Upgrade drive train WLToys K989, K969 or 284131 | fix stiff, sticky differentials

[@MysticRiverRC]

Thanks for the excellent tips! You're like an Ace rc mechanic!

[@LyhneRC]

Thanks very much 😀, I’m just glad I could help 👍

[@roadstar499]

Mine seems to be getting better...i run it only a couple mins at a time..actually handles as good or better then any car i have...made steering mod and even turns exactly same right or left.i own a lot of rc's...have 15 cars and this little bugger ripps as good as my best brushless...i may buy another...what are your thoughts on the new blue ford rally car? I here diffs are smooth stock,but parts are different from the little green street truck...thanks for sharing information..Happy racing!😊

[@LyhneRC]

The blue 284010 is much like K989 but is better because of these upgrades: lights, better diffs, much better radio. For on road racing it’s the best choice 👍

[@roadstar499]

I may get that blue car...it definitely is more heavy duty than previous models and diffs are smoother and more robust. I highly doubt i would ever wear out its stock drive train unless i ran it in dirty areas...i can play indoors and my drive way is plenty big to setup a coarse something like you use...yes concrete will wear out stock tires pretty fast but i am sure i can find tires pretty cheap for this car..thanks for all your great videos on cars and racing😊

[@LyhneRC]

And thanks you for interacting and kind words 👍👍

[@Esyehd]

Fantastic. Ordered one yesterday and learned about the driveline issue after the fact, knowing it’s fixable has me excited again

[@LyhneRC]

It takes a little time to fix, but is costs nothing. Good luck with the project 👍

[@albaniansuperiorshqipetari8055]

I appreciate this detailed video it really helps everyone. Thanks alot

[@LyhneRC]

Thanks a lot, I am glad it helps you - that is why I made this video 👍

[@roadstar499]

I am sure sure i could do this...but it seems like a very time consuming process...great job!

[@LyhneRC]

Thanks 👍. It’s easy to do. Took me an hour or two.

[@amr1t_]

got one of these coming in the mail, as my first foray into this RC stuff im a bit nervous but seeing a full breakdown like this makes me feel a little more at ease. thanks for the vid man, great info.

[@LyhneRC]

I’m glad I could help. This car might not be easiest to learn to drive as it is very fast for it’s so size, so take your time to learn to master it 😃. Thanks for watching and comments 👍

[@JF-RC]

Hi there, some great hints and tips for those WLToys RC’s some essential time and effort to remove plastic flashing and fine adjustments and you’ve super charged the mini RC. Awesome my friend. Thank you for showing us. 😊😉😊take care, keep well and all the very best to you and the family 😉😊😉

[@LyhneRC]

Thanks, it helped us as lot so hope it can help another 😀

[@mechant-malade405]

BRAVO!!! What a great video , I really enjoyed to watch it and with the music it is so good that it is a great back ground for ambiance. ❤🎉 I subscribed and thumbs up!!!

[@LyhneRC]

Hi, thanks for the kind words, it really makes me happy. As a small youtuber I sometimes wonders if it is worth spending hours on making videos, but then I get a comment like this and that makes it worth all the hours 👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍😊😊😊

[@GaveitagoRC]

Great how to mate. You've done a great job of keeping it all in view and crystal clear 👍🏻 not easy considering its small scale. Awesome stuff bro.

[@LyhneRC]

Thanks, I'm glad you appreciate the extra work I did to make it clear, it took extra work to achieve that 😀

[@GaveitagoRC]

@@LyhneRC well it was well worth it bro 👌🏼

[@mechant-malade405]

I am impressed for the good easy to understand Instructions. I subscribed and give you a tumbs up thx very very much. My best regards 🎉❤

[@LyhneRC]

Thanks for the kind words, comments like this makes it worth spending hours on making videos 😃👍

[@mightymanny7207]

Thank you for this video, I just got this car but it feels way too stiff, mine came with a second battery but I can't even fit it in the car without having to unscrew the top mount, for some reason my esc does not look like yours and it came with hot glue on the plugs so I wasn't able to completely remove the body.

[@LyhneRC]

Hi, I’m glad the video can help 😀. Hmm maybe they have changed things. We have K989, K969 and 284131 and there is no problem changing battery, and none of them has glue on the esc. That’s a bad change 😵‍💫

[@jimz1024]

Very nice video, i just tried a lot of this myself didnt do anywhere near as good of a job as you... I did feel the housing was catching too but didnt fix that... Waiting for more parts before I clean out the grease.

