If you are in the market to purchase a Remote Control (RC) and thinking about a T-Maxx here is some helpful info:

  T-Maxx or E-Maxx hmm

E-Maxx:  Everything a T-Maxx is except for the time and headaches of a nitro (gas) burning truck.  Just charge and you are ready, vice adjusting the fuel mixtures everyday with the changing temperaturs.  Most items, A-arms, Bulk-heads bumpers ect will from between the old pro.14 and up.  I have not viewed the new E-maxx upclose, not the newest t-maxx to see if parts are compatible.  The older ones, yes most of the parts are inter-changable.

 My son is 12, and his 1st RC was a T-Maxx.  We both ran them at the same time because it needed to be tweeked everytime.  Finally I broke down and picked up and E-Maxx for him.  Best thing I could have done, just charge it up and he could run it anytime without me around.

T-Maxx:  Even the Pro .15 T-maxx is a good starter.  The Pro .15 has the smaller yet durable engine.  The way to tell the visual difference between the Pro .15 and the newer version 2.5 is the throttle linkage setup.  With the older version Pro.15 the throttle linkage comes straight back over the trani onto the side of the carburater.  The 2.5 has a side post sitting offset of the trani with another linkage going to the carb.

  The Pro .15 is set up with a little narrower wheel width.  The 2.5 or the sport maxx has the wider stance for a little better handling.

Can a Pro.15 be converted into a 2.5 version?  Yes, you would have to either a) Purchase a new 2.5 chassy with the side post throttle bolt holes or b) you could try and drill out the holes on your older chassy(It can be done, just a little more of a pain)

2nd:  Pick up the 2.5 motor, and then you can buy the throttle linkage required to fit the newer motor(all over ebay).

3rd:  Pick up the wider A-arms upper and lower along with the wider control arms(all over ebay)

Items I have done with parts off ebay:  I have built a complete t-maxx with used or new parts.  From a 2 wheel drive (sport maxx) then into a sand dragster built for running straight in dirt.

If you are looking for a good used t-maxx the biggest item to worry about is the motor, anything over 7 or more gallons of fuel ran thru them without being rebuilt needs to be rebuilt.  If you have a t-maxx with a longer extended chassy, that means the motor shaft is longer and the chassy had to be pushed back away from the trani to fit.  Some good, some bad depending on what your plan is.

For just daily runs and fun time running, the 2.5 or the pro .15 motors are dependable.  I have also had good luck with the megatech .16 engines, which is a good drop-in replacement for the .15 traxxas motor.

  For the ease of rebuilding t-maxx's, they are pretty easy to do.  If you pick one up needing repairs even better, then you can build it and see how easy they are to work on.

  For me, the hardest thing to do is adjusting the trani shift points.  I always forget which way to turn the screw. 

Power and Top End:

  Clutch Bell off the end of the motor can be changed to either a higher number of teeth or a lower number of teeth, and just to the opposite high or lower for the spur gear to get your top end or your lower end torq.

  My thought on this:  The higher the speed, the higher the repair bill to rebuild those broken a-arms or bulk heads.  I like the lower end torq and not the top end speed, especially running it around on the streets.

  RPM A-Arms Vice Alum A-Arms:  You have to ask yourself this question:  If I drove the T-Maxx around for 5 minutes and wrecked it, could I go out and buy another new set of Alum A-Arms?  Is this going to be used for show? 

My .02 on A-Arms:  RPM.  RPM to me they look good, you could pick up the white set and die them to what ever color your want.  When you put them on for the 1st time, soak them in Armor All, this way the dirt and mud will fall off.  If you want flexibility, and I know a lot of people may disagree with me but, boil your A-Arms in hot water for a little more than 5 minutes, they will twist and flex more afterward.

Should I remove reverse?  Answer:  Yes, depending on if you want more performance.  Reasoning:  Weight.  On these ounces is like pounds.

If you remove reverse you will take off:  Your Reverse Servo and wires, less weight and less eye clutter.  If you have ever cracked open your trani, about 1/2 of the gears inside are for reverse, which means everturn inside your trani is moving parts.  If you eleminate reverse your are taking weight (ounces) out of your trani, which means less mass to turn and your trani spins faster.  On your reverse removal package, the directions on the back are clear and anyone can do this task. 

Lockers:  Another touchy subject.  My experience with running a locker in the rear on loose dirt and if you have your motor tweeked to perform, you rear end will just break loose and spin you around.  Packed dirt is does better, but you will have to learn how to drive it again.

