Looking for a Truggy.....
 

I figure the truggy board is the place to ask this, I'm looking for a truggy (just rolling chassis, don't want motor or electronics, as I'll take care of all of that myself) would prefer 1/8th scale if possible, and want something that I can beat to death that isn't going to crap out on me if I wreck it. I've got a Savage right now that I'm in the process of converting to brushless, and that thing's been a tank since the day I bought it, WOT run on an LRP .28 Spec3 into a cement post on the side of a loading dock and all it did was crack the lower A arm and bend that dogbone. Looking for something that'll take at least CLOSE to that much abuse. I was looking at the Hellfire or 8ight-T but, have heard lots of people complain about the diffs on the losi, and from what it seems, there isn't a whole lot of aftermarket product support for the Hellfire. (not to mention I'm having a tough time locating one new in box, let alone as a stripped roller)

what're you guys' opinions? I know brand loyalty is very strong, and when it boils down to it, I don't have much to speak of, whatever I get, will get the nitro motor ripped out (if it has one in it) and will get converted to brushless with the Mamba Monster Max combo and will be primarily for bashing, but, I want it to be race capable so that if/when I start trying to go play at the local track, I have something that can hang with the pack.

RE: Looking for a Truggy.....
 

I've heard quite a few people going on about how tough the Hyper ST RTR ist.. I have the Pro, but race it, so can't really say how tough it is..

I think I've also heard the GS XUT is tough..

If all you're doing is bashing, then the Thunder Tiger ST-1 from Amain, if it's still going as cheap as it was, might be perfect given its price. Has a big rep for being tough... Is also convertible to 2-speed..

There is then of course always the Muggy.. Needs new wheels though right off the bat..

RE: Looking for a Truggy.....
 

Take a look at the Caster Racing K8T. It comes practically in roller form as a KIT. All you have to do is build the shocks and install you servos, motor, pipe etc. You can also get it new for the price of most RTR's which is awesome for KIT.

RE: Looking for a Truggy.....
 

ok, currently I'm tossing it up between the ST1, the Hellfire, and the Hyper ST-Pro.......

RE: Looking for a Truggy.....
 

what diff problems with the 8t ?

RE: Looking for a Truggy.....
 

also, what's the difference between the way a CVD and the way the shafts for the Jammin X2 with "U Joints" handle? equal in power handling or is one better than others, if different, are there other truggies with the U-Joints?

RE: Looking for a Truggy.....
 

Dude, you are willing to take a Hellfire, or a ST-1 over a K8T! Dang! The ST-Pro is a great truggy but a little on the heavy side and are plagued with brake problems but tough as nails (I had one). Hellfire is just a plague LOL! WAY OVERPRICED and a ton of design flaws according to most of its owners. The ST-1 is supposed to be a tough truggy but a little short and narrow compared to todays truggies and also does not come with a wing or wing mount and is supposedly discontinued so parts will be getting scarce in awhile.

RE: Looking for a Truggy.....
 

people putting the rear diff holders in backward and then running them and they eventually destroy them...if you get an 8t the aluminum rear diff holders are must i ran my truck successfully without damaging them but i still put the aluminums in and tossed the plastic since i was re doing my rear diff anyway i put 3k in it and boy did it help with the trucks handling...

the "u-joints" transfer power better and have less chance of popping out of cups and or binding during sus. movement or steering...they're a great hop-up for a car..however somepeople take them out of center of a car to loose some weight....ie the hyper8 pro a lot of people run the aluminum ones offered by hobao as they are lighter in the center...but for me id rather use u joints..

st -1 is tough,hellfire(RTR)'s are supposed to be horrible plagued with probs,hyper st pro good car for the money and tough(suffers from poor brakes from what i've heard) again what i've heard I don't really know if that's true or not(so don't come knockin at my door trying to beat me up y'all[:'(])

RE: Looking for a Truggy.....
 

I've been popping my diffs open ocassionally . . . really though from what I've been seeing , in diffs , they look great ,always like new ... track conditions might effect although Im not the fastest or most technical racer so diff oils changes are not effecting me all too much at the moment ...

RE: Looking for a Truggy.....
 

Hellfire that's a roller for $250, that I can put beefed SavageX SS or XL diffs into and have them match up perfectly other than bearing sizes, yes, the only problems I've heard about them is the diffs, if not shimmed properly, will eat themselves, mainly because of the plastic casing....

