ChetRog

I am most likely going to be buying a monster truck after the new year. I am looking to buy something inexpensive, to see if I like the hobbie enough. Can you guys recommend an inexpensive "electric" truck to me. I am not wanting to spend over 200 dollars. Thanks for any suggestions

I also would like to buy an extra battery for this vehicle "not in the $200 price", but don't know what will last the longest. If you could also suggest an extra battery, that would be appreciated.

Revers on the truck is a must, and 4wd would be nice but inst necessary.

ThunderbirdJunkie

My Feedback: (3)

200 dollars will buy you nothing of quality if you're looking for a nitro MT.

$400 will buy you a very nice truck...yes, ti's double the price...but ya know...it IS only another $200. Seriously, if you can spend $200 on a toy truck...you can spend $400...

HerrSavage

Try this dude - it's a crazy good price:

http://www.amainhobbies.com/product_...ducts_id/10179

You get $25 off with the following discount codes:

If Your Order Totals: You Save! Refer to Coupon#
$100.00 - $149.99 $5.00 JJDPP85
$150.00 - $249.99 $12.50 JJDPP812
$250 or more $25.00 JJDPP825

This is a truggy, not a MT - so it's more of a race-type truck for the track. But I've heard they're good quality and tough. Should be fast too..

You're not gonna find anything worthwhile for under $200. This hobby is just that way - you gotta' pay to play..

Barber420

My Feedback: (1)

You can get an HPI Wheely King RTR for $210, then when you add a GOOD battery and decent charger you will be at about $300-325. This is a good basher truck and starter vehicle that is of good quality. Also, you can modify it and make it an awesome crawler or a crawler/basher. It's 4WD and will go pretty much anywhere. It also does well in snow, but I don't know if that matters. The only other MT that is good quality I can think of in your price range is a Tamiya Super Clod Buster. Given, it's no racer out of the box, but it is and can be made into an AWESOME truck. Their are endless modifications you can do to this vehicle as you grow into the hobby. It can be a good all around truck, crawler, racer, puller, or just basher. This will cost $220 for the kit, but you have to buy a charger, battery and radio. I'm almost positive they don't make this in RTR like the Wheely King. The charger and battery will cost you about $90-120 for good worthwhile stuff. A decent AM radio will set you back about $40-50. So, this would put you at around $370. Take a look at both of those trucks and see what you think. They're both good trucks and are a lot of fun. Both can be modified to be better as you grow in the hobby. Also, both of them will drive pretty much anywhere in anything. I've had experience with both of them.

HerrSavage

So as you can see Chetrog, it gets expensive quickly - especially with electric when you need a few sets of good batteries and a decent charger, etc.. The above post from Barber420 is a very good answer to your question. But IMHO a 1/8 nitro truggy is five times the truck(and fun) of a 1/10 electric.. And all things added up, the price if anything is probably cheaper for the nitro truggy - if not then close to equal.

So I would suggest reconsidering your question..

The truggy will be faster, bigger, louder, tougher, handle better and be all around a lot more fun. And you won't find a better price-point for getting into the hobby.

Here's a random vid of my Muggy(also a 1/8 nitro truggy..), just to show you the kind of stuff you'd be able to do with the GS XUT or Thunder Tiger ST-1(also available at amain..) The GS would be better than the Muggy on a track too... :

http://s166.photobucket.com/albums/u...er07Goseck.flv

And here's a random Wheelie-king from youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cxSxroc6Gwk

ChetRog

Thanks for the honest information guys. Is the traxxas stampede something I should consider even though it doesnt have 4 wheel. The wheelie-king looks interesting. I just need something to start with I really don't want to spend 400 dollars.

I want to stay away from nitro.

bzinfinity

Meh on the stampede. The Stampede VXL is pretty sick though.

You won't wanna stay away from nitro when you start buyin batteries, hehe.

NASCARRACING88

i think a stampede is god enought for u if u want something cheap

ChetRog

I Will be buying a second battery with whatever I get, if i get one. I just want to have a truck that with 2 battery's will get close to half an hour of play time. I will be mainly on flat ground and dont intend to jump it to crazy. I am avoiding the gas cars because I don't want to mess with fuel, and worrying about tuning etc. Thanks again for all the suggestions. And also, thanks for anymore to come.

rclynx

If you just want to kick around and have some fun the [link=http://xtm-dealer.com/zencart/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=25&products_id=850]X-cellerator E[/link] is a good inexpensive starting point and the charger is good for a lot of applications [:-]

MadManAndrew

[link=http://www.cheapbatterypacks.com/tstuff/v7/buildcustompack.asp?sid=1414288][/link][link=http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXNJJ0**&P=ML][/link]
[link=http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXTCK1&P=ML][/link]
in the custom pack builder, it's the higher mah the better, I'd recomend 4000
the pics are links

MadManAndrew

oh!for that charger you'll also need an adapter because it has banana plug connectors.
[link=http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXVJW0&P=ML][/link]

Yub, yub, cmdr!

