In the mood for a rock crawler. Any suggestions

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Outcastblxnut

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Just been thinking about getting a crawler looking for opinions in the best rc forum around vaterra sender or axial scx10.

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The new Enduro truck looks pretty nice ($349) and the Redcat Gen8 has a ton of features for the price (($299) that come in trucks priced $100 or more. The Ascender is also a nice truck in that price range. Keep in mind the Axial kits don't come with any electronics so you're looking at another $200-$300 just for those on top of the kit price.

https://www.rctalk.com/associated-enduro-trail-truck/

 
I have a Redcat Gen 8 P.A.C.K., an Axial SCX10.2 Jeep Wrangler CRC edition and an Axial Bomber kit, which has recently been discontinued.

My Redcat and my buddies both have steering issues. To get the binding to go away, we had to turn the steering WAY down to the point where it is 5 point turns to do a 90° corner. Some of them don't have the issue from what I've read but both of ours do.

My SCX10.2 has a lot of upgrades on it and looking back, I wish I would have gotten the Cherokee kit, not the builders kit, as the kit has a number of upgraded parts. Even though I've upgraded the crap out of this thing, I still love it and upgrades are easy as heck you find for it

My Bomber has a decent amount of upgrades and I'm happy that I got the kit version of that one while it was still available as the kit has some upgraded parts.

I'm currently looking for another scale kit to buy so that I can strip the Redcat of everything useful and scrap it. I'm torn between the new Element Enduro (hoping they come out with a kit soon) and a Traxxas TRX4 sport kit. My buddy has 7 TRX4 rigs, 3 SCX10s, a Demon and a couple of others (I've lost track of his lol) and he swears by the TRX4 and says that they are the best ones he's driven. I have a hard time supporting Traxxas though and that's why I'm thinking of waiting for an Enduro kit. Just my opinion though.
 
I've heard same about the traxxas it's still an opinion just didn't want to drop 500 in a crawler I'm just gonna bum around the camp site with. That vaterra suburban is pulling me. And my lhs has it in stock ?
 
I have a trx4 kit and trx4 k5 blazer. It's only thing I know, but I have not had any issues. I replaced stock servo, that's it. I have an axial scx10 ii builders kit. Still need a few electronics for that before I build it. From everything I researched pointed to the Trx4 as being a solid buy. Whether it's a rtr or a kit they seem to offer something for every preference.
 

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I have 2 Axial SMT10s. Some similarities to the yeti, wraiths and bombers etc...but mine are the Monster Trucks. The other guys made reference to all the upgrades... you have to upgrade the ever living hell out of them just to keep them functionally running. It’s frustrating. My two were around $300 each and within 6 months I easily had an additional $3-400 in each of them in replacement, then upgrade parts. This realization is what prompted me to start looking for better trucks and how I found Arrma.

Again, my only experience was their 1/10th monster trucks and it isn’t so much a crawler but it’s not likely I’ll ever buy an Axial truck again.
 
The Redcat Scout has been the one I've wanted but I watched some about the Enduro this past week and really love the look of it.
In time I'll grab one and these two are the ones I'll choose from as it stands today.
 
My Redcat and my buddies both have steering issues. To get the binding to go away, we had to turn the steering WAY down to the point where it is 5 point turns to do a 90° corner. Some of them don't have the issue from what I've read but both of ours do.

Is it the stock servo causing it or something else. Any RTR the stock servo is always a the first necessary upgrade no matter what it is. ;)
 
Is it the stock servo causing it or something else. Any RTR the stock servo is always a the first necessary upgrade no matter what it is. ;)
No. Since I got the P.A.C.K. I had to supply the electronics. Yeah stock servos are horrible in any rtr and need replacing almost right away. It's the axle design from what I've read causing the binding.
 
If you go with a kit, which I'll always recommend, electronics on a crawler can be done cheap. Hobbywing 1080, HH trailmaster sport motor, JX or some other ebay 20kg servo, all under 80$. And a radio of your choice or an extra rx for the one you have.

