“Best” Truggy/Buggy for 500$ or less
03-15-2018, 07:18 PM
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“Best” Truggy/Buggy for 500$ or less
Hi everyone!
I bought a Traxxas Rustler a very long time ago.. as in 8 years ago. It’s the brushed version, cheapest you could get. I’m ready to buy something new.
I’ve got a budget of 500$, more or less.
I’ll be running it off-road. Very small amount of usable pavement around where I live, so I’ll be taking it through grass, dirty sand, rocky places.. etc. northern Wisconsin, really.
What do you guys recommend? Obviously I’m looking for a brushless motor. I’d like good aftermarket support so I could customize it a lot with some fancy RPM parts and aluminum stuff. 4x4 isn’t a necessity.
I’d also need a new charger if I run Lipo.. so I need some advice there too. I’m asking for a lot, but I’m coming to you guys as a relatively “new” owner, and any advice is good advice.
I bought a Traxxas Rustler a very long time ago.. as in 8 years ago. It’s the brushed version, cheapest you could get. I’m ready to buy something new.
I’ve got a budget of 500$, more or less.
I’ll be running it off-road. Very small amount of usable pavement around where I live, so I’ll be taking it through grass, dirty sand, rocky places.. etc. northern Wisconsin, really.
What do you guys recommend? Obviously I’m looking for a brushless motor. I’d like good aftermarket support so I could customize it a lot with some fancy RPM parts and aluminum stuff. 4x4 isn’t a necessity.
I’d also need a new charger if I run Lipo.. so I need some advice there too. I’m asking for a lot, but I’m coming to you guys as a relatively “new” owner, and any advice is good advice.
Last edited by CurlyCucumber; 03-15-2018 at 07:51 PM.
03-16-2018, 03:42 AM
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03-16-2018, 04:21 PM
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When I first saw the title of the thread, I immediately thought you are/were looking for a 1/8 scale platform. Truggies usually means, to me, a 1/8 scale 4wd platform. There are also a couple of 1/10 and 1/10-ish truggies out there. So it sounds to me that you are in search something 4wd. Jump on over to AMain Hobbies, or similar site, and maybe start filtering out the small stuff...see what's jumping out at you.
There is a lot of great truggies and buggies out there to be had. Keep in mind, most likely a good charger and battery will need to be factored into a budget. If you are buying a 4S LiPo pack for something, you are probably gonna want a decent; more powerful, charger than if you would be using 2S LiPo batteries.
You can certainly go all out and load up on the very best gear for a RC. Also lots of great moderately priced gear to outfit a platform. If finding something that is needing electronics, a safe number for that would be around $240 ~ $280 for good lower budget radio, ESC, motor, charger, battery, and servo. All depends on scale of RC, and how much power a person is gonna want/need.
There is a lot of great truggies and buggies out there to be had. Keep in mind, most likely a good charger and battery will need to be factored into a budget. If you are buying a 4S LiPo pack for something, you are probably gonna want a decent; more powerful, charger than if you would be using 2S LiPo batteries.
You can certainly go all out and load up on the very best gear for a RC. Also lots of great moderately priced gear to outfit a platform. If finding something that is needing electronics, a safe number for that would be around $240 ~ $280 for good lower budget radio, ESC, motor, charger, battery, and servo. All depends on scale of RC, and how much power a person is gonna want/need.
Last edited by RustyUs; 03-17-2018 at 03:08 AM.
03-17-2018, 10:31 AM
#7
Ah, Scott is a HoBao fan. I have a HoBao Hyper TT "mini"-truggy and Hyper SCT short course truck. Love them. It's cool having two completely different platforms that share 85% of all their parts. Makes upkeep and maintenance cheaper and easier. The Hyper TT isn't really a mini. It's just smaller than your average 8th scale truggy, being a 1/10 scale. Actually some call it 1/12 scale. And, HoBao offers upgrade parts, as do STRC and Integy. You may not know about HoBao, but they were one of the two makers of the OFNA brand which is now defunct. But HoBao is still going strong. I bought the TT from NitroHouse.com for under $200 as the "80% kit" roller. Meaning the car is all built, except the electronics. And you paint the body. The nice thing about these platforms is that you can run them on a single 2S or 3S LiPo. Most 8th scale platforms require at least TWO 2S packs.
However, if you're going to be running on mainly grass, like lawn, an 8th scale truggy or truck might be better. The bigger tires and fatter motor won't tax the motor system like it can with a 10th scale car/system. On the other hand, if the "grass" you're talking about is mostly short and dry, you could probably get by with a 10th scale of a larger size, like a 4x4 short course truck. (I wouldn't recommend a 2wd 10th scale anything for running on grass) I highly recommend getting an infra-red "no-touch" thermometer for monitoring your motor temps. This will tell you if you're over-taxing your motor system or not. You want to keep motor temps under 180F, preferably in the 130F-150F range.
I can recommend the Ultra Power UP120AC Duo charger. This is a dual-port charger that can charge two packs at once with charging capability of up to 12 Amps per channel. And it runs off wall power, no power supply needed. Perfect if you go 8th scale and need two packs to run your truck. I got it from Amazon for about $130. I would also recommend Gens Ace hard case LiPo packs. I run their 6500mah 65C 2S1P hard case packs and bought them for about $47ea. An awesome deal when you compare them to just about any other name brand. They only use well-matched, quality cells and excellent build quality.
I have a HoBao Hyper TT "mini"-truggy and Hyper SCT short course truck. Love them. It's cool having two completely different platforms that share 85% of all their parts. Makes upkeep and maintenance cheaper and easier. The Hyper TT isn't really a mini. It's just smaller than your average 8th scale truggy, being a 1/10 scale. Actually some call it 1/12 scale. And, HoBao offers upgrade parts, as do STRC and Integy. You may not know about HoBao, but they were one of the two makers of the OFNA brand which is now defunct. But HoBao is still going strong. I bought the TT from NitroHouse.com for under $200 as the "80% kit" roller. Meaning the car is all built, except the electronics. And you paint the body. The nice thing about these platforms is that you can run them on a single 2S or 3S LiPo. Most 8th scale platforms require at least TWO 2S packs.However, if you're going to be running on mainly grass, like lawn, an 8th scale truggy or truck might be better. The bigger tires and fatter motor won't tax the motor system like it can with a 10th scale car/system. On the other hand, if the "grass" you're talking about is mostly short and dry, you could probably get by with a 10th scale of a larger size, like a 4x4 short course truck. (I wouldn't recommend a 2wd 10th scale anything for running on grass) I highly recommend getting an infra-red "no-touch" thermometer for monitoring your motor temps. This will tell you if you're over-taxing your motor system or not. You want to keep motor temps under 180F, preferably in the 130F-150F range.
I can recommend the Ultra Power UP120AC Duo charger. This is a dual-port charger that can charge two packs at once with charging capability of up to 12 Amps per channel. And it runs off wall power, no power supply needed. Perfect if you go 8th scale and need two packs to run your truck. I got it from Amazon for about $130. I would also recommend Gens Ace hard case LiPo packs. I run their 6500mah 65C 2S1P hard case packs and bought them for about $47ea. An awesome deal when you compare them to just about any other name brand. They only use well-matched, quality cells and excellent build quality.
03-17-2018, 11:52 AM
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yeppers i kinda like Habo they also have what he could be looking for. the 1/8 scale rigs can still use a single 4 cell pack as well..
CurlyCucumber are you in the US.
CurlyCucumber are you in the US.
