WL ToYS 144002 BRUSHLESS UPGRADE: CHEAP and Easy with Great Performance

The WL Toys 144002 is a fantastic handling 1/14 scale monster truck that I reviewed here in full. It is really let down by the powertrain though - although it has a large brushed motor, the gearing is way to tall with the big wheels and suffers with terrible acceleration, poor torque and poor battery life, none of which is a good match for a monster truck and offroad conditions. In this article I will present an easy to install brushless upgrade which is inexpensive and performs great with double the battery life

Let's get straight into it: Brushless motors are much more powerful than their brushed counterparts and so simply choosing one with the same dimensions as the stock motor is a poor choice. It will remain heavy and you still have not solved the issue of tall gearing since you are stuck with these same pinion gear on these large motors. Even with a low KV option this will still make for poor acceleration but will now add cogging into the equation similar to what we saw on the Eachine EAT14 (reviewed here)

Below are the components I've chosen for this setup, the whys and alternative options.

Components

Brushless Motor

My choice for this build - Surpass Hobby 2445 3600kv (same as Racerstar 2445 3600kv)
This is a proven drop in replacement for the 144002 and the lower 3600kv option is perfect for the big wheels on this car. Importantly the motor drive shaft is 2.3mm which is a direct fit for the 15t 0.7m pinion gear.

Alternative choice - Surpass Hobby 2845 3800kv (same as Racerstar 2845 3800kv)
More torque and power with the larger diameter can and stator but you would need to drill the pinion from 2.3mm bore to 3.2mm bore which is not easy to do correctly.

Brushless ESC

My choice for this build - 144010/124017 ESC (same as blue surpass hobby 60A ESC)
Confirmed direct fit with correct plugs and dimensions and plugs to suit this car. Reliably does 2s and 3s but is a bit laggy.

Alternative 1 - Surpass Hobby 35a KK ESC
I used this in my cheapest brushless setup worth having and it's holding up will even on 2845 3800kv. I wouldn't trust it on 3s but on 2s it has less lag and correct plugs and easy fit.

Alternative 2 - Hobbywing Quicrun 35a ESC
Brilliant little ESC that is much smoother and more responsive than the Surpass Hobby models but costs more and will need a new battery connector soldered on. If unavailable I recommend the 120a version for more overhead.

3-wire Servo

My choice for this build - Surpass Hobby 17g metal gear servo.
I've tried all the servos in this size and this is the fastest, strongest and most reliable. A direct fit.

Alternative option - JX 1181MG 17g metal gear servo
Close second to the surpass hobby unit above and a worth replacement of surpass not available.

Radio Gear

My choice for this build - Receiver for 144010/124017
This receiver works with the stock 144002 transmitter to keep the cost down. Simple, cheap and effective

Alternative option - Dumbo RC X6 with gyro
If you want a good budget radio you can't go pass this unit. This transmitter and receiver will give you much more range, better quality, more adjustment options and use of gyro to assist with steering corrections.

Pinion Gear

Only option - M0.7 15t pinion gear.
This pinion gear is critical for this build and is only available from this retailer and this retailer on aliexpress and nowhere else. This pinion is a godsend and a reason these builds can exist.

The last part you will need is a pair of countersunk M2.5 x 8mm screws like these ones. These will fit the new smaller motor to the stock motor mount.

Installation Guide

Installation is very easy, I've taken lots of pics to guide you through the process below.

Here is all the gear laid out ready to go in

Remove all plugs from the stock ESC/Receiver and cut the cable tie holding it on

Remove the receiver from the car (there is double sided tape underneath)

Remove the 4 rear screws holding the top deck down

Hold the top deck up and remove the top gear shroud

Remove the prop shaft bearing guide that slots into the motor mount

Remove the screws as above that hold the motor mount down. You will need to use a butane torch to heat the screws and melt the superglue that is holding these in

Rotate the motor around the prop shaft as above and slide out the side. Remove pinion and motor screws all of which will need the butane torch treatment

New 2445 brushless motor in the motor mount in the alternative holes with the M2.5 x 8mm countersunk screws. Make them tight but locktite not required.

Pop the 15t pinion on and tighten just a little

You'll need to trim the lower gear shroud because the motor sits much further inside the car now and it would otherwise foul

This is what mine looked like with enough clearance for the new motor,

Install the motor the opposite of how you removed the stock one. The smaller size makes it easier to go in

Trim the upper gear shroud as well

After you have put the screws in holding the motor mount to the chassis you can then align the pinion with the spur and tighten the pinion screw right up.

Top gear shroud and prop shaft bearing guide back in

Top plate screws back in

See the plastic side guide is in the way of accessing the Servo?

With the guide removed you can clearly see and access the servo

Remove the 2 crews underneath holding the servo down

The servo is free - unscrew the black screw holding the servo horn on

Stock servo on the left with mount which is easily moved to the new servo on the right

Screw the original servo horn on the the new servo with the same screw

Screw in the new servo from the chassis

Since the ESC is from a 144001 it fits perfectly as does the receiver for the same reasons. Make sure you test fit if you use other gear.

Work on cable management with cable ties and trim if you are confident in soldering plugs and boards

You can swap the connector from the LEDs on the shell to a servo plug but note WL toys have got the red and black wires reversed. Plug into any spare port on the receiver

Performance Review

This car is completely different with this motor setup. I cannot emphasise in words just how much it improves this cars but I will try!! Like other small brushless swaps I've done you get the following benefits:

• Higher top speed - 55km/h on 2s (up from 45km/h stock)
• Faster acceleration - this is probably more important that the speed increase because the difference is so stark; it feels like a vastly superior car now
• Better handling - the car is so much lighter now and handles much better as a result. Since it is carrying less weight it is also more resilient in crashes.
• Better battery life - compared to the 8-10 minutes before I am now getting 15-20. Brushless motors, particularly small low kv ones like this one are just so efficient.

The only downside I found from this upgrade was that this particular ESC I chose has a bit of a delay from throttle input to motor acceleration. Decreasing the throttle dead zone could using the programming card may help a little but will not be a complete fix.

I can confirm that this is the ESC because swapping the radio to a DUMBORC set made no difference. This is consistent to what I found in my WL Toys 144010 review although not as pronounced with this car due to the shorter gearing. For this reason I'd recommend the Surpass KK 35a esc or the hobbywing if you had more to spend,

Recommendations

I can't recommend this upgrade enough if you have this car, It really does fulfil the ultimate potential with big improvements over practically every characterstic of this car. Being able to reuse the radio through use of the 124017 reciever makes this upgrade quite cost effective and as such is one I strongly recommend for the WL Toys 144002. The little 3600kv motor is a great match for the 15t pinion and large wheels on the 144002 with great torque for offroad bashing without the issue of overheating.

If you are looking for a discount on this car, I will post any coupon codes or flash sales for it over here on my coupons and discounts page. Remember buying from any of these links supports my page without any cost to you and is appreciated especially since I don't ask for money via patreon and the like. If you want to get involved in this discussion, feel free to join the QuadifyRC Facebook Group Here or like my page below.