RE: Maisto Rock Crawler
 

i bought one a played with it for 10 minutes, then gave it to my nephew. he is 6 years old and loves it! its the perfect indoor RC for young ones, it isnt fast, but can crawl over obsticles, so he can drive it almost anywhere in the apt.
its pretty neat for a $30 RC, better than most in that price range.

RE: Maisto Rock Crawler
 

damn, just got back from walmart and there was a tag that said "rock crawler 29.96" and I am guessing thats where it should have been but the rack was empty.

I even found my old rx, LRP F1 ESC, and a servo I tried stuffing in an old nikko NSX I had. and was gonna come home and buy a couple 2s lipos and a charger when I got back home with my crawler....

guess Ill keep watching that rack.

RE: Maisto Rock Crawler
 

my second maisto crawler( a goodwill find)is undergoing a transformation into a 2.2 crawler. the immediate challenge is mounting a steering servo, the rest should be easy. i wonder how the 130 motors will like a 3 cell lipo?

RE: Maisto Rock Crawler
 

-the best crawler I've seen for the monsy, BY FAR, is at Toys R Us, called the
Bandai http://www.toysrus.com/product/index...ductId=4300616 "X-crawlee",

there's a vid or 2 on Toys R Us' site, you'll see themhttp://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/js/f...eeth_smile.gif

RE: Maisto Rock Crawler
 

you cant compare the $30 truck talked about in this thread to a truck that costs over $100. i am surprised to see that any toy store has a RC in that price range. thats close to hobby grade price. but i doubt you can easiely find spare parts or upgrades.

RE: Maisto Rock Crawler
 

nice looking rig, i'd have to see one in person though. i like a lot of people don't believe everything on the internet that you see and some of the claims geez.

RE: Maisto Rock Crawler
 

im gonna buy one today and do mods..esc/motors, lipo.1.9's etc... ill see if i can get a spektrum rx in there

RE: Maisto Rock Crawler
 

Has anyone tried one of these?, looks bad-ass, but looks can be decieving.
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_99..._2/key_/tm.htm

RE: Maisto Rock Crawler
 

i picked up one of these maisto crawlers today. ive spent the last 4 hours converting it use standard hobby grade electronics. sofar i got the steering servo mounted, and im about to put the esc, and reciever in it. it will be running on a 7.2volt 1400mah battery. the steering servo was a pain in the butt to get in but i managed to get it in. it took alot of hacking at it but its coming along now. in the process of mounting the servo i accidentally cut the screw holes off where the front left shock mounts. i got a bunch of hot glue oing onto this to get it mounted back in place. once i get it all finished up ill get some pics and possibly a video of it posted for you guys.

RE: Maisto Rock Crawler
 

heres a few pics

RE: Maisto Rock Crawler
 

that's what i'm doing also, theres an internal server error or i'd post a pic

RE: Maisto Rock Crawler
 

try this again, i also put a 180 motor in the front

RE: Maisto Rock Crawler
 

im selling mine. using the funds towards another tank or some upgrades for my walker bulldog

RE: Maisto Rock Crawler
 

i'm just redoing mine as time permits as i'm running carpet offroad with asc10 and t3and that takes a lot of work. it's winter here so we go indoors.

RE: Maisto Rock Crawler
 

I got one of these little guys today (in green).... Its definitely worth $30!!!. Its got better climbing power than I expected, through this is my first experience with clod stall... I dont like it...[:@] I got it more as an "RC trainer" for my 2 year old daughter, she always wants to drive my mini e-revo when I pull it out:D. The two stick radios seem to be beyond the comprehension of most kids under 5, while a pistol grip is easier to figure out.... I was going to get one of those "Xtrm" 1/36 scale trucks, but figured it would probably be too fast and get stuck too easy with a 2 year old at the controls:D I'm guessing I will probably be driving it more than she will at first though :)

That X-Crawlee looks pretty cool but at $160, I'd just get an HPI crawler king instead...:D

RE: Maisto Rock Crawler
 

go a few post up and you can put a 2 cell lipo in it that realy livens it up.

RE: Maisto Rock Crawler
 

Ijust got one too.

RE: Maisto Rock Crawler
 

Just got done painting it.  Flat black with some yellow.  I have new motors, Tx, Rx, speed controllers and a <span class="headingb">Turnigy nano-tech 2650mah 3S 25~50C Lipo coming and should be here tomorrow.</span>

http://images.rcuniverse.com/gallery.../lg-216086.jpg

RE: Maisto Rock Crawler
 

cool, post a vid once its upgraded....

RE: Maisto Rock Crawler
 

1) Could u kindly tell us what specific brand/size motors &amp; electronics u used to upgrade ur Maisto crawler Please??
2) Ive doe the 9.6v battery mod &amp; its ahuge difference!!Only problem is its now too fast &amp; without digital proportional controls, theres little torque &amp; lots of wheel speed.
((Needs a gear reduction basically!!))

Thanks,
SeniorXJ

RE: Maisto Rock Crawler
 

Hello, do u mind sharing what size/brand motors &amp; electronics u used &amp; if u have any installation pics would be great!!

