Buying guides
Axial SCX30 upgrade guide.
The right mods, in the right order, at verified prices.
The SCX30 is Axial's smallest crawler ever — a 1/30 ready-to-run with a licensed hard body, a 2S battery and charger in the box, and a $99.99 price tag. It is also, already, one of the most upgradeable micros in the hobby: the aftermarket moved faster than the truck did, and our catalog tracks more than 90 SCX30-fit parts. The platform's one weakness is physics — a truck this light has almost no weight pressing its tires into the rock. Nearly every upgrade below attacks that problem, in the order that pays off fastest.
Stage 1: tires and wheels — grip and weight in one step
On a 1/10 truck, tires are stage one because of grip. On the SCX30 they are stage one twice over: soft rubber grips better, and the right wheels add the unsprung weight this featherweight truck desperately needs. The platform runs 0.7-inch wheels — SCX24 tires and wheels do not fit — so shop the 0.7-inch shelf.
INJORA Cling On 0.7-inch Tires 41x14mm (set of 4) — $12.99
The grip pick: a tall 41mm soft-compound tread that gives the little truck noticeably more bite on rock and indoor obstacles. A full set of four for thirteen dollars is the cheapest transformation on this page.
Pro-Line Baja Pro X Mounted Tires, Chrome Beast (4) — $19.99
The no-fuss pick: genuine Pro-Line 37mm tires pre-mounted on chrome Beast wheels, a direct SCX30 fit. No gluing, no mounting fight at 0.7-inch scale — bolt them on and crawl.
INJORA 0.7-inch D19 Brass Beadlock Wheels W7007 (4) — $24.99
The two-for-one pick: true beadlocks that clamp the new tires mechanically, cast in brass — so the wheel swap is also your first weight upgrade. On a truck this light, brass at all four corners changes how it sits on a sidehill immediately.
Grit Core 30 Tire Inserts for SCX30 — $19.07
The detail pick: hand-cut TPU inserts from a small Etsy maker, tuned for the SCX30's 0.7-inch tires. Inserts decide how the tire wraps a rock edge — on a truck with almost no weight of its own, they matter more than you'd expect.
Every SCX30-fit part we track lives on the SCX30 parts page.
Stage 2: brass weight, down low
The SCX30's whole personality problem is weight — or the lack of it.
A stock SCX30 weighs so little that steep climbs loop it over and sidehills shrug it off. Brass fixes both, and at 1/30 scale it is cheap. Keep it at or below axle height, and start at the steering end, where weight also helps the front tires bite.
INJORA Black Brass Steering Knuckles — $13.99
The single best stability part on the truck: brass knuckles put weight out at the front wheels, exactly where it resists roll and keeps the front end planted on climbs.
INJORA Black Coating Brass Diff Covers (stock axles) — $13.99
Weight at the lowest point of each axle, plus protection for the worm-gear housings. The budget alternative to knuckles — see the lowest-cost sheet below for the honest tradeoff.
INJORA Brass Skid Plate (17.9g) — $16.99
Nearly eighteen grams at the belly — the heaviest single low-CG part in the catalog for this truck. It armors the transmission while it anchors the center of gravity.
INJORA 10.1g Brass Inner Clamp Rings (4) — $9.99
The fine-tuning step: brass rings that clamp inside INJORA's 0.7-inch D19 wheels, adding a little over ten grams per set without changing how the truck looks.
Stage 3: links, shocks, and shafts
With grip and weight sorted, clearance is the next limit. The stock links hang low on a 99mm wheelbase, and the stock friction shocks let the truck bounce instead of settle. These three swaps are all bolt-on and all cheap.
INJORA Stainless Steel High Clearance Links Set, 99mm — $8.99
Bent stainless links that tuck up out of the rocks, for the stock 99mm wheelbase. The best under-ten-dollars part on this page — the truck stops high-centering on edges it used to snag.
