A more perfect 1/24 scale off-roader for hiking, camping, and other indoor and outdoor adventures than the Axial 1/24 doesn’t exist. It is Tamiya’s one of the most popular RCs.
Performance-wise it is not bad. But the pro-racers know better than to use the rig right off the box. So what are the upgrades you can make in the buggy? Will it strip you of your bank account?
You can add more than just one upgrade to the buggy. But, it is not cheap. In this article, I will be giving you types of upgrade options and budget-friendly alternatives with those.
Upgrades and Costs at a Glance:
| Part | Reason of Upgrade | Cost |
| Servo and Steering Linkage | More power supply | $10-20 |
| Motor & ESC | Faster speed | $8-120 |
| Body & Wheels | Durability and weight | $18-170 |
| Shocks | Protection and felxibility | $24-27 |
| Battery | Power supply, compatibility with mods. | $6-32 |
How Much Does Its Cost to Upgrade?
The entire upgrade will cost you about $80-400.
You can upgrade the Servo and Steering Linkage at $10-20, $8-120 on Motor & ESC, up to $18-170 on body and wheels, $24-27 on shocks upgrade, and $6-32 on batteries.
you can upgrade other accessories within $10-20 dollars.
5 Axial 1/24 Off-Roader Upgrades:
With a lot of potential for upgrades, the most prominent two are the steering servo or steering linkage, and the position of the battery and electronics.
Nevertheless, their chassis, drivetrain and body are top-notch! I will still be suggesting some necessary and accessory upgrades below.
1. Servo and Steering Linkage
The stock servo works well if the truck is stock. But you are going to add upgrades. For example, heavier wheels maybe? When you do, the servo saver will struggle to give you full power. Putting too much pressure burns those out as well.
Some research and I found that the Emax ES08MAii ($10-17) works the best. It is slightly lighter than the stock steering servo. It also has metal gears and pore power.
Note: The stock mount may be a little small for this one. Try designing a new slightly bigger one.
Now one of the most important upgrades in the RC is the steering linkage. Get or design a steering linkage that has no scope of a slop. The Aluminum Steering Link does it. It’s just under 10 bucks too!
2. Motor & ESC
The stock motor that comes with the Axial 1/24 is a Dynamite 88T brushed electric motor. But it sucks quite! There have been reports of the motor blowing up just within two months. And this keeps happening repeatedly.
One particular reason for this is the added weight with upgrades like brass steering knuckles, diff covers, aluminum skid etc.
Now the easiest and most perfect swap would be the 030 motor from the other available micros. This includes the pinion. You will need a change of motor wires. I would suggest any Losi micro motor or the 1/18 Mini Gelande 030 motor.
More Motor Suggestions: Barrage 050 motor (a longer, can version of a 030), 130 can “big block” motor (with GamyRC’s motor plate).
Now as of the ESC, the most popular one is the Castle Micro ($105-110). Or you can go with this one!
3. Body & Wheels
As for the body, the 1/24-1/25 full-sized trucks include a wheelbase that closely resembles the SCX24. However, the wheels and tires may look large.
The mid-sized 1/20 Lindberg or AMT trucks fit the wheelbase almost perfectly.
1/18 short wheelbase bodies fit the wheelbase near perfectly. For example, the RC4WD 1/18 Gelande II D90 Hard Body Set ($18-25). You may also try a Lexan body. Always a go-to option.
For wheels, you can get the ones in HBX devastator trucks. But my favorite suggestion would be the Gearhead RC aluminum wheels.
Yes, they are on the expensive side with around 150-170 bucks. But they are visually nice and add 4mm to the track.
Not to mention, they add 6 grams of weight to each corner.
A Black Option: Treal 1.0″ 11.2g Aluminum Beadlock Wheels ($38-42).
Cost-Effective Option: Injora 1.0″ Metal Beadlock Wheels ($18-20)
4. Shocks
The stock shocks on the SCX24 ain’t so bad. With soft spring rate and good travel amount! But for more adjustability and travel, I would ask you to go with the Hobby Plus CR24 Aluminum shocks ($24-27). They might be a little big so you may need to make manual adjustments.
For example, the lower ball cup of the shock may be larger than the RC one. You may need to make some manual adjustments. But these shocks work nicely with a hard body!
5. Battery
Earlier I hinted at the fact that the electronics need to be lowered a bit.
Y0oi can do this in two ways. The first involves keeping the stock battery. And second, involves not keeping the stock battery and moving on to a new one.
After ditching the old stock battery or just the old battery. The best batteries would be the Beta FPV 2s 350 mAh batteries ($6-10).
Note: As the electronics are mispositioned. Some manual upgrade is necessary. For example, get a frame that fits down the frame rails as low as possible. Of course, it shouldn’t be interfering with the driveshaft and suspension at full compression.
Battery and ESC Combo Option: 950mAh 2S 7.4V 25C-50C LiPO 1/24 RC ($29-32).
Axial 1/24 Off-Roader Accessories Upgrades
As I was talking about electronics, the position of the electronics should be adjusted. It is one of the biggest downer for such an amazing truck.
As I discussed getting new batteries, you can use the stock batteries too which I’ll discuss here in short. You can just take the battery and wedge it in front of the gearbox. Additionally, move the ESC or the RX to the back of the truck.
One small issue will be fitting the ESC or RX within the rails. But my solution for that is getting a bigger rail. Or you can build it too.
Despite this, there are some weight issues on the chassis. Depending on the type of issue, you can upgrade the chassis in the way most convenient to you.
But another way to rid some weight from the top is getting a roll cage. The stock roll cage weighs around 9 grams.
Conclusion
So as you can see, some very basic parts of the Axial 1/24needed upgrades. Some parts are more expensive than others. But I can say without a doubt that any expensive part is there for a reason. It is worth it, you can think of it as an investment. But of course, the total cost will depend on the mods your RC needs and you prefer!
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