Kraton Kraton vs Nero for son?

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jak!

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I can't decide whether to give my son the Kraton or the Nero for X-mas.
For practical reasons I'd like to give him the one that is the toughest, easiest to control, and easiest to fix.
My son is only 7.5 years old, but does have experience driving RC. 2 years ago I purchased for him the ECX 4wd Torment and myself the Losi xxx-Sct "tough country". With TBR basher bumpers on the torment I've never had to replace anything but the brushed motor. We mostly race in circles around our gravel and paved driveway, and I'd take him to R&L Speedway indoor track in N. Tonowanda NY and he'd do well enough there too (but it's only 10th scale racing.) So, I expect we'll be taking these 1/8 scale beasts to the park to drive.
I just purchased both the Kraton and Nero (without diff brain) and neither have arrived yet, so I've been scowering the Internet and this forum in helping me decide which one will be best for him. Which one is more basher friendly?
 
Kraton, for most of the reasons you listed. It's durable, super easy to work on, and a blast to drive (jumps like an animal). The Nero is good too, but not easy to work on.
 
I rather have the Kraton... But I do like the Nero Big Rock and Nero. I would skip the diff brain also.
Both awesome. For me.... the Kraton is lighter, simpler to work on. Less is more sometimes. I say give him the Kraton but they are both awesome in their own ways.
 
I probably would have got him the Senton since it is just wrapped in protection all over that chassis. Straight Tank and not as expensive. If you got the non diff Nero on sale at Tower right now it's only a little over $300 so that would be a steal and give him that.
 
CL-Audio said:
I probably would have got him the Senton since it is just wrapped in protection all over that chassis. Straight Tank and not as expensive. If you got the non diff Nero on sale at Tower right now it's only a little over $300 so that would be a steal and give him that.
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I would go for the Kraton,lighter,easier to work on and simple diffs.
 
My son also just likes to drive them, so of course I'll be doing all of the fixing.
Seems like the Kraton is the general census. For the Kraton I went ahead and purchased the TBone Racing rear arm shields, and front and rear bumpers. I used the expired black friday discount code and got away with it, so far ;). Hopefully the red bumpers will look well with the red body. I'd love to deck out the Nero with all of the TBone guards, but it gets expensive. I've put front and rear bumpers on all of my vehicles though.
I would have gotten him the Senton if I didn't already have a 4x4 1/10 SCT that's pretty bash proof (ECX Torment). Also I want to have an 1/8 scale for the each of us to play around with together. Having a son to buy RC gifts for really makes X-mas so much better, perfect excuse! LOL.
I wonder if the Senton performs well on 2 Cell lipos, because that's all our local race track allows? Is it really just a bash vehicle, or does it race well also?
 
I would not give him the Nero. It weighs A LOT. If he loses control and hits something or someone he could do a lot of damage. It is a massive beast of a truck. The Nero is definitely more for experienced, mature drivers in my eyes.
 
Mrfurious has a good point... I got my 5 year old a latrax rally for Christmas because it's slow! It's probably good to try and figure out how to slow it for him to start with. Heck, I've been doing this for 30 years and I still lose control!
 
jak! said:
My son also just likes to drive them, so of course I'll be doing all of the fixing.
Seems like the Kraton is the general census. For the Kraton I went ahead and purchased the TBone Racing rear arm shields, and front and rear bumpers. I used the expired black friday discount code and got away with it, so far ;). Hopefully the red bumpers will look well with the red body. I'd love to deck out the Nero with all of the TBone guards, but it gets expensive. I've put front and rear bumpers on all of my vehicles though.
I would have gotten him the Senton if I didn't already have a 4x4 1/10 SCT that's pretty bash proof (ECX Torment). Also I want to have an 1/8 scale for the each of us to play around with together. Having a son to buy RC gifts for really makes X-mas so much better, perfect excuse! LOL.
I wonder if the Senton performs well on 2 Cell lipos, because that's all our local race track allows? Is it really just a bash vehicle, or does it race well also?
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Senton is technically 4 and 6S though some have been known to make 5S work. So you would use two 2S lipos. The Senton is definitely more basher than race truck though it most certainly can handle its own.

mrfurious40k said:
I would not give him the Nero. It weighs A LOT. If he loses control and hits something or someone he could do a lot of damage. It is a massive beast of a truck. The Nero is definitely more for experienced, mature drivers in my eyes.
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Can you give me your honest take on the difficulty level of the Nero to tear down for breaks, changing oils, and maintenance. I am able to tear the Kraton down, but that Nero just looks odd. I'm tempted to pick up the Nero non brain for $330 with coupon. Wish I had done it yesterday to get E-cash too. I should have just pulled the trigger.
 