Yup. The electric Stampede XL-5 is a great vehicle. Just make sure you get the RPM front bumper if you start to bash it hard. I would recommend refraining from buying the cheap battery packs and instead getting one high quality IB4200 pack. Should cost you about $38. You will have higher quality fun with this pack than two cheap batteries. I made that mistake when I first got my XTM E-xcellerator, which I sold and bought a Stampede.

Barber420

My Feedback: (1)

If I were you I would get the WK over the Stampede. Sure you have to spend about $60 more for it than the Stampede, but trust me, it's worth it. Having 4WD makes a world of difference on what you can do with the truck and where it can go. Also, for the battery situation, definitely buy 1 GOOD battery. I have IB4200 batteries that last 30-45 minutes depending on what, and how, I'm driving. They are great packs that have a lot of power, last a long time, and will take a lot of charges before they go junk. In a WK this pack will probably last about 40-50 minutes with a fresh full charge. You will get addicted to this hobby once you get a vehicle, it just happens, so don't be afraid of spending $350 to start off with good quality stuff that can be upgraded as you get better. The biggest mistake people make when getting into this hobby is going cheap off of the start, loving RC, and then having to go spend $200-500 in the next six months to replace everything they'd already bought. I also would look into a Lunchbox over a Stampede if I were going to go the 2WD monster truck route.

ChetRog

Is there anyway to make the wheelie king not p0p wheelies as much. Maybe moving the pack to the front or something. I want to pop some wheelies but like some people have said on the net, it gets old just popin wheelies all the time. Thanks for the info.

ThunderbirdJunkie

My Feedback: (3)

You know

ThunderbirdJunkie seconds the pede.

He misses his

lambofchet

Can you guys tell me what advantage a person would have over either buying a wheelie king or a stampede.

I know the wheelie is 4 wheel, but are there advantages or disadvantages between the two. Thanks again guys.

Barber420

My Feedback: (1)

Yes, you can move the battery pack to the front on a WK to make it not pop wheelies constantly. The stampede is fun, and fast, but it's only 2WD. That is a big disadvantage. Also, the Stampede has independent suspension which makes it pretty much worthless at crawling over stuff. I guess, to me, the best way to explain it is that the Stampede is a 1 trick pony. It's a crazy 2WD MT and that's it. The WK, however, can pull wheelies all of the time, go fast through ANY terrain due to the 4WD, it can be made into a jack of all trades and do some crawling, bashing, and jumping, and lastly it can be made into a hardcore dedicated crawler pretty easily and cheaply. With the Stampede you have no options, with the WK you have tons. Plus, personally, I think HPI products are way superior to Traxxass.

ThunderbirdJunkie

My Feedback: (3)

Stampede is faster and better.

And holds sentimental value for ThunderbirdJunkie

ChetRog

What suggested parts would you guys recommend that would make the wheelie faster. I think I would mess around with stock for a while then when I had the money, upgrade if I liked it. I know nothing about motors or battery's. It might be a while before I could upgrade and I want to get started on something soon. I just say that because I know some people will say just wait and save up four hundred bucks and buy something. Thanks again.

Barber420

My Feedback: (1)

You can always upgrade to a better brushed motor and ESC for $100-250. If you were to spend some coin though I would go Brushless for the motor and ESC since you could get that for $150-300. That virtually eliminates all maintenance too. If you think you want to start crawling and bashing you can buy the HPI crawler kit for cheap and put that on. Going Lipo is always an option for more power and longer battery life. The list can go on and on and on, but these suggestions are probably a good place to start. Keep in mind though, that if you do start crawling you're not going to want a high speed motor. The factory motor is about ideal for a crawler/basher.

ChetRog

From what I have seen from the stock wheelie "videos" I would want it to just be faster. I don't think I would ever do any crawling. I don't need it to go over 40 or anything, but the 20's would be nice. Does getting a better battery pack make it go any faster, or is that just the motor. Thanks

Barber420

My Feedback: (1)

You can make it go faster either way. If you put a 7 cell battery, which is 8.4v, instead of a 6 cell, which is 7.2 volts, that will increase your speed. However, getting the extra cell doesn't increase run time. Run time is only increased by getting bigger MAH batteries. A good option for you is to probably buy a 7 cell battery when you buy the truck. Then, as time goes on and you get more money, go and buy something like a Novak Havoc BL(Brushless) motor and ESC setup. They're $140 new, but you can buy them refurbished from Novak for under $100 I believe. That price is for a new ESC(Electronic Speed Control) and a motor. Also, BL doesn't really wear out or need maintenance like brushed systems do.

ChetRog

Thanks for the reply. If i was to buy a wheelie and then buy a new battery that is 7 cell with and a higher MAH will I need to buy a charger for the new setup? I pretty much have decided to go with the Wheelie King but now need to pick what battery setup to buy.

Also is it going to take 6 hours to charge and then play time is like 10 min's. Thanks once again.

Yub, yub, cmdr!

I've never owned a WK but the Stampede is the undisputed king of 1/10 electric truck bashing.