discgolfer72

ok i want topick up a 10th scale crawler


id like somthing that i can drive around a a good speed but also do some rock climbing

wanna stay under 180$ rtr

first whats better for whati want dual motor (one in each axle )

or center motor



gonna buy one of these
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Redcat-1-10-...item20d160d564


orone of these
http://www.ebay.com/itm/ELECTRIC-RC-...item565531e4a1

tattoosonme

My Feedback: (16)

I would save up an buy an axial scx10 or ax10 wraith or ridgecrest parts are every where for them an proven design I had the moa rs10 truck an had a ton of problems with it

Zrock

Save and buy something a little better. The extra money you spend on a good unit will save you in the end from trying to find upgrades and replacement parts.  Also what they are asking for shipping is putting you over your mark and alot of online hobby shops have free shipping so that'sextra money you could be putting into your rig.

discgolfer72

im not gooing to waste my cash on a car that will get ran2-3 times then put on a shelf

really just looking to round out my collection i have mt,buggy,st ,sct,onroad,carpet,and mini's
so the only thing missing is a crawler


was going to build my own but damn clod axles are stupid high and axial is to proud of their stuff as well
im leaning twards the redcat because of the brand name
but the otherone i like because its got a center diff




i can get bolth versions i posted for 139 with free shipping and a penny more really make buying a crawler pointless

what i want to know is whats best for bolth road driving and crawling

2 motor 1 in each axle
or center motor

tattoosonme

My Feedback: (16)

I would think a crawler would not b very good on the road im not sayin u have to buy an axial but u can find them used rtr cheap I wish I would have listend instead of wastein money on the no name brands all the money  I spent fixing the one I could have had a real nice truck if u want to build a coustom u can buy a brand new clod buster an build ur own chassis I would suggest going over to rccrawler an look at some of the diff builds there an ask over there ill bet u get the same response about the redcat trucks it will b hard to get some parts.since I bought my wraith olny thing I have bought new for it is electronics an I love it more than any crawler I have owned in the past. one thing to watch out for in the redcat trucks is the gears with axial if u break them u can get steele gears to replace them.as far as motor on axle or center trans it all depends on what u wanna do with it motor on axle requires a bit more as u will need two motors an a esc that can handle that a center trans is less parts an  little easier to tune good luck with the search just look around an read all that u can then decide

The Mad Modder

I guess the closest thing available to what you want would be a rigid(straight) axle monster truck. The HPI wheely king comes to mind.
I have two bits of advice.
1.While you don't need the most expensive, fancy truck out there, don't buy a truck solely on how cheap you can get it. Budget trucks often aren't as durable as mid or high end ones and often times parts are harder to find.
2. Before buying a truck, look at threads about it on various forums(google helps a lot here). It's a good way of finding any problems it may have and what(if anything) can be done to resolve or prevent them.

CEN USA

I say go for the better models, save your money for something nice in your collection.

The Real Dogman

the first thing comes to my mind is"why have a collection if you are collecting garbage?" unless you are into collecting trash.

I would much rather have a collection of nice trucks than a collection of crap! be proud of your collection, own nice things!

for your budget(which is too low for a decent truck) the wheelie/crawler king comes to mind and as others have already mentioned, you can get nice clean used trucks for around your proposed budget!

the redcat crawlers do have problems and there virtually no aftermarket support.

Remember you asked for our opinion, might not be what you were expecting but these guys are telling you the truth!

SyCo_VeNoM

for a WK I'd just go new as they are only like $220 last I looked. Hell I picked mine up off ebay for $175 shipped NIB a few years back
I know the price went up some as they swapped it to 2.4ghz, made a water proof electronics box, and swapped to WP gear.

Will say one thing about the WK is you can do some interesting things to them as I modded mine to 6wd pretty cheaply

nitro stan

tamiya cc01, there around 200 new
i had a WK, drove it twice and broke both times

brand names cost money because of R&D, and quality, thats true with everything

if anything over 139$ is pointless, dont by a crawler. costs around 100 bucks to have a solid transmission and driveshafts in a crawler.
we dont buy expensive parts and rigs because "ours cost more than yours" we do it because we want something durable, and local parts support.
the second one you linked is a ax10 knock off. a ax10 needs upgrades to be durable and capable, why do people think that a cheap knock off will be as good or better than the real thing?

i guess they might do ok if all your doing is street driving and light walking trails, but put it on some rocks and it wont last a few minutes

SyCo_VeNoM

what did you do to it?
I've had mine around 2 years, and nothing broke on it, and a good chunk of the drive time was when it was 20 out jumping it of snow ramps landing on concrete
or you got a lemon, I've had 2 of the same exact models before one you looked at it the wrong way it would break where the other one took a beating.