I answered a lot of this in the other thread but the thing about the Nero is that the diffs don't have any fluid in them. They are just greased. The diff brain, if you choose to install it and use it, does the work that different viscosities of diff fluids would. It works great with all the diffs unlocked, but is cool to play with in the other modes.
 
mrfurious40k said:
I answered a lot of this in the other thread but the thing about the Nero is that the diffs don't have any fluid in them. They are just greased. The diff brain, if you choose to install it and use it, does the work that different viscosities of diff fluids would. It works great with all the diffs unlocked, but is cool to play with in the other modes.
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Oh damn, I forgot that the nero has grease filled diffs. Almost makes the diff brain a must have in the near future huh? Do you know if they can be tuned with silicon diff oil in the meantime?
 
Some of the guys have been sealing the side of the diff cup w/ JB weld. Once you do that the holes that allow the diff-brain pins to in and out are sealed. Now you can use heavy diff-fluid like on the Kraton center diff. The nero w/ the grease filled center diff is not easy to drive fast on high traction surfaces like grass because everytime the front wheels leave the ground they turn into pizza cutters. Also seen some pictures of 2.5mm screws used to seal the holes on the side of the diff. I've purchased a new diff-case for 7.99 at tower and will be going the JB-weld route to seal the side where the pins go. Then I'll stick 150,000 diff lube in there and see how it goes. Will probably do all three eventually, but the center gear is the most important to slow-down the power transfer to the front tires.
 
NITROMAN2000 said:
Some of the guys have been sealing the side of the diff cup w/ JB weld. Once you do that the holes that allow the diff-brain pins to in and out are sealed. Now you can use heavy diff-fluid like on the Kraton center diff. The nero w/ the grease filled center diff is not easy to drive fast on high traction surfaces like grass because everytime the front wheels leave the ground they turn into pizza cutters. Also seen some pictures of 2.5mm screws used to seal the holes on the side of the diff. I've purchased a new diff-case for 7.99 at tower and will be going the JB-weld route to seal the side where the pins go. Then I'll stick 150,000 diff lube in there and see how it goes. Will probably do all three eventually, but the center gear is the most important to slow-down the power transfer to the front tires.
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That sounds like a good plan, experimenting with a separately purchased diff-case. You can then swap them out when you want to change things up. It will be interesting to see just how difficult that is. Seems to me like the diff-brain is most useful for giving you the option to do some crawling or get out of a muddy situation. Like in real life, if you get stuck on a tractor, lock the diff and power out. From videos I've seen locking up the diffs is not helpful when your trying to go fast and keep control. I assume it's more strenuous on the parts when your driving fast and jumping around with locked diffs too.
Can the Nero be setup with diff fluid in the center, and then still have lockable diffs in the front and rear? That might be the best all around compromise. Good for when you get stuck, and good for tearing it up! I assume it can, just leave out the center servo.
 
I've had a chance to look at both the Nero and Kraton in person now, and for sure the Kraton is the one that is most kid friendly. Man that Nero is Heavy! But it looks tough as hell,like a Batmobile!
Only things I noticed on my Nero are the rear tires are wobbly, and a couple of the pads on the battery door hatch were missing. Everything else was tight.
I did my maiden Nero run in the parking lot at the Buffalo Bills Stadium, and the lot is all pea size gravel with a thin layer of ice.
Those big rear slider driveshafts sure take a beating and get chipped up quickly ay. I purchased the Dirt Guard set on backorder at Tower Hobbies, but I think I'll try to make some myself. Anyone ever do such a thing?
 
My son is 7.5 too and I got him the out cast. He loves it. So far besides broken wing and rear sway bar attachment it's all good and all be does is backflip the thing.
 

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