TractionRoll RC

Author: ian

  • Hyper Tough 12V Cordless Blower Review

    Whether you’re racing or bashing, keeping your RC car clean can feel like an endless task. On RCP tracks, cars suck up dirt, debris and pieces of foam that end up in every nook and cranny. The easiest way to give your car a quick clean is to blow the debris out using an air compressor or a handheld blower.

    I’ve been in the market for a handheld blower for some time. There are some great ones on the market, but, as a dad on a budget, I have a hard time spending $80-$100 for one. When one of the car guys I follow on Facebook mentioned that you could get the Hyper Tough 12V 180-MPH Cordless Blower at Walmart for a mere $35, I ran out and picked one up.

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  • Team Associated TC28 A Flop?

    This afternoon, I’m scrolling through Facebook and I see a post declaring that Team Associated’s new 1/28 AWD car, the TC28, is already a flop in terms of customer support. I keep reading and I learn that the car only works with Team Associated wheels. I found this hard to believe because wheels at this scale work pretty much with all cars unless it has something to do with offsets or something like that. But no, that’s not the case with the TC28 as its CVD axle is a unique size.

    Photo credit goes to Zack Baker

    As you can see, the rectangular hole in the white, TC28 wheel is quite a bit larger than the yellow, standard AWD wheel. Now, you could enlarge the hole a bit and jam it on the TC28 axle but you run the risk of having a wheel that is out of balance.

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  • Atomic BZ Master Dust Guard Pulley Fix

    A few months ago, I wrote an article about the dust guard pulley for the Atomic BZ Master. At first glance, the new pulley looked great. It was a new design that held 10 balls versus 8 and was slightly wider. There was one major problem though: the metal dust guards rubbed on the chassis.

    Jersey Micro Racer has now posted a fix for this issue on their FaceBook page. The fix uses 6x10x2.5mm bearings from the SZ2 and a pack of 6x8x0.1 shims to shift the diff over about 0.5mm so that the dust guards no longer rub.

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  • Silver Horse RC Dead Grip Wheel Review

    While grip on the track is important, it plays just as big a roll when controlling your car with your transmitter. For me, two things are key when it comes to transmitter wheels: size and texture. My hands aren’t big enough to palm a basketball but over the years I’ve found that a bigger wheel is more comfortable and gives me better control of a car. Having some sort of texture is also a must, especially when you’re six minutes into an eight minute main and your hand is covered in sweat.

    For the last few years, I’ve been using a wheel that one of my fellow racers (thanks Nate!) made for me. It was 3D printed out of TPU and has a diamond tread on it. I was going to move it over to the new Noble NB4+ that I had purchased but came across Silver Horse’s new Dead Grip wheel and figured I’d give it a try since it ticked all the boxes with its large size, anti-slip design and thumb drive for greater precision.

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  • Upgraded Diff In MRX Ultra v1.1 Kit

    I’ve been running the latest incarnation of Atomic’s ball diff since the release of the MRV and was happy to see that the company is now including a machined spur and a set of aluminum dust guards with the MRX Ultra v1.1 kit. These are welcome upgrades that turn an already good diff into an excellent one.

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  • Atomic MRX Ultra Tips And Setup – April 2026

    I’ve been racing the MRX Ultra on and off for the last few months and, with the release of the new knuckles and tuning springs, its replaced the MRV as my car of choice for my local track’s 2500kv spec class. With this in mind, I wanted to share some tips and my current setup.

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  • Xbility Axles – Get Rid Of The Slop

    I’ve really been enjoying my Xbility F1 over the last couple of months. For the most part, the car is great and I’ve had very few issues with it. If there’s one that needs to be fixed though, its the axles and that’s due the the excessive amount of play between them and the wheel bearings.

    A number of people I know have replaced the stock axles with those from Atomic or Reflex but the best solution I’ve found is the new axles from GL with the tiny o-rings on them. With these axles on my car, there is zero play. These are the ones for the LMP2 but GL sells similar axles for the Formula One that should work as well. Best of all, they’re less than $6!

  • Atomic MRX Ultra – Fixed Knuckles and Rear Spring Correction

    When I was building the MRX Ultra, I noticed something was a bit off with the caster on my car. No matter what, the two sides were not the same. After tearing everything down again, I found that this problem was caused by the knuckles. Long story short, the two threaded bits did not line up, causing about a degree of difference in caster.

    Fast forward to today when I received a box of goodies from Atomic that included a new set of knuckles, knuckle ball shims and a set of tuning springs.

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  • Atomic MRX Ultra Tip – Lowering Rear Ride Height

    Like most MRX Ultra owners, I’ve been waiting for Atomic to release springs for their flagship car. While we are getting new springs for the sides, the company said this week that Ultra owners should use the rear springs from the MRX Master.

    The Master springs are longer and wider than the stock spring so I was curious to see how well they would work.

    Right off the bat, I had some issues getting the Ultra’s ride height down to where I had it before, which was around 2mm. The only way I was able to come close was to barely screw on the spring tension nut.

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  • How To Fix Atomic MRX Ultra Wheel Rub

    If you’re like me, you probably built your MRX Ultra, mounted up a set of fresh front tires on your favorite wheels, gave them a spin and was surprised to hear a rubbing noise. The reason for this is that the car was designed to be used with Atomic’s own wheels which have a fairly narrow inner bearing hub.

    Atomic S20 wheel

    With other wheels, like those from Reflex, the hub is a bit wider and may rub on the ball cups. Here’s a picture below of a wheel rubbing on the bottom ball cup.

    Major rubbage!!

    The fix here is pretty easy and that is to take one of the extra silver 0.5mm shims that come with the kit and put it between the knuckle and the bottom ball. You may also need to place a shim above the knuckle if you’re experiencing rub up there. You’ll want to check this with your wheels straight and when turning.

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