What is the average cost in rc upgrades (all type of cars)

[Rpmspeedyblue]

In one of the FB rc groups someone mentioned that $500.00 is about what you expected in upgrading your RC’s car ( be it a car, truggy, buggy, crawler, monster truck....etc..) is this a true statement.

 

[Dvarg]

Pretty subjective, and the cost of ownership goes down with each RC i think, especially the more similar they are. With each RC i've bought a few batteries and Steering servo. Probably $200 per car right there.

For someones first RC Car, thinking a RTR $500 kraton is great; after batteries, chargers, tools, servos, tires, Oils, replacement arms. I'd imagine it could get to 1500 before they wanted it to.

 

[Rpmspeedyblue]

Pretty subjective, and the cost of ownership goes down with each RC i think, especially the more similar they are. With each RC i've bought a few batteries and Steering servo. Probably $200 per car right there.

For someones first RC Car, thinking a RTR $500 kraton is great; after batteries, chargers, tools, servos, tires, Oils, replacement arms. I'd imagine it could get to 1500 before they wanted it to.

I guess I should be more specific in the meaning of upgrades. Upgrades in Terms of modifications/ hops: example brush motor upgraded to brushless motor/ ESC. Stock chassis to aluminum, receiver 3 channel to a 4 channel. For me battery, charger, diff oil, tools, tires fall under maintenance

 

[Dvarg]

I guess I should be more specific in the meaning of upgrades. Upgrades in Terms of modifications/ hops: example brush motor upgraded to brushless motor/ ESC. Stock chassis to aluminum, receiver 3 channel to a 4 channel. For me battery, charger, diff oil, tools, tires fall under maintenance

I see, then it probably just depends on the individual. pretty much i've only replaced broken parts with better parts. not upgraded for the sake of upgrading yet.

 

[Rpmspeedyblue]

I see, then it probably just depends on the individual. pretty much i've only replaced broken parts with better parts. not upgraded for the sake of upgrading yet.

I’m the same, if a part brakes I usually replace it. I usually look on forums to see what better part to replace it with also.

 

[slick2500]

Depends on the vehicle. A 1/8th Arrma I would say maybe $200 tops depending on how crazy you went with the servo.
Only parts I would change right off the bat on one is the servo, servo mount and chassis braces. Chassis braces are about $24 a piece, servo mount is also about $24 and a servo can cost anywhere from $12 to over $200.

 

[chevys10zr2003]

I'm with @Dvarg and @Rpmspeedyblue, I drive the thing stock until I notice a weak point or something breaks and then I upgrade it.

see some people buying all of the shock towers and braces and everything and some of the people are probably backyard cruising with it and jumping off a curb is the hardest it will be bashed and they don't need any of those parts. It's their money though and if they want to do that, great. But I will wait until I have issues or see something wrong.

I do agree with @slick2500 though, that the aluminum servo mount is pretty much an immediate upgrade and the servo and chassis braces are typically a great upgrade to get, but I wait on the servo until it fails.

 

[Dvarg]

What do the chassis braces do? are they a part that breaks? Does it make it better to drive? Prevent bending of driveshafts or something? Only helpful if jumping over a 1:1 car? All the better for ramming neighborhood kids with?

 

[Rpmspeedyblue]

Depends on the vehicle. A 1/8th Arrma I would say maybe $200 tops depending on how crazy you went with the servo.
Only parts I would change right off the bat on one is the servo, servo mount and chassis braces. Chassis braces are about $24 a piece, servo mount is also about $24 and a servo can cost anywhere from $12 to over $200.

For me the servo is on one of those parts that is constantly taking a beating. I myself ended up buying a stronger servo because of the slow response time when turning at high speeds. This would be considered an upgrade.

 

[slick2500]

What do the chassis braces do? are they a part that breaks? Does it make it better to drive? Prevent bending of driveshafts or something? Only helpful if jumping over a 1:1 car? All the better for ramming neighborhood kids with?

The stock chassis braces are known to break especially the rear.
The stock servo mount tends to flex a lot especially with an upgraded servo.
The stock servo is basically a crap shoot on how long it will last.
Hot Racing, GKA Custom RC Parts and Voltage Hobbies all make chassis braces and servo mounts. Avoid GPM Racing at all costs.

 

[WoodiE]

In one of the FB rc groups someone mentioned that $500.00 is about what you expected in upgrading your RC’s car ( be it a car, truggy, buggy, crawler, monster truck....etc..) is this a true statement.

Simply put - No.

There are far to many things to consider to even put a price tag on this. This is going to range widely from person to person from RC to RC. I know several people who are still running stock ready-to-run RC's that have upgraded only their ball bearings and nicer LiPo batteries (SMC) and have been perfectly happy with them.

I know others have have taken a HPI Baja and removed basically every single part on it and built something all over again - totally well over $2,000.

I guess it also depends on what you call an "upgrade". Take for example a RC kit, such as the Tekno RC brand, where you must purchase all your electronics separately. Are any of the electronics upgrades? Or just that $15 aluminum servo horn?

 

[slick2500]

Simply put - No.