[@LyhneRC]

Thanks for you kind words, I'm glad the video could help. There can probably be many more places that needs fixing, it's just a matter of investigate and fix. I have WLToys K989, K969 and 284131 and they all were a little different in how sticky the transmission were and where the problems were. This video covers all the issues I found in my 3 cars, but as said there can be more issues.

[@manta1121]

I see, it's useful information ❗👍👍👍 I hope more WLToys parts can be obtained more easily. 😌

[@LyhneRC]

Thanks, but too bad this is needed. On the new 284231 the diffs were so stiff I thought it was locked diffs like the K969

[@johnmachter40]

Where do you buy replacement parts ? ​@@LyhneRC

[@LyhneRC]

@@johnmachter40 Hi, I buy parts at Banggood or AliExpress. If you use the part numbers from the manual then they are easy to find.

[@ViCatRC]

Such a patience! Good job.

[@LyhneRC]

Thanks, yes it took some time but that was nice and cozy work I did with the owner of the car: Kristoffer (LyhneRC junior) 😀👍

[@maxmixrc]

Great upgrade, nice k989 bro 😊👍

[@LyhneRC]

Thanks buddy 👍

[@ayubmaruf3074]

I tried to clean my sticky and creaking front diff and remove excess plastic to make it smoother. But after I've assembled it become very sticky like locked diff. I think it has something to do with the small spider gears connecting with the gear of the other half of differential. Because if I just rotate each (left/right) part of the diff they rotate smoothly

[@LyhneRC]

It’s very small gears and the molding quality isn’t great, so you need to be very careful not to make it worse. I also found that if the screws are tightened too much it can also make the diff too tight. Good you found a solution 👍

[@ayubmaruf3074]

@@LyhneRC I havent found a solution. Do you think I should just buy another differential? A metal one maybe?

[@LyhneRC]

@@ayubmaruf3074 They are pretty cheap on banggood or aliexpress, so if you are in doubt if they are broken, buy new. You can always use it as locked diff if you want to drift 😀

[@ayubmaruf3074]

@@LyhneRC youre right, i watched videos where they make the diffs locked to do drift and I actually ordered the plastic drift tyres online too. I might try to fix it again or just lock it next time. Thanks for answering

[@LyhneRC]

I’m just glad I could help 😃

[@johnmachter40]

Great video. Thanks. Do you know a Vetter servo which withstands more bumps? Our broke inside. The gears lost some teeth's because the kids drove into a wall with the front tire. Are there servos with metal gears?

[@LyhneRC]

Hi, so far I haven't broken a servo yet, but I have heard good talk about this metal gear servo: www.banggood.com/custlink/KmKPuF02av. So that one I will buy when I break a servo. To further protect the servo you could also use a servo saver like this one: www.aliexpress.com/item/1005006750134547.html

[@scottyahol]

Honestly I’m on my 2nd one and the first one I did all that and a month later it’s too sloppy. My 2nd I just set the gear mesh and throttled the car in my hand foreword & reverse . It sets itself and is smooth as butter after a couple battery runs . The factory got it correct except for too tight of gear mesh

[@LyhneRC]

We have three of the K989, K969 and 284131 and they have all three been different levels of "stickyness". The K989 was not that bad, I just ran it as is and now it runs very smooth. The 284131 was really stiff, at first I thought it was with locked diffs so tight were they and car car didn't move before applying at least 1/3 throttle and it overheated in just minutes - if I had just ran that one as is I would have broken something. The K969 was in the middle but closer to the K989. I have no idea if K989 is generally better from factory then 284131 or if I was just random. I guess QC checks are not done well on these cheap products.

[@mcstench8913]

how do you set the gear mesh? my 284131 is quite sticky, nothing crazy, but its definitely binding enough to make it harder to drive... what would you recommend? everythings stock i just put drift tires on and put probably 20 batteries through it and its loosened a little but not much

[@scottyahol]

@@mcstench8913 you can take out the top screw to the motor and make the mount hole longer so it’s a little over from stock position

[@LyhneRC]

Good solution 👍

[@mcstench8913]

@@scottyahol thank you! i been struggling the past couple days to figure it out and this helped immensely

[@user-xy5nh3nw4o]

I think this wltoys k989 969 is very fun when make them to drift car. but i hate them when i buy new one i must fix them to freely driveline and front-rear diff.

[@LyhneRC]

Yes, that's a shame they don't spend more time on making them spin more freely. If you want to drift, there is less work as the diffs doesn't need to be fixed. On one of my cars that should have open diffs, they were so stuck they were actually working as locked diffs.

