itchin' for a big block beach basher
 

its the peak of summer and the beach is a great place to be. i want a nitro powered rc vehicle of some kind and i want it to eat sand for breakfast. the motor has to be big and reliable, i dont need a lot of top end power. i'm lookin for something along the lines of a truggy and maybe a monster truck. kinda leaning towards the truggy, the looks of a MT turning give me nightmares of constant rolls and crashes.

so i tempt you, rcu, to point me in the direction of a reliable beach basher. whether it is rtr or not i dont care.

and for the record, i own a pair of eighth scale buggies. so i am not the newest person to rc, but trust me, i am pretty green.

RE: itchin' for a big block beach basher
 

Pick up one of the Mugen MBX5Ts the racers are dumping right now and put a 28 and paddles on it. It should go scurrying across the sand like nobody's beachness.

RE: itchin' for a big block beach basher
 

and this is where my inexperience comes into full view....

where should i look to buy one? i googled around, checked it out on mugen's site etc.

RE: itchin' for a big block beach basher
 

They are all over Ebay. I just picked up a nice one with four bodies for 230 shipped.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...lenotsupported

They are very tough, maybe the toughest truggy built to date. The newer ones are lighter and better suited for racing, but for what you and I plan to do with them, these are hard units to beat. I have three and one on the way, so I am not just blowing smoke. Glen

RE: itchin' for a big block beach basher
 

Check out a losi aftershock, they are rtr, big, fast, and cheap.

RE: itchin' for a big block beach basher
 

Losi XXL with paddles...

RE: itchin' for a big block beach basher
 

thanks glen, thats what i needed to hear. i will grab a mugen as soon as i can. that aftershock is pretty badass looking. maybe look into that later.

so what exactly are paddles? are they the tires that look like they are modified snowmobile tread?

RE: itchin' for a big block beach basher
 

They are tires made for sand and snow. Here is my HPI MT2 with proline sand paws. It goes scooting across the snow with the OS .18 TZ turbo.
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y25...Pics/MT2_1.jpg
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y25...Pics/MT2_8.jpg

RE: itchin' for a big block beach basher
 

The entire Losi line seems to be pretty quality stuff, but as you can tell by the posted photos, they have a high center of gravity. My understanding was that you wanted to go racing across the sand without being upside down all the time. The truggies will do that as good or better than any other RC.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ajbZRSnKOM

It is not sand or paddles, but you can get an idea of how stable they are and their speed with a Stock Picco 28. Glen

RE: itchin' for a big block beach basher
 

I think Budbud's to Used to Driving Savages.........LST's Actually Handle Pretty Good on Any Terrain ;)
(And the LST's come with Threaded Shocks...So it's Only a few Turns to the Ride Hight you Like)

Here's some Vid's on My Buddy's LST2 when he went to Mexico.....

Matamoros Mexico:LST2 Video 1

Matamoros Mexico:LST2 Video 2

RE: itchin' for a big block beach basher
 

I am guilty of owning Savages, I had nine for at one time, I am down to four now. Even a Savage can be fairly stable.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SY7Jy...eature=related

I could not get Suga's video links to work, but I have run with the LST2 and know it to be a capable and strong machine. They are still not nearly as stable as the race bred truggy.

I also have RC10GTs, Thunder Tiger EK4 Monsters, Thunder Tiger EB4 S3 buggies, Mugen buggies, Mugen truggies, Ofna DM-1 Spec 1, Thinder Tiger TS4N, Super Nitros, Tower Terrors..... about 36 nitro vehicles altogether and have been playing with them since 1967-1968. I have seen a lot come and go. They all have their strengths and weaknesses. Some do some things better, some are next to impossible to break, most monster truck break pretty easily in comparison... You could run a buggy in the sand, but they belly out easy on the chassis pan. I doubt you will find anything stronger than a Mugen MBX5T.

The LST does have a two speed and you may be able to gear it for a higher top speed.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vsVR7DEoZE8 Mike's Mugen



A 325 dollar Mugen as I bought it on its maiden voyage. The engine was sick, had been detonating, but the chassis was great to run. I have since polished the button and piston and added a head shim, it is running great now.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1ird...eature=related

Glen

RE: itchin' for a big block beach basher
 

thanks a ton everyone. this is great info.

bud, while i have your attention... what can you tell me about 1/8th vehicles and two speeds?

more specifically an ofna lxone with the ofna centre diff replacement style tranny.

RE: itchin' for a big block beach basher
 

I am not sure about that particular one, but I suspect it is built like the DM-1, which is an extremely tough unit. Stack up bearings on the long end instead of using the spacers and they will take a lot of abuse. Glen

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kBQjl...eature=channel

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dXLoN...e=channel_page

Those guys are both dumping huge power on that Ofna two speed and they are both reporting it holds up great.