Thanks,
SeniorXJ

RE: Maisto Rock Crawler
 

Not a problem guys. Keep in mind, this is the first rc anything i've ever owned, so I have very little knowledge on the subject. From what little i've learned so far i'm pretty sure all this will work.

motors: http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/s...idProduct=4195

speed controllers: http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/s...idProduct=6457

Tx and Rx: http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/s...dProduct=10608

UBEC: http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/s...idProduct=6233

edit: as for the steering, I'm using the same speed controller as above, but a smaller motor. I'm trying to build all this without having to completely hack the thing apart. The stuff should be here today, then i'll get some install pics up.

RE: Maisto Rock Crawler
 

1) Is there really a need for the Tx, Rx, &amp; UBEC??? I dont see why ur replacingthe controller&amp; spendin the extra $$ for them, so can u explain???
2) What about this 25a/30a ESC: http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/s...idProduct=6460Its cheaper &amp; has a higher current draw??...!!
3) I have a Hitec servo &amp; Jameco 150 motors that i can use; so can i get away with justbuying that ESC?? Will it be digital proportionaly controlled with that ESC installed??
4) Ive done the 9.6v battery mod so its got plenty of power, BUT its too much wheel speed &amp; not enough torque for crawling!! What can i do to get a lower crawl ratio??

Thanks,
SeniorXJ

RE: Maisto Rock Crawler
 

1)  when you get into the electronics of the crawler, you'll see that everything is on a circuit board, so just adding speed controllers and motors won't work.  you'll be limited by the factory board.  it will not be digitally proportional controlled.  The range also will now be increased.

2) The ESC's are already bigger than what the motors will need, but I guess you could get away with the bigger ESC and just that one ESC instead of one for each motor.

3)  No, because the signal coming from the factory circuit board is an all or nothing signal, telling the motor to turn on or off.  you'll need a new Rx, which in turn requires a new Tx.

4) Like said above, the circuit board is the limiting factor in being able to control the speed.  So basically, i've taken everything out of the truck and started from scratch.  Makes it much simpler.

Hopefully that answers some of your questions.  If i'm wrong, hopefully someone will chime in.  I'm here to learn as much as the next guy is.<br type="_moz"/>

RE: Maisto Rock Crawler
 

Guys, the ESC's you are linking are for airplanes, not cars. three problems you will run into, #1, they dont have reverse, because planes dont need it. so it will be forward only, assuming you can overcome problem #2. #2, "Neutral" on a car transmitter is actualy 50% throttle. A car ESC is designed to see that as neutral, but an air ESC sees it as 50% throttle. In order to get a brushless airplane esc to arm, it has to se 0% throttle, which is full reverse on a car transmitter. so you would need to hold full reverse on the transmitter to get it to arm, and then when you let go of the trigger, the truck will start moving forward at 50% speed... not real useful. And #3, air ESC's dont have heatsinks, so they will likley overheat in an RC car with no airflow. Even though they are rated higher than the truck needs, a crawlers amp draw spikes whenever the wheels get stuck, and air ESC isnt made to handle spikes like that, because an airplane propeller never gets stuck. THat's why car ESC's have heatsinks :D.

Also, you can NOT run two brushless motors off one ESC. If the motors are hand wound and perfectly matched it sometimes works in an airplane, but i have never seen it work in an application like this, and I can tell you one chinese ESC is NOT going to run two chinese motors. You need an ESC for each motor if you go brushless.

The Ubec is not necessary regardless of the ESC you use. those are made for applications that have a high servo current draw, like an airplane with 4+ servos. You wont need it in this.

Using a speed controller and a motor on the steering will not work. It works on toy RC's because the circuit of the toy is made to control it, but real RC stuff doesn't work that way (because its a retarded way to do it) You will need a real servo, but it will cost you less than an ESC and motor anyway, so its better.

If you want to buy from hobbyking, and want to go brushless, here is what you need:

The radio linked above will work fine.
The motors linked above should work fine, but a lower KV would be better for a rock crawler, especially if you are using higher voltage. (the motors linked are 3500kv) Of course, thats assuming the screw pattern in the truck is a standard pattern, I havent taken mine apart so I couldn't say.

ESC X2 http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/s...dProduct=14630

Steering servo, an mini or micro servo will do, but you will have to figure out a way to mount it... shouldn't be too tough really.

You could also pick up a brushed car ESC and use it to run both of the stock motors. ebay is a great place to look, you should be able to pick one up for under $30.

Good luck!

One more thing... the main limiting factor on the torque this thing makes are the AA's, they cant produce the amps the motors ask for, especially when its going uphill and hits a rock... so dont think you can upgrade this without also upgrading the battery. I would recommend getting a 2 cell lipo battery, in the 800mah range (for size) Lipos can be dangerous and HAVE to have a charger made to charge them, or WILL catch fire, so read up on them, use the right charger and charge them properly and they are safe,... alternatively, you can just use a 6 cell battery pack made for a 1/18 size RC car...

Just upgrading the battery on this thing to a 2 cell lipo makes it a whole new truck... the AA's really just suck...