What is BAD about the Cliff Climber?

[Bmr4life]

I want to build a small scale crawler and the CC seems perfect. Its super inexpensive, so that makes me wonder if there are any problems with it.

Also, I'm unsure whether I would get the RTR version or not. I have a Duratrax Intellespeed 12T esc, I think it should be able to handle dual 380's. I already have plenty of TX, RX, and servos so I don't need those.

Thanks

Meant to add. I will just be bashing. ZERO comp crawling. Thank you

[spartacus_nuc]

Bad things about the Cliff Climber...well the servos suck, but if you get the prebuilt version, that doesn't matter. The steering link on the rear sucks a lot, but if you use servos with opposite rotation on the front and rear (like a hitec in the front and futaba on the rear) that takes care of that, too. It doesn't have enough torque, and it is difficult to find gears with the correct pitch to gear it down, but that problem is being worked on in the 10T pinion post. If you use a traxxas EVX-2 esc instead of the duratrax ESC, you can find it on ebay for less than $80. After all that, you could have a pretty potent crawler. I did all that, and used the high-clearance links and traxxas turnbuckles for upper links, and borrowed the tires from my scorpion, and WOW! It works great! Once I take care of the gearing issue, it will be unstoppable. I'm kinda pushing my CC pretty hard and trying to compete with scorpions and Venom creepers, so if you aren't looking for that kind of performance, the RTR may work out fine for you. These mods are pretty cheap and dramatically improve the crawability of the little Cliff Climber.

[brokenb4]

Pick up the cheap prebuilt and try to use what you have. A 1/10 scale esc should handle the 2 little motors without issue. Your old used stuff is probably better than the rtr equipment.

[medina619]

if your gonna bash then its cool out of the box but if your gonna go comp crawler on us then it may need a little help. its really a fun truck and who leaves their RC car stock anyways. two people you need to talk to are stang killa ss and doubletrouble they have two of the nicest CC I've seen. you will not be disappointed especially since you can pick one up for cheap and still have enough money to hop it up.

[Bmr4life]

I will be doing no comp crawling. Purely bashing.

[badmonkey]

save your money and get a ax10 or mrc.
i have a cc and it sucks it has no nuts.
im useing a sub c 6 cell 4200 pack and a hitec esc and servo.

[JatoTheRipper]

How are the electronics on the CC? I have a Vendetta ST and it had the worst electronics I've ever dealt with...EVER!

The ESC burned up in a couple of runs. Then the battery that came with the truck stopped accepting/holding charge after about 5 runs or less. Finally the "new" ESC that was replaced by Duratrax burned up only after a few more runs. I had to spend more money on top of the Vendetta ST's price to get a new battery and ESC - hardly RTR.

And I think the CC will find the same fate as the Vendetta - hardly any third party companies will support it and it will be soon forgotten. Sad, because the Vendetta ST is an amazing mini!

[doubletrouble]

I agree the CC is'nt the best out of the box, but like others have said who leaves there Rc's stock anyway. With some work they are very capable crawlers. I think that has been part of the fun is seeing what I can get it to do. The electronics arent the best but they have held up, I have been running mine for a few months. As for them going away and nobody caring about them I doubt that will happen anytime soon. I like the challenge of building something people say can't be done. I built my 1:1 crawler to go where people said I can't.

[medina619]

the CC is really fun and of course some people just like to come here and hate on it. it has just as much potential as any other crawler and for less than hundred bucks you can make some really nice upgrades. i like it and have had fun upgrading mine,i actually think thats part of the fun.

[SDBigBubba]

If you aren't going to enter comp, you can keep rear steer on (might want some new servos)
You will need new tires, and add weight inside of them.
Lengthen the CC to 12.5 inches (This helps a ton... I have to do it soon)
Use 12 cell and you should be OK on the clod stall.

If you are looking for a very comp worthy car don't get the CC, get an axial or berg or somethin' else.

[fordranger2682]

They are fun bashers ...... like most said there is too much wheel speed. and clod stall is horriable.

[Mr Glassman]

Originally Posted by SDBigBubba

If you are looking for a very comp worthy car don't get the CC, get an axial or berg or somethin' else.

Sounds like a challenge

"I'm you Huckleberry"

[papabash]

I just bought 2 of them for my son and I to play with, we are strictly bashing as well. Among my other vehicles, I own 3 DTX Mini Quakes, and a 'Detta ST, so I am obviously a Duratrax fan. However, I have to say I was extremely dissapointed in my 1st impressions of the Cliff Climbers. So far after 20 minutes of some very minor crawling in our garage (nothing more than 18" high), we have 1 broken shock shaft (arrived that way-epoxied it back into holder at bottom rather than waiting for replacement), a bent dog bone, and a front motor that will not stayed plugged in because the factory leads are too short. :-( The only thing that worries me is the dog bone- the others are easy fixes. If the bones don't hold up any better than that, I'm afraid we're in for a bit of trouble. However, I don't leave my rigs stock either, so we will be lengthening, replacing, re-inventing, etc. until these things DO work. The low $ amount on these allows room for upgrading without going broke. We plan to stay very low budget since they won't be used for comps. With that in mind, I guess the bottom line is yeah, they're worth it, but be prepared to do some work on it even if you just plan to bash.

[fixed13]

I got mine about a month ago just to bash also, no major problems yet. I have only crawled indoors with at this point though. Clod stall sucks, replaced the front servo with a Hitec one and reworked the rear stear links. Installed 2.2's from my Axial and it seems to be fun. I got it for $120 and I feel I got a good deal.

[doubletrouble]

I have beat on mine pretty hard for about three months and have broken a knuckle, 2 steering links, and one lower bent link. I replaced knuckles with aluminum ones and am making new steering and suspension links from axial links. It is keeping up with my neighbors axials just fine.

[doubletrouble]

The CV axles seam to be alot better than the stock dog bones. I put them front and rear on mine.

[papabash]

That's good to hear; might have to invest in those. Thanks.

[bar321]

i got a Q, could i use a 1/10 scale esc and 1 batt or do i need a esc that can handle 2 batts??? thanx

[spartacus_nuc]

Originally Posted by bar321

i got a Q, could i use a 1/10 scale esc and 1 batt or do i need a esc that can handle 2 batts??? thanx

If you want to use the stock motors, you will need the stock ESC or another high-voltage ESC since the stock motors don't have a lot of torque, and lowering the voltage will reduce what little torque it does have and would kill most of it's crawlability. If you use different motors, then absolutely! You can use any ESC you want if you get some motors that will perform well at 7.2V. Take a look at the "is this a motor for the cc?" post. Several of us are actively searching for and testing different motors.

[traxxas4fun]

what is clod stall? how do i wire an esc for two motors?