WL TOYS 144001 / 124019 / 124018: Ultimate Brushless upgrade Guide

The WL Toys 144001 is an excellent low cost hobby grade RC buggy that I ordered from Banggood. I've already taken free and low cost steps to improve performance in part 1 and part 2 of my upgrades guide. This upgrade guide here is dedicated to installing a powerful and efficient 2838 brushless system that is optimised for balance, handling and efficiency. It will also be much faster and reliable that the stock system. This upgrade is fully compatible with the new 124019 and 124018 as well and an excellent option to improve performance and battery life.

As mentioned above the brushless upgrade I am doing here is based on a smaller, lighter more powerful motor than stock so I can get the best handling by reducing weight and improving balance. For this reason I have chosen a brushless 2838 sized motor (28mm diameter, 38mm can length) that runs at 4500kV. This is the same spec powertrain used by the premium LC Racing EMB-1 on which the 144001 is based. The objective is to optimise handling by removing the extremely heavy and power hungry but inefficient brushed 550 motor.

I have not gone with a brushless motor the same size as the brushed 550 (3650, 3652, 3660) as these are really only suited to speed runs - see my speed run build guide if that is the kind of build you are looking for

Benefits from this 2838 brushless setup over stock will include:

• Stronger acceleration
• Higher top speed
• Better front/rear and left/right weight balance
• Lighter overall weight
• Ability to run 2s or 3s safely
• Much better battery life
• Greater crash resistance since car carries less momentum.

Click on any picture in this article to Embiggen or go to product link

Motor size comparison: The stock 550 weighs 271g and the new, more powerful 2838 weighs 95g. Damn!

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I strongly recommend looking at the first 2 articles I've written on mostly free or very cheap upgrades that significantly improve the handling and life of the EMB-1 before you upgrade the powertrain - you will enjoy it so much more and will get to know the car better. They are here:

1. Upgrades to diffs, shocks, camber and toe
2. Upgrades to dampening, droop and fixing the rear toe in

Parts needed
Unfortunately upgrading to brushless power is not simply a matter of changing the motor. If you want to use a brushless motor your will need a brushless ESC. The stock ESC has a receiver built in so you will also need a new receiver and transmitter. Lastly the stock servo is a 5-wire servo that is incompatible with regular receivers so you will need a new receiver too. There are some other minor parts too, I've listed everything I've used below:

$28 Brushless 2838 motor / 35A esc combo 4500kv is the set I used. Consider this one as an alternative if unavailable

$76 Flysky FS-GT5 transmitter and receiver with built in gyro and multiple model storage. This low-mid range set has great features and range. My choice for this upgrade

If you want a stronger ESC then consider the Hobbywing 16BL30 here for $37. You can buy the 2838 motor seperately here

$9 PDI-1181MG digital metal gear servo THIS IS THE ONE TO GET - a direct swap with stock zero for 3-wire PWM control. The Emax ES3054 is a good option if the 1181 is unavailable

$2 WL Toys A969 17t pinion. This set has 2 gears and is needed to drop the gear ratio back from the 27t stock pinion

​The following can be considered optional although I would stongly recommend:

WL Toys 144001 spare motor mount. Please strongly consider getting one of these as the motor screws and pinion are nearly impossible to remove with damaging something.

 3.2mm hardened drill bit for drilling out pinon gear. If you can't get one locally these work well

WL Toys 144001 full screw set. If you don't have spareM2, M2.5 and M3 screws and nuts I'd recommend this pack for a full set of spares.

For tools you need a drill, a fine needle file (<3mm diameter) or dremel, 1.5mm hex driver, + screwdriver and some good double sided foam tape. I also used the tools below to make the install cleaner but are not crucial:

Side cutters. These particular ones are actually surprisingly good for $2

6Pcs 3*140mm Mini Diamond Needle File Set. Something like this should be ok for slotting the motor mount holes for the 17t pinion

TS100 Soldering iron. This model is the absolute business. If you are into RC of any kind this is the one to get.

63/37 Tin Lead Rosin Core Solder. This stuff is fine if you can't get locally.

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Step 1: Remove the old gear
All the old gear will need to come out - the motor, the ESC and the servo. Follow the steps below:

Remove the circled screws to release the top plate

Unplug the servo and motor and remove the whole assembly

Remove the plastic motor cover and it should look like this

Remove the circled screws at the rear of the car from the motor mount

Like so...

The mounted motor should come out like this after you rotate it around the driveshaft bearing. I strongly recommend stopping here and keeping this entire assembly intact.

If you want to recycle your motor mount you'll need an impact driver or butane torch to remove the motor screws...

... this is why. Motor screws are absolutely superglued in. There is more superglue than screw!

Even if you can get the motor screws out the pinion set screw is worse. Mine needed to be drilled out to get the plate off. Again, strongly recommend you buy another motor mount and keep the original motor, mount and pinion intact.

