What Upgrades for T-Maxx?

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kkipp9

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  1. Bashing
Hello. I just got another Tmaxx after having been truckless for eight years. I went with a 3.3. I have beena reading these forums a bunch. Seems like some big changes have happened since I last twisted a tuning screwdriver. I am looking for any basic upgrade advice. I generally run stock until I break it and then rebuild it stronger. RPM is my favorite. Lunsford for pins and MIP for drives. I hear that MIP drives do not work so well for the 3.3 because of longer travel.

My biggest question is about a replacement motor. I hate tuning. I understand it and all. It is not really that difficult. I am going to run the 3.3 until it grenades. What to replace it with is the question. I do not need huge power. I am looking for easy tuning and longevity. I had an OS 18 years ago. Now they seem so expensive. Any ideas or advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks for reading.
 
Rpm is always a good idea. I gave my T-Maxx 3.3 to my brother, he put the Traxxas CV axles on it, there isn't a center CV option for the extended wheelbase that I'm aware of. As far as replacing the engine, someone else will chime in with "bigger and better" but FWIW, I'd stick with the stock traxxas piece. They have their "power-up program" that makes a whole new engine $110 or so. (Of course that was a year or so ago)

Have you looked at the suggested T-Maxx upgrades thread?
 
I am thinking that since it only has half a gallon through it that I may to it down and seal it.
 
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I have never done it before. I saw the very good thread on it here, seems easy enough.
 
The 3.3 is a step up from the 2.5/2.5R, but for me, it still wasn't enough for a 3.3 chassis revo. I also tried upgrading the pipe to a THS pipe and carb to a losi 3.4 carb. The carb lasted about 500cc's of fuel and the engine performed noticebly better, but at 500c, the carb started binding so bad that it ended up stuck at half throttle. So, that was a waste of $40.

I went with an OS21TM in my revo. Which then a full RRP steel trans followed because about the 4th tank of break, burned a gear in the trans, 5th tank, sheared a pin, 8th tank, sheared a pin again... ordered RRP and has been fine since, probably closing in on a gallon. Considering the lack of adjustment the OFNA 28 engine for teh revo (requires their special mount), I went with the OS21TM as it's really the only other "upgrade" that's "drop-in". Since I already had the better pipe, figured I'd go that route. While it's better than the 3.3, I'm spoiled by my big block revo (LRP28 S3 in it). It does ok with the OS21TM, but not $260 worth of "better".

With a t-maxx, I'd be inclined to go with the OFNA 28 drop in (requires special mount) as I believe you can still move the engine to adjust gearing, then gear it up a bit and plan on RRP and FOC for the trans. I run stock center and outer axles on my BB revo with stock (non-e) diffs and it holds up just fine. I replace the center slider axles probably once a year (3+ gallons of run time) and the outers once the yokes start stretching, but they hold up a lot longer.

From back in my "t-maxx" days, I tried a BB conversion (with a comparatively weak OS21RG), which then required full upgrade of everything from the engine to the wheels, and even then, the diffs would grenade on a regular basis. With the revo spec axles/diffs, traxxas made the t-maxx much stronger than 15 years ago. And now that RPM makes bulkheads for the maxx... I'd be inclined to go with a maxx over a revo just because it appears to be easier to put the OFNA engine in it and with 8 shocks that can be upgraded to something more beefy, it can handle big air without bending the damn chassis like the revo does.

Maybe if I had a track, the 3.3 would be enough engine, but I spend 90% of my time in grass that is tall enough to drag on the lower arms. The 3.3 did fine at my skate park, which I have been going to less since they installed a big ass dog park next to it. I get a lot of stink eye's now when I bash there because the dogs notice and people don't like listening to the engine... regardless how little I like listening to their damn dogs.
 
I cannot find anywhere to get the ofna 26 max. Has it been discontinued?
 
*remembers to go search for T-MAXX shock options for my brother* thanks olds!
 
I have read a lot of posts on here about replacement motors. Most of the posts are old though. What is a good currently available upgrade? I am not looking for huge power. It is just for bashing. I would like reliability and easy tuning. I run my stock engine rich for safety and it is plenty enough powerful. I looked for all of the ofna picco engines. I cannot find them. Are they all discontinued? One option is to just run what traxxas gave me and use their engine program I guess. Just seems like I am always chasing the tune on this thing.
Thanks for reading.
 
I just want something that will be reliable. I do not need anything more powerful than the 3.3, it really has plenty. I just got this new Tmaxx 3.3. I know the .15 and 2.5 engines were not all that great.
 
Sorry, didn't know you already had the 3.3. I just found your other thread. I'll be merging the two since they cover the same topic and will combine the same info.
 
Ok. I did a lot of research and it seems like all of the options other than O.S. are not available. Maybe I should just stick with the 3.3.
Sorry for the confusion.
 
I cannot find anywhere to get the ofna 26 max. Has it been discontinued?
You may be able to find it on some sites, but I believe it was replaced with a new OFNA based 28 (vs the picco 26) which you still might be able to find somewhere. However, I believe ofna shut down, so not sure you will find much besides the OS21TM readily available as a mid-block upgrade.
 
Well that explains a lot.
 
Well that explains a lot.
Yeah, kind of stinks. OFNA used to have a couple, RB Concepts had a couple, OS had 1 or 2, Novarossi had one, orion I think even had one and dynamite did have a .19, but it was plagued with OWB/starter shaft issues that I'm not sure were ever fully resolved. Probably some others I'm forgetting.
 
So is the new 3.3 traxxas any good? I didn't like the previous .15 and 2.5. They never seemed to take and keep a tune. I am going to seal this one next week. The ever changing Pennsylvania March weather is upsetting this one. It ran great in the 60's and then not so much today in the low 40's.
 
Yeah, same issue here. Was 20F, then 60F and now back in the low 40's.

I had "ok" luck with the 3.3, but it just didn't give me the power in my 3.3 chassis (longer) revo that I wanted. May have been more impressive in a shorter chassis (more wheelies) and may be more impressive in a t-maxx anyway since it generally stands taller. Now, I'm not a wheely'ing fool, but to me, being able to pull a relatively easy wheelie on pavement means I have enough power to bash and run in grass without fighting with temps. However, with the 3.3, unless I ran it near 270F and lived with the erratic off throttle idle, it just didn't perform well. Even then, it was still very "ho hum" to me.

I tried gearing it down, but it was so slow that it wasn't fun anywhere but at my local skatepark, which is small. I don't run there much now because the geniuses that do the city planning turned one of the softball diamonds into a dog park, then extended the fence right up to the edge of the skate park, then the same geniuses put a seating pavilian near that same edge of the fence for people to sit at while their dogs run around. So, any time I go, I get at least 3 or 4 mom haircuts giving me the stink eye and I bail before the call police. I usually get about an hours worth of time there before all heads are looking at and stink eye'ing me...

So, I run at another park that has quite a bit of open space and grass, which means I need to gear taller to hit any natural hills for jumps and since it's all grass, the 3.3 just couldn't keep up. 40/15 gearing just didn't get it done. I ran 15/36 in it with my 21TM last weekend and it was ok. My 16T bell and dynamite long life shoes just showed up, so will see how that does with the 21TM when the temps come back up above 50F.
 
I run mainly grass. I am going to do the sealing and see what stablend temperatures give me. Is the OS stronger than the 3.3?
 
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