It was fun to build the little beast from kit form and then running it all in the same day. It proved to be the best performing monster truck at that time. Versatility was the “Pedes” best attribute, as it could jump and land like a high dollar stadium truck and then tackle the local race track with decent times. Of course, modifications were mandatory in order to make the truck even more fun, versatile and fast!

Enter 2006 and the new age of high speed stadium/monster trucks, truggies and buggies. Fifty miles per hour across bumpy fields and forty foot jumps are common feats with new technologies and designs and rather than letting the Pede flail around behind these demons of the dirt, Traxxas decided to add a few goodies to the old favorite to make it more “up to date”.

The surprising part is that very little was needed to wake up this 10 th scale monster. The chassis and suspension remained unchanged, except for its plastic composition. What was changed, however, gave the Pede much needed speed and traction. The best way to go faster is to run a hotter motor and Traxxas stepped up with a 12 turn, fan cooled 550 can motor .

By dropping the turns from 21 to 12, an Electronic Speed Controller was needed to handle the power and Traxxas really scored big points with their new XL5 ESC. The little yellow XL5 came ready and all set up, right from the Ready To Run Stampede box. All the truck needed was a freshly charge battery, which by the way, the XL5

can handle a 7 cell, 8.4 volt pack… and six AA batteries for the TQ Two Channel radio and you are flying through the fields. Traxxas brags that the new Stampede can achieve a top speed of 30mph if geared properly and running on 8.4 volts. I would say that my truck was easily hitting that mark.

Another change that was made and is noticeable as soon as you put the Revo style, 2.8 Talon tires to the dirt, is the redesigned and Revo borrowed, torque sensitive slipper clutch. This transmission clutch does a fantastic job of allowing power to the wheels when you need it on the track. It has virtually eliminated the need to manually tighten and loosen the slipper, trying to find the perfect balance of slip and grab. Once the power from the 12 turn Titan motor reaches the rubber, the Talon tires are much better than the old Pede tires, with their lower profile and slightly stickier rubber compound. While they are a huge improvement, I was still looking for a bit more bite on the track, as well as while bashing and pavement pounding. All Stampede owners are hoping that a new, low profile tire from Proline is in the works, which would have to be specially designed for the new 2.8 wheel design.

The new Stampede is good looking, fast, fun and will not disappoint anyone who gets to grab the throttle on the TQ radio but there is that little voice in every gear head that says he wants to go faster! Modifications are a must with anything that has wheels and the Stampede is no exception, nor is it lacking the aftermarket support. By virtue of its age, the Stampede may have more aftermarket hop up parts than any other RC truck out there. There is simply nothing on the truck that you can not replace to make it faster, lighter, lower and meaner looking… and performing! After owning my Pede for a couple of months, it was decided to change a few things to make the truck a bit more track friendly, as well as maintaining its roots as the ultimate basher that it is known for.

Unfortunately, the Stampede is lacking bearings everywhere but inside of the transmission. The first hop up needs to be wheel carrier bearings and along with changing out the brass bushings, you will need to change the carriers themselves and thanks to RPM RC Products, a few bucks will go a long way in the longevity of your bearings by allowing a larger bearing to be used in their touted, unbreakable plastic carriers. The bearings will allow the truck to run faster and longer without the resistance of the brass bushings.

RPM also provided their famous, wide Stampede bumper that is an upgrade that any owner must have in order to keep their front end together during jolts and crashes.

Camber links on a race truck are needed to easily adjust the wheel and tire camber while the truck is still in one piece. The upgraded, titanium Traxxas camber links allow quick adjustment in the pits so your truck can be tuned to specific track conditions, with a twist of a wrench. After replacing the camber links, I noticed how much rebound the coil over shocks were kicking the truck around on large jumps and woops. A quick change to the softer Red Traxxas springs in the rear and Red Losi springs for the front were proven to be the ticket for any terrain. Later, I experimented with shock oil weights and differently valved pistons as well.

The truck was starting to perform better on the track but it was still top heavy and looked funny with the high riding Traxxas lid. The stock Traxxas body is painted beautifully, however, it looks too small for the chassis, is too thin for big crashes and roll overs and rides very high on the Pedes body mounts. Twenty one dollars later, a freshly painted Proline Racing, Jato body, was being trimmed for the Stampede. Some slight modifications were made by cutting off the original body posts and bolting in some much shorter HPI Racing units.

The Proline Jato body is slightly bigger than a Stampede body and looks much sleeker, is way more durable and now sits just above the chassis, giving the Stampede a whole new, racy look. My Pede was really starting to look and perform like a racer!

Traxxas did a great job by adding multiple shock mounting holes in the A-arms, which allow the driver to raise and lower the suspension. After lowering the truck, by using the outer holes on the A-arms, it handled great on the track and on pavement but the wheel travel was decreased. Running over the rougher terrain and jumping was now hindered and the versatility of the rig was diminishing. It was quickly determined that a solution was needed to get more up and down travel, greater strength in the A-arms and increased track width for the front and rear.

A quick phone call to Addicted2rc.com was made and an order placed for beautifully machined, aluminum A-arms, made by FastLane RC. These arms are extended in length and have more mounting holes for the ultimate in adjustability. By mounting the lower shock points inward towards the chassis, extreme up and down travel became available, while the truck still maintains a low, wide stance, while racing on flatter surfaces. The tires can now stay in contact with the ground more, while bashing and racing, providing faster track times and the ability to soak up the biggest of jumps. The FastLane RC aluminum arms are a great asset to the driver that wants to have more of a hybrid type truck and race with the fastest competition.

The last modification really came as a necessity. The Traxxas 12 turn Titan motor is a great motor for the beginner and is very fast, however, it is of the closed end bell design, which inhibits the owner from being able to rebuild its internal parts. After several months of running and regular cleanings, a noticeable decrease in performance was obvious. The motor had lost much of its torque and dismal top speeds were killing the fun factor and winning ability. Shopping for a new motor was in order! Trinity came through with one of their 15 turn Speed Gems motors. Why 15 turn and not 12 turn? The stock 12 turn motor is a 550 motor and the industry standard is a 540 can, which can turn out higher RPM but slightly less torque due to its smaller armature. The Traxxas XL5 ESC is rated to handle a 12 turn 550 can motor or a 15 turn 540 can motor. In my past experiences with modified motors, a quality 15 turn 540 motor will out perform, even a 10 turn 550 can motor! The Trinity motor was a welcome replacement and easily pushed the truck to over 35mph and made wheelies possible again. The open end bell makes it easy to change brushes and clean the armature when needed and a long life is expected from this great little motor.

The new Traxxas Stampede is once again my favorite truck in my rc stable! It is fast! It can jump like nothing else! I can beat most stadium trucks and buggies at the local track! And…. I have spent very little money for so much fun! The RTR Stampede is being sold at most hobby stores for around $180 and I have put an additional $125 to make it a truck that is very hard to put down. One other benefit to the Stampede is the up-time! Even after all the racing and abuse I have put it through, I have only broken one small suspension piece and stripped one transmission gear, which has now been replaced with aluminum and Delrin units.

What next? Nothing! This little Stampede is complete and I can see no other way to improve its original design, nor can I find any more hop ups that will make it perform even better. Yeah right! Who am I kidding? I’m off to the hobby store!!!