WL ToyS 144001 Upgrade: Metal Part Upgrades And REview + Banggood summer prime sale

With the boom in popularity of the WL Toys 144001 1/14 scale RC buggy, there are a lot of aftermarket parts available now, all of which are currently available at here. For this article I'll be looking at why I chose the metal upgrade parts I did, how to install and my thoughts on the parts I did install. 

Don't forget to check out the other guides and reviews I've already written for the 144001:

• 3 simple mods before you turn it on to improve performance and running life
• The next 3 cheap or free upgrades
• Full brushless motor/ESC install guide

The first thing you probably think of with metal parts is that they will be stronger than the plastic parts they replace. Although this is true, strictly speaking, the stock plastic pieces do have advantages in some situations, specifically -

1. They are more flexible
2. Have a better bite with screws
3. Can sacrifice a cheaper more easily replaceable part rather than transfer force to a more complex, more expensive or more difficult to replace part

Because of this some parts are well suited to be replaced with metal and some are not. I've chosen the below components to be replaced with metal parts to improve the durability of the car. All parts are available in several colours: Blue, Red, Pink, Gold, Silver, Black.

Just a quick note that Banggood have started their "summer prime" sale which runs July 3 - 24. It's usually around halfway through that they share their best discounts on around 100 of their better selling products which usually includes the 144001 RTR buggy - I'd recommend waiting if you are planning on making a purchase. Here is the link to their sale page where there is supposedly $1m worth of discounts 🤷. Sounds like a bit of a line but I've put their here. These sales events are usually pretty good and I'll pick the best coupon codes and be sure to have them up on my coupons and discount page

Recommended parts:

Rear hub carriers. Typically a little more durable than front knuckles and castor blocks but still a common weak point so worth going metal

Front Steering Knuckles. Commonly a weak point on many cars so worth considering here

Front Caster Blocks. These are a weak point on many cars so worth considering

Steering Cranks. May help stiffen steering link. Less critical but worth a go.

Hex drives 12mm. I've installed but do not like at all, more below

I've specifically avoided these parts below because I think they will reduce net durability for reasons explained underneath the images. If you are just going for looks however they do still look great!

Parts I recommend against:

Arms front or rear. Unless you need bling avoid - although stronger they put stress on hinge pins and gearbox mounts. plastic suspension arms are very strong.

Battery seat. Going metal here offers no performance benefit, just weight

Spur and pinion. The spur is definitely more durable but adds a lot of rotational mass and reduces performance. I'd prefer lighter, cheaper stock spurs.

Top deck. Given the design I think it may add weight rather than stiffness

Gearbox. Jury is out on this one for me just because I don't feel the gearbox is prone to damage

Plus other parts available with my comments

Part I don't have a strong opinion on:

Tie Rods. Although the ball joint cannot pop off on these types of tie rods the are more susceptible to loosening with vibration. I will only install if the stock ones keep popping off.

Motor mount. Colour match by all means but performance is same as stock mount which is cheaper

Shock towers. These definitely have more material so should be more resistant to damage. Probably worth a go, I might order some.

Shock absorbers. Same price as stock but you can colour match if you wish. No performance improvement

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Rear hub carrier install

As always click on any picture to embiggen (yes it is in the dictionary)

Pack includes left and right rear hub carriers

Different mould shape but same geometry as stock

A closer look at shape difference

Remove top 2.0mm hex ball joint for castor tie rod and small phillips screw that holds the outer hinge pin in

Push hinge pin in from other side and remove as above, Dogbone drive shaft can be put aside.

Use the above image to guide you to use the correct hub carrier and replace hinge pin and screw

Remove plastic hex and drive pin and then hub will slide out

Remove both bearings in the hub carrier

Transfer bearings to new hub carrier, seat correctly and slide in the hub.

Replace drive pin and hex (I used the metal hex here)

Add blue threadlocker to tie-rod ball screw thread and screw in to the outer hole. Don't forget the dog bone drive shaft

Should finish up looking like this, now repeat for the other side.

(Front) Steering knuckle install

Front steering knuckles come with left and right units and extra screws

Remove ball tie-rod ball screws for steering and camber as above with 2.0mm hex driver

Remove wheel hex drive and pin, remove philip screw that holds the outer hinge pin in and remove hinge pin.

Remove the above assembly which includes caster block, knuckle and driveshaft (CVD in the front)

Remove upper and lower screws that connect knuckle to caster block. Noth the collars in the knuckle

Transfer bearings and driveshaft to the new knuckle.

Insert collars from your original plastic knuckle as above

Blue loctite screw threads and screw new knuckle to new caster blocks

Knuckle should be able to swivel freely in relation to caster block

Outer hinge pin and fastening screw back in. blue threadlocker the ball screws and tighten. Check the driveshaft is in properly and pop the tie rods back on the ball mounts

One side completed above. You shouldn't need to re-adjust the tie rods.

Complete for both sides, replace drive pins, then drive hexs and then wheels.

(Front) Castor block install

See above - this is covered as part of the front knuckle install

Steering crank install

3 parts included in the kit

Remove the screws circled above. Pop off the tie rods connecting the rack to the steering knuckles. Unscrew the ball screw the connects the servo tie rod.

Lift out the steering assembly as above

Unscrew the drag bar and reinstall on the new crank arms. Don't forget the collars.

Unscrew the red thumb ring from the servo saver and slide out the mandrel (including bearings) from the stock servo saver 

Install the mandrel and bearings in the new servo saver, don't forget the lower arm of the servo saver. Lightly lubricate the curved servo saver mounting surface. Replace the spring and tighten the red thumb ring very lightly

Reinstall the steering assembly and screw the top place back on.

Move all ball screws to the new steering rack using blue threadlocker on the threads. You shouldn't need to readjust any of the tie rods if you use the same holes as above.

Hex drives (12mm) install

Pack includes 4 x 12mm drive hexes and drive pins

Remove stock plastic hexes and pins

Install new hexes and pins. Yes, the hexes are lose and annoyingly these drop pins with regularity.

My final recommendations
Install for all parts were very straightforward, as per my notes I definitely recommend loctite any where a screw is going into a tapped metal piece. In order of prioritising metal parts for durability I'd go for the front caster blocks and knuckles first followed by the rear hub carriers and steering cranks. Avoid the 12mm hex drives for sure as they offer no durability benefit, allow the pin to fall out easier and bind up when the wheel nut is tightened too much.

Of course feel free to ignore this if you are more about looks, the colour options and range of parts mean you can really dress the car up if you want.

You can see some of the upgraded blue parts here on an otherwise stock car that I am keeping this way for general bashing. On the second car I've installed a small, well balanced 2838 brushless motor for off-road racing performance in this article and for the 3rd car I'll be building an on-road only speed run machine. This to follow in a later article.

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 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