Which should I run?

[devestator_x]

So I have this SCX10 now. Its my first crawler and all of my background has been in "go fast" stuff. I got it as a rolling chassis and have been slowly building it up. I have 2 motor options (which are nearly the same) and 2 ESC options (which are not even close to the same) Here's what I have and am wondering what type of combo I should be using...

Trinity Midnight 2 - 27T with 22 degrees of advanced timing. This is an old school race motor from the mid 90s. Its been with me through thick and thin, used and abused to no end and loves every minute of it. Old timers may remember motors like the Green Machine and PK, this is like those.

Trinity CO27 - one of the last brushed 27T 22 degree race motors Trinity made. Doesnt rev quite like the Midnight does, but does put out more torque. Seems to run hotter than the Midnight even with identical conditions (truck, battery, location)

Traxxas XL-5 - Had this for a couple of years now. Works perfect and love the waterproof feature.

Sidewinder Sv2 - Only had this for a few months now. Ran it with a 5700kv 4 pole in my Slash before trading it away last week.

I have 87/23 gearing, but have other pinions down to 18t if needed. Running 6c and 7c NiMH 3000mah batteries on Deans connectors.

Any advice?

[Trubble]

IMO, both those motors are a tad aggressive for that chassis, and that gearing's way too high for what it'll be doing. My gearing's at 14/87, and if you're going to use those motors, I'd probably go that low or possibly lower.

ESCs, you're at a horse a piece with the batts you're running. I'd say go with the Sidewinder if it allows you to program out the reverse delay. The XL-5 should support those motors just fine, after you get that gearing down a bit.

[devestator_x]

Well, I had originally geared it that way due to the fact I didnt think this truck was going to do a lot of crawling. I live in central Florida on the coast and there really isnt a whole lot of rocks.... just sand, so I geared more for speed (was trying to get equal to my old Wheely King). Ive been told there are some good rocks at the beach, but havent been yet to check.

Im still not sure on how much real crawling it will do. The Midnight was used in a bunch of vehicles including a King Blackfoot, Stampede and a Wheely King, the CO27 was only run in the Stampede a few times. Both were run very hard (speed runs, donuts, general bashing) with the XL-5 without any issues, so I know that ESC will run them all day.

[FauxMako]

Agree on the gearing. You'll want to be 15/87 or lower to have the low end control for crawling. Stock gearing is 20/87. I run 12/87.

The Sidewinder should give you more functionality through programming than the XL-5.

As far as the motors go, use the one you feel more confident of in this application.