Edit: This thread started out as a Question as to whether or not I should buy a 12V Lightning McQueen. Well I now have two of them, so this is going to become a build / race thread to see what combos work best for them and the results.
Just my 2 pennies... McQueen is sweet and seems like are harder to find where I am at anyway. Dora Quad i see a lot more. I guess what it really comes down to is price. I have no money (okay very little for PW) so I would get the cheaper of the 2
Also what are your surrounding areas. Grass, Pavement.... that could help you decide since I don't think the McQueen would do very well on grass but I don't know for sure.
"Time to take a ride on the information superhighway."
I would get the McQueen. That's the one PW I would love to get for my son but I don't want to pay retail price. It's hard to find like sdubb says so if you have the opportunity, I would get that one instead. My 2 cents. :)
6V Lil Jeep 18V Fire Rescue Jeep (SOLD) 12V Barbie Jeep (Up for grabs, any takers?) Super 6 Firerock (Up for grabs, any takers?) 12V-18V Lightning McQueen 12V Peg Perego Gator (SOLD) 12V Peg Perego John Deere Buck 12V Peg Perego Polaris 700 (gift to my nephew) 12V Peg Perego Gaucho Silver
I vote McQueen... It's the one PW that I'm actively searching for since it's my 4yr old's favorite. Thus far, I've only seen 2 for sale in my area for over $200 and haven't seem them in TRU or any other retail stores.
I actually saw the 'baby' 6volt ligtning McQueen the other day. It was still in the box so I couldnt take a good look at it. It is a lot smaller than the 12volt version though.
Of course McQueen. I bought my girl one for Christmas at K-Mart and am sure when the weather warms up here she will be wanting it out of the garage as she has only gotten to drive it a couple times.
I actually saw the 'baby' 6volt ligtning McQueen the other day. It was still in the box so I couldnt take a good look at it. It is a lot smaller than the 12volt version though.
I've never seen a baby 6V McQueen here in the states. I wonder if they sell them here. I bet thats the one Fortis was talking about on another thread. The 6V McQueens here are Super 6V and still have 2 #7 Gearboxes like the 12V, only no High and Low Speed.
Well I gave the McQueen a good inspection last night and I noticed that the steering is terrible on it, so before it gets unveiled I'm going to fix it using swhenriks mod. I haven't taken a look to see which gearboxes it has in it, but with the small wheels it has I'm thinking they are 21T. If not I will be putting 21T gearboxes in it and maybe the duratrax motors I have sitting around to give it some added speed without having to increase the voltage on it.
Here are some shots of it. I already pulled the steering wheel off to remove the pointless turn stop it had. It's so nice that they started using threaded rods and nuts instead of the push caps. It's in pretty good shape aside from the usual scuffs that come with kids driving. The one lightning bolt stick on the left side is starting to peel a little, but the other stickers are still in good shape. The rear wheels are pretty bald, but I don't think these wheels had much tread on them to begin with.
I'm going to keep it stock for now until Olivia gets used to it. Once she's ready I'll give it some speed, after all this is Lightning McQueen here!
And how about this, I got an email on another McQueen for sale. This one is supposedly in brand new out of the box condition since his son only drove it a couple times before deciding he didn't like it. Same price as the other. Now, do I bite again and get one in even better shape and have a spare McQueen for friends to ride so they aren't fighting over just one? This is how messed up (or maybe not) I am. I really want to get it. I think I like McQueen almost as much as my daughter. After all, I have amassed a nice collection of the die-cast cars that I probably enjoy more than she does. I think I took that Toys R Us Jingle too much to heart when I was growing up...
LOL thats funny...."i dont wanna grow up, i'm a toys 'r us kid..."
i just seen one on CL last night, 12v i believe for $100 and says in mint shape, just cant find the charger.
i am really tempted to go grab it, but i have to put back the others and have them all functioning again before she would let me go drop a $100 on 1, i can sneak the $20-30 ones over here and she wont complain for the price.
i think i need to sell a few and switch up the fleet some, but its hard to let them go when there is so many you want in your collection.
