First Crawler Purchase

[Westwood]

Greetings everyone.

Little backstory. I was REALLY into R/C about 15 years ago. I still have my Stampede, Blackfoot, Clod, Rustler, Bolink, and a few other cars and trucks sitting on the shelf. But, it got too expensive and I moved out of the hobby. I still have my old batteries and chargers, but highly doubt any of them are in any working condition. Since then I got into the real 4x4s and I own a built Jeep Cherokee and a really built Suzuki Samurai.

Though, I recently just had a double knee replacement and don't see myself turning a wrench for at least a few months. For the next month or so I've moved back in with my parents as I recover which has done wonders on my bank account. Minimal electricity, no gassing up, not using my oil for heat, and not having to buy food? Pure awesome.

So I have a few bucks. Been looking into crawlers and still deciding if I want to pull the trigger or not. So far I've come up with this list:



I'm just not sure if I want to spend the $700 or so to get myself back into this hobby. But overall does that list look alright? I have a hard time keeping things stock; hence the new ESC, batteries, and motor.

I'm going to think about it for a few days. I just don't want to really jump into this and get in over my head.

Thanks for reading.

[Adams]

I would skip the 3s battery and the tekin and get other hop up parts like servo, linkages, chubs, knuckles, lockouts, drive shafts, tires, wheels.
IMO the AE-2 is quite decent and can run a 3s if you add a BEC.

[Die-Laughing]

Yeah... I can see it from "Adams" point of view but, on the other hand.. switching to lipo, particularly of the 11.1v variety... and my Tekin FXR are some of the best upgrades I have done.

Once you start breaking parts.. You'll just have to upgrade then

[thzero]

Try amain, you might get some better prices. Or even stormer.

You can also check the For Sale section, you can get some decent SCX10 vehicles.

Personally 55t is way to slow, even on 3S. 55-45t seem to work well for comp crawlers, but trail running/crawling scale trucks seem to do better around 35-30t.

Also either use Deans or Traxxas high-power connectors on the batteries and ESC.

As Adam mentioned the AE-2 can be run under 3S with the installation of a Castle Creations BEC (i.e. from Axial AE-2 ESC Set-up and Programming, **You can run higher voltage batteries such as a 7 cell NiCad/NiMH or 3 cell lipo with the installation of a “Castle BEC”) See axial ae2 esc 3s does it really work? longterm ?

I'd be more inclined to agree with Adam, at least with the front knuckles and chubs and Axial CVDs. And MIP drive shafts. Also might want to look for a better servo before the ESC.

[steele42]

I didn't buy it all at once, but your list is exactly the first purchases I made, and have loved it. I love the 55T and I've even since put a smaller pinion gear on to slow it down even more. It really depends on your driving style. But let me point out that with your list you will need the CC BEC to run your 3s lipo.

[AG74683]

Sorry to bump an old thread but I gotta say, I paid around 700 for my rig...

I bought the kit, ALL the electronics (including a new radio, and even went Lipo (3 batteries and a charger).

As much as I like Tower Hobbies, which I guess is where your cart came from...there are much cheaper options.

I got my SCX-10 from RPP Hobby along with my servo (Hitec 7950th). The servo was on sale, I think I got it for 75, which was SUPER low.

I went with a Holmes Hobbies ESC and motor (35t handwound pro) and a Flysky GT3B Radio. My batteries/charger came from Hobbypartz.com.

For what you have in that cart, you can do with a kit for around the same price and end up with better electronics and batteries and the better hardware the kit includes over the RTR.

[AX10wannabe]

i love my 55t motor because i dont "trail ride" my honcho it hits the rocks asap..lol only WOT it sees is from the house to the crawler course 100 feet away if i dont feel like carrying it.. if you plan on going for a hike (once your better of course) and taking the crawler with you then yeah i say get a 35-45t motor.