INJORA 23mm Aluminum Oil Shocks — $17.99
Real oil damping in place of friction shocks. The truck settles onto obstacles instead of pogo-ing off them, and the aluminum bodies survive the drops a desk course guarantees.
INJORA Stainless Steel Drive Shafts — $14.99
Steel where the stock shafts are plastic. Not a glamour part — the insurance policy that keeps a grippier, heavier truck from twisting a shaft on the first hard bind.
INJORA Nylon Rock Sliders — $4.99
Five dollars of side protection that slides over rock edges instead of hanging on them. At this price it is less an upgrade than a consumable you will be glad is there.
Stage 4: a nano servo that can steer weight
Everything above makes the stock steering work harder: stickier tires, heavier wheels, more brass. The SCX30 takes a nano-size servo, and the aftermarket already offers three real steps up. All three include or pair with a servo saver — at this scale, the saver is what keeps a hard hit from ending the run.
INJORA Aluminum N30 NANO Servo with Servo Saver — $33.99
The sensible default: a CNC aluminum-case nano servo with metal gears and a spring-loaded servo saver, made for the SCX30's steering bay. Everything most builds will ever ask of it.
INJORA High Torque N30 Pro Nano Servo with Servo Saver — $38.99
The torque step: INJORA's high-torque Pro version of the N30, for heavy brass builds running the tallest 0.7-inch tires. Five dollars over the standard N30 buys real headroom.
MEUS Racing SCX30 V2 Coreless High Torque Servo — $38.99
The alternative at the same money: a coreless-motor nano servo that MEUS rates above its standard SCX30 servo for torque, strength, and speed. Pick it if your build leans MEUS elsewhere.
The wider field is compared in our best crawler servo guide.
Stage 5: power — the $7 fix or the brushless endgame
The stock 88T brushed motor is geared for gentleness, and the cheapest speed-and-torque fix in the whole catalog is a motor swap that costs less than lunch. Brushless is better — smoother, slower, more controlled — but it is a system change, not a motor change: the ESC and a standalone radio and receiver come with it, because the stock 2-in-1 unit is replaced.
INJORA 60T 030-Size Brushed Motor (INM23) — $6.99
The drop-in: a 60T brushed motor that is faster than the stock 88T, with a press-fit steel pinion and lead included. Works with the stock electronics. Do this one whenever — it is seven dollars.
INJORA MBL32 NANO ESC + 1621 Green Viper 4300KV Combo — $61.99
The value brushless route: INJORA's nano brushless ESC paired with the 4300KV Green Viper motor as one plug-and-play conversion. You will still need a standalone radio and receiver — budget for it.
Furitek NanoModo 2026 Brushless Power System — $84.99
The premium system: Furitek's SCX30-specific motor and ESC combo, down from $99.99 at AMain. The smoothest low-speed control available at this scale, from the company that defined micro brushless.
Stage 6: chassis, body, and lights
When the stages are done, the platform still has depth. An LCG chassis reorganizes the whole truck around a lower center of gravity, and the body shelf is already wider than the truck is old.
INJORA LCG Aluminum Chassis Kit — $24.99
A low-center-of-gravity aluminum chassis kit for the SCX30 — the gateway to a full comp-style build, at a price that makes it an easy experiment.
INJORA BUG30 Body with Magnetic Mount — $24.99
A polycarbonate bug body on an aluminum magnetic mount — less overhang, easy removal, and a completely different personality for the truck. Painted colors run $26.99.
INJORA IR80-30 Pickup Hard Body — $34.99
An ABS hard pickup body for the 99mm wheelbase, with magnetic mounts and four color options. The scale route — it makes the truck look like a model that happens to crawl.
INJORA 4LED Rock Lights Kit (White) — $14.99
CNC-mounted white rock lights that fit the stock or INJORA LCG chassis. On an indoor-course truck, lights are half the fun of an evening run.
New to the platform? Start with the truck itself — the SCX30 Jeep CJ-7 launch guide covers the October 28 release, and the shipping bodies are compared in our micro crawler coverage and on the RTR trucks page.
