crash118s

im wanting to buy a 1/8 truggy, brushless preferably. losi doesnt have one and i dont think traxxas does either. so does anyone recommend one that i can find parts everywhere?

im gonna sell all my rc cars to get the money to get this but the cheapest would be great, thanks

Foxy

There are precious few electric truggies. Truggy is sadly a dying racing class in nitro, let alone electric. I guess that's why we still don't see many products.

For two different price points, there are at least the Thunder Tiger ST4 G3 (4S RTR electric truggy based on the bulletproof ST-1), and its higher spec brother, the 6S ready MT4 G3, which is dressed up as a monster truck, but is actually a truggy, again based on the ST-1 and including 6S ready electrics.

Apart from those, another fairly economical way of building an electric truggy is to buy the well priced Hot Bodies d8T nitro kit and convert it. The Tekno conversions are very good. All told you'd be looking at about $480 for the kit and conversion, which isn't bad.

crash118s

ok, i didnt know the truggy was a dying class....im looking for a 1/8 that i can run off road and on the street but still want it to handle minor jumps but nothing major

so if u can think of anything else that would be great

phmaximus

1/8 buggy? monster truck?

I Can assure u that truggys are not a dying class, well not here anyway, I think its just a matter of oppinion

Foxy im curious to know why u said that? everything ive seen and read contradicts that.

crash118s

Ill take a buggy, I really don't want a monster truck for jumps and stuff. I've been looking at team Durango and it seems they have a nice setup but I'm not sure about parts availability or durability.

ASSOCIATED_DRIVER

I was at my local hobby shop here in SD-CA, and saw something called ZD Racing 1/8 Truggy, brushless and lipo set up. Looks pretty decent in person. Actually looks like a rebranded OFNA model - not sure. It was priced at $249.00 sale, and regularly $299.00.
I think it is cheap for a 1/8 truggy and brushless at the same time.

SyCo_VeNoM

Impossible cause OFNA is only a distribution company, and doesn't manufacture their own RC's they now only sell Hong Nor RC's under their name (HPI Stole HoBoa from them)

I'll be honest any 1/8th brushless truggy that is RTR for $249 I'd be very cautious of as the ESC, and motor should be almost that much alone.

BTW no experience with ZD, and also never talked to anyone that ever mentioned them that was just in general for 1/8th scales.

Foxy

There never were many truggy races in Europe and what few there were in the states seem to be diminishing. People prefer the buggies. I don't think it's ever going to diappear, but it seems to have had its peak and is now on the decline. Shame, as in my opinion, it's probably the best class, I don't understand why it never picked up in Europe and never really caught on in the US.

You know how these things are, they go in cycles, maybe truggy will have a resurgence. I'm surprised to hear you say that you have info that contradicts this statement, are you saying you are seeing MORE people coming out for truggy races lately?

If you're going for a buggy, there are lots of choices.

phmaximus

Sure do, ATM buggies are more popular but the Truggies are as popular as ever. with any luck soon they will catch up.
check this site its my local Club http://www.sdmcc.asn.au/index.html

Just for reference there are 37 buggy members and 24 truggy members this year, the members vary to much from year to year to get a accurate reading


ahhhh damm it, just clicked, U are talking about EP truggies.... opps i thought u ment IC truggies.... my bad sorry

Foxy

No I did mean both, it was definitely my impressoin that even nitro is on the downturn overall, maybe not where you are, but electric truggy has been nothing more than a flash in the pan as well in my experience. Like I say, I'd love it if truggy racing took off here in europe, but even without the racing, truggies are the ultimate bashers, it susprises me that there aren't more dedicated electric chassis available.

mattster1971

Its odd how slow manufacturers are to grasp trends in the marketplace. Almost as if they don't listen to their team drivers or observe what is happening at tracks throughout the countries of origin.

The Hedgehog

Same here, still almost as popular as buggy. Most the tracks here in CT it's 50/50 if not a slight edge to the truggies actually.

