Admiral052

So I am interested in getting and building this unit. I have built planes, and I upgraded and worked on my slash. I figured I would give rock crawling a chance and see what its about. I like scale stuff and this truck is calling my name. So a few questions from the more experienced crowd on this.

What are the options for transmitter control. I am seeing 4 channel pistol controllers but I also see airplane style controllers in use. Can my airplane controller be used with this?

Is the stock motor decent?

Do I have to use Tamiya's ESC or is there other choices?

Is a good light kit avalible beside that MFC they offer?

Since I am new to the Crawler thing should I stick with the stock wheels?

Any must have upgrades for this unit?

Thanks guys for the input.

The Mad Modder

1.While technically any 4 channel airplane transmitter would work, legally you could only use it if it's a 2.4ghz one.
2.The stock silver can gives pretty decent balanced performance. The transmission is geared rather low, so it has good torque, but isn't a speed demon. I believe that stock it tops out at around 10mph.
3.Unless you want Tamiya's mfu(it acts as an esc), you can use any esc you want.
4.Are you looking for a full system with functioning turn signals and backup lights or just a basic system that supplies power to leds.
5.If you were to crawl with it, I'd get some softer tires and maybe some beadlocks.
6.While It's a great scale truck, whether it's right for you depends on how serious crawling you want to do with it. The suspension travel can be inproved with junfac's 4 link kit, but due to the hard plastic body and 3 speed trans design, it's center of gravity is a bit high compared to most purpose built crawlers.

Admiral052

Thanks for the answers Modder.

1. so if I have a Specktrum DX6i that I use for flying can I use it with the truck too and set it as one of my model selections?
2 don't need anything fast since I get that from my slash, just looking for something to play with driving trails at a slower speed and climb some rocks, dirt etc.
3. good on the ESC I will have to look around
4. looking for just lighting for headlights, lamps, tails, etc. Just looking to turn them on and off using the controller (which would be a channel switch right)
5.good suggestion on the tires, I would like to try some crawling but nothing jeavy, just to learn with and play
6. I will keep this in mind. I could always convert to 4 link down the road correct?

narwalrus

My Feedback: (4)

1. Yes you can use the DX6i, a good choice even if you don't use it for airplanes as well..
2. The 3Speed Transmission is essentially aimed towards the stock 27t motor, so you actually have a pretty good range of speed. If you want more speed, you could probably drop to 20t, but that depends on what ESC/Battery you are using. Do you use lipo?
3. Tamiya's ESC is fine for the 27t motor on NiMh. I use it in my CC01 with that setup and It's perfect for the car.
4. Tamiya also has a basic light unit which plugs in between the batery and ESC. It is also on my CC01. It has 8 slots for lights, but they are permanently on. I prefer using this to the led's that recquire a seperate non-rechargeable 9v battery, but led's use pretty low power if you want to save money.
5. You don't need to get beadlocks. When you're going slow, your tires will last a really, really long time. You don't even need to glue your tires. Of course, if yiou change the speed (Or depending on the speed of the transmission) they might wear faster/need to be glued. The stock tires on the tundra are actually decent, but If you want more grip or something different/bigger there are plenty of good choices. It's best to see what you'd like to change about the car after you're using it, and then go from there.
6. Its a good, very scale truck, but not necessariy a crawler. The transmission, hard body and everything else kind of makes up for it though as it's a technical fun to drive car even if it isn't such a good crawler. You can always change things later.

I'm hoping to get a 3Speed/Bruiser soon and build an icelandic defender. Have fun with the truck!

Admiral052

Over at another forum I posted the same question and based on the info they fed me I have changed the direction I plan on going in. I am getting the Axial SCX10 and mounting the Tamiya Tundra body on it. This will allow me to semi crawl/trail AND maintain a scale apperance while using a stick controller.

What do you guys think about that?

Any ideas on the trouble I may run into going this route?

narwalrus

My Feedback: (4)

Both are good, the SCX10 is probably a better crawler though.

ReaperGN

The High Lift can get over many obstacles with ease if your a decent driver. It wont work at extreme angles and does not have the best clearance. But its not so terrible that an axial rig will run circles around it. The best things you can do for a High Lift to help it out is install some 2.2 wheels and tires. Nothing crazy, just something about 4.7 inches tall is fine. Then add a little weight to the wheels to counter balance the heavy body. Then about the only other thing you need is the hardened pinions from RC4WD. The stock ones work well but they do break from time to time. You could also get the locked diffs from RC4WD to make the axles bulletproof.

Electronic wise you DX6 will work well. Especially if you decide to add 4 wheel steer. For the esc I would install something with about 50 amps of power. The shift servo does not need to be anything special but I have found adding a servo saver to it improves the shifting. For the steering servos I suggest you check out the Savox 0251mg. It has tons of power and is more than fast enough. If you start adding lights, 4ws, etc I suggest you get a Castle Creations BEC.

I would not bother with the Junfac 4 link kit. You may as well buy a SCX10 if you want a 4 linked truck. I would also avoid brushless motors and not run any motor with less then 18 turns.

If you need any help with lifting the truck to accept larger tire let me know.