Cheap and better Tires:  Take your stock V treaded tires and grind notched into them which makes them a smaller tread pattern, and you can also notch out the side of the tires for more traction while sliding into and out of a hot corner.

Trick to replacing glued tires:  Soak them in boiling hot water for a few minutes.

How can you make a t-maxx turn faster:  Upgrade your stock steering servo, I have always used the $60 servo with a steering kit and an upgraded battery pack.  Your can also take your servo mounting brackets off (the black mounts) and mount your servo directly to your chassy, a little less play(use a servo saver).

Tire Tread Contact pattern:  You can adjust which part of your tire rides flat with adjusting your end round head bolt that go onto the ends of your A-arms thru the inside of your wheels without removing the outer cap.

Ride height adjustment:  You can adjust with your shock towers and a-arms.  Lower for better road manners, or high for bashing and jumping.  You can stretch out your stock springs (pull them to make longer) for a cheap fix to botteming out on jumps.  Change your shock oil weight for either smoother or harder landing.  I used 20 weight on my inside shocks and 50 wieght on my outside shocks.

Water and electronics DO NOT mix:  Please purchase a Fail Safe, trust me, the last thing you will want to see is your t-maxx busting into 2nd gear(pulling the wheels while doing it) with a 10 degree turn on the front wheels running AWAY from you into a chain link fence, or onto a 4 lane road(it's not frogger).  For 30-40 dollars it could save you hundreds.

Breaking in a New Motor:  This is the MOST important thing you will do.  Take your time, and do not get into a hurry with this, I know you will want to take it out ASAP, but patience is worth it in the long run.  Proper breakin of you motor is key to a long life of your motor.  My .02, I usually do the break in times about one tank longer and slowly lean down your settings after the extra tank.  My 26 maxx motor is still running on 2 turns in from factory settings and it still hammers down the 2.5 stock motor.  Look are the below comments for a glow plug batter, and you will need several GOOD Glow Plugs while breaking in a new motor.  Long life = Proper breakin.

Running a motor to learn will cause it to run hotter and not perform for a long period of time.  Suggestion:  Purchase a bigger head which makes it run cooler and let that engine smoke a little.

More weight removals:  Everyone like the electric start, just push a button and it whirls away.  Remove that heavy EZ start and replace it with a pull start, excess weight in my book.  The key to firing up a motor is a hot glow plug.  Pick yourself up a big squarebattery and use that.  You glow plug with actually glow. 

I could go on and on for hours talking about these, so if you ever need any advice or help with rebuilding one, just drop me a line.

  Exhaust:  I purchased a Dual Exhuast set-up before and my reaction was quick, I took it right back off.  These motor sound good and run good with the stock setup of a modified header/muffler.  The dual exhaust I was running was just TOO loud to be running in a neighbor hood. 

  Roll Cages:  There are several different styles to choice from.  I much prefer the one that bold on, vice being held on with the bumpers.  Meaning, it has two slots in the front and two in the rear that bolts on with the bumpers.  If you choice to run a roll cage, you could add onto the roll cage.  I found a cage I liked, and decided to cut little pieces of thin sheet metal out and soldered/welded the piece onto the back side of the cage.  Turned out pretty nice, desiged to look like a rock crawler design, I again to the stock bumpers and modified them by cutting them off shorter right by the little piece or brace close to the end, meaning they turned out to be short, but fit the design I was going for.  Once you cut off the extra pieces on the front and rear, I just went ahead and ground them down and smooth/rounded off the edges.  If you scuff them up enough you could paint the bumpers, but when you do bashing the paint will eventually just wear off. 

  Gas Tanks:  Advice, remove the stock tank and purchase some small rubber washers and place between the tank and the chassy and then reinstall the tank, the small rubber washers will help reduce the vibration which causes the tanks to crack and leak.  Tired of sticking you hand down and pulling up the gas lid?  Try this,  if you have an old pull start, use the little rope and handle and tie this onto you gas lid so you can just pull this pull start up and the lid will come with it.  Saves time.

3.3 Drive Shafts:  The new 3.3 drive shafts will NOT fit the older T-MAXX/E-MAXX Steering Knuckles.  The inner beering on the shafts are much larger than the 2.5/pro versions.

  In my shop the only cost is the replacement for broken items.  Once you have one and you start enjoying them, you will under stand why.

Jim