Well I emailed him back and said if he can hold it until next Saturday, I'll get it. I won't get a chance to get it until then.
My wife is the same way. I try to off set whatever I buy with parts I can sell (it never evens out, but it helps a little), plus I still have leftover birthday money (do I stil sound like a kid or what?) I can use without getting hassled about.
I went through and cleaned up the McQueen this morning. It looked like it had been raced in the Baja with dirt caked everywhere. I didn't feel like cleaning out the 19T gearboxes, and they surely look like they need it, so I just went ahead and swapped in 21T gearboxes. There is a slight increase in speed, but it still seems slow to me. Just a little faster than my Lil Jeep, so I plan to order some 21T pinion gears from Tower Hobbies and put on the duratrax motors next.
Olivia had a ball on it today. She ran the stock battery down, and then nearly ran down my backup as well before we both decided it was too cold to stay out any longer.
Not as bad as I was expecting. Even with the bald tires it did pretty good most of the time. Our grass was still a little damp from the snow dusting we had this morning, so she did get stuck a few times on some of the steeper hills in our yard.
For as flat as these tires are on these, they went really good on grass and up small hills when we still had ours, I was quite impressed. The Mustang we have doesn't even compare traction wise, which sucks, as it's much faster on concrete, shame it doesn't out perform in all areas.
Gotta love Lightning, we sold ours at Xmas, but i'd still love to get one dirt cheap sometime.
OK, I'm totally nuts, and I think my wife is going to kill me when she gets home tonight, but I picked up a second McQueen this morning. This one is in near perfect condition, looks like it was hardley used, and I was even able to talk him down to a great price. He even threw in a McQueen helmet and elbow and knee pads with it. So now the plan is the place the 21T gearboxes and the Duratrax 5737 motors in the new one on 12V for now, and moving the 19T gearboxes to the older one and trying it on 18V. I'll have to have the kids race to see which setup is quicker, and then make some adjustments and mods from there. I know if I ever put 18V to the Duratrax motors I'll need to put some bigger wires in along with a cooling system.
My 21T pinion gears didn't arrive yesterday so unfortunately I won't get to test the duratrax motors out on this beautiful day. For now I'll just fix the steering on the new McQueen and bump the old one to 18V with the 19T gearboxes. The newer one is in such good shape, I'm really hesitant to do any cutting or modding to the body yet, so the older one is going to be the guinea pig for most of the mods.
Both McQueens were pretty much stripped down. The 19T Gearboxes and stock motors were removed from McQueen #2 and placed in McQueen #1. The 21T Gearboxes and stock motors were removed from McQueen #1 and upgrade with the Duratax 5737 motors and placed in McQueen #2.
McQueen #2 also got a new set of rear tires, new front bumper and new hood. McQueen #2's original rear tires, hood and bumper were donated to McQueen #1 to replace the pretty trashed ones it had.
McQueen #1 was then upgraded to 18V for use with the 19T gearboxes and stock motors.
And finally the new and improved Lightning McQueens. Just to summarize again, McQueen #1 (left) is 18V with 19T gears and Stock motors. McQueen #2 (right) has 12V with 21T gears and Duratrax 5737 motors.
I didn't get any road tests since I just finsihed them up and it's getting late, but my nephew is coming over tomorrow so I'm hoping to get some video of them together.
Initial thoughts are that the Dura Trax motors are FAST! On 12V with the 21T's the wheels seem to be spinning a lot faster than the 19T on 18V. It will be interesting to see how the compare to each other.
Can't wait to hear the road test results. I (my son) have a McQueen with stock 19T's with the Duratrax 5737 motors running 12 volts with 18 volt NOS button mounted on the steering wheel. Note, the motors will get hot on 18V so I added pc fans and heat sinks.
My son hasn't been over to test drive yet (divorced....custody/visitation litigation ongoing...)
