Hop-Up Series – Thunder Tiger MT-4 G3, Out of the Box Adjustments & Tricks
The Thunder Tiger MT-4 G3 has turned into an extremely popular basher truck. Everywhere we’ve gone this summer there seemed to be more MT-4s roaming around than E-Revos or Savage Fluxs. Because they big Thunder Tiger has become so popular we’ve decided to do a series of articles showcasing some tips, tricks, and mods to make it an even better bash machine.
In this first installment we’ll be going over some of the basics that a new owner might come across. Out of the box the MT-4 is awesome, but it isn’t without small issues.
Tips out of the box-
1. Check the gear mesh and re-tighten the motor mount screws. While the trucks we’ve seen come straight out of the box had the gear mesh spot-on, we have had issues with the motor screws not being tight enough, thus allowing the motor to move and destroy the spur gear. Use the tried and true “paper method” to make sure the gear mesh is perfect, then grab an L-wrench and tighten the two motor screws as tight as you can. The MT-4 is capable of insanely high jumps and all those g-forces upon landing will cause the motor to move unless its screws are super tight. If you still experience problems with the motor sliding, use sandpaper to rough up the mating surfaces of the brushless motor and motor mount. Cost- zero if you have an L-wrench and a piece of paper laying around.
2. The stock servo saver tends to work loose while driving. There is a super easy fix, simply re-tighten the servo saver by turning the nut clockwise with your fingers (or pliers). A dab of thread lock will help keep it from working loose in the future. Cost- zero if you have some thread lock laying around.
3. The pins in the inner wheel hexes tend to work their way loose, and who can blame them, the MT-4 has great torque and can spin loads of rpm on higher cell counts. The easiest way to make sure the pins don’t come out is to put a zip-tie over them. The zip-ties don’t get in the way and keep the pins from working loose. Cost- a few cents for 4 zip-ties.
4. The stock wheel nuts also like coming loose. Once again this is a result of the MT-4’s massive power and rpm. A loose wheel can lead to a stripped wheel hex, costing you a new set of wheel/tires. You can use the wrench that came with the truck and re-tighten them after every run, or you can fix the issue completely by installing a set of serrated wheel nuts. We popped on a set of Pro-Line (#6090-00, $21) 17mm serrated nuts and haven’t had a single issue since, even on 6S. Cost- zero if you check after every run, $21 if you go with the Pro-Lines.
5. The other thing we’ve noticed that likes to work loose are the bolts in the rear wing/body mount. Dab a bit of thread lock on each screw then tighten firmly to make sure they don’t continue to be an issue. Cost- zero if you have the thread lock from trick number 2 laying around.
Other than those 5 things, the MT-4 G3 is pretty solid out of the box. Next week we’ll begin doing some upgrades to take the truck from animal to full on beast mode.
What else has Thunder Tiger been up to? Check out THIS LINK right here on BigSquidRC.
