I Have A Confession...

[305HemiGuy]

So as some of you may or may not know, I was hesitant about getting a crawler. Didn't think I'd really be into it, but I wanted to see what the hype was all about. Long story short, I ended up purchasing a TRX-4M Defender (yeaa, yeaa, I know, a Traxxas product lol). So here we are 1 month later and I must confess that I've spent more time working on customizing this little guy than I have my other Arrma rigs as of late, and I thoroughly enjoy it! One thing that I was unware of prior to purchasing my first crawler was just how customizable they are, the amount of scale items and upgrades available are endless. Not only that, but due to the smaller size and large aftermarket support, the prices of the upgrades are shockingly affordable. My son & I went to our first crawling event at my LHS over the weekend, we managed, but the course was really setup for 1/10 crawlers, so some obstacles we had to omit. I'm sure I'm not alone here, but I think I enjoy working on & customizing the rig more than I actually do crawling. So far I've swapped out the plastic links for metal lifted links, and added skid plates. I have a brass steering link, servo horn, hub extenders, and the Injora light kit arriving tommorrow (didn't need all the extra fancy shmancy light modes with the more expensive Traxxas pro lighting kit). In the near future I plan on getting a TRX-4M Bronco slider from ebay and building it up from scratch so my son & I can run them together. I also would like to a 1/10 crawler to my collection eventually. I still absolutely love my Arrma rigs, but there's something oddly satisfying about customizing and upgrading the bejeezus out of these little guys

 

[morrjr71]

I was into crawlers before I got into bashers: I was more of a trail runner than a rock climber. I own four or five crawlers of various brands in 1/10 scale, and one 1/24 scale. I have spent a lot of money on upgrades to each and every one of them, and I enjoyed all the time I spent working on them. I only got into bashers when I moved away from my crawling spot, a regional park with a shallow, rocky creek and a few wooded trails with lots of obstacles less than a mile from my house. I recently purchased an Axial SCX10 III Early Bronco: my old crawling spot is only a half hour drive away, and it's been calling me back. Here's a pic of the creek area with my Redcat Gen8 Scout before I started down the expensive road of upgrades.

 

[MiamiRC]

So as some of you may or may not know, I was hesitant about getting a crawler. Didn't think I'd really be into it, but I wanted to see what the hype was all about. Long story short, I ended up purchasing a TRX-4M Defender (yeaa, yeaa, I know, a Traxxas product lol). So here we are 1 month later and I must confess that I've spent more time working on customizing this little guy than I have my other Arrma rigs as of late, and I thoroughly enjoy it! One thing that I was unware of prior to purchasing my first crawler was just how customizable they are, the amount of scale items and upgrades available are endless. Not only that, but due to the smaller size and large aftermarket support, the prices of the upgrades are shockingly affordable. My son & I went to our first crawling event at my LHS over the weekend, we managed, but the course was really setup for 1/10 crawlers, so some obstacles we had to omit. I'm sure I'm not alone here, but I think I enjoy working on & customizing the rig more than I actually do crawling. So far I've swapped out the plastic links for metal lifted links, and added skid plates. I have a brass steering link, servo horn, hub extenders, and the Injora light kit arriving tommorrow (didn't need all the extra fancy shmancy light modes with the more expensive Traxxas pro lighting kit). In the near future I plan on getting a TRX-4M Bronco slider from ebay and building it up from scratch so my son & I can run them together. I also would like to a 1/10 crawler to my collection eventually. I still absolutely love my Arrma rigs, but there's something oddly satisfying about customizing and upgrading the bejeezus out of these little guys

I said the same thing and now I have two TRX4 Sports and a Redcat Gen VII. If you're going crawling with other people though I'd definitely encourage you to get a 1/10th scale since that is what 99% of people are running. The TRX 4 Sport is a great intro 1/10 scale at a reasonable price IMHO. If Arrma had a crawler I'd own one but nothing wrong with branching out!

 

[CrashBoom]

Yeah they're super fun! I'm on my way down the rabbit hole

 

[305HemiGuy]

I was into crawlers before I got into bashers: I was more of a trail runner than a rock climber. I own four or five crawlers of various brands in 1/10 scale, and one 1/24 scale. I have spent a lot of money on upgrades to each and every one of them, and I enjoyed all the time I spent working on them. I only got into bashers when I moved away from my crawling spot, a regional park with a shallow, rocky creek and a few wooded trails with lots of obstacles less than a mile from my house. I recently purchased an Axial SCX10 III Early Bronco, and I plan on getting back into crawling shortly. My old crawling spot is only a half hour drive away, and it's been calling me back. Here's a pic of the creek area with my Redcat Gen8 Scout before I started down the expensive road of upgrades.

View attachment 301392

Man that's a beautiful location! That's one of the biggest issues that we're running into, finding an ideal location. Maybe with some more searching I can find a spot like with a nice shallow creek. I may look into those Gen8's for an entry level 10th scale. I'm not a hardcore crawler, and I doubt I will ever be. It should be plenty capable for my needs without breaking the bank. Enduro has some pretty nice rigs too, I really dig the Ecto.

