TheGreatestMoo

Not sure if this is the correct category for this post but it should be cause it technically is a rock crawler.

This is a Chinese made build it yourself kit from CROSS-RC. I ordered one a few weeks back I just got it all built and it is AWESOME! I own 2 Tamiya semi-trucks and 3 trailers and this is on par with Tamiya's quality. Mechanical design and materials used through-out the build are excellent. The upper body has a lot of detailing in. It's solid axle drive, and the wheels are very soft and have a lot of traction, high quality rubber. Being solid axle it still turns better then I thought and can climb over pretty much anything! I highly recommend getting one.

The kit was very well organized. Every stage of construction was in its own plastic bag. Even all the screws were sorted out by each type, it is the best organized kit I've ever done. The instructions were in Chinese but it didn't effect me at all in following them, clear images and even had a listing of each screw used in each step like the Tamiya instructions have.

I purchased one of these from Rocky Law through email and he is the greatest only 7 days from ordering I got it from China to the US fastest shipping ever.

TheGreatestMoo

The axles are solid, but they do sell optional differential gears that you can plug into them at cross-rc.com but stock they are locked solid. The axle casing they claim to be some kind of high strength polycarbonate plastic. All the inner, gears, axles etc. are all metal. It turns better then I thought it would, the wheels are very soft so they just flex around when its turning.

It seems pretty strong, I can hold my hand in front of the bumper and all 8 wheels will spin trying to move it, it has a ton of torque to it. It's very slow though I'm not sure what kind of gear ratio but its defiantly meant for off-roading.

Locking diffs would be awesome, cross-rc doesn't have any and I'm not even sure how to get a hold of them because each axle is unique for the drive shafts and steering units. You would need to find like... |- -|- -S- -S axles.

I might try to put a different transmission into it similar to the 3-speed in the Tamiya's to give it a higher top speed.

The kit also comes with pre-wired very nice lighting system with a LED driver board that has working brake lights, reverse lights, headlights toggle-able with a 3rd channel and blinkers. It connects into 3 channels on your receiver.

A few problems I've noticed though on this are the stock springs are WAY to soft, I've ordered some stronger ones they carry. The whole truck tilts a little one way. The spring design is very unique the top and bottom ends are coiled into the center and a screw is used with a washer to hold them directly to the frame and axle, there is no damper in the middle, its outside it on another mount.

Also the reverse lights are brighter then the headlights which is a little odd. I'm sure I could replace the LED's on them.

TheGreatestMoo

I finally got my order in for upgrade parts. I had to use YoyBuy.com as a TaoBao.com agent to get a hold of them. YoyBuy was a very good agent also they got me the items I ordered in just about a week from china to the US. I ordered the strongest springs cross-rc sells and metal spring mounts, also some spare steering pieces in-case anything breaks.

I would HIGHLY recommend that anyone who orders this kit to make sure to order these yellow springs and the metal mounts. With these yellow springs installed to me it seems like a very good balance of ability to handle weight now but its still soft enough to move over obstacles easily. The stock springs are not suited for this truck.

I had the truck outside today in the snow and it is way better then I thought it would be. It was able to go through 1-2 inches of snow with no problems! I will be recording some videos tomorrow.

Sunfirefoot

My Feedback: (30)

WOW!!! This is really awesome! So how many volts does it take to run this rig? 8x8 is something I've never seen, you should post a video of it in action, I would watch it on replay in complete shock and awe because this thing is amazing!! Excellent job!!

Sunfirefoot

My Feedback: (30)

Holy cow!! Just looked these up on Ebay, $2,100 USD. On second thought, no video, it's way too expensive to go scratching up LOL

TheGreatestMoo

ER where did you see that much? My kit was $740, then with all the electronics it was still under a grand... O you probably seen their FULL METAL version, its similar but 100% different drive-train.
I bought mine from Rocky Law through email, he shaved some of the cost off his Ebay listing fees that way: http://www.ebay.com/itm/MC8-8X8-Mili...item20d328383f

Just uploaded a video of this driving around out in the snow. It handles so much better then I imagined... It was about -2F out in that vid.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9UJFCCZgEmA

TheGreatestMoo

It runs on a normal 7.2v battery it is pretty slow from heavy gearing though but I just ordered a RC4WD 2 speed gearbox to replace this stock one should give me a little more speed in high gear with it. I haven't driven it too much yet to know how long it lasts but with such heavy gearing I bet at least an hour. The gearbox ratio is about 21:1 in this stock not including the axles.

TheGreatestMoo

I just got some metal drive-shafts in the mail today. Even though Cross-RC sells upgraded metal drive-shafts I bought some from the US here that looked like they would fit and they did! Took it out for more runs in the snow today and one of the steering knuckles broke! Thankfully I ordered some extra parts when I ordered the yellow springs so I had it replaced very quickly. I was trying to turn up a steep snow hill and it must have been too much for it to handle. I took it back out afterwards and ran it for about an half an hour with more careful driving with no more problems.