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Step 2: Motor install
This is the hardest step as you'll need to drill out the pinion and slot one of the motor holes on the mount. Moving to the smaller 17t pinion is a critical part of this upgrade and a big reason why it performs so well.

Adding a thick oil will help keep the bit cool during drilling. I used 2-stroke but you can use anything

I'd recommend a lathe or press but you can use a regular drill with a steady hand. If you have a clutch make sure you use it as the bit will bind on the set screw hole.

A959 pinion hole increase from 2mm to 3.2mm alongside the stock pinion

This shows the motor mounted using the narrower 380 sized holes and rotated out a little to allow for the 17t pinion. The difference between the current hole and where it needs to be above needs to be slotted

Here is a pic of the motor mount slotted. You'll also need to remove some material to allow for the countersinking of the screw. I forgot to mention elsewhere but the 2.5mm diameter holes for the 380 mount will need to be taken out to 3mm

Hole slotted, countersunk and fitted. I re-used the stock motor screws but if your get damaged you'll need m3 x 8mm countersunk screws

You'll need to remove some material from the lower plastic cover to allow for the new motor location. I started with the side-cutters and tidied up with a dremel.

To install the motor you'll need to slide the driveshaft bearing sideways into the slot...

... And rotate. Now to test the mesh. I was lucky I got it right first time with just the smallest amount of backlash. You may need to increase slotting or adjust if you don't have the mesh right - this is crucial. More on meshing here.

You'll need to take a little material away from the top gear cover too.

Cover on and mesh set!

Top plate back on. Congrats, you're through the worst of it!

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Step 3: Servo and receiver install
If you use the PDI-1181MG servo as specified it will not require any modification and install is simple. If this is out of stock then the Emax ES3054 is also a direct fit

$9 PDI-1181MG digital metal gear servo THIS IS THE ONE TO GET - a direct swap with stock zero for 3-wire PWM control. If this is out of stock then the Emax ES3054 is also a direct fit

Before anything else power up the servo by plugging in the powered ESC and servo with the transmitter on. This should bring it to neutral position. You can now unscrew the stock servo, change the bracket to the new one and install.

Next install the servo horn at perpendicular to the chassis as above. Remove the ball joint from the stock servo arm and reinstall on the new arm. Choose the hole that has the same or less distance from the servo drive as the stock unit. Note - you can re-use the stock servo arm if using the DPI-1181MG servo

Use the radio trim to ensure the servo horn points directly up.

Adjust the tierod connecting the servo horn to the steering rack so that the rack is square as above. Adjust toe in/out to be neutral. This should make for even and precise steering. More details on adjusting tie rods and toe here

As above there is about 23mm between the motor and the servo to fit a receiver. This is plenty of room for the Flysky-BS6 gyro receiver included with the FS-GT5 transmitter. Stick this to the chassis firmly with double sided foam tape.

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Step 4: ESC install and wiring

I'd recommend taking a bit of time here, it is worth fixing everything down securely so things do come loose in action. Move things around and do a lot of test fitting before you fix things in place

Here's all the spaghetti you start out with. You'll need to coil, wrap and fold wire to keep them out of the way of moving parts (like the drive shaft especially.

Use both double sides tape and zip ties to fasten everything securely. Don't leave things like the switch flapping around

Don't forget to test fit the body as well. With these parts it should easily fit but you need to make sure your cable management is sorted like above. I cheated though - more on that below.

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Step 5: (optional): Tidy up the wiring
As an RC car guy I'd leave the wiring as is and just run it. As a quad guy I know that tidying up wiring is pleasing to my eye and I know it will be better to make sure I don't accidently damage wires or connectors and can fit the body on cleanly every time

Servo connector and silicon wire. I used two sets of these to replace the crappy plastic coated wires from the servo and ESC. Silicon wires are so much more durable, flexible and heat resistant.

First job on the ESC was to desolder the 3 black motor wires, measure the length they needed to be, cut, tinned and reconnected.

Although the ESC isn't stuck down here you can see how much tidier and shorter the motor wires are. Note, each are a different length to allow for them going around a corner.

The white connector here has the 3 wires that go to the receiver and the power switch. Make a note of which goes where or refer back to this image.

The white plastic sheath was cut away separately so that each pin could be desoldered separately. Here I used the new silicon servo wire and a shortened power switch wire after trimming each to the correct length

I had the silicon servo wire exit the bottom of the ESC as it suited this install more. End result is shorter, more functional wiring.

I did the same with the new servo too - replaced the crappy long plastic coated wires...

...with shorter trimmed to length silicon wires that are much nice to work with and of course more durable.

Here are the results. The cable ties make it look a but ugly but everything is very sturdy and will not get in the way of moving parts. I may plan to shorten the battery cable later on and will probably change from a t-plug to XT30 at the same time.

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Step 6: Get it running
Now that everything is in the right place it's time to get it running.

