The next upgrade I performed was to the wheel bearings. The stockers are ok for stock, but I felt I would benefit from some real performance bearings.

There is one on both the inside and outside of the steering knuckle.

For this truck, Fast Eddy Bearings got the nod. He offers a full kit with all the bearings you need for the Slash 4×4, and every bearing in the entire truck. We are just doing to the wheels today. This winter, I’ll be doing a full tear down on this truck, and I’ll replace the bearings in the diffs as well at that time.

The blue walled bearings are stock, black are Fast Eddy.

We get both fronts back together, and turn our attention to the rear.

Just like on the fronts, there is both an inner and an outer bearing here. We swapped them both.

I had a few people ask me what the can of Cow RC Moo-tor cleaner/degreaser was all about. Well, the stock Traxxas axles are a telescoping style, that get gummed up very easily. I used the Cow RC cleaner/degreaser to make sure all 4 driveshafts were perfect, and that there was no binding due to extra dirt in there.

The final upgrade for Stage IV was the body. The stock Traxxas body had cracked and split in many places. It was time for something new. A few months ago, before Motorama, I picked up the JConcepts Hi Flow Raptor body for my Losi XXX-SCT. This time I wanted to try the Pro-Line Flotek so I could make a comparison. Look for an article on how I painted, and cut out, the Flotek body in the coming weeks. For now, here are the finished shots.

Driving Impressions

It was very hot throughout the Intergalactics. The CRC crew worked hard to keep it watered between heats, but by the time I was up in 4WD SCT, the track had pretty much dried out. I fought the handling on this truck, specifically because of the extra steering. I had to dial down my steering dual rate to 82% so that it was manageable. The Savox servo was a 100% improvement over stock.

For those that drive a short course truck, you are familiar with the parachute affect. This occurs when you are jumping the truck, and air gets caught under the body, causing you to lose control of the attitude of the truck. I honestly didn’t feel like the Flotek body helped with that aspect. I’m going to cutout the rest of the recommended locations and try it again, but in the form you see in the pictures it just wasn’t enough. To prevent parachuting, I had to nose the truck down slightly as soon as it got in the air, so that the air wouldn’t get under it.

The bearing upgrade is harder to quantify. I can tell you that the stock bearings, after only a few months of use, were already gritty and crunchy. The Fast Eddy Bearings are silky smooth. This equates to less rolling resistance on the drivetrain, obviously a benefit.

This will be the last upgrade for this truck for a while. I want to spend some time tweaking its setup as the truck sits. At this point the truck is a contender. With a better driver, it would be winning A Mains right now. But I like to say I’m about average, I make the B Mains mostly, sometimes I win them. Some more practice with it, and I’ll crack the A Main bubble. This fall, after outdoor season is complete, I’m going to do a full tear down on this truck. I want to try a thinner center diff oil, as well as replace all of the bearings I didn’t get to in this upgrade.

I hope you’ve enjoyed following the work put into this truck. Look for more exciting projects in the coming weeks and months right here on RCSoup.com!