TheGreatestMoo

Took some more images, including my 1/14th forklift I did all custom electronics in that.

I just put a RC4WD 2-Speed Silver Transmission along with a 2:1 gear reducer on the motor. I can't say I'm all that impressed with RC4WD it took a lot of work to even fit their 2 products together. The motor hole on the 2:1 reducer had to be enlarged to fit my stock sized 540 motor out of 5 different brand 540 motors I had none of them fit into this hole so idk why it was so small. On top of that the transmission had a screw that was blocking the install of the reducer so I had no choice but to remove it. The size of the gears has me concerned as to how long it will hold up, they are ITTY BITTY gears. Although I did run through some deep snow with it and no problems. Last thing is the high vs low speeds are not that noticeable I wish it was a little faster in high gear. I'm already thinking about redoing the whole transmission setup to something else. We will see.

Alpha Male

My Feedback: (11)

Very nice rig! I was looking at a similar 6x6, but the 8x8 is cooler. I guess from the darkened windows of the cab that there is not interior at all, huh? It is always nice to have a driver at the wheel.

TheGreatestMoo

There is plenty of space to build a custom interior but I decided to tint the windows instead of doing all that. The windows come 100% clear though.

TheGreatestMoo

Over the last couple weeks I basically gutted all the original layout of the drive train and replaced it with 2, 3-speed transmissions for a total of 9 different gear ratios via the transmitter! I put a 3-Speed transmission from the Tamiya semi-trucks inside the cab like the real truck's design. I had to mount it very high up inside the cab to clear the axles when they are fully compressed, also to clear the top of the steering servo. It has a 3:1 Great Planes gear reduction and a 55T RC4WD motor to power it all. I then re-arranged the electronics on the whole truck and made a platform above the transmission for the receiver, ESC and the LED driver the truck came with. The transmission output then runs through a drive-shaft carrier and then down to the RC4WD 3-Speed Transfer Case. The transfer case is pretty bad-ass, the gears inside it look pretty beefy and it has had a lot of use so far and is holding up very well. The transfer case can switch from 2WD 1:1, 4WD 1:1 and 4WD 2:1. I had to modify some of the under carrige of the flat-bed to relocate the battery, I ended up using a Tamiya battery holder from one of my semi trucks which fit perfectly under it. For the transmitter I added another 3-way switch to my radio which was easy because I use a 9X 9 channel Turnigy radio system that's modded with a SmartieParts board and new firmware that's supports an endless amount of features.

I'm working on another video with a new camcorder for YouTube.

TheGreatestMoo

I made another video, this time a really extended half hour long vid with lots of driving showing of its 9 gear ratios now! Some wheel cam and slow rock crawling in the vid also.

Check it out here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jpXDYZozINQ

Wizzard033

I love the transmission/transfer case mods you've done. Where did you source your drive shafts from?

TheGreatestMoo

I used some drive shafts meant for the SCX10 and cut them down to fit. I just ordered a sound unit for this truck from China, I'll post a new vid when I get it all up and running!

Wizzard033

I though they looked just like the one for my AX10

Which unit did you buy? I'm looking to get one but I'd like something fitting with many sounds too

TheGreatestMoo

The one I ordered has 2 sounds to select from, I bought it through email with Law Rocky ([email protected]), same guy I ordered the truck kit from. It hasn't arrived yet but he sent me a link to a video of the thing here: http://www.tudou.com/programs/view/-yxW751TKb8/ it sounds very similar to this sound unit here also: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JGv3cyukL-w

Wizzard033

I bought that exact sound module and it sounds awesome!

http://youtu.be/DL7rI3rebIE

TheGreatestMoo

NICE! I love the paint job, the black details are cool I might redo mine a bit to match that. What steering servo are you using? The one I have is VERY loud re-centering. You planning on doing any upgrades to the drivetrain/transmission?

Wizzard033

That's a Savox 300oz waterproof servo. I used the DAK Painting guide. To get the finish. The trucks I saw on the net had a lot of black bits. I've also added a scale interior and working mirrors and such as mine is an FPV rig.

i bought a Tamiya three speed and I have a transfer case on the way to go with it. The stock transmision has some slippage under heavy loads climbing. I think the Tamiya will be better in that respect and the parts will be more available. I might even upgrade the diffs at some point.

wright 971

Hi I have been wondering about buying one of these , you just made my mind up I am getting one , will consider upgrades later need to save first. The only thing I spotted it seemed to be pushing in tight turns , might benefit from selectable diff locks instead of locked diffs.


regards pete

heavyaslead

Moo, what ESC are you using for the 8x8 ?

Mike Flea

You guys do realize this thread is a year and a half old.

TheGreatestMoo

I made a video review of the UC6 from CROSS RC, my 8x8 briefly appears in the vid with a new paint-job check it out! The UC6 is pretty insane...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7TCZSGwFZwY