[@birdbangbobarui]

Beavers hobbyist also showed me this great video maite

[@LyhneRC]

Ok, haven’t seen his video. Thanks for watching and comments. Which video was best 😃?

[@dubiouscircuits]

@@LyhneRC Beavers, as he explains the problems and methods to fix them a bit more. I still enjoyed your version though.

[@LyhneRC]

@@dubiouscircuits ok, that’s good to hear, thanks 👍

[@RC-CARS-WORLD]

Awesome tutorial bro, thanks for the tips 😄👍😀

[@LyhneRC]

You’re welcome 😃

[@islandrc-duke1972]

Great video and fix, nice information

[@LyhneRC]

Thanks, hope it help 😀

[@RCBirds]

Good explaination and a great hint👍💪

[@LyhneRC]

Glad to help 😃

[@8triagrammer]

Amazing, thank you. Would this be the same for the 284161?

[@LyhneRC]

Yes it is the same, but the 284161 and 284020 seems to be not as as tight as the older models.

[@8triagrammer]

@LyhneRC I think you mean the 284010. Yeah I was wondering if the more recent models fixed some of the issues...

[@LyhneRC]

Correct, it was the 284010 I meant. I have 284161 and its driveline is ok. Has ordered 284010, but it didn’t arrive.

[@8triagrammer]

@@LyhneRC Did you still put grease on the diffs and gears on the 284161?

[@LyhneRC]

@8triagrammer My 284161 were running fine so I haven’t taken it apart yet, but will use a little grease when I do

[@gmascagni]

Hi great content just bought one. I have a question. There are four of us and we all want to race these trucks indoors. Will the radios interfere with each other? In other words will one controller control two of the same cars?

[@oddtoresundkvist3996]

No it will not

[@LyhneRC]

Hi as @oddtoresundkvist3996 says they will not in interfere with each other. All radios as 2.4GHz and there is no problem with interference, that was a problem for the old 27MHz and 40MHz. But the radios are "unbound", so if you have two cars with the same radio type (you can see an overview here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/aGKaaIqAZZaXgKM) and you turn on all radios and cars at the same time, then it will be random which car connects to which controller. But one car will only connect to one controller and vice versa - and the connection will stay until next time you turn on. So there is no problems.

[@sontoshi25]

Does these cars use the same parts for wltoys 284161? Trying to find replacement for my 284161 but I can't find any.

[@LyhneRC]

Hi, most of the parts are the same, but not all. What parts do you need?

[@jkeavyolson]

What size screwdriver?

[@LyhneRC]

Hi, it's a size PH0

[@g.b-MTB-trail-jumps3062]

Great job dude...👌💪

[@LyhneRC]

Thanks mate 👍

[@woofaki5550]

A question my friend,instead of doing this,will the same goal be archived by running it a couple of times?Since the parts are plastic i mean wont they eventually get loose by themselves while using it?I'm interested for this car but im not sure that im able to do all this to make it work....Thanks :)

[@LyhneRC]

Hi there, the pinion/spur and the crown gear/diff ring will probably wear in over time and get smooth, but be careful to keep an eye on motor temperature. But the problem is the diffs, I don’t think they will be come lose just by running. But it also depends on how tight your car is, we have three and some were more right than others. So focus on making diffs lose is most important 👍

[@woofaki5550]

@@LyhneRC Thanks for your help.I think i saw a heat sink for the motor on their official site.Did you tried it and if so,does it make any difference at all?By the way by diff you mean the two differentials (frond and back) If so changing those with the metal version will it be better or no?

[@LyhneRC]

@@woofaki5550 Hi, I haven’t tried the heat sinks but generally heat sinks helps especially if they have a fan. Yes I mean making the diffs itself less tight so they don’t work like more or less locked diffs is most important to fix. The reason is that if there are to tight they will just work as locked diffs and never rotate its internal gears and therefore never wear in. I haven’t tried the metal diffs, but another viewer reported the other day that they break easily because the metal is poor quality 🤪

[@woofaki5550]

@@LyhneRC Thank you,so with your experience do you think its better to leave it with the original parts,without using metal ones at all?I dont mean all metal,but some plastic parts that are easier to break /wear off.And if so what parts do you think are needed.

