tankme

I would love to say that they made it here in one piece, but I can't say that. Now that I have said that I have been able to repair them to my satisfaction. I am glad the three boxes they came in were not damaged. Since there was two of them they boxed them together in one box. Each MRAP had its own outer box inside that and then they were in their retail box. So where did the damage come from and what type was it you ask? I guess I'll start from the unboxing.


The two MRAPs fresh from the two outer boxes.


Just as they were removed from the retail packaging. The M-ATV doors were both broken off, the Maxxpro passenger door was off, and there was a small rectangular piece of plastic floating around in the M-ATV box. I didn't find out what it went to until later.


The Maxxpro turret armor and machine gun were dislodged in shipping. I was able to pop them back in place easily.


All of the accessories for the Maxxpro came out of the baggie they were in and were floating around inside the plastic packaging. Luckily none broke.


Better shot of the Maxxpro door. Both the vehicle and door hinges are made from PE with metal pins. I was able to straighten the PE and re-install the pins.


M-ATV doors. Hinges on the M-ATV are plastic on the doors and the vehicle with metal pins.


Closeup of the broken drivers M-ATV hinges.


Closeup of the broken passenger M-ATV hinges.


Repaired M-ATV driver side door.


Repaired passenger M-ATV door. Both were fixed with some Tamiya thin solvent since they were plastic.


Found where the rectangular piece of plastic broke off of. A little Tamiya thin solvent and it was fixed.


I haven't pull all of the Maxxpro accessories on yet, but they are now all repaired to my satisfaction.

They do not have any suspension, they are only two wheel drive, and they are very fragile so they are not for crawling or bashing. The tires are a little hard, but they are exactly the same tires that come in the static kits. Overall I'm happy with them so far. The build quality of the kit is quite high. I don't see any sanding marks or sprue leftovers on the parts. Still need to get them out for a test drive. I may still build the two static kits I have into R/C so they can be four wheel drive with a suspension. That's a long way down the road so these will fill the void until that time. The static kits are bought and paid for so no hurry to sell them at this point. I'll see if I can get a video made this weekend of them running.

Pah co chu puk

Thanks for the write up. Those look cool, but I'm still on the fence about buying them. Looking forward to your movie of them running.

tankme

Looks like there won't be a video at this point. My satisfaction level for these two vehicles has taken a massive drop this evening. I was testing out the Maxxpro, everything was looking good, put it down on the carpet, it ran for about 2 min, and then died. No lights and no movement. I took the batteries out and put them in the M-ATV. It started up and ran around, but there was so much lag in the controls that I kept hitting things. Even firing the gun or turning the turret created a massive lag from when you let off to when it stopped. I will go out and get a bunch of fresh batteries to make sure it's not the batteries, but it was no fun to drive like that. Nothing I did would get the Maxxpro to start up again. I took the battery pack out of the M-ATV which was working and used in the Maxxpro and nothing turned on. Both battery packs use the same amount of batteries. I knew there was a reason I never buy things right when they are released.

Pcomm1.v2

Sorry to hear about the expensive Torro mess. I am going to keep the M-ATV and holiday gift the MRAP, new in the box, but with a disclaimer now: as this is a project and not RTR.

Regret posting these poor RC RTRs now! They can be DYI saved, though. John

Crius

Not your fault, John. If I had seen them first I would've posted them, too. They look really good on the monitor, too bad they don't hold up in real life.

tankme

Yeah, it's no one's fault. I haven't given up on them yet. I just didn't want others to buy based on my review without hearing all the facts of what is going on with mine. These things use the same electronics of the Torro M16 half-tracks and I'm sure most of know they weren't the most reliable things out there. It's only money...

Crius

I've had several of those Torro half tracks and I really like them, except for the range. I'm lucky if I can get 30 feet before I lose control. They say the elmod board is really good, but man is it expensive.

tankme

I have the M16 half-track also. I even pulled it out to test with last night. It's not working either. I barely ran it and had put it up on a shelf. Now it's dead also. Just not having a lot of luck with Torro soft skinned vehicles at the moment.

Ex_Pat_Tanker

you might have to replace the motor - the quality control on their 280's can be lousy

tankme

I may put a Clark MTK-40SP in it and dump the Torro electronics. Who knows. Sending the damn thing back to Germany would be expensive.

tankme

I was watching this video of another person who bought them:
He told me in the comments that his M-ATV electronics died the same way my Maxxpro ones did. A few minutes of running and done.

Crius

I guess he didn't like you using his video, as it's no longer available.

jarndice

There is probably little consolation in knowing that your thread has saved others on the forum from buying a product ignorant of its possible failings,
At least I know what to expect. As to the "Elmod" Board in the M16, Yes it is expensive but boy does it improve the halftrack which being so easily modable (My new word) makes the extra cost worth it..
My only complaint is please "Elmod" use JST sockets instead of making me have to solder connections to it.

Crius

You have to solder the Elmod board into the M16? I heard it was plug-and-play, is that not the case?

jarndice

It mostly is plug & Play but the lights need soldering to the board as do the speaker/s which is a bit of an oversight by "Elmod".,.
The instruction leaflet says there is a jst socket for the lights, ITs A LIE or at least it is not fitted to my board and the speaker/s need soldering to the cables that are ready attached to the board.
But it really is not much work and the end result is well worth a little faffing around.

tankme

It's still there. It just didn't link right for some reason.

tankme

The guy that posted that vid also said Torro hasn't posted his bad review of his trucks. I reviewed them tonight on the Torro site so we will see if Torro posts mine. It says all reviews have to be approved by an administrator. I can understand that mentality to avoid bad language, but I wonder if they are doing it to stop bad ones from being posted. That poster has also now posted an entire disassembly vid of the M-ATV. I'm guessing he's going to upgrade his.

Crius

I really don't think the people at Torro will post any negative reviews on their website.

But after reading this thread, I have decided that I am going to buy an mrap. However, I won't be getting the Torro mrap, I'll be getting the 1/12 scale HG from imex. About the same price as a metal Edition King Tiger, but if it's all it's cracked up to be it will be worth the money. I'll be sure to post a box opening and review when I get it. It will probably be at least 10 days to two weeks before it arrives at my house.

tankme

Torro did contact me today about the damage/reviews so we will see what they say after reviewing the pics I sent them and the write up of the issues.

Pcomm1.v2

Hi, That is possible good news for you! John

texchap

Sorry to necropost but my MaxxPro lasted 1minute before doing the same thing, it shut down and will not start. My M-ATV is still working. I have heard of the same problem with the MaxxPro from others. Torro has been absolutely no help whatsoever. The vendor I bought it from wants to send me a rechargeable battery. I know that will be no help at all. All it is now is a display piece.