QUADIFYRC MODS AND REVIEWS
  • Home
  • Quad Reviews
  • Quad Mods
  • COUPONS AND DISCOUNTS
  • RC Cars
  • Racing quad builds
  • Long Range
  • About & Contact

RC Car Reviews

Bang for buck RC Car reviews and budget upgrades can be found here. The focus is on maximising fun and minimising cost

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

25/5/2020

40 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.
Picture
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!
Picture
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.
Picture
All four shocks will need to be removed for testing and emptying to the correct level
Picture
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😱
Picture
Top plate removed
Picture
Steering rack removed
Picture
Rear orientation of diff crown gear)
Picture
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.
Picture
Four screws holding the crown gear on to come out. Front and rear diffs are identical
Picture
Crown gear off. You can see the planet gears and shafts
Picture
Planet gears and shafts out of the housing. Now it halfway and replace planet gear set
Picture
Once planet gears are in fill it right to to top
Picture
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
Picture
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:
Picture
Stock 2s 1500mah lipo battery
Picture
Upgrade 2600mah 2s lipo battery. I think this is the biggest that fits?
Picture
Replacement f/r wheels
Picture
Upgrade metal parts multiple colour options
Picture
Upgrade steel drive gears
Picture
Replacement ESC/transmitter
Picture
Upgrade shock towers
Picture
Replacement body and wing
40 Comments
fab
29/5/2020 07:57:42 pm

Thanks for your article !

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

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

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

These posts got me into R/C thank you!

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.

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

Merci beaucoup pour les super conseils !
Fabien from France !

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

De rein

(Sorry I cheated with google translate!)

Reply
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!

Reply
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 :)

Reply
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?

Reply
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.

Reply
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 ;)

Reply
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.

Reply
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

Reply
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.

Reply
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

Reply
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!

Reply
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.

Reply
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

Reply
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 :)

Reply
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 ;)

Reply
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.

Reply
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?

Reply
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!

Reply
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?

Reply
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.

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

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

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

Thanks Mohammed, glad you found it useful!

Reply
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.

Reply
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.

Reply
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

Reply
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.

Reply
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

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Archives

    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020

    Categories

    All
    1/10
    124018
    124019
    144001
    Balance
    Basher
    Battery
    Brushless
    Charging
    Drop In
    Dumborc
    EMB-MT
    Goolrc
    Guide
    LC Racing
    Lipo
    Metal Parts
    Pinion
    Program Card
    Racerstar
    Review
    Setup
    Sg 1602
    SG 1603
    SG 1604
    Speed Run
    Surpass Hobby
    Transmitter
    Tuning
    Tyres
    Upgrade
    Wheels
    Wltoys

    RSS Feed

Thanks for visiting QuadifyRC.com Follow us on facebook below to get all the latest updates
  • Home
  • Quad Reviews
  • Quad Mods
  • COUPONS AND DISCOUNTS
  • RC Cars
  • Racing quad builds
  • Long Range
  • About & Contact