Traxxas Rustler VXL 4x4 - Tips, Gearing, Weak Points 

The ending was the best. Trying to decide a favorite and giving up!! "just buy em all". For me it started with a 2s brushed rc car for Christmas. Then escalated. 1/16 e revo, then xmaxx, then maxx. Now I want the e revo 2.0, hoss, rustler, and trx4, summit 1/10, and more!!! Haba

Thanks for the tips. Because of your advice I bought the aluminium bearing adapter when I bought my Rustler and installed it before even running the car. I've also added a fan to the ESC and motor that I think should have been standard on this car. With regard to getting the body off (and on too), that really annoyed me as I had untold trouble. So I put some small rubber grommets in the 4 front body mounting screws between the body and the inside frame effectively lifting the body slightly so it doesn't get caught on the shocks. It's now so much easier to install/remove the body and to my eye doesn't raise the front enough to look weird.

We run 3 rustler vxl in the garden on 3s and standard gearing with a cooling fan on the esc so flat track and pretty flat out. We have broken countless A arms, hubs, drive shafts and are constantly adjusting the steering turn buckles. Other than that they are serious fun and have taken some abuse. With no heat related problems so far although our average temp is probably about 8 or 9” c. I tried the high speed gear that came with it and with just short sharp bursts it melted the connector on the battery. That was on a 2S.

thanks! i bought a 4x4 VXL and i was looking for weak points! This was super helpful to know that this was a good buy!

Installed the cooling fan and Traxxas rustler 4x4 light kit. And used Tmaxx 3.3 res springs for the rear shocks. And 3758R res springs with 40wt Traxxas oil. Handles better around the corners and doesn’t bottom out as much.

Yep you are actually correct. One more thing that i have disovered today is the top screw on the front knuckle arms gets loose too. I dont know how tight it has to be but i tightened mine up to the point it doesnt wiggle! Let me know if you got the same issue too!

I’ve had mine for about 4 months and I’ve broken an A-arm, axle and a toe link but most that damage was when I first got it, smashing it into a curb with a 3s battery in it lol....It’s been a badass car though!

Good honest review. Like your video, thanks for your time and effort. 👍

Ambient air temps have much to do with motor/ESC cooling. The $10.00 half-moon heat-syncs that snap onto 540-550 motors do much to cool them. RED Locktight? How are you going to apply 'heat' to the plastic to remove it? The little plastic widget you replaced with the aluminum one is called a 'bearing adaptor' in your RC's exploded parts diagram.

Really appreciate your videos. When I got my 1/16 erevo I learned a lot from your video. Now I’m looking into getting a rustler 4x4 vxl and Im really glad you have a video on it. You go over all the important stuff I want to know about.

thanks so much for all the help im gonna by it now yiiiihiiii

I have dual fans and a heatsink on my motor i run 3s all the time and temps are good with that and cutting out the windshield on the body. I live in the Caribbean its hot and humid all the time.

Wow, i've been stripping spur gears daily........thank you so much for making this video....subbed

Thanks for the great tips, my screw on the rear of the arm is coming loose too!

Thanks I just ordered spring retainers I think that’s the reason my rustler very low.

I have a 2wd rustler. I love it!!! I run on a track at my neighbors house he made in his back yard. It's hard packed and dusty. I'm running a set of stock slash tires and they work the best for me. I'm running a 19-86 gearing. Do you think that's a good gear to run? I'm not looking for top speed but more acceleration. What's your thought?

Great review

crazy to see this video tonight. I have the same rustler vlx myself. Has about 30 min run time on it now. I have 1 front L shock but made it though lol. I was mad thinking TSM wasn't working but on 3S lipo, it drives on the edge of the right rear wheel anyway so I'm not sure. It honestly spends most of the time above 3/4 throttle on 1 wheel. I was thinking 2S would have been so much better. I also oddly spent about 6hrs cleaning and rebuilding my nephew's brushed slash. When I put it all together again I noticed the spur was moving. I couldn't find the run-out. I put it in a drill and spun it piece at a time. (work around a lot of lathes). it all seemed true until it was in the truck. I did notice taking it out that the bearing was pushed out of the motor housing. That cone I will bet $$ is smoked. How could it get so hot on a 12T?? Get a tiny little rock inside Traxxas' spiffy new clear driveshaft cover and watch what it does. Shaft has grooves cut into it where it ate it up. Clamped the driveline down and burnt it. When he came in freaking out he said it was smoking, and it smelled like the motor was burnt. More like a burnt clutch or brakes to me. That is exactly what it is. Time to order 2 aluminum ones asap!