ST-Pro brake problems are easily remedied, I'm converting it to brushless, and the motor will also serve as a brake....and reverse! ;)

K8T is simple, I've never heard of them, nor had anyone at my LHS, and the only place I can find to buy them, is off of your signature, and it says the RTR is $410 with discount code (which is cool) but, not even their own site tells me about the radio gear that comes with it, I can't download the manual to see whether I like the way it lays out, and honestly, the lack of parts support shoots it down. if it were a $300 RTR, I'd forgive crappy electronics cause I'm overhauling the whole thing anyway, but at $450+shipping with electronics and a motor to do away with, and the radio being totally unmentioned other than "it has one" I'm not biting. Sorry man, I like the look of it but, I'm not throwing myself, my money, and my headaches (wife induced) on the line with a car that nobody in my area has heard of. now, if you're in tight with them and wanna get me a killer deal, I'll take it, and pimp the car at the LHS for them to check out and get em to look into stocking it too, but, not at full price unless it's a stellar car :P


mabucker: at one point, all of the racers at the LHS had 8ight-T's and all of them had problems with the diffs crapping out on them, with motors ranging from Axial .28 Spec1S to LRP Z.28R Spec3 Truggy Edition's and Picco .28-P3's

I'm wondering if I can find U-Joint style shafts for any truggy I pick instead of the CVD's....though, I hear the MIP's are pretty much unstoppable....

:::EDIT:::

WHOA! looking at the parts list for that K8T it says the only spur is a 62T? seriously? you're tellin me I'm gonna lose that much gearing?, damn, I'd have to run a 20T pinion gear on the motor just to get that thing to keep up with a hellfire......

RE: Looking for a Truggy.....
 

You can get a jammin X1 CRT roller for pretty damn cheap off of ebay. It's a few years old but a great truck to learn on and it's tough as nails. Lots of guys have ran them too so it's not hard to find someone if you need help with setups and stuff.

RE: Looking for a Truggy.....
 

does it have the U-Joint style axles like the X2 does?

oh, and, I'm not learning, I've got a 1/8th scale MT (HPI Savage with about $750 in it not counting the radio) and 2 1/10th scale TC's (a TC3 and a XXX-S G+), and have a background in 1:1 scale racing of various sorts for 15 years ;) I just haven't had a truggy, and don't want to spend money on a truggy with a good name that's killer for racing but will explode the first time I hit the same jump I have built for the Savage, which the savvy just laughs at no matter how badly I land it.....I'm wanting to get a second large vehicle so the wife and I can go play together with bigger toys when there's a bit too much wet or snow out for the TC's and something that fixes my issues with the savage plowing through corners on the track would be nice, since as the LHS owner put it, we've only got so much room to build the track on, we've got to have some hair-pins (last time I was there, I counted 4 90 deg turns and 6+ hairpins, a ripple section, a double or triple, and long enough straight that my savage was hitting 3rd gear right before the turn at the end :( )

RE: Looking for a Truggy.....
 

matrix tr arena factory race edition

RE: Looking for a Truggy.....
 

oh, also, as far as bragging up the K8T, I read most of the "official K8T" thread and it seems to me that you've gotten that thing as far from stock as my savage is, the problem being, my savage would have taken everything it'll take now when it was stock, my parts changes have been for convenience, not for durability or making it work the way it should.

RE: Looking for a Truggy.....
 

well for small gearing setups you'd need a mugen,losi,x2,kyosho..... the CEN,K8T,Jammin X1 all use big spur gears the only thing id say would be better is that you'd have more room on the sides of the chassis since the motor will be more with center line and also what speeds are you looking to achieve? and runtime because with truggies you can get ballistic speed and not so great runtime or vice versa....I had mine geared to do 39mph(track gearing) on 4s but on 5s lipo which i ran i was getting well into the 40's prolly like 45mph and getting pretty good runtime.

RE: Looking for a Truggy.....
 

Far from stock, SHOW ME!!! I am not bragging anything. I know 100% it is better than a hellfire, I also know from people I have sold K8T's that had thunder tigers, it is way better in their opinion and there thunder tigers sit on the shelf now and one even described their ST-1 as a "flying brick" compared to the K8T. I just suggested you to take a good look at it since you wanted a roller but are bringing up pricing now for a RTR and complaining about what radio and servos when you just wanted a roller. That is basically what you get with the K8T KIT, "a roller" Any truggy you will get you will do a couple things to it. My K8T is ALL stock except for a fuel tank!! I never new changing a fuel tank make my car more durable. Every part on the thing is Caster except for a fuel tank. Try that with a Hellfire, you will by enough upgrades on a hellfire to build another truggy! Check out all the mods people do to the ST-1, more than K8T. Also yes I have captured hinge pins, my choice and anybody on anything would say a good choice if you are racing, captured steering rod ends, the same. Do both NEED to be done? NO just like on your savage, for convenience. They could have been left alone but I chose not too.

