New to rc and need recommendations please
 

I've been researching for a while now and I just don't know what's best for me. I'm completely new to this but I know I want a monster truck preferably with a brushless motor(I've heard they are faster and less maintenance) and 4 wheel drive. Does anyone have any recommendations for what the right purchase would be for a beginner who wants to spend 300-400 dollars? Anything will help! Thanks

Rummy12,
I too am new to the hobby. I was looking for weeks before I pulled the trigger on my ECX Ruckus. I too wanted a 4WD, brushless monster truck. There are some good ones out there too. After looking at the local shop, I saw the ECX Ruckus and bought it right then and there. It's water proof, tough and hell, looks really mean and is bigger than the competition. I love it so far, but is is a beginners truck. For the money ($170) you can't go wrong. Here is a video that gives a pretty good review. I like tinkering with these things as much as I like driving them so I'm looking forward to making upgrades. After all, I didn't go with 4WD because it would have just been a bigger strain on the battery and these Monster Trucks can go just about anywhere you want them to. ECX does make a 4WD version and I think it's brushless too. If I could have afforded it, I probably would have gone with that. I here the Traxxas Stampede 4x4 Monster Truck is a crowd favorite, but I couldn't get past the funny looking stance.

For the money, you can't go wrong with the ECX Ruckus. But if you budget is bigger than what mine way, your options are greater. Let me know what you end up getting. Either way, your going to be happy you got into the hobby.

The ECX Ruckus is a good entry-level vehicle. They have some hop-up parts but not as many as there are for Traxxas vehicles. Traxxas Stampede wheels will fit on the Ruckus.
The 2wd Brushless Ruckus sells for $300.00. The 4wd Brushless Ruckus sells for $330.00. They run good on the NiMh batteries but if you want more power from the BL motor then you can move up to LiPo batteries. That move will cost at least $100.00 for a battery and a good charger.
For a some more money you can get a Traxxas Stampede. A little better built and many more options for parts; standard Traxxas replacement, Traxxas upgraded/aluminum, RPM upgraded, and Integy aluminum parts.
The 2wd Brushless Stampede sells for $340.00. The 4wd Brushless Stampede sells for $450.00.
The Stampede runs fine on the NiMh battery but really goes with a LiPo battery .
With the Traxxas vehicles you do not get a home charger,only a 12v car charger. Plan on spending around $40.00 more for a basic home charger or get a better charger that can charge both NiMh and LiPo batteries.
Good Luck.

Thanks for the info and advice. I'll be honest and say this is frustrating and mentally exhausting. I just can't decide which one to pull the pin on. I've narrowed it down to three. Redcat volcano 4x4 brushless, arrma granite bls blx or mega, and the Ecx ruckus brushed 2wd. I've been doing heavy research on all three and I keep going back to the redcat cuz of the brushless motor and the selling price. It seems like everything I read about the brushed motors isn't very good. You can spend 180 on the other two that are brushed or spend 210 on the volcano that's brushless. Seems like a no brainier but I get the vibe from other enthusiasts that for a beginner that wouldn't be a good choice. Trying to make this decision is starting to deter me a little from getting into the hobby at all. Maybe I'm just too picky but in the end I wanna make a good purchase. Any other thoughts will be appreciated

Do yourself a favor and forget the Redcat. Redcats are "low priced" for a reason.
Arrma like Traxxas is sold and supported by Tower Hobbies;a great company.
ECX is sold and supported by Horizon Hobby ;another great company.
You will need parts and support so if you can't get that locally at a hobby shop then Tower or Horizon is the next best thing to a lhs,
There is nothing wrong with brushed motors as they have been around forever. They will wear out eventually, but depending on how they are run and maintained they can last a long time. You can always upgrade a brushed vehicle to brushless at a later date for around $120.00.
If you are worried that a brushless vehicle would be too fast then look at Traxxas as they offer Training mode on all vehicles. This cuts the top speed by 50% and allows you to develop throttle control while learning to drive it.

Rummy i agree with flyin. Forget the redcat. I like yourself was in the same boat and did my research on the redcat. I found time and time again that they break too often. I ended up buying the Aarma Granit BLS. I really like it but would have bought the BLX version if i could have afforded it. Its super tough. Iv seen videos on youtube of people just abusing the crap out of there granites and they keep on going!! Bad thing about Aarma is that there are no aftermarket parts. Only the ones supplied by Arrma. Thats not a terrible thing just something to keep in mind. The blx motor and esc is more than enough to keep you happy for a while. Once your ready to go faster buy a 2s lipo. If thats not enough, the blx runs 3s lipos as well. Hope this helps!!

