduced noise (maybe?) with no obvious defects in planetary gear...

Pisses me off that QC is random - if they were both like the good one it would be a fantastic product.

Reply
Isaac
21/4/2022 11:41:29 am

Hi Martyn, sounds like you got one of the poorer set-up 144001s, usually they are better. That's the first time I've heard of one with no oil in the shocks, wrong battery tray length (I assume you got the versions with the bigger 3200mAh LiPos), and screwed up suspension mounting.

All those things can be fixed, check the shock seals and O-rings, they might be busted, or maybe you overfilled the shocks and blew the O-rings, and that's why the shocks leak.

I'm guessing the QC difference is down to the people who assembled them, almost all, if not all, of those issues probably were a result of poor assembly and not the QC of the parts themselves. Maybe the person who assembled the red 144001 was into RC, or had at least some knowledge about RCs, and thus put a little more care into the assembly, or maybe they weren't rushing.

The person who assembled the green one might have only assembled a couple of RCs before, or that was their first one, and/or they might have been in a real rush.

My red 1440001 (bought in Jan of 2020) was assembled nearly as well as your red one. For anyone else reading this who doesn't have a 144001, the color really doesn't matter, it's who's assembling, so don't go for the red one just because of what you just read, I'm sure there's also some other person out there who's red one was not put together as well as their green one.

These are really good cars, and at the end of the day, that's what matters!

-Isaac

Reply
Isaac
21/4/2022 07:34:44 pm

Hi Quad, I was refering back to this article today when I was re-adjusting the camber/toe on my 144001 (it gets a little out-of -wack every few months from me making small adjustments here and there, and driving), and I'm wondering, do you have a link to those rubber, rally style wheels we see in the second-to-last picture (the top view of the adjusted 144001)? Would they happen to be the LC-Racing EMB Rally wheels? Also, one last thing, could you quickly check if the LC-R EMB-1 (Buggy) body first the 144001? I'm pretty sure it will, the but there are some difference in the top deck between the two, so I wanted to check.

Reply
QuadifyRC
3/5/2022 04:20:48 pm

Is Isaac, they were some cheapies I got off aliexpress. They looked cool but grip and wear was poor so I don't recommend. I fitted the EMB-1 body to a 144001 in this article:

https://www.quadifyrc.com/rccarreviews/144001-brushless-upgrade-the-cheapest-setup-worth-having

Only fits with the smaller brushless motor - there are additional lumps in the 144001 body to allow for the oversized 550 motor

Reply
Isaac
4/5/2022 06:57:25 pm

Oh, ok, I'm always on the lookout for other wheels for these cars, the more options the better (except when you have to choose from multiple great wheels)!

I've seen other wheels on Ebay and Amazon that have the same rim, but a different, directional tread pattern.

Right, right, thanks for reminding me! I actually followed that guide, and my 144001 is running that brushless setup (2440 4600kV motor + the Surpass 35a ESC)!

Interesting, I thought the body shells would be the same, I asked because I was wondering if the distance between the mounting holes on the two body shells was different (as the LC-R EMB-1 top deck won't fit on the 144001, 2 screw holes are "misaligned").

Good to know though, I just checked my 144001's body shell, I don't see any "lumps" per say, but these body shells do have a "busy" design! I guess Wltoys made the body shell bigger pretty discreetly!

So yeah, the EMB-1 shell will fit on mine, as I'm using the smaller 2440 motor. BTW, did you know that LC Racing makes a brushed car, the EMB-SCT brushed? Plastic chassis, bushings instead of bearings IIRC, plastic shocks, and no slipper or center diff I think, all for $140 🤔🤔 I think Wltoys wins in that round! I mean, bushings instead of bearings, really?

ian williams
21/9/2022 09:24:53 am

You mentioned getting stronger springs for the rear of car could you point me in the right direction to purchase springs. Would you recommend replacing front springs as well

Reply
QuadifyRC
23/9/2022 11:33:28 am

Springs are on here and usually good to replace as a set but rear are definitely more in need of replacing: https://www.quadifyrc.com/rccarreviews/which-lc-racing-parts-fit-the-144001-124018-124019-the-full-compatibility-list

Reply



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