Your a newbie, so I wasn't suggesting
you were touting anything. I'm not either, I have a (gasp!!) T-Maxx.
Do I get a gold star for not suggesting my own truck?
My last suggestion is that, IF you can wait a bit (??), I'm guessing that the Losi LST truck is gonna be THE best 1/8 scale (big) truck...period.
RCCA said the footrprint was than any MT they've seen (you said you want BIG!). The chassis is an engineering marvel. The 4 massive shock setup makes a LOT of sense & is way cool. Dual steering servos...power start...
A JR XS-3 SYNTHESIZED RADIO [X(][X(] (A $200 upgrade!!), a wild tranny-2 speeds in high & 2 in low (4 gearings), the towers & suspension parts are huge.....
Yeah, it's $100 more, but it is REALLY an amazingly-new yet not-too-freaky truck. Did I mention the RADIO!!!!
Make sure you take a close look (on the web for now, hopefully in your store soon!):
http://www.teamlosi.com/kits/LST/index_main.htm
And Losi is a truly elite, world class, inventive, race-proven & bred, designed in the US company, and that means something to me (though I have equal respect for the top Japanese companies too, like Tamiya & Kyosho...I'm not flag waving!). Not that they're the best products (necessarily), but they have contributed SO much to the hobby for SO long...I respect that & feel safe that there will always be someone in California or Champaign, IL to help me out.
IMHO, Losi, Associated, Tamiya, Kyosho & Mugen are the top BRANDS (not the top vehicles, necessarily!!), in compnies that do offroad stuff (Lexus/Acura). HPI, Traxxas & OFNA kinda group together next (Toyota/Nissan), and XTM...well, I they're HYUNDAI.
WAIT....,
Hyundai just surpassed Toyota and is the #3 company OVERALL in JD Powers (behind Lexus & Mercedes, I think). They've both been around a while, but always seemed to settle for making good products at good prices. Big R&D efforts? HA!!! Industry firsts? HA!! But RECENTLY, they've started to INNOVATE, IMPROVE THEIR QUALITY, add more POWER, get more BUYERS, get more GOOD REVIEWS/CUSTOMER FEEDBACK.
Wow, this IS a good comparison!
XTM is a distribution company setup, like OFNA & some other Asian companies have where they WORK with mfgs. to develop new trucks, those mfgs. actually engineer them (i.e., OFNA has a hong Kong company making one series of buggies, and a Chinese making another). Although Losi, Traxxas, Associated and other "American" companies stuff is often made in the SAME Chinsese factories, they were designed, tested & refined HERE.
But OFNA, XTM and others do have good staff here, and customer service is probably fine, too. But hopup wise, Losi, Traxxas, HPI, Associated, etc. will ALWAYS give you more options, and they tend to have better factory part avialabilties, too.
Maybe I'm a snob, but the company that makes the truck DOES matter. A lot? I dunno, but it matters.