WL TOys 144001 Upgrade: WHeelbase Extension for High Speed Stability

Extending the wheelbase on RC cars is nothing new but I've yet to see anyone document this for the WL Toys 144001 Thus, I've written this article to show you how to do it step by step. There are a number of benefits, not least of which is straight line stability. The good news is that this requires no extra parts and it only takes about 10 minutes

Basic theory for extending wheelbase
Changing wheelbases has long been something you could do with race-spec RC cars in order to adjust for track conditions. Generally speaking short wheelbases allow for faster turning (sharp corners in particular) and longer wheel bases allow for better straight line stability. The 144001 is overpowered for such a small car (especially if you upgrade to brushless) that any increase in wheelbase is welcomed ESPECIALLY if you are looking at speed runs where straight line stability is crucial.

My first proper race car was the Kyosho Turbo Optima Mid and that has a VERY short wheelbase. Damn I miss that car

This is the ARRMA Infraction which is made for high speed road bashing. See long the wheelbase is in relation to the wheel track and this size of the wheels. There are very stable at speeds in a straight line

Extending the wheelbase on a WL Toys 144001
The good news is this is very simple on the 144001 and it's free - no new parts are needed and so far as I can tell there are no compromises to the car. In fact there are slightly more benefits than I first thought:

1. More straight line stability as already mentioned
2. Weight balanced shifted forward slightly which is a good thing given the rear bias with the big motor
3. Reduced chance of wheelies during speed run

Anyway on to the guide:

Remove wheels, tyres

Remove drive hexes and pins

Remove shocks and retaining hardware. If you haven't already adjust the shock fluid level please do so by reading this article

Remove upper tie rods and the ball mount from the shock tower

Undo the small screw that retains the other hinge pin 

Remove the pin by pushing from the other side with a body clip as shown above

Remove the rear arm pin carrier. Use this opportunity to decrease rear toe in as per this article if you haven't already done so

Flip the arm over and reinstate the hub carrier, hinge pin and retaining screw. If you want to upgrade to metal hub carriers check out this article

Reinstall the tie rod ball mount on the other site (facing backward). Use the same middle hole as this is nice and neutral

Seat the dogbone drive shaft in the diff outdrive and hub.

Clip the tierod in. It should look like the above image

Reinstall the shock but facing forward this time as per the above image

Reinstall the drive pin and hex drive

Reinstall the wheel. Job done!

Easy right?! I've checked over the alignment and everything seems to be fine - the shock sits square and doesn't foul on anything and the dynamic suspension geometry remains nice and neutral. The only disadvantage I can see is that you can no longer fit an LC Racing Anti Roll Bar. This is a fairly minor disadvantage - anti roll bars are typically only used for track racing. This mod will add an extra 5 to 10 mm of extra wheelbase which is small but significant. But for a fast and free mod? I'll take it.

For those keen eyed readers you can probably figure these changes have been made for my new speed run car, however I will roll out to my other cars in time as the benefits well and truly outweigh the disadvantages on these small cars.

Looks like just under 10mm increase in wheelbase over stock? Maybe the rear shocks in front of the arm will give me a small aero advantage ​😂

Another angle for the contrast between standard setup (left) and extended wheel base setup (right)

Comparison of stock setting (right) vs extended wheel base (left). The different sized wheels makes it hard to tell but the extension is between 5 and 10mm

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.

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