Had them both out today, and man are the Duratrax motors fast. Olivia didn't want to ride McQueen #2 however, only McQueen #1. She did like the extra speed from the 18V though.
My 8 year old neighbor who weighs all of 50 lbs came over tonight and test drove McQueen #2. She had a blast on it, but one problem that came quick as the the breaker in the stock PW 12V battery kept going out, so I quickly drilled it out and soldered a jumper cable in, then added an inline 40amp fuse and that solved the problem. Those Duratrax motors must pull a good amount even on 12V. Another problem was they quickly drained the 9.5amp PW battery. I may have lasted 30 min, but that is the max, so I'm going to see how long a 12AH battery will last on them, or maybe even go with a 17 or 18AH battery.
The Duratrax motors with the 21T gearboxes are faster than 18V on 19T and stock motors. She was able to lap Olivia after a few runs, so I can only imagine how fast those would be on 18V. I'm sure that would be too much for the gears on the grass and hills around here, so they'll stay at 12V.
Both McQueens did perform very well on the grass here. Olivia has made herself a nice path with the least amount of grade going uphill and the most for downhill so she gets the most out of our yard. I'm pretty impressed she figured it all out on her own.
Unfortunately I didn't get any video of the Duratrax McQueen tonight, there was just too much going on here, so I'll try to get one of it soon.
Here is 18V McQueen #1. 19T gears and stock motors.
I think the only change I'll make would be to put 21T gearboxes in McQueen #1 when I come across another set.
Ok, I am new here and looking to mod my son's mcqueen.This is after I bought it saying it was 12V on box but it was a super 6. The PW relations wanted the car but no gonna get it after it was a late 3rd b-day gift after my deployment. Where do start here? Batteries are obvious but from where? I am good with a multimeter. What motors and gears if any? Thanks for your help.
Super 6 Mcqueen (soon super 12V) 02 CRF450R with 04 plastics (more engine and suspension mods than I remember) 06 TTR50
The Super 6 motors are great. If you up the voltage to 12V they will go pretty fast. I wouldn't go over 12V on the super 6 motors though. I think you'll be impressed with them on 12V, I love them. Since that McQueen is a single speed, if you want a low speed or a low speed reverse, check out the definitive wiring guide thread on how to wire it in. I like to use Power-Cell Zeus batteries. check out batteyman20 on ebay. Make sure to only use SLA type batteries.
Thanks for quick response. I see there are a lot of batteries available. The stock one is 9.5 AH,can I go with a 12? The wiring looks simple after that.
Super 6 Mcqueen (soon super 12V) 02 CRF450R with 04 plastics (more engine and suspension mods than I remember) 06 TTR50
Yes sir, the 12AH will give you some longer run time. The 6 and 12V batteries in my 18V McQueen are 12AH. I used the stock 9.5AH battery in the 12V McQueen with the Duratrax motors, but those motors ran that battery down in about 20-25 minutes, so I'll be putting a 12AH battery in next.
yeah i love the 5737's. my girl hit about 9.5 mph on 18v in her mustang. so depending on the wheel size of the mcqueen, i would expect you to get something in that range. the mustang has 11.5" or 12" wheels cant quite remember the exact size.
"She's not a crash test dummy, she's our daughter."
You could, but with the stock charger you have to guess when your battery is charged. I would say get a schumacher battery maintainer. They are $20 at walmart. They can charge 6 or 12V, and will not overcharge the battery.
Lucky for me I get to work in front of a computer, but the systems I have to work with are so slow to load, I get to spend my waiting time on other things.
Nice, alot of you seem to be computer or tech guys. That spills over to here and then us non-tech guys mess it up. LOL. I just switched work locations and do not really start till July after some more schools here. Time off= PW mods.When will I have to mod the motors or gears? Will I be good if I stay at 12V?
Super 6 Mcqueen (soon super 12V) 02 CRF450R with 04 plastics (more engine and suspension mods than I remember) 06 TTR50
Yes, super 6 motors usually hold up well to 12V. If you do smell a burning smell, stop right away and check it out though. I only ran into trouble when I tried super 6 on 18V though.
