What's new
By:
Filters

Buying a crawler today....

Trashman

Trashman

Trainwreck
Joined
Oct 13, 2021
Member Number
4472
Messages
320
No clue what it will be :laughing:

Went to watch the local group do a run today, holy cow tech has come soooo far.

A friend of mine is BIG into it and is looking to find me one this afternoon.
He said he placed 5th nationally (not sure what year)

I looked at another group members SCX10 build that he has for sale, but it wasnt running. I was a little leary about what issues it may have. I called my friend and he told me to stay away from that one.😆

So, ill end up with....something.

I was really impressed with how my friends would crawl at any speed. All the cars I have seen usually have a minimum speed, and would vary higher from that. My friends could crawl as slow as you have patience for essentially down to nothing.
 
Last edited:
Buy new.

If you know exactly what you want for a custom build with aftermarket parts, get a chassis kit and add the parts you want. If you aren't sure what you want, get a nice RTR. Axial is still king for parts availability and aftermarket support.

The low speeds you mention are probably a geared down drivetrain running 3S lipo batts and a good crawler ESC. Most guys like brushless, I'm a fan of 550 5 slot brushed motors. Much better drag braking without relying on the ESC to run reverse current with an ESC drag brake.
 
I would happily buy new but I don't know s*** about f*** with these things now. And I have not seen a ready to run kit that would do what I want
 
I fully trust my friend. He used to be my boss when I was working at the machine shop for a number of years. I used to watch his house when he went on vacation et cetera He knows his stuff when it comes to these so he can help me figure out what the heck they're all about now
 
Last edited:
If you want to do the scaler thing, any of the SCX10.3 RTR's.

If you want to do technical crawling with a full body, any of the SCX10.2 RTR's. Or the SCX10.3 Base RTR.

If you want to do technical crawling with a buggy, Capra RTR.

Go forth and spend money. Buying used will get you someone else's worn out junk 90% of the time. Unless it's your friend's truck and he's hooking you up... Just buy new.
 
New gets you an OK platform, with typically shit electronics. I got a Capra rtr for Xmas a few years ago and quickly replaced most of the electronics because the stock stuff sucks.

I'm sure there are baller rtr kits out there that come with good electronics these days.

The Traxxas stuff seems pretty solid out of the box.
 
20221106_151840.jpg

20221106_153644.jpg

This is the chassis setup im buying.


This is what sold me on one:
20221106_150616.jpg

He is ordering me the 2300kv version.

My friends truck performed awesome. This is what he was running motor wise. The other trucks running it were noticibly running it as well.

The ability to finesse the trucks were exactly what I was looking for, and what was lacking from all the trucks I have seen so far.

$450 RTR with the Hobbywing installed. Also will have a different set of tires installed. The ones on it are comps he said. The other ones he will put on it are a little bigger.

I need to buy a body and charger.
 
Last edited:
This was his motor setup today. It worked very well. It isnt his comp setup. His comp setup also has the Hobbywing motor.
20221106_150605.jpg
 
Not terrible, looks like it has the element overdrive trans, does it have over/under in the axles too?
 
He had them on the bench, but I didnt catch what they were.

Tires seem easy enough to play with, so I am not too worried.

He was running TSL/SXs that seemed to work well here, and look pretty neat. Ill likely pick up a set, as he said they work well.

I was thinking about Nittos but he said they take work to make them grip out here. (Siping, and cutting off lugs)

I gave myself an $800 budget. So, im under by quite a lot right now. I have room to find what setup works for me.

I think this will be a nice entry into learning this hobby.

If I end up getting into the comp side, likely I will build a setup for that. This is just a fun truck.
 
I used to have this truck a LONG time ago. God it drove horribly :laughing:

Screenshot_20221106-200301_Samsung Internet.jpg
 
It works VERY well. Lots of finesse with the speed which is what I have found lacking with other setups I had seen. Thats the main reason I hadnt decided to buy one yet.
 