Ahh and if you do get the granite check out tbone racing. They offer a front bumper thats a part saver for the granite. It costs about 19 bucks and protects the front end like a boss!

Rooles...for some reason my replies won't post. Did you get brushed or brushless?

I got the BLS version. It is brushless. But if you can get the BLX then defenately get that. it has a stronger motor and more aluminum parts than the BLS.

The blx is brushless as well but has a 4 pole motor. The bls only has a 2 pole motor

Thank you rooles. I will be going to our local hobby shop tomorrow to hopefully make a purchase. If not I'll be ordering one online most likely the bls or blx. Do you have an opinion on the Ecx ruckus? I've narrowed my decision down to the granite or ruckus. Just trying to decide which one would be the best purchase

I dont know much about the ruckus =/

No problem. Thanks for your help

No worries!!

Check out this page. If might help you decide. http://www.bigsquidrc.com/2wd-rtr-mo...ruck-shootout/

Rooles thanks for the link to the article. I've decided to go with the arrma. Not sure yet if it'll be the bls or blx. I also want to get an extra lipo battery that's fits in the arrma with a fast charger. Do you or anyone else following this thread have any recommendations on that. Rooles the arrma is lipo compatible correct? Thanks

The BLS is compatible up to 2s lipo. The BLX is compatible up to 3s lipo. I bought this charger on amazon and have had no problems so far. You will also need to pick up an adapter for the charger. Look for a male ec3 to femail deans adapter.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00HQ...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Sorry for all the questions but will that charger you sent me the link to charge the stock battery that comes with the truck? And by the way I think I'm gonna go with the bls. Blx along with the extra battery and charger is too expensive

Dont worry about it m8 glad to help. Yup that charger will charge the original battery. The lipo battery i ordered came in today. After charging it i gave it a go on the granite without the cover. That was a mistake. I managed to flip the truck over and break a post that holds the cover lol. All from a stand still. No doubt the truck is powerful with the lipo.

Thanks again. I'm gonna make my order!

Gl!

Rooles...I ordered a venom 7.4v 2s 5000mah lipo 25c when I ordered my truck. I was looking over the specs on the truck I ordered and everything I saw only talks about a 2s 4000mah lipo. Do you know if the 5000 mah or the 25c matters as far as causing damage to the motor or electronics. If it does I'll send it back and order a 4000mah

The mah rating is dictating how much juice you have. It wont damage anything. The c rating is your discharge rate. The higher the better. Arrma states 25c is good enough. Long story short your good to go.

Rummy12,

I'm glad you took the plunge. you'll be happy with the Arrma. I was looking at that too but my local hobby shop had the ECX instead so o got that. I couldn't wait. Let me know what you think of it. My ECX is tough as nails. I'm already sick of the short battery life the stock battery it comes with. I'm looking to getting a better charger and battery soon. Keep us posted!

Rooles thanks once again. I'll write a post to update you guys once I get the truck and get a chance to try it out. It should be here Friday and I'm sure I'll have more questions!

No problem! You should check out the aarma forum. My username is the same.
http://arrmaforum.com/

Rooles...I got the truck today!! I charged the battery and did everything I was supposed to as far as I know. The truck is crazy fast but I think there might be a problem. Quite often when I hit the gas it makes a scratching/crunching noise and doesn't take off right away. But sometimes it does take off right away. Is this normal? I have the bls brushless

That's common for sensor less motors. It's called cogging. I find with my lipo battery it coggs less. I'm super glad you liked it. I'm waiting on a servo for mine. I shredded a small plastic gear in it running lipo lol.

Lol I'm sure I'll be in for more surprises. Thanks for the info. I have no idea what I'm doing so I don't know what's normal and what's not. Is it also normal for it to for it to have a pretty big delay when you're running the truck in forward and then you stop it and it takes several seconds to get it to go in reverse? I feel like as soon as the truck stops you should be able to reverse it but this one takes several tries of hitting the trigger in reverse before it moves

Yea thats normal, and annoying. But you get used to it

On my lipo battery it has the normal connection like the nimh battery but it also has a little white connection. I don't see anywhere on the truck to plug that connection in. Is that for something else or do I need to connect that somewhere to use the lipo?

The white tab is used for charging the battery. It keeps the lipo happy. You don't need it to run. Make sure you change the settings on your esc to lipo when you use your lipo battery. It tells you in the manual how to change it. Then remember to change it back when you go back to nimh

Alright thanks again. I really appreciate the help!

No problem. Visit us at the main arrma forum!