Atomika

I'm look'n to get a 1/10 electric truck to race at the track. Its for beginners of all ages so its nothing serious. I'm wanting a solid truck with good support and parts availability. I'm wondering which is a better investment. I already have brushless & radio set up so thats not an issue.

EXT2Rob

My Feedback: (1)

What kind of "support" are you looking for?  In my experience (I cannot speak for Losi) NOBODY has "good support" anymore. If a company has any "customer support" at all these days, it's been out-sourced to India.  And we all know what a JOY that is. Even outfits who DO have "customer support" here in the US are LAME by any measure you care to put to it.  These days it's "buyer beware - you're on your own".   So do your research.

 Do you have a local hobby store?  What parts do they stock? If they deal with Losi and/or DuraTrax, you'll be fine.  Tower Hobbies is probably one of the largest suppliers on-line for both cars. But it's odd...every so often certain parts will be "out of stock" (always the one you need) and can take MONTHS before they get any back in stock to ship.  And unless your LHS happens to have that part, you're outta luck, cuz they order the parts from the same place you do!

I've had several unsatisfactory experiences lately (can you tell?) with Castle Creations and DuraTrax.  However, in DTX's favor, after several emails to them, either un-answered or answered with unhelpful one-line replies, they actually called ME!  I had a nice conversation with a rep, and now, if I have a question or issue, I can email him directly.  I couldn't even get Castle on the phone. Emails went unanswered.

As you may have guessed by now, I have two DTX Evaders I bought as brushed versions (the brushless one hadn't come out yet) and converted them to brushless.  I love them.  Not that I haven't had "issues" with them too.  The Evaders are tough mostly, with just a few noted exceptions: Drive pins in the axle ends and in the differential will eventually fail under brushless power and stock replacements aren't much better. Best to get a length of piano wire of the right diameter from your LHS, that stuff is MUCH stronger.  The tranny parts will (providing you have good ones to begin with) hold up well as long as you grease them regularly with TrakPower Gear grease. That includes opening up the diff and greasing it too. The tranny and diff came almost dry from the factory, so do yerself a favor, make sure everything that needs greasing, IS.  I run my cars A LOT, like, everyday, so I open my tranny every week or so and re-grease.  Getting a new all-metal diff for the Brushless Evader is a good idea also.  You won't strip the diff anymore, but the bevel gears inside can take a lot of abuse, and if you don't have them well greased, will wear. Be sure to replace the pin that holds the drive cups in place with piano wire. It will fail, and will chew up the bevel gears.

So having said all that, I love my Evaders. Great bashers. My buddy comes up and we have race days (I have ten acres) and we have a grand ol' time.  But our course is big and wide. And there's only two of us.  If you are going to be racing at an indoor track with a half-dozen other guys, you may find that "open wheel" racing a bit frustrating.  I think that's why Short Course trucks became so popular: they have fenders, so you don't catch a wheel and get flipped. And Desert Trucks are essentially SC trucks.  So if racing is your plan, I'd go with a Desert Truck.

cummins driver

My Feedback: (31)

The desert truck is a Losi XXX-T with a different body, wheels, etc... Not a lot of changes. I would reccomend the desert truck over the evader. I like the evaders, but the desert truck is just a better quality r/c. Check out the associated T4 as well...

cumquat

the duratrax is alright for getting started, especially because you can find them for under $100. it does have some quarks that need attention but overall, you wont be completely pissed when things go wrong after 3 or so months of pretty much problem-free running.

i cant comment on the desert truck other than if i ever am in the market for another 2wd, i'll get one if budget allows. but t be fair, i've owned 3 evaders (one ext and 2 ext2's; one was a runner and the other was for tinkering with and ended up as a parts truck) and would want to try something else.
http://www.ultimatehobbies.com/store...VADER+EXT2+RTR

Atomika

@cummins driver

So the DT shares alot of parts (chassis, a-arms drivetrain, etc.) with the XXX-T?

cummins driver

My Feedback: (31)

Yes, not everything, but a lot of it is very much the same.

cumquat- I bought a new evader a month or 2 before christmas. I really liked most of the truck, but the transmission kept giving me fits with the brushless system, and there were a couple other things I didnt like about it too. I could only get 5 hours or so of running before the top gear in the transmission was sharp. Hopefully they have some of those issues straightened out now, but I ended up picking up a T4 for a good deal and its been flawless so far. Just a much nicer truck. My father in law has the desert truck with basically the same BL combo i run in my T4. He hasnt had any issues with it yet either. Its a pretty nice truck. Too bad they discontinued it though.

EXT2Rob

My Feedback: (1)

I had issues with the Evader trannys too, even when it was still stock!  I think they had QC issues with their manufacturer. I went thru quite a few top gears. But I've been running the same top gear for well over 9mo now.  I started stripping out the plastic diff gear, but since the advent of of the metal diff gear and a top-quality grease I've had NO issues.  The trannys and diffs come from the factory with very little grease in them.  Put TrakPower Gear Grease in everything.

cummins driver

My Feedback: (31)

I had mine greased well with automotive wheel bearing grease and it still had the issue. They may have had QC issues that are now taken care of, but I just didnt want to wait around for them to figure it out.

My first go around I stripped the diff gear and the top shaft was sharp. Got that replaced and greased, and loosened the slipper. The plastic diff gear never stripped again, but the top gear still wore out.

Its a shame because I really liked the rest of the evader. I still reccomend the brushed version as a great 2wd r/c on a buget. However, if you are buying the brushless version I think there are some better options out there. At least until the brushless transmission has been well proven.

littlemel

My Feedback: (4)

Well desert trucks are down to $150 so its a no brainer for me.

cummins driver

My Feedback: (31)

Where can you buy one though? They are discontinued and out of stock everywhere I have seen. Thats the only real problem.

littlemel

My Feedback: (4)

you know what.......your right.......never even looked at that.

cummins driver

My Feedback: (31)

Yeah, my father in law bought his right as they were clearing out the last of the stock i guess. He got it for $150 I believe on ebay, but horizon had them for the same price. It was a great deal for the money. I almost bought one myself, but I had already bought my T4 and like it just as well anyways [8D]

The desert truck can be a little hard to find used, but you can find the XXX-T's fairly often used which is basically the same truck.

Atomika

I'm leaning towards the XXX-T now after doing some research on it. Jus outta curiosity anyone know if the ECX Circuit any good?

ThunderbirdJunkie

My Feedback: (3)

If you intend to race, get the XXX-T or a 22T or a T4. Ignore the DTXs and ECXs that are out there...they're good for what they are, but they are definitely not racers. If you buy a race-bred truck right off the bat, you'll be way better off in that you only have to buy the car once.