Awesome, Awesome video! Fantastic job on the analysis, explaination, and production! WELL DONE! Question...does the "self righting" functionality work at all running on 2 cell lipos? From what I understand that feature requires 3 cell but was curious if you had a fair amount of success doing it with a 2 cell?

Hey just a tip I found to take of the body put your finger under the front bumper and the shell and push up and back and pull up on the back at the same time

I have expensive 8th and 5th scale trucks, but i still find myself bashing the rustler. its just a fun little truck. i have dual fans on the motor as well as on 3s the motor would go to limp mode

Ty brother awesome review

I suggest upgrading all the screws with stainless steel screws. Those stock screws tend to rust and strip out over time

Great tips! Q: I am thinking to buy Traxxss Maxx for my son but Rustler is also on the list. Which one do you think would be a better choice? Many thanks!

Amazing tips! Driving with 3S this thing is just crazy fast! Just having mine for 3 days and already bent the center shaft in an unlucky encounter with a stone.Thank you so much for the tip with the screws! Doing this right away tomorrow! Do you had any problems with the spring retainers? Because it seems I lost one in the field! They slide off pretty easily with the default tensioning when the wheels are all the way down...

Last weekend I've taken my slash on a a track with very loose dirt, not grabby like yours, and I'd like to upgrade two things, the shocks, are pure garbage stock, the chassis slaps the ground on even very small jumps and these tires, are good allaround, but on dirt they have very little grip, I'm thinking about buying two pairs of stock Rustler 2WD rear tires.

Great video. Detailed and informative. I have a quick question. I’m just curious if you may know what could cause my Rustler 4WD to stop popping wheelies!?! I’ve adjusted the shipper clutch and still no wheelies. Is there anything with what you did here in this video with the clutch assembly, etc., that could be the culprit to stopping the wheelies. PLMK if you may have any thoughts or insights. Trying to get my grandson’s truck up and running. Also, did you put any grease or oil on the bearings and shaft during reassembly? Thank you for the video and your time. 😎🙏🏼

I like your 3D Benchy skirt ;) Wonderful video bud! Waiting for mine now

Here’s my opinion on the truck. This thing is a blast I’ve only had some minor issues 1 they get very hot on 3s (I live in Australia so most days in the summer are about 35 to 40 celcius) I haven’t had any shut downs yet from the electronics though yet I’m getting the fan just to be on the safe side. 2 the shock caps like to pop of. And I didn’t realise until about 5 minutes later and ended up destroying the shock body so I had to get a body of a old ultra shock. So I’m going to upgrade to the aluminium caps. 3 the spur gear completely rounded out only about 1 hour ago (from the time I’m righting this) so I’m upgrading to the hot racing one. There are my only issues with the truck in my opinion you need a 3s for this truck they are very slow without them. But it’s still a great truck

I've only got a 2s lipo but I just got a 15 thooth pinion and it's way faster I also changed the rear differential to 30k oil. I'm thinking on if I should get the jato clutch

I think the E-Revo 2.0 is my favorite or the x-max I also love my arrma granite Mega👍

finding people that are smart and honest is too difficult… Thank you for being one of the good ones. The tips you give the simple review that if your not an idiot it's a good car overall problems not so bad… I ordered one and I'm lucky to bash it hard. I wrote down that part number you mentioned and I'll put one in. Really… I trust you that is so important. I loved your video please make more you're one of the good guys. Thanks again very refreshing to meet you

13/52 gearing and 3s lipo 6000mh is for me the best. Motor/esc fan installed and never had heat issue! 50m/h

there is a method for removing the body on the rustler. You need to push back on the nose of the body to disengage the front body clip. Pulling it just abuses the body mount over time.

Tighten your slipper clutch, it's slipping too much and causing the heat that melts the plastic gear... I'll still upgrade mine eventually...

That shaft bushing melts when you slip the hell out of the slipper clutch. If it's getting that hot, you need to tighten your slipper clutch.

Ya know, I like em all. Just buy em all everybody. Lol I like it!