[@LyhneRC]

@@woofaki5550 I don’t see any need to replace parts before they break, the car is pretty well built. If I would replace something, it would be the electronics

[@koharu.channnel]

great video💕💕💕

[@LyhneRC]

Thanks, glad you liked it 😀

[@loga_912]

Do you have any idea on why the k989's running sound chance sometimes? Its smooth but the sound is not like its smoothe enough

[@LyhneRC]

Hmm, can you see a pattern in when it sounds good/bad? Is it when turning, accelerating, braking or does it change randomly? If you hold the car in the hand without changing anything, does it then also change sound?

[@loga_912]

@@LyhneRC Thank you for remembering. When i turn it, it sounds bad like something is stretching inside. But i checked and diffs are smooth. This prob happended after a small mod for the steering angle. I moved the ballhead to front alittle in the c cup.

[@LyhneRC]

@@loga_912 Hard to say without seeing it, but sounds like the issue is with one of the drive shafts/axles. Both my K989, K969 and 214131 has the increased steering mod and there has been no issues with that, so the axles can handle the increased steering. New axles are cheap on banggood or Ali express so maybe you should buy some new if you can’t find the issue

[@loga_912]

@@LyhneRC Yea, but I've done 2 steering mods. 1 - moving the ballhead position in the servo horn to top. 2 - i took the front suspension's ballhead and screwed it in the c-cup alittle front side than the original one. Idk y do this happens. But not all the time. And the car wont turn properly and it makes sounds. Anyway some of my parts are damaged and i will replace them. Thank you for ur information.

[@LyhneRC]

@@loga_912 at ok, good luck with fixing it 👍

[@OmarGreeneotraPedroVerde]

I have a rough enough time working/wrenching on my 1/16th scale models. This smaller stuff would never fly as my large hands and tiny parts don't mix! LOL.

[@LyhneRC]

Yes it’s very small details. But at least it’s relative easy to dismantle and re-assembly. We have had two Mini-Z and they are a nightmare in comparison 😱. Thanks for watching and comments 👍

[@simoncorser8083]

My motor makes a high pitch humming sound when going very slowly, is there a way to fix this? Many thanks Simon

[@LyhneRC]

If the motor is fine except for the sounds it could be a bearing issue. I'm not sure if it's worth replacing the bearings, probably easier to replace the motor. But sometimes a drop of oil in the bearings can keep them running again for some time

[@simoncorser8083]

Thank you for your quick reply. It's more of an electrical noise. In fact it happens when the motor is still, when you press the throttle very slightly.

[@LyhneRC]

@@simoncorser8083Ah, then there is nothing wrong 😊. When you apply just a little power and the motor tries to turn, but there is not enough power to make the motor rotate (because of resistance), then it makes this noise. That’s just how the motor works. By freeing up the drivetrain less power is needed before motor can rotate and there is less of this noise.

[@simoncorser8083]

@LyhneRC Great, I was wondering that.

[@simoncorser8083]

@LyhneRC another question, would the k989 body fit on the porche chassis? Many thanks 👍

[@TheGammaScout]

What size tool should I buy to remove the wheel?

[@LyhneRC]

The nut is 4mm so a wrench that looks like a screw driver would be perfect

[@NBC_NCO]

Excellent.

[@LyhneRC]

Makes them drive a lot more freely 👍

[@mustafagak2852]

How to remove Golden metal gear from motor??

[@LyhneRC]

I have a tool like this, it works fine on a 1/16 scale car, probably it can be used on the smaller cars too: www.aliexpress.com/item/1005004819395494.html?spm=a2g0o.productlist.main.35.53b07cd6B47QxK&algo_pvid=6a000586-0e65-4f56-b3a7-9ce016912814&algo_exp_id=6a000586-0e65-4f56-b3a7-9ce016912814-17&pdp_ext_f=%7B%22sku_id%22%3A%2212000030608880535%22%7D&pdp_npi=2%40dis%21DKK%2140.18%2124.49%21%21%21%21%21%4021227f0f16687076361553446d075e%2112000030608880535%21sea&curPageLogUid=jXjMKICLTJBc

[@idk90a1]

My differential broke any suggestion for a cheap but better differential?

[@LyhneRC]

Hi Joshua, I haven't had any issues with differentials breaking. I have heard that the metal diffs are bad. My K989 has been used a lot and is still using the original diff. I suggest to just buy the original (maybe order a couple) diffs, they are cheat and quick to replace. Only bad thing is the time it takes to free them up

[@idk90a1]

@@LyhneRC i opened the diffs and didnt see anything broke. i think that the gears inside are loose or too tight.

[@JangMurod]

Nice video

[@LyhneRC]

Thanks, glad you liked it 😀

[@rjyc6261]

Thanks mate!

