Anyone want to help modify a Radio Flyer Model S?

[foobar510]

well the motors burned out after just a couple of sessions. I am going to upgrade to some beefier 775 DC motors (the gearbox collar has what looks like enough extra space to accomodate 775s) and mount some heat sinks and open up some holes in the floor under the motors for cooling.

the stock pinion gear is an 11t helical gear and I can only find a 12t with a 5mm shaft. So here’s hoping it will mesh.

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32392661010.html?productId=32392661010&productSubject=2Pieces-Lot-ALZRC-Devil-500-Pro-Copper-Motor-Pinion-Helical-Gear-12T-D50P026-12-Fit
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32812883003.html?productId=32812883003&productSubject=1pc-High-Speed-775-Motor-Low-Noise-DC-6V-12V-24V-36V-48V-Large-Torque-Motor

 

[M3totms]

I just picked up a few. I need a new battery for the preface lift MS. In trying to decide if I should try to upgrade the battery or just buy a factory Radio flyer one.

 

[foobar510]

I just picked up a few. I need a new battery for the preface lift MS. In trying to decide if I should try to upgrade the battery or just buy a factory Radio flyer one.View attachment 402074

Pretty sure you would need to change the accelerator if you don’t use a factory Radio Flyer battery. I believe the thin wires are a digital ID that prevent you from using “counterfeit” batteries.

 

[ngoqa915]

Hi Everyone,

If someone can help me with this problem. All original parts for now. If the fwd/reverse buttons is on forward the 2 wheels spins reverse. If its on the reverse button, one wheel (sitting in car left side) moves forward. I believe my wiring for the fwd/back button is screwed up. Hoping someone can take a picture of how it is on theirs. Or maybe its some other problem. Thank you in advance.

 

[Kristoffer Helle]

Just bought 8 vesc and 8 1450W(peak) Motors, (Longboard belt motor kits with brackets).
This going to be a lot of fun.
Maby replaceing the onboard bms.

 

[M3totms]

I modded my son's (he's almost 2) model S so he could reach the wheel and pedal. Now he can drive it.
Have a spare flat play of Carbon fiber from a test panel and cut it to fill in the open space behind the seat.

 

[SlayTheEarth]

I modded my son's (he's almost 2) model S so he could reach the wheel and pedal. Now he can drive it.
Have a spare flat play of Carbon fiber from a test panel and cut it to fill in the open space behind the seat.

Very cool! I'll be picking one of these up this evening, red to match my TM3! Itll be for my daughter (turns 2 in october). I was wondering how well my daughter would do, does your boy do a good job driving it? Howd you teach him?

 

[M3totms]

Very cool! I'll be picking one of these up this evening, red to match my TM3! Itll be for my daughter (turns 2 in october). I was wondering how well my daughter would do, does your boy do a good job driving it? Howd you teach him?

He has only just started driving (a few weeks now, maybe 5-7 time) because he wasn't able to reach the pedal and wheel. He rode with his sister driving them around for a few months before I got him one.

I just have to walk beside him so he doesn't drive into a parked car or curbs but when we get to a cul-de-sac he does pretty good. The more often you get them out driving the faster they'll pick it up.

 

[SlayTheEarth]

He has only just started driving (a few weeks now, maybe 5-7 time) because he wasn't able to reach the pedal and wheel. He rode with his sister driving them around for a few months before I got him one.

I just have to walk beside him so he doesn't drive into a parked car or curbs but when we get to a cul-de-sac he does pretty good. The more often you get them out driving the faster they'll pick it up.

Sounds like a blast. How did you get the seat moved up?

 

[OhioBob]

Here's my situation, A friend of mine purchased his grand daughter one of these model s cars and asked me if I could modify the foot pedal for her so as she could operate it by hand . ( she has no legs ) I said sure no problem .....LOL I must say thank you to all you guys that have commented on this forum you have taught me a lot in a very short time. anyhow do any of you know of a way to " bypass " the foot switch to get the microprocessor to work ? originally I done the obvious added a switch to the steering wheel ( making and breaking the hot wire )and bolted the pedal down and obviously that didn't work. I am wondering if I leave the pedal up and jump the hot across the pedal then make and break the ground wire if that would allow me to use the installed switch ..... any and all ideas are welcomed, I am trying to use the moving the foot pedal to the steering wheel as a last resort due to the fact that it is so hard to push by hand especially for a 4 year old.
Thanks in advance

 

[bownation]

Does anybody have suggestions for improving performance in grass? Does speed 2 reduce torque or should I just use that?

