The 4-Tec rundown!

[muscle rc]

Well howdy fellas!

I've recently sent a series of questions to the Traxxas Customer Service folks, but they recommended that some of my questions would be best answered by the online community.

So here we go.....

I bought a Traxxas Nitro Sport back in the day before the pro .15 engine was factory equipment for it, and I never really had any complaints about its performance, nor any of Traxxas' other nitro rc's and my experience goes back a good ways as you can see.....however, I did have some complaints about the last Traxxas car I bought. The electric Rustler to be exact. It was advertised at 24+mph but even with a seven cell back, and change in spur and pinion gears, not to mention the trinity motor I put in it, (it should be taken into account that with the trinity motor, I sacrificed a bit of accelleration, but gained a noticable top speed increase) the stadium truck never delivered more than
22mph.
I put a great deal of time, and money and effort into that rc truck, but never achieved the performance that I wanted, or even expected; (and I'm in no way bashing Traxxas as their nitro rc's have never failed me, and I have every confidence that they are a rock solid manufacturer).
I don't know why the little truck never reached it's promoted potential, but it was fun while I had it none the less.
I am however, not a rich man, and I want to get the biggest BANG for my $. So I turn to you good people in search of help, and answers to these queries:

1. I was very interested in purchasing an electric 4-tec, but will it really do the 24+mph it's advertised at, and what's the best way to insure that it does?

2. What are the best hop ups to get optimum top end speed out of it?

3. How can I get it Velinion Brushless compatible, and what kind of performance is that likely to yield?

4. Is the 4-tec a worthy car of upgrading, or should I look elsewhere in the Traxxas factory?

Thank you all for your time and attention.

Larry

[neonracer01]

answer for question 1 is it should be close depending on your battery + good connection (deans plugs or similar)

answer for 2 is the Velinion Brushless and bearings instead of the bushings and diff from the 3.3 nitro (stickey at the top of page)

answer to 3 is bolts right in and is amazing and scary fast with lipo (you video,s display a few)

answer to 4 is if your no competion racing yes , if you plan on racing indoor carpet in a feid of tc5's then you should look elsewere . if you want durability and bashing this is a great car and traxxas makes a few good upgrades like the carbon fiber chassis.

[jatodood]

Is the velienien power system going to destroy the 3.3 diffs?

[cooleocool]

It shouldn't. The Nitro diffs are pretty tough. Project uno uses them in his Velineon powered 4-Tec, and from the sounds of things, they work really well!

[muscle rc]

thanks for the info......still unsure about a few things though.

answer for 2 is the Velinion Brushless and bearings instead of the bushings and diff from the 3.3 nitro (stickey at the top of page)

I'm not terribly inclined with the lingo. What bearings do you mean? Where do they go? Could you tell me a little more about the differentials you mentioned, where to get, where they go, ease of installation, etc.

[ToGGoT]

I would 'guess' that the bearings are '5119 Traxxas Ball Bearings', and the diff, and guide are all detailed in the guide at the top of the forum, already nicely mentioned by neonracer01.

But Linky if you cant find it.

ToGGoT

[muscle rc]

What would be the effects if I were to just go out and purchace a 4-tec car, the Velinion kit, put them together, and run the car just the way it's built from the factory?
Would there be immediate effects? Drastic or subtle?

Thank you again for all your help guys/gals; it's been extremely useful!

[neonracer01]

you can do that and with no problem but i dont know how long the diffs will last.. maybe buy a few extra belts also.

[john01374]

I know of a couple of people running 4TEC's with Mambas and the stock diffs don't last long. The 3.3 diffs are an easy and cheap upgrade. I'd at least buy them right away when you get the car. That way you'll have them when it breaks. Geared correctly the car will easily do 40mph on a GOOD 6 cell battery. maybe 45 on a 2S lipo. I'm not sure why you old rusty never made it to 24mph. Sounds like something was binding or maybe the ESC was bad somehow. I bought a piece of junk that I intended to use for parts off ebay and it ran 22mph (verified by cop radar) on a 7cell tenergy pack. It had an OLD speed gems and a XL1 ESC.

