Jeff Hoy, American

I’ve dumped the weak-sauce motor that comes with the Highroller.  That motor is seriously underpowered for a 12-turn.  So I dropped in a Team Orion Formula Pro BB 10-turn double modified and stepped up to a 15 tooth pinion gear from the stock 12 tooth.  With the much more powerful motor, even geared more aggressively, the Highroller accelerates a lot faster and has a much higher top speed.  I decided against making the jump to brushless due to the cost factor.  I had already installed a very high quality brushed motor ESC in the truck and I didn’t want to just throw that out.

Another important change is the steering servo.  I removed the stock Losi (Chinese knock-off) servo, which only has 45 oz-in of torque and does 60° at a glacial 0.17 of a second.  I upgraded to a much beefier 100 oz-in and bullet-like 60° at 0.11 of a second.  The servo I chose is a Futaba S9405.  Not only does it have strength and speed, it also features ball-bearings and metal gears providing a greater amount of durability over the standard servo.  This beast swings the wheels much easier and faster than was possible with the old servo.  Steering response has been improved dramatically.

My main complaints about the Highroller still stand.  It absolutely NEEDS a sealed gear diff or ball diff to improve performance.  The Highroller also needs stronger (titanium anyone?) outer drive axles to improve durability, I’m getting tired of having to bend them back straight after a rollover or rough landing.