discgolfer72

out of my 37 cars only a slim few were even made after 1993(and most of thoes are mini's)

id like to keep a crawler with my vintage style in mind bit like i said im not going to spend over 200$ for a set of clod axles(that from what i have read are breakage prone as well)


i never asked are these any good ,i never asked is there a better brand (because i know that others are way better already)
i asked what as better motor in axle or center diff


im not in the habbit of buying trash but its really pointless to even own a crawler
just as pointless as a stupid drag car
wee i can go fast in a straight line
weee i can go thru mud and climb rocks at 1 foot a min

just not my thing

but like stated i have pretty much every style of rc so i might as well have a crawler on my shelf
buy a cheap one play with it for 10 mins till i get bored gut the electronics
then stick it on the shelf
i dont mind setting fire 2 150$ but any more and i start thinking twice about it




i like the idea of a center diff but im leaning twards the redcat just because its a more notable brand(if you can even call it that)
i wish they had a center diff crawler in that price point


i thank everyone for the input but please keep you thoughts on quality to yourself and just answer the ? at hand

what makes for more stable onroad/flat surface driving motor in axle or center diff setup

nitro stan

shaft driven rigs will torque twist (center diff)
moa rigs wont(motor on axle)

i understand where your coming from, i had the same thoughts when i was looking for my first one. but i fell in love with a ft per minute.

if you shop around the fourms you can build a nice truck cheap, it will work well, be durable and look good sitting on the shelf.
in the last month iv seen two cc01's turn up on rccrawler fourm for 125 and 140, both needed a few things to be rtr, but would still come in under 200 buck. a new cc01 kit is 189$, only need a radio. if you have 37 cars, then a radio shouldnt be a problem.
tamiya is vintage,quality, and a great price.


at SyCo_VeNoM , i may have had a dud, we are extreme scalers in GA, maybe im just harder on rigs than most, i took mine apart and built a buggy out of it. i think i put the build in this fourm. i was running a 35t motor on 2s in it

SyCo_VeNoM

ahh yea its not that good for anything too extreme. I remember we had a member here who set his up to jump over his truck, and probably broke every piece on the truck at one point (including destroying every single gear in the tranny). I think in the end he had most the truck upgraded to steel(I know all his tranny gears were custom machined outta steel) or aluminum before he quit the site.

Johnnysplits

Yeah my wraith does 1 foot a minute...and also goes 40mph!! If you want the cheapest (under $180 RTR) piece of crap crawler, just find one and buy it. Why bother coming on here to ask? Your price point alone for ANY rtr r/c is gonna get you junk. So good luck.

discgolfer72

thanks nitro stan for the info on the diffrent motor setups exactly what i wanted to know when i started this thread
im going with the moa one its on the way
at least that way if i do end up wanting to waste more cash on a crawler i can just buy some clod axles and recycle the links and such to fab up a custom
mabey a couple of these lol
http://www.ebay.com/itm/TAMIYA-CC-01...item232a3361d3

also ended up with a losi mini crawler as well on the cheap


i need to order some more xtals went thrue my stuff today 37 cars ,and only 15 tx rx combos that work argggggggg. ended up with a huge pile of xtals that dont work
(no more storing the xtals as the same box as brushed motors )

KID_EVIL!

Buying a cheap crawler is the worst idea you could have come up with. The WK is $220 with that you could have a crawler or a mild basher. I find the WK to more scale/trail truck than comp style but not all that bad. But instead of buying a lump of cheap plastic and ripping out the electronics and leaving it on the shelf, you could have a multi purpose truck for $50 more..... But hey, if all you want is MORE trucks buy what you want. It seems like you don't even want a crawler really.

$175 on axles and less for a whole truck??
I'd have sold you a picture of my ax10 for $100, you could have cut it out and used it.

The Mad Modder

It really is too bad hpi got rid of the prebuilt version of the wheely king. When I built my wk crawler, I used a prebuilt wk I got for about $130. Paying over $70 more for rtr electronics is nonsense.

nitrosportsandrunner

ok guys, its been awhile since you have been where the OP was....
I remeber it well tho...

I wasnt sure if I would like a rock crawler....so a $300 axial was out of the question.

I bought a RTR redcat rs10. The 4 wheel steering is amazing! The radio alone sells for $80 on ebay. The 1 touch...4 mode steering is sweet.

Now, onto MOA vs center drive...which is better? Well, a MOA in general will perform better. The weight is lower, you have 2 motors and generally more ground clearance. But a center drive makes it easier to upgrade or change the specs (ie, new motor, new gearing) A center drive is also more scale (duh)

Now, Ive had 2 RS10 crawler. One I ran stock except for cutting the foams (stock foams are a bit stiff) and the other I ran aftermarkt tires...added weights to front axle and put a outcry duel motor esc and run a 3s lipo.

For a $160 truck, its VERY capable. Cut the stock foams, add alittle weight to the front axle and it can go anywhere a SCX10 will (natrually, the 2.2 tires help, but the 4ws is really what does the trick)

After owning my rs10, I new I liked crawling and got a ax10 and then a scx10. I do prefer the scx10 as its a more versitle chassis...easier to mod.

but other than better tires adn a better set of steering servo...the rs10 is good as is. It doesnt need much to do some narly crawling. Those motors draw so little amps, you could even wire up a single traxxas xl-5 ESC and waterproof the servos for driving threw water.