A sample build, priced
The core four — $60.96 total
INJORA Cling On tires ($12.99) + INJORA brass beadlock wheels ($24.99) + INJORA brass steering knuckles ($13.99) + INJORA high-clearance links ($8.99). Grip, wheel weight, steering-end weight, and clearance — the four changes that redefine the truck.
The full build — $119.93 total
Add the 23mm oil shocks ($17.99), the N30 nano servo ($33.99), and the 60T brushed motor ($6.99) to the core four. On a $99.99 truck that is a serious build — which is why the stages are ordered: every step pays off before you buy the next.
Lowest Cost Build Sheet
The same first stages, re-priced at the floor. The catch at this scale: the cheapest brass sits at the diff, not out at the steering ends.
The core stages, cheapest route — $35.97 total
INJORA Cling On tires ($12.99, kept — mount them on the stock wheels and skip the beadlocks for now) + INJORA brass diff covers ($13.99, in place of the knuckles at the same price) + INJORA high-clearance links ($8.99, kept). Tires at INJORA · Diff covers at INJORA · Links at INJORA
The brass swap, honestly
Diff covers and knuckles cost the same $13.99 here — the saving in this sheet is skipping the $24.99 brass wheels, not the brass itself. Diff-cover weight sits at the differential; knuckle weight sits out at the steering ends, where it resists roll best. If you can only pick one brass part, pick the knuckles and mount the tires on the stock wheels.
SCX30 upgrade FAQ
What is the first upgrade I should buy for my SCX30?
Tires. The stock 0.7-inch tires are sized for looks first and grip second, and at 1/30 scale there is very little weight pressing them into the rock. A soft 0.7-inch set like the INJORA Cling On 41x14mm tires ($12.99 for four) is the biggest single improvement you can make, and pairing them with brass beadlock wheels ($24.99) adds wheel weight at the same time. Five minutes, no other parts required.
Do SCX24 parts fit the SCX30?
No — the SCX30 is a smaller platform, not a shrunk SCX24 parts bin. It runs 0.7-inch wheels instead of 1.0-inch, a 99mm wheelbase, worm-drive axles, and a nano-size steering servo. Tires, wheels, links, and servos are all SCX30-specific. The good news is the aftermarket got there fast: our catalog already tracks more than 90 SCX30-fit listings, so you are not waiting on parts support.
How much does it cost to upgrade an SCX30?
The core four upgrades in this guide — Cling On tires ($12.99), brass beadlock wheels ($24.99), brass steering knuckles ($13.99), and high-clearance links ($8.99) — total $60.96. Adding oil shocks ($17.99), a nano servo upgrade ($33.99), and the 60T brushed motor ($6.99) takes the full build to $119.93. That is real money on a $99.99 truck, so buy in stage order and stop whenever the truck does what you want.
Should I go brushless on an SCX30?
Eventually, maybe — not first. The drop-in 60T brushed motor ($6.99) is faster than the stock 88T and costs almost nothing. Brushless is the control endgame, but it is a system swap: the motor needs a nano brushless ESC and a standalone radio and receiver, because the stock 2-in-1 electronics get replaced. The INJORA MBL32 combo ($61.99) and the Furitek NanoModo 2026 system ($84.99, down from $99.99) are the two proven routes once tires, weight, and steering are sorted.
Is the SCX30 worth upgrading, or should I just buy an SCX24?
Both are worth owning, and they crawl in different places. The SCX30 runs on a desk, a bookshelf course, or a pile of landscaping rocks indoors; the SCX24 needs a little more room. The SCX30 RTR is $99.99 with battery and charger in the box — the Jeep Wrangler JLU, Chevrolet K10, Ford Bronco, and Toyota Tacoma bodies are already shipping, and the Jeep CJ-7 joins them on October 28, 2026. Upgrades are cheap at this scale, which is exactly what makes it fun to build.
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