RE: Looking for a Truggy.....
 

dude, the only changes I've done on my savage, other than to aftermarket TVP's because I liked a design on them instead of the HPI X tvp's were to Savage X parts and soon Savage XL parts, I haven't put third party stuff on it I've updated it from the Savage25 I bought it as to the Savage X that's being sold now....

and if you've gone back to original setup, I retract my statement but I'm pretty sure there was a post at which point you said you'd replaced a ton of stuff with mugen parts, regardless, the point still stands that if you've had to mod it (body mounts, turnbuckles, etc.) and there's no local parts support for it, it could be an awesome car, but, unless it never breaks, and it comes out of box ready to be taken to the track and to the large ramps I've built and it'll take them without fear or damage, then it's not gonna work for me.

RE: Looking for a Truggy.....
 

Then any truggy will not work for you. I neve EVER EVER had a ton of mugen parts on my K8T. I will not put them on my Caster. Only the tank. There is not a truggy made that you will not have to do something too.

RE: Looking for a Truggy.....
 

By the way, computer genius, if you looked at www.casterracingusa.com you could find out anything you would ever want to know about the K8T. Pictures, prices, forums, race team, etc.....

google caster racing.......there are even youtube videos....

RE: Looking for a Truggy.....
 

I am not trying to be mean or anything but your savage is meant for bashing. Most all truggies are supposedly designed for racing. They do break, ALL OF THEM. Some people say bashing is harder on cars then racing, so if all these truggies break from racing they will most certainly break when bashing. You cannot look at it the way you are asking which one is the toughest. There are people that will argue that theres is the toughest all day long. Who knows how soft or how hard they drive but for some reason there's did not break and that is with any brand. Hell there are guys that swear by the Duratrax buggie and truggy because it has not broken on them. Does that make it the best? NO. Just some have better luck than others with any brand. I race mine everyweek and sometimes twice a week and have I broken stuff? Yes I have. Have I broken alot? NO. I have broken what any truggy will break, an arm here and there, one diff, bent hinge pin. Normal stuff that will happen no matter what. If you like local parts support (which SUCKS where I am at) then get what your LHS has. No matter what it is you will probably be happy with it and it will break but get the one you like the best when you look at it or what appeals to you.

RE: Looking for a Truggy.....
 

I don't mind doing a little, or even a lot if I can get parts from a good selection of places, but, if I can't guaranteeably get parts when I need them, I don't want it....It's actually what is going against the hellfire too at this point.

RE: Looking for a Truggy.....
 

Just to let you know that Casterracingusa.com is the official distributor and always has everything in stock. Try it, get a part number, any part number to one of there cars, they will have it, alot of them always in stock. You can even purchase from them directly. If holeshot does not have it, then they will 100%. It is there job to have it in stock. If you are only considering the Thunder Tiger, Hellfire or Hyper and NOTHING else I would say get the Hyper. It is one of the toughest truggies and most anyone will agree, plus it is extremely raceable and comes with great shocks. Hellfire, forget about, and Thunder tiger is older and supposedly getting discontinued and it sounds like you do not want to take a chance on parts. That is my opinion.

RE: Looking for a Truggy.....
 

toughest Truggy on the block is a Mugen MBX5T.......... a Hellfire or any other Truggy mentioned here will not be as tough...... the caster is nice, looks like a Mugen...but Mugen has their own unique plastic which IMO is the best in the industry......


Anyone who thinks a good racing Truggy is fragile couldn't be firther from the truth..Truggies are tough as nails, racing is very hard on machines which is why all Pro Truggies are so expensive...they have to be well built to endure the rigors of racing...take a Savage onto some of the tracks we run on and I guarantee you wont finish a race without breaking..Savages are actually less durable then Truggies, and really unable to endure most track situations........Get a MBX5T and dont look back, its tough as nails, parts are cheap and easy to find..and it performs amazingly well.... It will take 10X the beating your savage will

RE: Looking for a Truggy.....
 

I honestly think racing is harder on a vehicle than bashing but some people think differently.

RE: Looking for a Truggy.....
 

All this truggy talk is great. Check one of these out. You can get it in a pro race roller kit. This is what i race. I put a go tech .25 in it along with hi tech servos and a nomadio radio system, and it is very competative.


http://server.sohouniverse.net/~himo...hp?id=394&=SID