[MambaRustler]

I Just installed my 3.3 diffs on my electric 4-tec and I have a mm5700 on it. Ill post some pics tommorow

[muscle rc]

Do you mean that properly geared the car will do 40mph out of the box, or with the Velinion upgrade?
I'm also curious as to why the 4-tec is rated a skill level 2 out of 5, instead of 1. It's not off-road and so it's not likely to be slammed into a rock or rolled up a dirt bank, so is it something in the maintenance of it, or is there a propensity to roll or something else all together?
About what is a good price for a 4-tec? I've seen a prices between $190 and $240. How about the Velinion kit? Haven't seen one for sale yet.

And just for the record, you guys are awesome!

[jatodood]

I think it is complexity and maintenence why it is skill level 2.

[neonracer01]

Do you mean that properly geared the car will do 40mph out of the box, or with the Velinion upgrade?
I'm also curious as to why the 4-tec is rated a skill level 2 out of 5, instead of 1. It's not off-road and so it's not likely to be slammed into a rock or rolled up a dirt bank, so is it something in the maintenance of it, or is there a propensity to roll or something else all together?
About what is a good price for a 4-tec? I've seen a prices between $190 and $240. How about the Velinion kit? Haven't seen one for sale yet.

And just for the record, you guys are awesome!

a new Velinion kit is 169.00 + 190 for the car....

[I know pi!]

I thought VXL was like $150, and a 4-tec can be bought cheaper than $190, I seen cheaper on ebay for new ones and probabally even at LHS.

the 4-tec I'm happy with the speed I get out of it, the VXL wil bolt right in, get the $3 ESC mount that literally BOLTS it right in! not this esc tape that doesnt stick to top plate well. you will be happy with the 4-tec the front ground clearance and diffs are reccomended upgrades to get soon.

[project_uno]

i bought my t-ec with alum steering casters and new rims/tires but as a roller for 20$ i have seen RTR sold for 50$ on ebay...

I think it is complexity and maintenence why it is skill level 2.

Bingo. it more maintenance but still no rocket science unlike making 50 million post over battery/motor posts.

[muscle rc]

I've spoken to traxxas support about the rustler VXL and they tell me that in it's most formidable form; i.e. with proper spur/pinion gears, and the lipo batteries, that it will actually out run a finely tuned jato 3.3!
Is it in the realm of possibilities then that an electric 4-tec w/Velinion hardware would have enough juice to overtake it's Nitro counterpart?

[project_uno]

I've spoken to traxxas support about the rustler VXL and they tell me that in it's most formidable form; i.e. with proper spur/pinion gears, and the lipo batteries, that it will actually out run a finely tuned jato 3.3!
Is it in the realm of possibilities then that an electric 4-tec w/Velinion hardware would have enough juice to overtake it's Nitro counterpart?

it would be hard to say. i have the 3.3 nitro tec. and the e-tec just no lipos i would love to run theses side by side to see who passes who from low to top end and tons of other witch ways.

[john01374]

I have no doubt that a properly geared 4TEC with a V system and a 3S lipo would out run a 3.3 tec. People are getting rustlers up around 75mph. the 4tec is lighter, smaller and a whole lot easier to drive. Just don't get carried away with a super down force body. The stock 3.3 body would work great minus the big wing. You don't need wings on the back for top speed runs. One question i asked before but no one ever answered. Will a maxamps 3S 5000 fit in a 4TEC? That's about what you'd need to do it.

Muscle RC - to answer your question the 4TEC should run 40MPH with the brushless system and a good 6 cell battery. stock is mid 20mph's if you have a real good battery. I never should have gotten rid of mine If I didn't have other touring cars i'd buy another one.