Olivia decided she wanted to ride McQueen #2 yesterday, so I was able to get some video of it in action. Here are the Duratrax 5737 motors on 12V with the 21T gearboxes. One thing I did notice is that those motors get HOT even on 12V, so I'm going to be adding heatsinks and fans even if this one never goes to 18V. One of the wired had popped off a motor after a bump, and when I went to put it back on I dang near burned my fingers on the motor. I used a 12AH battery on it and it lasted much longer than the PW 12V 9.5AH battery.
Hopefully I'll be able to get some video of the 2 together soon.
I'm so proud! My 16 month old has been eyeing up McQueen since I brough it home, so while no one was riding it today he climbed on in and started playing with the steering wheel and posing for pictures. Then, he looked down at the foot pedal, scooted himself into position and was off an running. Granted, he couldn't steer it, but he was having a blast driving it around. Here are some shots. The first two were him sitting still, the rest are in action. I have some video too, I just need to put it together and upload.
Olivia decided she wanted to ride McQueen #2 yesterday, so I was able to get some video of it in action. Here are the Duratrax 5737 motors on 12V with the 21T gearboxes. One thing I did notice is that those motors get HOT even on 12V, so I'm going to be adding heatsinks and fans even if this one never goes to 18V. One of the wired had popped off a motor after a bump, and when I went to put it back on I dang near burned my fingers on the motor.
Hey gseric69, have been following your thread looks like a good comparison between the two rides i.e. gear ratio voltage combos.
When you mention of the duratrax 5737 getting hot do you notice if it's a lot hotter than stock motors and that a stock motor with same gearing be much cooler? Well yea, I guess it wouldn't make sense for the stock motors to run as hot since their rpms I'm understanding will run approx 15k rpm or so vs the duratrax at 24k+. It just seems odd that the motor designed for 12v would stress that much unless they are designed to run hot to touch.
From reading through this really tempted to try the 5737 but at 18v and a two step gearbox increase ? don't want any blow ups.
Your son looks like he's having a blast.
PW AT Rex 18v PW Ford F150 6v PW Extreme Machine 12v STUD
Isn't it amazing how quickly kids pick up things? My son is on the computer by himself and has already figured out the mouse and keyboard. He's playing sesame street games online.
I had my 1 yr old niece on the ninja quad last week. She figured out in no time that if she stood up, the quad moved. Of course, I had to hold her and walk along with her to steer the quad. She loved it.
Your son seems to be having fun...I noticed your grass looks well worn with all the riding, lol :)
6V Lil Jeep 18V Fire Rescue Jeep (SOLD) 12V Barbie Jeep (Up for grabs, any takers?) Super 6 Firerock (Up for grabs, any takers?) 12V-18V Lightning McQueen 12V Peg Perego Gator (SOLD) 12V Peg Perego John Deere Buck 12V Peg Perego Polaris 700 (gift to my nephew) 12V Peg Perego Gaucho Silver
Yes the stock motors don't get nearly as hot, even on 18V.
I would suggest if you want to run the Duratrax at 18V you definitely use heat sinks, and at least 12awg wire, if not 10awg. Not only are the motors hot on 12V, but the 14awg wire was getting warm too, so I'm going to replace all the wiring in it. They must be drawing over 30amp at 12V because they were tripping the 30amp breaker in the stock batteries real quick and repeatedly, even on flat surfaces. The 40amp breaker I put in hasn't blown once though. If the motor compartment on yours is enclosed I would also add some ventilation and fans as well.
Your son seems to be having fun...I noticed your grass looks well worn with all the riding, lol :)
Yup, the've worn a nice pathway around the house now. I don't think I'll have to cut the grass for a while . My next door neighbor is obsessed with his lawn looking good, so it must be making him nuts to look at ours
Lightning McQueen vs Lightning McQueen
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Posted - 02/24/2009 : 14:12:54
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