There are far to many things to consider to even put a price tag on this. This is going to range widely from person to person from RC to RC. I know several people who are still running stock ready-to-run RC's that have upgraded only their ball bearings and nicer LiPo batteries (SMC) and have been perfectly happy with them.

I know others have have taken a HPI Baja and removed basically every single part on it and built something all over again - totally well over $2,000.

I guess it also depends on what you call an "upgrade". Take for example a RC kit, such as the Tekno RC brand, where you must purchase all your electronics separately. Are any of the electronics upgrades? Or just that $15 aluminum servo horn?

I've seen some Emaxx builds that were up over $4,000. But when you buy an rc that pretty much everything needs to be replaced to make the vehicle durable the cost of things can add up pretty quick. I was going to build an Emaxx from scratch once, by the time I was done my shopping cart was at $1,800 so I was like um no.

 

[olds97_lss]

Hold on to your butts, this is going to get wordy.

As many have mentioned, it varies so much from person to person and vehicle to vehicle, that there isn't a dollar amount that works, high or low.

With my savage flux, I bought it used, it came with an upgraded servo. Other than different shock oil and springs, I ran it pretty much stock for 6 months. Now I have replaced the motor/esc with a waterproof setup since mine was the old one. If it was the newer one, I would have left it alone. One upgrade I did do was the transmission. I replaced it with one that had a center diff in it.

So, if it was a later model truck and the servo didn't die, I would have only replaced the receiver (to work with my radio), shock oil, springs and the transmission. Around $100.

With my brushless revo, I replaced arms/carriers with RPM ($115), shock updates (VDK, oil, alloy rockers = $60), servos (stock suck, $80), t-bone wheelie bar/front skid (stock also sucks - $55), motor brace (HPP $45). Total $355. For me, this was all necessary from a durability standpoint.

With my traxxas stampede, Rpm arms, X-Duty cvd's, different motor/esc as I kept overheating mine, t-bones front bumper, homemade roll bar, alloy steering parts to reduce slop, probably around $200+ to make it usable.

My nitro revo's required RPM, servos, pipes, engines, steel trans gears, $400+ over stock price for both of those. A lot of which was the engine/pipe to get away from the traxxas 3.3 as it was ridiculously under powered for an MT in my opinion.

My nitro jato was probably my least modified traxxas truck. Made a roll bar to protect the rear shock tower, different tires, T-Bone front bumper. Beat it like I stole it. I since converted it to electric, but that was just because I wanted to. Wasn't a necessity.

Now that I'm an Arrma owner, I've had an outcast for 9 days. RPM arms, homemade tower2tower brace, RPM front bumper, t-bone rear skid/wheelie bar, shims and oils for the diffs, rubber bearings on the diffs, replaced servo (mine didn't make it out of the box before it died), wheels/tires with a larger contact patch since I run in skate parks a lot. $60 RPM, $80 servo, $35 wheelie bar, $6 center brace, $6 bearings, $20 shims/oil, $10 motor fan. Roughly $220 total. I did get mine for $419 though. Not sure why, but that's what the hobby shop charged for it. Guess they knew the servo was going to die. The RPM parts and wheelie bar was due to seeing what my buddy broke driving beside my savage flux and what he replaced them with to toughen it up. I started where he ended, except he hasn't gotten a wheelie bar yet. I did that just because of what I read on here about the wing mount not holding up.

So, just for me and the stuff I remember:
Nitro Revo 1: $400+
Nitro Revo 2: $400+
Brushless Revo: $355+
4x4 vxl stampede: $200+
Jato: $100
Savage Flux: $100
Nitro Savage: $120
Arrma Outcast: $220

A range of $100 to $400 beyond what it cost new to make them bashable.

I'm 99% sure in the 20 years of RC I've had, I've never done an "upgrade" of any type just for looks. Stronger, faster, more durable and easier to maintain. Those are the reasons I upgrade anything.

 

[RxMonkey]

Ok I’ll play. I have 4 arrmas now (all but the typhon) for each one I’ve done:

Aluminum braces/servo mount: $75
Yeah racing dual fan: $30
Savox 1210sg: $85
Rpm/T bone bumpers skids: ~$35
Shims & oil: ~$15
Reciever: $40

Some I have more parts on than others
Tires (backflips x2, trenchers, badlands, lockup sc) : ~$400
Hobbystar 4092 & 4082: ~$130
Max 6: $145
2 bodies: $65

I’d say approximately $425 in each truck so far. And there much, much more I will buy. So yes $500 upgrades is very close for me.

 

[Steve]

All my upgrades are now from RCJuice.com:

• Servos are nano-seconds behind Savox for 1/3 the $'s
• ESC & Motors are 1/2 the $'s of Hobbywing and Castle
• And more.
• The only kickback I get for plugging https://www.rcjuice.com/ is my orders always processed next day and shipped priority mail
• Oh wait, everyone gets that...

 

[joostin420]

For me it comes out of the box, deconstruction begins, and doesn’t run until it is built to my satisfaction - no matter the cost or time

 

[TpPartsRcXtreme]

Its a big LOL...500$ ...i never upgrade my cars, i don't need to. Ohh..the only thing is a T2T brace..and its less compl then 10$