The ESC should be set just fine from the factory in terms of trim and endpoint. You should have a proportional speed increase as you squeeze the trigger up to maximum speed. If the wheels are still spinning pushing in the opposite directions will engage the brake. If you return to neutral and push back again it will reverse

With all the work you did on the steering links you can now trim it to track straight with no steering input. Next use steering End Point Adjustment (EPA) or dual rate to adjust maximum steering points so that the servo isn't straining at full steering either way. Refer to your controllers manual on how to adjust EPA/dual rate

In terms of programmable options the default settings are fine - medium punch, medium brake force, 25% reverse speed, 3.1v cut off to protect your lipo and 9% deadband. If you wish to adjust these they can be done with the programming card I reviewed here.

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So how does it go?
The performance has improved in every single way you can consider performance. Immediately the punch off the line is just incredible and it goes on to a much improved top speed but that is not even the best part. Massively improved efficiency means I get about double to battery life out of even the stock 1500mah 2s pack. Significantly less weight means handling is much more nimble and it jumps way more evenly. Rear suspension is no longer undersprung and under dampened with the decreased weight (ok maybe slightly undersprung and dampened). I've already had a few tumbles and so far as I can tell the lighter weight means I am bending and breaking less. Now that this upgrade article has been out for sometime and has become very popular, this setup has been GPS measured at around 60-64KM/hr on 2s and 96-100km/hr on 3s with stock tyres. That is certainly no slouch!

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Why not just buy the EMB1?
Given all the gear you need to complete this build you are no longer less than half the cost of the LC racing EMB-1, which begs the question - why didn't you buy the EMB-1 in the first place? Well I have both and I'll tell you why I prefer the upgraded 144001 over my EMB 1 - because I love to tinker and I made it. Objectively this makes no sense because the EMB-1 is superior to even an upgraded 144001 but it is the customisation and pride in build (as well as encouragement from the community) that makes this car really special to me, Not that special though, after all this is still a basher that loves to be run! Update: I've done a direct comparison on this upgraded brushless 144001 vs the more expensive LC racing EMB-MT - article is here

Exact Parts used in this build to replicate mine:

Surpass 2838 4500kV motor and 2-3s 30A ESC

Flysky FS-GT5 Radio

PDI-1181MG 17g metal gear servo

Stock 144001 motor mount

0.7mod 17t pinion gear (2 pack)

3.2mm hardened drill bit

What's next?
I still have lots planned for the 144001. I'm planning on simplifying the upgrade process as I look for unicorn pinion gears that allow you to use the stock motor mount 380 holes (completed - here). I'm going to look at a number of aluminium parts to see which are worthwhile (completed - here) and which cause more trouble than good and lastly I will build my 3rd 144001 as a road-only speed buggy (completed - here) and see how fast we can go for cheap and minimal modification.

​Update! I've found some unicorn pinion options that allow you to bypass the slotting of the motor mount and using the stock holes instead, full article here ​WL TOYS 144001 BRUSHLESS 2838 UPGRADE EASY NO CUT OPTION

If you want to stay up do date with my very lastest guides and articles, check out my new facebook group here - QuadifyRC 144001 124018 124019 Modders' group

Other parts worth looking at

I'm trying to keep a running list of parts I use and think will be useful. For those parts that come from Banggood please try the code "parts8" for an 8% discount. It works on some products and not others otherwise check my coupons and discounts page as I'll add any 144001 cars and parts there if they get discounted.

Wltoys 144001 1/14 Metal RC Car Whole Screw Set
I strongly recommend these on hand because - even if they are soft you don't want to run out

7.4V 2600 MAH Lipo Battery T Plug For Wltoys 1/14 144001
This is the largest 2s battery that will fit - more peak current and nearly twice the run time

​RC Car Wheel For Wltoys 144001 1/14 4WD
These are cheap enough and good enough to run on or offroad. Unless you are going for 80kph + speed runs these are the best allrounders

M3 locknuts
These are the ones that are used to hold the wheels on. You WILL eventually lose yours and these ones are less than $2 for 20 of them

Upgrade steel drive gears 
​Possibly and overkill but the steel spur gear is worth considering if you need the durability

LC Racing LC RACING Anti Roll Bar For EMB-1
This sway bar set will fit the 144001 if you need to control body roll

Upgrade metal parts multiple colour options
Most of the metal chassis parts can be found in this listing

Spare Diff (front and rear)
Probably the easiest way to replace a damaged diff. Don't forget to grease them!

Wltoys 144001 Upgrade Metal Front/Rear Tower
Stronger shock tower upgrade to replace the bendy stock ones. 4 colours available

CVD driveshaft
Use either as a replacement in the from or an upgrade for the rear.

Surpass Hobby Waterproof 3650 3900KV Brushless RC Car Motor With 60A ESC
Larger motor and ESC combo good for 3s speed runs. I prefer the set used in this article but it's a horses for courses thing. I've reviewed here

ISDT 608AC AC 60W DC 200W 8A BattGo Smart Battery Charger
The USB charger included with the 144001 is a piece of crap. This ISDT charger represents the best bang for buck at present. Full review here.