Foxy

If you ask me, it's incredible how 'small' all hobby related enterprises think, as well as how slow they move.

What I find even more bizarre, is the Chinese approach to their newfound success in this hobby with cheap products, you'd think they'd be making the stuff in droves, but its ALWAYS difficult to find Chinese products you want in stock, and that even goes for popular models like the Thunder Tiger MT4. Very strange. The popular batteries at HK are always out of stock, the popular ESC/motor combos at hobbypartz are always out of stock, go figure...

Foxy

Tha's good to hear, maybe there's some hope for the evolution of the class a bit, especially on the electric front.

SyCo_VeNoM

hobbyking is cause other places are buying them out to resell like I seen a dude on ebay selling over 200 turnigy batteries at a 2X markup, and he was selling a LOT of them

crash118s

ok i looked at the thunder tiger and that is what im looking for.  my next questions are, is it bulletproof or will it break something everytime i take it out?  how easy is it to find parts to repair it and is it easy to work on?  is it RTR or do i need to buy more stuff?  it says its brushless....is the system it comes with good or is it something that needs to be replaced right out of the box?

ASSOCIATED_DRIVER

quote:

ORIGINAL: ASSOCIATED_DRIVER

I was at my local hobby shop here in SD-CA, and saw something called ZD Racing 1/8 Truggy, brushless and lipo set up. Looks pretty decent in person. Actually looks like a rebranded OFNA model - not sure. It was priced at $249.00 sale, and regularly $299.00.
I think it is cheap for a 1/8 truggy and brushless at the same time.

Impossible cause OFNA is only a distribution company, and doesn't manufacture their own RC's they now only sell Hong Nor RC's under their name (HPI Stole HoBoa from them)

I'll be honest any 1/8th brushless truggy that is RTR for $249 I'd be very cautious of as the ESC, and motor should be almost that much alone.

BTW no experience with ZD, and also never talked to anyone that ever mentioned them that was just in general for 1/8th scales.




You are probably correct. The chassis though looks similar. I too never heard of the brand ZD Racing.
I looked into it further and it is being distributed by MRC. I have been in the hobby for a while, and I have seen good brands from MRC

http://www.modelrectifier.com/rc-pro...acing-cars.asp

ASSOCIATED_DRIVER

crash118s

ok, so back to my questions?

Foxy

Thunder Tiger is arguably the biggest RC company in the world overall. They may not be as popular in the US as they are in europe, but in Europe, they are bigger than traxxas is in the US, they're everywhere. With all the good reviews that the MT4 is getting lately, more US retailers and stockists are getting in on the action. Basically, parts will not be a problem, the MT4 is based on a chassis that's been floating around for over 7 years, the Thunder Tiger ST-1 nitro truggy, also one of the great bargains of the RC world when it came out.

You will have difficulty breaking any 1/8th car through normal use. It is a highly bulletproof platform. Rest assured that anything that would break the TTR will break any other just as bad or worse.

The brushless system is one of the best in any RTR truck, it takes 6S lipo right out of the box (6S is madness), howeveer, the steering servo is typical of any RTR and will need replacing shortly after purchase.

The front end pillow ball suspension system) needs adjusting to prevent driveshafts popping out, and you should make sure to loctite (threadlock) all metal to metal screws before running, but apart from that the car has no inherent weaknesses.

crash118s

Sweet, I posted all my stuff for sale.  I think I'm gonna get a thunder tiger

crash118s

Does anyone have any pics or know where some are at of the thunder tiger st4 g3?  I'm wanting to see if it has the plastic/graphite parts or does it have the aluminum like the team Durango cars???

t-max97

My Feedback: (9)

http://www.google.com/search?q=thund...KIei9QTy7oGYDA

crash118s

Looks like mostly plastic

i8tweety

My Feedback: (11)

I think there's quite a bit of gray anodized aluminum on that chassis.