Opinions?

[amorton94]

What are your guys opinions on the Duratrax Cliff Climber for how cheap they are? Do you think they would be good for getting some little 10year old relatives into this hobby? And is there any upgrade motors for these things yet? From what i have been hearing there isn't anything that fits into their mounts? Just wonderin. Any help would be appreciated.
-Austin

forgot to add: Can i use the average wheels on these? or do i need to buy adapters?

[countriboy84]

I was wondering the same thing wanting to buy one to play around the house with.

[InFlames]

I just got one today, never drove it yet though. I will tomarrow and tell you guys what i think. From what i hear, for the price its good, i couldnt beat it, i had to buy one, just from going over everything it looks damn well worth it. Once again i dont have personal experience, but ive seen videos of all stock ones where they get no clod stall at all and i see videos where they get nothing but clod stall, i think its how your finger is on the throttle for the most part durring start up if you make the front tires spin right away or not....there is a decent amount of mods for this thing, and there are ways to get rid of clod stall. As for the wheels, i dont know what you mean by average wheels, but i know axial ones fit and i plan on buying some soon. Im sure more people can tell you more about this rig, but for the price i say go for it. Just my two cents...

[tom tom]

Its a complete RC crawler. If $120 isn't worth it, I don't know what is. Its a good starter for a ten year old. I see many aftermarket parts for this rig coming soon, and clod stall can be fixed with minor modifications or a complete rebuild, depending on how well you want it to work. Like a good majority of Tamiya cars, its like a bland blob that you can mold into whatever you want, and you have to do the innovating and creating and fine tuning to make it work the way you want to. I am getting one when I build up the monthly crawler fund enough.

Here are my plans. I want to put the next higher KV motor in the rear and put a tooth smaller pinion in the rear as well. Hopefully that will solve a good deal of clod stall. I will wire the motors so the rear is the first in the series if it isn't as is. I will stretch the wheel base moderately, possibly with a custom chassis. If I really wanted to get into it, I would put some RC4WD 2:1 gear reductions on the front and rear axle, along with a dual esc single battery setup. I would slap on some serious 2.2 comp tires on some beadlocks and throw some real high torque servos on it. Then I would have a near berg level comp crawler for the price of just a berg roller, or less. Thats what I would do anyways......

[amorton94]

thanks guys! that's really all i needed to hear. i will convince parents to buy these kids this, and get them hooked then i wont be crawling alone anymore and i will also buy one for myself, you can never have enough rc's and by average wheels i meant...17mm hex (i think) , you know the average. and those plans you have for yours tom tom, sounds good. i think i might steal them . but thanks guys for your help
-Austin

[tom tom]

Originally Posted by amorton94

forgot to add: Can i use the average wheels on these? or do i need to buy adapters?

Originally Posted by amorton94

thanks guys! that's really all i needed to hear. i will convince parents to buy these kids this, and get them hooked then i wont be crawling alone anymore and i will also buy one for myself, you can never have enough rc's and by average wheels i meant...17mm hex (i think) , you know the average. and those plans you have for yours tom tom, sounds good. i think i might steal them . but thanks guys for your help
-Austin

The hex is 12mm. That is standard for 1/10 stuff. Rock crawlers, similar to 1/10 race cars and race trucks use 12mm hexes for the normal wheel size. Any wheels you can get for rock crawling or 2.2 trucks will fit.

I really wish more kids would pick these hobbies up. Too many kids are getting stuck inside on the computer and on video games. They need to get an RC car or plane or something and go out where the sun and fresh air is. It improves motor skills and all anyways, and we all know that teens need as much help as they can get I can't get enough of rock crawling.

[Frankenwheely]

I would spend a little more and get the Losi mini. It's upgradable and it's fun for any age. The Cliff Climber needs a lot of mods to make it somewhat of a alright crawler.

[greasypete]

My daughter loves it !

Pete

... but she will get a scaler now, as you know....

[sweli]

Just an opinion:

I have one of these that I am rebuilding up.

I would hold out for a used RTR Losi mini over a CC.

• Tooooo fast out of the box, which makes it too touchy for a 10yr old to learn on
• No slipper clutch, so kids will lay on the throttle when it's jammed, breaking parts
• You need to really tear into it to make it a decent crawler
• Uses ODD 0.6M gear pitch, which right now is impossible to get under 11T pinion gears.
• So far no slow, high turn, inexpensive motors have been found for it
• Holmes is working on smaller pinions but will still take some time
• In stock fast wheel speed mode, or eventually geared down, you'll eat the stock gears pretty fast.

To me, seems like Duratrax started to support this, then realized sales were falling off, and now might stop supporting it - ie. more hop ups - motors and pinion gears.

Just 2 cents worth.

[teamvaladezhobb]

My ten year old has a stock CC, it works fine STOCK if you change the tires, or anything else clod stall and all kinds of problems arise. Leave it stock add a little weight in the front get rid of rear steer and it will be alright.

[amorton94]

yah, but i'm not going to be the one buying them a crawler, it will either be themselves or their parents, i just don't have the money. and they could get 2 cc's for the price of one mrc. i just want to get them hooked, and not break their bank forever, since their 10 and get around $200 MAYBE, a year. but if nothing else, this will get them hooked, and in the future they'll get a nicer crawler and this will be their basher

[R/CMaxximus5.0]

For what they are going for now $120 RTR, $79 prebuilt, they are well worth it and a great way for kids to get into R/C!

I think Duratrax knew they had to drop prices alot once the Losi MRC took off.....I really hope that they still support it with parts and hop-ups etc.
I think it is really fun Rig...is it a hardcore crawler?..No. Can it be made into something competetive...maybe. I'm sure it was made just to be a fun rig, and not competition level and for $120 bux you get a fun little rig.

[amorton94]

yah i think they'd have fun with it. i don't think they have plans on doing any comps, and neither do i....yet. so yah i think ill start them off with these, then maybe a mrc if they get hooked, and then maybe a 1/10 2.2 but thanks for the help guys! Much appreciated
-Austin

[InFlames]

Got about an hour drive time with mine today, i was using 1200 packs, only "mods" are deans plugs, and i actually got little to no clod stall, seemed like the only time i got it was when the axle got hung up on something. Makes me think smaller packs send less juice to the tires so its harder for them to break free and cause clod stall. Rear steer deffinitly has to go asap. It is pretty fast stock but not impossible to crawl with. It actually suprised me with some angles it went up. And with about a hour of driving i didnt flip once, COG REALLY suprised me for being so tall. Seems like a damn nice little rig for $120. Deffinitly has stuff that could be fixed to make it better, as any other crawler does. Well worth the money IMO.

[amorton94]

ok sounds like a plan. only thing i ask, and yes it's very newbie, what's clod stall? i have a rough idea of what it is, but im not sure.

[InFlames]

Originally Posted by amorton94

ok sounds like a plan. only thing i ask, and yes it's very newbie, what's clod stall? i have a rough idea of what it is, but im not sure.

Its pretty much when the rear motor stalls and only the front tires spin, or vise versa..

[amorton94]

lol so it's like a ghetto dig but what is wrong with the rear steer?

[InFlames]

Originally Posted by amorton94

lol so it's like a ghetto dig but what is wrong with the rear steer?

I just personally dont like it, sometimes the rear tires will make you miss an obstacle when you turn or they will get stuck under a rock you didnt want to touch or something like that, im just not use to it nor like it, plus the rear steers tighter than the front...