Trashman said:
I used to have this truck a LONG time ago. God it drove horribly :laughing:
Click to expand...

Before you could just buy a rtr crawler, my buddy bought that kit and we built a tube chassis with those axles and an emax transmission. Blew peoples minds when you busted them out of the trail back then. :laughing:
 
YotaAtieToo said:
Before you could just buy a rtr crawler, my buddy bought that kit and we built a tube chassis with those axles and an emax transmission. Blew peoples minds when you busted them out of the trail back then. :laughing:
Click to expand...
I wanted to do similar. But funds were tight back then.
 
DWT said:
I know the seller, he's a good dude.
Click to expand...
I have known him since 2004. We kinda lost touch the past several years.

You should see his shop! :eek::smokin:

His wife counted 56 trucks...he joked she didnt count the trucks in boxes.:laughing:
 
Bought a second crawler from my friend today for my oldest son. Its fun spending my sons money (he venmo'd us $500 and wants a crawler when he gets back from the Army in a few weeks)

Basic setup. Axial axles, over/under brass knuckles, not quite the same setup as mine, cheaper steering servo, plastic gears in the trans...but it should work as a good beginner setup.

That one set him back $300 rtr. If he wants it, fine $300 and he can have his $200 back. If not he can have his $500 back and buy what he wants and Ill keep it.

Mine has kit tires (Falken somethings) and his had JConcept Landmines. So I swapped them too mine. The truck costs $350, so I deducted $50 from his cost.

So far mine is doing well. I need more trigger finesse bumping obsticles. I am hoping the new tires help with that as the kit tires I had side-hilled well, but verticle traction was mediocre at best.
 
My RC crawler friend, whom I have been talking about got my middle son a Christmas present.

After watching my son try to little avail with his pos SCX24, he gave him a better setup.

My friend called me yesterday to see If I would be at the crawl today, and wanted to give it to him then.

ECX Temper

20221210_160356.jpg
 
Trashman said:
My RC crawler friend, whom I have been talking about got my middle son a Christmas present.

After watching my son try to little avail with his pos SCX24, he gave him a better setup.

My friend called me yesterday to see If I would be at the crawl today, and wanted to give it to him then.

ECX Temper

20221210_160356.jpg
Click to expand...
Those are kinda shit so don't get crazy putting money into it. I'd repair what breaks once and then toss ar44 axles under it, you can find them for $100 or less a set these days.


Your kid will have lots of fun as long as you keep the power down.
 
DWT said:
Those are kinda shit so don't get crazy putting money into it. I'd repair what breaks once and then toss ar44 axles under it, you can find them for $100 or less a set these days.


Your kid will have lots of fun as long as you keep the power down.
Click to expand...
My sons SCX that I gave him went from no driving (bought a new motor) after that, it only drove in reverse. Bought a new ESC, now it only drives forward maybe a foot and dies.

I told my son Im done spending money on it.

So, it cant be too much worse than that :laughing:
 
Trashman said:
My sons SCX that I gave him went from no driving (bought a new motor) after that, it only drove in reverse. Bought a new ESC, now it only drives forward maybe a foot and dies.

I told my son Im done spending money on it.

So, it cant be too much worse than that :laughing:
Click to expand...
Bought my daughter and scx24 last Christmas, only thing that ever broke was the charger. We have a few more now with different bodies, mods and setups. Hard part is keeping the dogs off the course we made out back.
 
Trashman said:
My sons SCX that I gave him went from no driving (bought a new motor) after that, it only drove in reverse. Bought a new ESC, now it only drives forward maybe a foot and dies.

I told my son Im done spending money on it.

So, it cant be too much worse than that :laughing:
Click to expand...
Yea scx24s are shit. All those small rigs are just terrible once you get away from bone stock.
 
Element axles. The chassis is aftermarket, but I dont remember what right off hand. Ill check.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Back Refresh