Obviously the scx10, losi nightcrawler, ax10, wheelyking ect are better rigs....but they should be, they cost more. I had plenty of fun with my $160 rs10...worth the cost in my book. Even tho I own others, I have still considered buying a rs10 again.

On youtube you can find some pretty wildly modded rs10's! you can get a scale body to fit decent, Ive seen some 1/8 scale MOA crawlers based on RS10 axles, Ive seen 540 motors fit to the stock axles and much more.

I do not regret buying the rs10. A MOA crawler is hard to get wrong. As long as the axles and gears inside are tough (which they are) it will run well. Other than the stock servos being weak, the rs10 doesnt have any flaws to speak of.

if you wanna give crawling a try on a budget of less than 180, the rs10 is the way to go.

The Real Dogman

Spoken like a true red cat dealer!!












LOL, its in your sig, its not like you dont get paid for saying that!! lol Nice write up tho! And some very valid points!! Especially the part about the redcat RS10being a great Sub-$200 crawler!

nitrosportsandrunner

dude if they would pay me that would be awsome...LOL.
I should take that out of my sig, as I closed my ebay store and not really selling anymore. ebay took all the fun out of it

Ive had the ax10, scx10, nightcrawler, exceed mad crawler, losi mini crawler as well as some 1/8 crawlers. The scx10 is the best of the lot. The rs10 is the best for the cost.

I will say that the scx10's I have owned I bought used for around $200. But lately, used RC prices have gone WAY UP. Ive seen used emaxx rollers go for what I have paid for RTR emaxx's in the past. Havent seen a used scx10 for under $300 in a while.

The rs10 needs the foams cut, stronger servos (mg996r's for $10 each) and some weight added to the front. With those things, its really a good backyard crawler. wont win any awards for looks tho...LOL. That stock body is kinda ugly. I had a VW baja bug body on my 1st one. The second I moded and had a jeep cherokee body on it. You can add frame rails and make scale looking front/rear bumpers for it.

I even took one and made a pimp cane chassis and mounted a axial jeep body on it

OH, one thing...make sure you buy a 2.4ghz version. The older version had a FM radio. radio looks/works the same...but some had limited range issues. The 2.4ghz version got rid of that. But you may still find some of the older ones NIB or used. dont buy it. The radio is the most expensive part of the truck and you want the 2.4ghz!

SyCo_VeNoM

won't argue with nitro's logic I remember when I gave RC tanks a try, and bought a $80 tank, the guys on the tank board were recommending $600+ tamiyas saying I wouldn't get the same enjoyment. Guess what the $80 tank showed me I'm not a huge fan or RC warfare, and I'm glad I didn't invest in the tamiya (which honestly I wouldn't have done anyways).
Won't get rid of the tank as I do like it, but I know the Tamiya wouldn't have brought me any more joy for the over $520 more then I paid price tag.(actually the tamiya prolly would have been less fun as the one I got shoots BB's where the tamiya one done uhh nothing...)

As to why I bought the SCX10 instead of a cheaper rig... I didn't buy it for crawling I bought it more for scale factor so if I would enjoy crawling played 0 into my decision, and I already owned a wheely king

nitrosportsandrunner

bang on. while a $300-$400 crawler is awsome, a $160 crawler will let you know if you enjoy "crawling". Even if you decide you dont care for the rs10 itself, you will know if you like rock crawling as a type of RC'ing. Then, sell the rs10 and put the money towards a better truck.
Or, you may find you dont like cralwing. So sell or trade the rs10 and you wont be out hundreds of bucks.

The Real Dogman

lol I was not arguing with him,, I truely thought it was funny, that post and then I saw the last three words in his signature!

I confess, my first jump into crawlers was a wheelie king! It got heavily modified but I got a smoking deal on it. $200 out the door RTR, but I was only looking for axles at the time. I thought what a great way to get into it without busting the bank. I still have that wheelie king. restored sitting on the shelf as it was like 20 different models since that firstWheelie King, So I know about starting cheap to be sure you'll dig it.

nitrosportsandrunner

if the OP can find a good used wheely king, ax10, nightcrawler ect for $200 then I agree its worth the extra $40 to get them over a rs10. But ive been having a hard time finding good deals like that on ebay the past 6 months.
Also, it takes a good eye to find the right deal. you dont want a $200 used wheely king...that needs $100 worth of parts replaced.
Sometimes, a lower quality NEW RTR is a better deal for your money than a higher quality USED model. Sadly, not all ebay sellers on honest

Crawlers are sweet. if you get board with yours, just mod if for a different style of driving or terrain! different tires, gearing, motor, body, suspension setup ect can totally change how they drive. And thats true of even the cheaper ones.
Ive taken a 1/8 MOA and made it into a 1/6 semi-scaler
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CO9ewtmfaKw[/youtube]