How do u get the screws off after you used the loctite on them?

What about the end Play in the Slipper Clutch when updating to 6893x? Was to much at my rusty? Greetings from Bavaria

Do I need a 6893 for front and rear? I just ordered my first rustler 4x4 Vxl

When it comes to temps it kinda also depends on where you live. I live in the gulfcoast of Mississippi so our summers are very hot

Can I run a 15/54 with 3s for offroading? I just got the Rustler Ultimate and I'm just not satisfied with the 40 mph out of the box. I've got dual fans and heat sink for the motor and a fan for the esc. Would that be enough to keep the 15/54 set up cool?

these fans are legit I can't get mine to overheat with the fan on 3s

Replacing the front shock caps with traxxas aluminum caps makes the body slip on and off easy

My brother did the same thing to my rustler arm with his erevo 10 minutes after we got them out.

Just so every body knows the body comes off just fine And it is not nearly as fast on two cells shock caps and the drive shafts are the weak points

Man you lucky I bash my rustler and had to replace drive shafts, pinion gears, upper control arms new motor and a lot more 😅😅 but over all super great car for a beginner or expert. Super fun at the beach

I did the rustler get sgugging and no longer pop wheelies when that bearing melted? Found a small flat rock in my spur gear and now with a fully charged battery its sluggish and the wheels have now began to wobble at a certain take off speed

My son's rustler rear tyres are wobbly. How to fix it??

My rustler is vibrating, is that because of that melted piece you mentioned?

I ripped all the teeth off spur gear didn't have issue with that plastic piece I also krazy glue shock tops( skip the aluminum) they don't fall off and use 80 dollar per axle constant velocity traxass ones upgraded to stainless steel screws because they strip so fast

I've had problems with the lower shock caps. They tend to come off.

A weak point on my rustler is the front caster block.

How do you not break driveshafts? I even got steel ones and break them every time I drive it. Any suggestions to what driveshafts I should buy?

Is it tougher than erevo 2.0

well if the truck is not well cleaned and maintaned stuff is gonna get a performance hit and in some cases break before they normaly would.

Samething on the stampede 4x4 the plastic one melts.

Hah I just got one and it costs around $950 (aus) it's a great car very fast but loves to do death rolls it flips when you turn too fast so be careful on the throttle. I haven't broken it yet so it is really strong but it's a pain in the ass to get the body off but yeah great little car, a bit overpowered other than that, 7/7

Reason your motor getting hot is your slipper clutch looks tight AF. This means way too much torque meaning too hard on the parts. I stripped 2 spur gears then watched Traxxas's saftey video. The slipper clutch should whirr and the wheels should slip for the first 2 feet when the throttle is slammed. I also must say when Im running on carpet tracks wheelies suck so adjusting it is nice.

4s are good for and power speed but is will get hot and like you said its mite break it.

Just buy them all everybody😂 I can’t decide between the Maxx and this rustler 4x4 vxl

Get rid of the plastic drive shafts, they will strip or break over time, get the metal upgraded ones.

Just buy em all everybody. Lol let’s go!!

What’s the difference with red or blue lock tight?

Everyone help me. I’m looking for speed not temps on 2s and 3s. What is the best gearing

fans are legit no overheating with me beating its ass with 3s in all terrain

How’s the fan power?

Ive run them 3s with the fans, ambient temp after 20 mins, also ur not supposed to run the red locktite into plastic it makes the plastic break so easily.

I got a 4x4 rustler looking for aluminum a arms

What is red locked?

the tie rod ends always break and suck servo died also and both front drive shafts this is day 7...

Hmm i got this truck but the xl5 version got it because the vxl systems are trash. I got a castle sw4 3800 and a 17 52 gearing. Run 100c lipos on it. Never broke a thing on it and i bash the shit out of it. Got a 4ft kicker ramp back flip it almost as high as my roof top the only thing happened is the shock caps popped off cause traxxas shocks are crap so is the slash hub carriers lol. Its hit the curb head on with 3s and still has the original bumper. Looks like u should of got the brushed like me lol

Hahah that’s funny 😆 he rams your truck 😆😆🤣

Get a fan for the motor.

I've broken 9 tie rods

Me was the crappy driveshafts

They should do away with that plastic part and install the metal one from the factory.

3 cell way better

Does your son suffer from autism?