I was planning to find some solid rubber tires but it seems like that's a bad idea without further modifications.

 

[David.85D]

Here's my situation, A friend of mine purchased his grand daughter one of these model s cars and asked me if I could modify the foot pedal for her so as she could operate it by hand . ( she has no legs ) I said sure no problem .....LOL I must say thank you to all you guys that have commented on this forum you have taught me a lot in a very short time. anyhow do any of you know of a way to " bypass " the foot switch to get the microprocessor to work ? originally I done the obvious added a switch to the steering wheel ( making and breaking the hot wire )and bolted the pedal down and obviously that didn't work. I am wondering if I leave the pedal up and jump the hot across the pedal then make and break the ground wire if that would allow me to use the installed switch ..... any and all ideas are welcomed, I am trying to use the moving the foot pedal to the steering wheel as a last resort due to the fact that it is so hard to push by hand especially for a 4 year old.
Thanks in advance

I had no luck finding a replacement switch or the digital information for the special switch / micro controller they used. That said, the easy solution for you is to take apart the foot pedal assembly, remove the little switch (it looks like the trigger for an electric hand tool) and then extend the wires to mount it on the steering wheel.

 

[murph335]

Bumping this thread for:

“soft start” is this a kit that radio flyer is refering to from the forums?

Adding traction:
how did flex seal tape work??
Exercise band link is dead.

 

[Ande]

I think it's cool to see how much effort you guys are putting into upgrading these cars.

I work with reverse engineering and engineering in general so if one of you send me the gutted electronics, battery, and trigger from a car where you replaced the electronics.. then I would be able to reverse-engineer it and maybe even enable the the analogue throttle control.

I do have all the necessary equipment, like 1gss logic analysers, scopes, and experience.

Of course, I know that to ask someone that replaced the internals of a Tesla flyer, to send them, would have to be a selfless act, and so is me offering to analyze it for you all.

I live in Norway

 

[Kristoffer Helle]

I have one you can test with.

Swaped the Motors on one of the childrens car. Soft start would be nice.

On the "Parents Edition", I just used a throttle from a scooter.

Strengthen the chassis with aluminum frame and bearings.

 

[Dithermaster]

Nice drifting there! Look out when she gets a real car...

 

[mike2016]

not sure if this is worth updating again... but i came across this post when i was trying to modify mine.

got the radio flyer model S as a gift from Tesla (actually 2 of them, gave 1 away), 3 years ago when i referred friends to buy teslas...

my daughter is 9months old, she's way too young to drive it herself. so i decided to modify it to make it remote controlled


so here's my approach to this

- i want to be able to easily reverse everything later so she can drive it when she's older

- i want to have reverse on my remote, as the turning angle is not great on this toy car

- i'm not using the stock battery, as it'll be too much work to rewire the pedal and figure out how to "wake up" the battery

I got some RC parts off ebay / RC store

- 11.1V Lipo battery 6400mah (i was going to get something higher voltage, but most ESC and chargers support only 3 cell, and it's plenty fast for her age) it last 3-4 runs per charge, each time i take her out for a ride for about 10-15 mins. there's a very steep downhill / uphill.

- dual motor ESC
- ebay RC car remote with receiver
- ebay high torque servo
- 3d printed servo mount
- servo extension wire
- servo linkage arm
- RC car steering linkage


I completely bypassed the stock power, hooked up the ESC to the motors directly.
The stock pedal is useless (only for activating lights and horn)
velcro mounted the battery in the trunk

 

[Dithermaster]

Perfect, that is helpful. I'm planning to do the same. As you can tell from my avatar, I have one too, and I wanted to make it R/C for car shows. I plan to remove the seat and steering wheel and make a faux-glass roof panel (vacu-formed or otherwise bent acrylic I think, with black paint under).

 

[Teric77]

I just upgraded our 5 years old Model S for kids with rubber wheels from a Mercedes.
Easy to fit. Should have done this from start

 

[szucsi555]

I bought one of these magic babies for my daughter. It was used and super cheap, of course not working. The battery was dead so I took it apart and this forum was super helpful. I have contacted the Chinese manufacturer of the original batteries and ordered 24x as all the 16x that was inside below 1.5V..
I don’t know much about any of these, but based on my research the 24x new batteries that are exactly the same as the original ones should work with the original BMS board. And instead of 4S4P it’s gonna be 4S6P. That is also matching the specs of the RFL90.
So my question would be for the experts:
Will the original BMS work with the new batteries as it should?