 

[morrjr71]

I was into crawlers before I got into bashers: I was more of a trail runner than a rock climber. I own four or five crawlers of various brands in 1/10 scale, and one 1/24 scale. I have spent a lot of money on upgrades to each and every one of them, and I enjoyed all the time I spent working on them. I only got into bashers when I moved away from my crawling spot, a regional park with a shallow, rocky creek and a few wooded trails with lots of obstacles less than a mile from my house. I recently purchased an Axial SCX10 III Early Bronco: my old crawling spot is only a half hour drive away, and it's been calling me back. Here's a pic of the creek area with my Redcat Gen8 Scout before I started down the expensive road of upgrades.

View attachment 301392

And here is my favorite crawler up until last week, an Axial SCX10 II 1955 Ford F100, when I got my Axial Early Bronco. I love the scale appearance of my crawlers.

 

[305HemiGuy]

I said the same thing and now I have two TRX4 Sports and a Redcat Gen VII. If you're going crawling with other people though I'd definitely encourage you to get a 1/10th scale since that is what 99% of people are running. The TRX 4 Sport is a great intro 1/10 scale at a reasonable price IMHO. If Arrma had a crawler I'd own one but nothing wrong with branching out!

Yea, learned that the hard way, my son & I were the only ones at the event with something smaller than a 10th scale lol I think an Arrma crawler would actually be pretty cool.

And here is my favorite crawler up until last week, an Axial SCX10 II 1955 Ford F100, when I got my Axial Early Bronco. I love the scale appearance of my crawlers.

View attachment 301394

That shade of green is awesome! There were two Enduro Ectos at the event, one matte black, and the other the same green as yours. I couldn't stop glancing at the green one. Beautiful rig you have there.

 

[morrjr71]

Man that's a beautiful location! That's one of the biggest issues that we're running into, finding an ideal location. Maybe with some more searching I can find a spot like with a nice shallow creek. I may look into those Gen8's for an entry level 10th scale. I'm not a hardcore crawler, and I doubt I will ever be. It should be plenty capable for my needs without breaking the bank. Enduro has some pretty nice rigs too, I really dig the Ecto.

I have an Element Enduro Knightrunner, an unlicensed copy of a Toyota Tacoma. Here's a pic from the internet:

https://www.towerhobbies.com/dw/ima...SC40113_A11_NHXAS2N9.jpg?sw=800&sh=800&sm=fit

That shade of green is awesome! There were two Enduro Ectos at the event, one matte black, and the other the same green as yours. I couldn't stop glancing at the green one. Beautiful rig you have there.

Thank you. It has been upgraded with a lot of aftermarket parts, including front and rear Boom Racing Phat Ass complete axle assemblies; a Hobbywing Fusion Pro 2300kv motor/ESC combo; Que-T aluminum bead lock wheels from Amazon; RC4WD Interco TSL Thornbird tires; and many more upgrades too numerous to list here.

 

[305HemiGuy]

I have an Element Enduro Knightrunner, an unlicensed copy of a Toyota Tacoma. Here's a pic from the internet:

https://www.towerhobbies.com/dw/ima...SC40113_A11_NHXAS2N9.jpg?sw=800&sh=800&sm=fit

Thank you. It has been upgraded with a lot of aftermarket parts, including front and rear Boom Racing Phat Ass complete axle assemblies; a Hobbywing Fusion Pro 2300kv motor/ESC combo; Que-T aluminum bead lock wheels from Amazon; RC4WD Interco TSL Thornbird tires; and many more upgrades too numerous to list here.

Wow, pretty impressive upgrades in that bad boy. I do like pickup trucks, that Knightrunner looks really slick. Could you change the body to a licensed version of a real body like you can with Proline bodies in the basher world?

 

[KnowAir]

Yeah they're super fun! I'm on my way down the rabbit hole

The very reason I haven't even looked at a crawler,LOL. I don't like them, I don't like them, I don't like them...

 

[305HemiGuy]

The very reason I haven't even looked at a crawler,LOL. I don't like them, I don't like them, I don't like them...

Ohhh you'll look sooner or later, trust me

 

[sumguy75]

Ohhh you'll look sooner or later, trust me

Its true, happened to me too!

 

[morrjr71]

Wow, pretty impressive upgrades in that bad boy. I do like pickup trucks, that Knightrunner looks really slick. Could you change the body to a licensed version of a real body like you can with Proline bodies in the basher world?

The body on the Knightrunner is nearly identical to the real Tacoma. The main differences is there is no Toyota or Tacoma badging anywhere on the truck.

Carisma makes a licensed RTR version of a Tacoma.

https://carisma-shop.com/products/sca-1e-toyota-tacoma-trd-pro

 

[Doom!]

Crawlers are addicting! Got quite a few myself.

 

[oldguywnewtoy]

I've got 2, a Redcat, and an old HPI a buddy gave me. Unless your competing, I find it relaxing. I swear I spent an hour one day just finding different ways to climb out of a drainage ditch.

 

[305HemiGuy]

I've got 2, a Redcat, and an old HPI a buddy gave me. Unless your competing, I find it relaxing. I swear I spent an hour one day just finding different ways to climb out of a drainage ditch.

That's hilarious There is something oddly satisfying about watching a little vehicle climb and maneuver over obstacles.