[@LyhneRC]

You are welcome, thanks for watching 👍

[@rcfanaticdublin]

Hello there, Will this make any difference if you only do one? Also when I was doing this to my rear diff a kind of Shim came out from the outer side of the Housing.

[@LyhneRC]

Hmm, there were no shim in our cars. The rear diff is the most important to fix, in some cases a stiff or even locked front diff is good also when racing. We race 1:10 Touring cars and they have locked front diffs, because else they will spin one front wheel when powering out of a turn. I haven’t experimented with locked front diff on a non-drift car. We will soon make a video where we compare the K989 with “loose” diffs with the K969 both with drift and normal tires and on different surfaces. So stay tuned maybe that we both will learn something 😃

[@rcfanaticdublin]

@@LyhneRC , Thank's for your reply...I forgot how much I enjoy wrenching on my Rc's. ;)

[@LyhneRC]

That’s a good thing to like as there is much wrenching time in our game 🤪😬

[@Bogues_88]

@@LyhneRC if u read the manual the part that come out is a little plastic bush .. they all have them that is the part u were file with drill bit .. it would be better as a bearing but i guess it is too small ... there was no parts that needed cleaning up .. the center drive shaft meshes too tight on the front and read diff and no way to adjust .. i guess it just has to wear out .. got my front diff working perfect but back one isnt. guess i will have to pull it apart again .. a ball diff upgrade is needed.

[@LyhneRC]

@@Bogues_88 We also race with 1:10 touring cars: kzbin.info/www/bejne/qmaXZGmje92kgck they actually has a locked front diff. The open diff is more needed in the rear than front because there is more left/right difference in wheel rotations in rear compared to front. So if you front diff is perfect, you could try using that in the rear and leave the front as a little tight. I have been thinking about testing if the cars drives better with locked front diff and open rear as the touring cars

[@TheGammaScout]

Where do you buy a wheel removal tool?

[@LyhneRC]

Hi, what you need is a 4mm nut wrench, have you lost the one that came with the car? I guess you can buy on in any RC Car shop. You can also find one herewww.aliexpress.com/item/1005001505414953.html But this tool isn't easy to use because the nuts are so small, a tool like this is much easier: www.banggood.com/custlink/m3DHSum0Rm

[@tijssens]

what is the grease you put in the diff?

[@LyhneRC]

I used SuperLube, that’s the one I usually use on gears. I think most grease would do great if it’s not too thick or sticky

[@muhammadamirnorazmir5138]

Hi ,i want to ask my k989 the tires it doesnt move when i push the throttle,why is that

[@LyhneRC]

Hi, there can be many reasons. Does the engine turn? Does steering work?

[@muhammadamirnorazmir5138]

@@LyhneRC engine work and also the stering work

[@LyhneRC]

@@muhammadamirnorazmir5138 So the engine turns, but the wheels doesn't. So something must be broken somewhere in the drivetrain. You will need to open up the car and figure out which gear is broken. Probably a diff is broken. Is it both front and rear wheels that are not turning?

[@muhammadamirnorazmir5138]

@@LyhneRC yes both front and rear wheels are not turning,so the car wont move.

[@muhammadamirnorazmir5138]

@@LyhneRC do you know the reason why my car isnt moving

[@purplelegorc2170]

👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾

[@LyhneRC]

Thanks for watching Purple Lego RC

[@Crowfist]

If the axle spins freely in the hole then how does power transmit from the diff to the hub?

[@LyhneRC]

The way the diff works then at least one of the wheels must turn, with such a small car as the K989 & co, it’s hard to get it too lose

[@Crowfist]

after following your instructions I can understand how this helps. The axle cups are connect directly to the internal gears and coupled together with the planetary or spider gears. The part that is too tight is only the housing. Thank you so much!

[@santastabber]

👍

[@LyhneRC]

Glad to help 😀

[@benjaminlykke551]

Hej Lyhne kan du lave min bil så den ikke er så.stram ligsom det du laver på videoen mvh Benjamin

[@LyhneRC]

Det tager lidt tid men er ikke så svært, det er også en god måde at lære din bil at kende på. Prøv at s give det en chance 😀

[@jspeedrc]

Subs' 204😉👊🏽

[@LyhneRC]

Great, welcome to 😀

[@Karlsverden]

Stor traktor

[@LyhneRC]

Det er en racer bil, ikke en traktor 😀

[@Karlsverden]

@@LyhneRC det er rigtigt.