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We have been looking for some time to find an alternative to the Traxxas EZ Start on our T-Maxx's. Until recently, the only options were to change the engine to a pull start or add an aftermarket starting system that doesn’t always perform leaving you frustrated and unable to start your beast. There's nothing worse than going out to bash and not being able to start your ride.

Well, we think we have found a solution. The Tiger Drive from Sullivan Products. We chose the Tiger Drive for our Dynamite Mach .26 primarily because of the all metal gear system they use. Plastic gears on this type of starting system simply will not cut it, especially with a big block.

Let’s break this baby down and give you the skinny that will leave your word hole salivating.

PACKAGING – The Tiger Drive comes nicely packaged and shrink wrapped to a colored cardboard back (be careful when removing the drive as the installation instructions are on the back). When you are removing the parts from the packing, make sure you do not loose the bronze bearing washer. It is very thin and could be easily misplaced or lost if you are not careful. Adequate protection to prevent damage during shipping and handling.

INSTALLATION – As always, make sure you are working in a “clean” environment. Unnecessary clutter and extra parts from other projects can create confusion. It is important to remember that we are installing this Tiger Drive on a Dynamite Mach .26 engine and individual installation may vary depending on the engine size and type.

When installing the Tiger Drive, the engine will need to be removed from the truck. Once the engine has been removed, clean the engine thoroughly with nitro cleaner or denatured alcohol to remove excess dirt and debris. You definitely do not want dirt and grime around the starter area of the engine. It will only cause problems, so the extra time spent cleaning will pay off in the long run. Now remove the starting system from the engine (i.e. EZ Start, Pull Start, etc.). Make sure to keep all of the parts you are removing as you may want to keep it for future use.

Once the original starting system has been removed from the engine you can start installing the Tiger Drive. As in the case with our engine, an adapter plate will need to be installed to accommodate the Tiger Drive to the engine (the plate is included). This is very simple to install and requires (4) four screws to secure it. After the adapter plate has been installed and tightened securely (we put a small drop of medium loctite on each screw), continue by assembling the gear portion of the drive. The bronze bearing washer needs to be centered on the back side of the large gear. With both of the gears in place, slide the drive onto the engine.

Now, figure out the orientation of the drive you want. It can be installed in a number of positions, straight up, 90 degrees to one side or the other, or the option we chose, about 45 degrees to the right side of the engine. Lets be honest, this is one of the best options of this drive. The numbers of different mounting option are great! Depending on what brand and type of vehicle you are installing this drive on, you have a number of options for positioning where the drive can be located for easy access when starting. A+ to Sullivan Products for this option.

45 degrees to the right side was the best option for our T-Maxx. This allowed the drive to be to the side while still missing the exhaust manifold and have adequate clearance to miss the large tires we have installed. Plus, you do not need to remove the body as we can access the drive just above the right rear tire where the body is cut out for wheel and suspension clearance. Once you have the orientation figured out, install the plastic cover over the Tiger Drive and secure with the remaining (4) four screws. Tighten the screws and check the drive to make sure the gears turn freely. If the gears bind, loosen the screws and shift the drive slightly to free up the gears and re-tighten the screws. That’s it! It sounds harder to install than it is. It will take you longer to remove the engine than it does to install the Tiger Drive. Start to finish, it took us about 15 minutes to install.

FIT & FINISH / APPEARANCE – After installing the Tiger Drive, we took a few minutes to check out the overall fit to the engine. Needless to say we were very impressed. The over all appearance of the drive looks stock, like it was it was intended to be there. Much better and cleaner than the EZ Start. No wires or small motor hanging all over the place and getting in the way.

QUALITY – Overall quality of this kit is excellent. The gear selection and over all quality of the gears is superb. As stated previously, plastic gears will not cut it! All the parts in this kit are second to none. The adapter plate fit perfectly to the engine with out any problems what so ever. The gears messed snuggly together and only required a slight amount of adjustment after installation. The plastic cover is nicely molded and impressively strong. We blasted our beast around a few mounds of crushed black top, dirt and gravel to give this cover a beating. It held up to all of the beatings we gave it without a scratch!

PERFORMANCE – Now we can get to the meat of this baby. How does it work you ask? We can sum that up it one word. AWESOME! Ok, that was pretty short. Actually it worked better than that and exceeded our expectations. We chose to install the starter wand into one of our cordless drills (18V) and use that as our driving force.

Performance note from the Sullivan web site : TigerDrives are much more robust than the original pull starter or onboard starter. If you use a high torque starter (such as a Sullivan starter or DeWalt drill) be careful not to flood (hydraulically lock) the engine. The TigerDrive can apply considerable torque to the engine, and you can damage the engine itself. To relieve hydraulic lock, loosen the glow plug and turn the engine over a few times.

First Start with the Tiger Drive - After driving to a local vacated lot with some serious obstacles and different types of terrain, we grabbed our Big Block T-Maxx and gave this baby a cranking with the cordless drill. Two quick pulls of the trigger on the drill and she was alive! I looked at my partner in crime (Chris) with a slight grin and said “Oh yeah.” Start after start, this thing just kept on going. All it needed was a couple quick pulls of the trigger on the drill and it started time after time. We have almost a gallon of fuel through the engine and not one single problem with any part of the Tiger Drive.

COST / VALUE – For the cost of the Tiger Drive (approximately $15.95 – $40.95 depending on type of engine), you can buy one or possibly two pull starts (we won’t compare this to the EZ Start for cost as we are not big fans of this system) for the same amount of cash. But you have to ask yourself, do I really need blisters between my fingers from pulling this thing over? No, unless you enjoy giving your self paper cuts there as well (that is a totally different issue entirely). No pain is worth it when you are trying to beat your truck. The truck is supposed to take the beating not you! The Tiger Drive has held up to testing so far, it is worth every penny.

SUMMARY – In closing we would just like to say kudos to Sullivan Products for the Tiger Drive. Finally a starting system for the T-Maxx that is worth installing and performs again and again with no, I repeat no problems. Overall we would have to say that this is a wise investment for any RC enthusiast looking to ditch an EZ Start or pull start.

Click here for a list of the engines the Tiger Drive will fit.

Click here to learn more about the Tiger Drive!