In my opinion Traxxas has the highest quality stuff right now and perhaps the best aftermarket already. ?‍♂️ They perform great out of the box.
That new Enduro does look nice though.

I'd skip the rock racery stuff and go scale. Going fast and solid axle don't really mix.

It can get expensive too. The crap parts Axial put in kits... I could have built an MT410 for the money I sunk into a Wraith spawn kit and it was still meh. ?
 
Hmm. True crawler? Build it. I have a Rock Rey that crawls and goes stupid fast... Best of both worlds. Just have to set esc for what I'm doing that day. ?
 
If you go with a kit, which I'll always recommend, electronics on a crawler can be done cheap. Hobbywing 1080, HH trailmaster sport motor, JX or some other ebay 20kg servo, all under 80$. And a radio of your choice or an extra rx for the one you have.

In my opinion Traxxas has the highest quality stuff right now and perhaps the best aftermarket already. ?‍♂️ They perform great out of the box.
That new Enduro does look nice though.

I'd skip the rock racery stuff and go scale. Going fast and solid axle don't really mix.

It can get expensive too. The crap parts Axial put in kits... I could have built an MT410 for the money I sunk into a Wraith spawn kit and it was still meh. ?
I always recommend the kits of everything too. You get to do it how you want, you know it's done right and you learn a lot about the vehicle. That motor and esc is my go to for my crawlers too. Performs better than stock but cheap so I don't have to care too much about it.

I think that the aftermarket is still better for the SCX10 over the TRX4, but the SCX also had like a 6 year head start lol. Finding aftermarket chassis rails for the TRX4 is still kind of a challenge while the SCX has over a dozen different ones. And when looking for the best stuff for crawlers, most of it isn't available in hobby shops or from Amain or anything. Some of it is, but a lot of it isn't.

I don't know if I'd necessarily say go scale. In my Bomber I put in the smallest pinion, largest spur and put the under drive diff kits into both axles and with even less aftermarket work it crawls better than my SCX10 with a bunch of stuff done to it. But finding aftermarket stuff for the non-scale stuff is definitely more troublesome. I'm hoping to eventually get an RC4WD Bully II as well, which isn't scale but it will probably out crawl most, if not all scale rigs.

I hear you on the expense though. I do have more into just my SCX than I do into my MT410. Probably close to double actually. But crawler rims and tires are just so easy to get lost in and you keep buying sets to try to see if they work better. They add up even when they are $40-50 for 4 rims and another $40-50 for 4 tires with foams.
 
So.....have you made your decision? I have 2 TRX 4's. Did tonnes of research before I made my decision. Biggest feature with the TRX 4 is the portal axels. when your rock climbing ground clearance is paramount. If your just looking for something to scoot around a campsite then the TRX 4 is overkill imo.
 
I'd look at Red Cat. They have a couple of MOA (motor on axle) cwarlers that I own, and they work great, and a very good price. Especially if you should decide crawling is not for you, you won't be out much. 1/10th Rockslide, is under $200, and they have it's larger brother for a little more. I have both of mine setup with a camera and video transmitter for FPV. A real hoot!
 
I have 2 Axial SMT10s. Some similarities to the yeti, wraiths and bombers etc...but mine are the Monster Trucks. The other guys made reference to all the upgrades... you have to upgrade the ever living hell out of them just to keep them functionally running. It’s frustrating. My two were around $300 each and within 6 months I easily had an additional $3-400 in each of them in replacement, then upgrade parts. This realization is what prompted me to start looking for better trucks and how I found Arrma.

Again, my only experience was their 1/10th monster trucks and it isn’t so much a crawler but it’s not likely I’ll ever buy an Axial truck again.
I very much agree.
My SMT10 cost more to make reliable than the whole truck itself.
That is exactly why I own so many Arrmas.

Btw go with the Redcat.
My .02
 
Thank you for validating that I wasn't the only one! Seriously, it was so bad that I regularly wondered if it was all just a scam and Gillette were the secret owners of Axial. Buy the razor for not much and then make infinitely more real money on always needing to replace the blades.
 
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