Dromida has 5 fun 1/18 vehicles, the DB4.18BL, DT4.18BL, BX4.18BL, MT4.18BL, and SC4.18BL that as of late are taking the mini world by storm. As you might have guessed, they all come with brushless power systems to make them fast and they perform well due to great suspension and a 4wd drivetrain. To up the ante so to speak Dromida has a nice line of option parts to make these already great little vehicles even better. Let’s take a closer look at some of them.
45-tooth blue aluminum spur gear, IDDC1105, $7.99; Aluminum Center Drive Shaft Blue, DIDC1107, $4.99;Aluminum Dogbone/Drive Shaft Blue (4), DIDC1108, $11.99;Aluminum Axle Set Blue (4), DIDC1102, $7.99
These little vehicles have powerful brushless motors that can cause the drivetrain to wear after much use. The Aluminum Drive Train Kit that Dromida offers addresses this and replaces nearly plastic part with an aluminum counterpart. The most important of these is the inclusion of a blue anodized aluminum 45-tooth spur gear. Even though fully enclosed, the stock spur can fail due sand and tiny debris getting in and from the power of the brushless motor. Other items included in this kit are a set of 4 aluminum axles and dogbones, all anodized in blue, and a blue anodized center driveshaft. Installation of the axles and dogbones is fairly quick and painless while installing the center driveshaft and spur gear will take about 20-minutes.
Aluminum Shock Tower Front/Rear – DIDC1124, Front Aluminum Hinge Pin Mount – DIDC111, $11.99, Rear Aluminum Hinge Pin Mount – DIDC1112, $11.99
All of the Dromida 4.18BL vehicles utilize the same exact shock tower on the front and back ends. The aftermarket Aluminum Shock Towers that Dromida offers come anodized in blue, have a pair of shock mounting holes for tuning and are much more rigid that the parts they replace. Installation of these is fairly straight forward and should take 5-10-minutes for the pair.
Front and rear Aluminum Hinge Pin Mounts fall into my list of “must have” option parts. There is nothing wrong with the stock plastic units, but after must use they tend to develop quite a bit of slop. In addition, the front mount usually takes plenty abuse due to front end mishaps while driving and thus develops slop faster than the rear and at times might even crack. The aluminum option parts should install in 5-10 minutes, will not develop much slop at all, even after hours of use, and are sure not to crack or fail.
2S, 7.4V, 20C, 1600mAh LiPo Battery Pack – DIDC1134, $21.99
The easiest way to increase the speed of these already fast little vehicles is to swap out the included 6-cell NiMH battery pack for a LiPo battery. To make picking the right battery easy Dromida released a small, 2S, 7.4V, 20C, 1600mAh LiPo Battery Pack that is a direct fit into the 4.18BL chassis. It comes with the proper connector mini battery connector, balancing lead and it weight is miniscule at right around 3oz. Best of all, it not only adds a bit of speed, it increases run time for more fun!
Carbon Fiber Battery Strap – DIDC1100, $5.99 and Aluminum Chassis Brace – DIDC1103, $29.99
The optional Carbon Fiber Battery Strap from Dromida replaces a plastic piece. While it is not going to make any of the vehicles perform much better, being carbon fiber it looks fantastic and is light weight.
The Aluminum Chassis Brace is a direct replacement for the stock plastic upper deck and installs in about 5-10-minutes with just a small Phillips head screwdriver. Being aluminum it is considerably more rigid than the unit that it replaces and helps cut down on chassis flex.
Long Silver Extra Soft Shock Springs – DIDC119, $2.99, Long Black Extra Firm Shock Springs DIDC1117, $2.99, Long Oil Filled Shocks – DIDC1127, $11.99
Suspension on small vehicles is of the utmost importance and the key to any well performing suspension is the shocks. The DB4.18BL, DT4.18BL and SC4.18BL all use the same shock lengths while the BX4.18BL uses a shorter set and the MT4.18 uses a longer set.
The blue anodized aluminum aftermarket shocks that Dromida offers are exceptionally smooth, feature threaded bodies so making pre-load adjustments is painless because there are no clips to fumble around with, and have bleeder type caps so building and rebuilding shocks is easy. In addition to offering aluminum bodies shocks Dromida also offers hard and soft springs. Racers might opt for the Extra Soft springs while bashers might lean toward the Extra Firm springs. The entire process of building and installing 4 shocks on any of the 4.18BL vehicles should take no more than 20-minutes.
Rear Aluminum Hub Carriers – DIDC1106, $39.99, Aluminum Steering Knuckles – DIDC1104, $39.99, Aluminum C-Hubs – DIDC1101, $39.99
In the spirit of adding style and durability to the 4.18BL vehicles Dromida has aluminum knuckles, hub carriers and c-hubs. All look sharp being anodized in Dromida blue, are tough because they are aluminum, and have tight tolerances because they are precision machined. The rear aluminum carriers are very rigid, won’t develop much slop, and install in about 5-minutes.
The front c-hubs and steering knuckles work together hand in hand and should take about 15-minutes to install. Together, they virtually eliminate all outer suspension slop on the 4.18BL vehicles, are super tough and rigid.
Brushed Speed Kit – DIDC1151, $24.99
If you happen to have gotten one of the earlier, brushed versions, of the Dromida 4.18 vehicles and are looking to go faster the Brushed Speed Kit may be the right choice. Costing less than $30, it comes with a 22-turn motor clip on motor heatsink to keep the motor running cool and efficiently and a pair of pinion gears specific to that various versions of the 4.18.
Aluminum Shock Kits – DIDC1171, $69.99
To toughen up and smooth out the suspension the Dromida Shock Kit is a great place to start, there are three different versions with different shock lengths for the various versions of the 4.18. Each kit comes with 4 aluminum oil filled shocks that have threaded shock bodies and collars for easy preload adjustments, and interchangeable front/rear aluminum shock towers. We received the kit specific to the MT4.18 so our mini monster truck is sure to take on bumps and jumps even better than before.
Aluminum Drivetrain Kit – DIDC1160, $29.99
The last of the three hop-up kits from Dromida takes aim at the stock plastic components in the drivetrain. The Drivetrain kit consists of an aluminum center driveshaft, aluminum axles, aluminum dogbones and most importantly a 45-toth aluminum spur gear. All parts are made of top quality aluminum and are anodized in eye catching blue. Even though the stock spur is housed with a gear cover small bits and debris can still get in wan wreak havoc. Coupled with the power of the brushless motor, replacing the stock plastic spur with the aluminum gear featured in this kit is a must-have. In a hard crash dogbones may pop out and go flying. This can happen on any vehicle and trying to locate a small black dogbone is like trying to find a needle in a haystack. These blue aluminum replacement units are not just stronger than the plastic parts they replace, being anodized in blue makes them easy to see and find!
Clear DT4.18 Body with Decals – DIDC1085, $19.99
If you like to custom paint your vehicle or simply want a personalized look Dromida has you covered. While I got my hands on a body for the DT4.18BL, and will soon send it off for some custom paint work (keep checking back to see how it comes out), Dromida has bodies for the DB4.18BL, BX4.18BL, MT4.18BL, and SC4.18BL too. All come with decal sheet so there is no need to stress out on painting in window nets and headlights.
WRAP-UP
So along with the fun factor of insane speeds out of a small machine, you have the ability to customize your Dromida Speed series with a variety of performance, durability or cosmetic improving hop-ups. To find the prices for each item, head on over to Dromida’s 4.18 parts page: HERE
DROMIDA 4.18 BL ARTICLE SERIES
Click the following links to see the other articles in this series on the Dromida 4.18 BL vehicles
