Best Crawler, ever

[Outdoorsman]

The sure is one incredible hobby. They say the best crawlers are built, not bought. But what advice do I have to newbies?

The first question anyone who gets into crawlers will have is: “Which is the best crawler” The correct answer is however rather lengthy, please bear with me as I get into what will probably end up being one of the most amazing journeys of your life. The secret: Search, read, order, modify, test and do it all over again, and again, and again. There is no such a thing as a stock crawler because a crawler is something that amazes, draws crowds, and in the crowd there’s always some old guy who asks: “Did you build that yourself”. A stock rig does not draw crowds, period.

Chinese crawlers: They make good emergency repair parts for real crawlers. You won’t find a replacement gear or other crucial part. If you have one you’ll know that with the amount of time you’ve spent searching for parts on the internet and the amount you’re willing to pay for that part, including shipping from China, well, keep on cursing. You knew very well buying cheap is buying expensive. It was a nice Christmas weekend toy however.

Axial AX10: Most people will start with an ax10, but out of the box it’s rather useless unless you get some perverted pleasure from rolling down hills (please note I refer to hills, you’ll need to make some serious modifications from stock to roll down rocks). First thing and biggest benefit will be the replacement of the ax10’s standard springs. Next you’ll have to weigh down the front, but as a newbie you’ll spent a lot of time and money to experiment with just these simple modifications. There are many others and the internet is a fantastic resource. Axial’s parts are easy to find, there’s a ton of options available and yes, in crawler terms they’re cheap.

Losi Competition Crawler: This is one amazing shafty. It has an amazing turning radius and that standard dig will amaze you. Soon you won’t be able to comprehend how not to have a dig in a crawler. That said, the electronics will be scattered all over the rig and you’ll have to be very creative in getting a decent weight balance to ensure front wheel traction is able to pull you up and over the next rock (simply sticking lead weights on the inside of the front rims will help, but due to the layout of the electronics which are fairly fixed in a Losi simply won’t suffice, you’ll have to take the tires off and weigh the rims down much more). The worm drive means serious friction which translates to horrible run times. An 11.1V system is recommended to power through all that resistance and don’t even try a wimpy ESC and motor, you’ll fry it. I’m not fond of brushless motors in crawlers, but the Losi has more resistance that the average crawler and the last thing you need is an inefficient motor. I run a Novak Goat 3S in mine simply because LRP’s crawler ESC (LRP has probably one of the most efficient brushless systems on the market and they’re not afraid in quoting their efficiency ratings because of this very reason) can only safely run 2S Lipo. Losi does however use an 11 x 1.5mm pin in their axles. These pins break with alarming frequency and a genuine Losi replacement is, like all Losi’s parts, EXPENSIVE. Axial carries the same pin for half the price. Indeed, the Losi is wonderfully frustrating to get to be a crawler.

In my experience, a motor on axle (MOA) rig offers a superior center of gravity. Nice and low means you still get decent ground clearance but you don’t roll over as easily. By the way, what the hell do Axial want you to cross with the stock ground clearance, small round pebbles is the only thing I can think of. If you ever lift your front to go over anything larger than a small pebble you’ll simply roll backwards with that ridiculous stock ground clearance.

Bully: This rig has nice strong axles, but they are heavy, which is fine up front. It saves lead, but at the back, well let’s just say gravity pulls and the heavier something is, the more difficult your battle. Turning radius is also a problem, you’ll need a dig but with a MOA rig this is easy, cheap and makes for some serious fun. Getting the weight balances right with those heavy rear axles is just as difficult as with the Losi.

Berg: In standard kit form it offers insanely ridiculous articulation. You’ll probable broke a shock shaft in the process. A 3mm shock shaft trying to bend in any which way sure doesn’t last very long. Chances are you’ll break the first shaft testing the articulation after your built even before your first run. I believe there are part that break, and there are those that eventually break. If they break they weren’t meant to be and need replacement with something better. Breaking something is always a good sign, it means you’ve find the weak point and you can now make it better. The berg’s 3^rd gear is also one of the weak points but it’s easily replaceable with something much stronger, just search and you will find.

I know what you’re thinking, and you’re right, knowing all these facts has made my choices as a newbie even more difficult. If you’re reading this, it means you’re as passionate about mastering this hobby than I am. It also means you need more than just the facts, you need to know how it actually works, how you get to draw that crowd, and that old man to say they should have let you build the mars crawler, that way it wouldn’t have gotten stuck. So, if that’s your passion, read on, real crawlers are built, not bought.

You may not care about that crowd, but you do care about that grin on your face when you actually steer a crawler up and over a seemingly impossible rock, and decide to order your first serious crawler, a berg (small caps because I’m simply humbled by what their axles can become).

After a long week, coming home on a Friday evening, there it is, the shipping box containing your new rig. You try ripping it open but soon realize you’re shaking too much to get through the box tape and go get your utility knife. Soon it’s open and you’ll be staring at seemingly small box, open it up and find a wonderfully packaged assortment of parts. You’re oblivious to your wife’s mumbling about dinner and start assembly. You finally finish the assembly of the chassis and axles, test the articulation and break a shock shaft. DAMN! You make quick fix and finish the build sometime early Saturday morning. Going to bed tired yet excited you curse yourself for breaking the shaft. Barely able to sleep with excitement you wake up early to test out your new rig. Again your wife mumbles something about plans she made, but that was her plans, right, not yours.

Your new rig has insane articulation but somehow you just can’t get the traction down, and that damn shaft. You come home and hop on the internet to find a replacement part and start searching and reading, building your knowledge. This is however where you should not waste time replacing that shaft. There are some amazing rigs out there and you decide on taming some of that articulation and gain traction at a decent angle. This is just the start, maybe a Vanquish or Beetlejuice chassis (if only that guy had a website where you could order the damned Beetlejuice from you might have ordered one), do research on the required links, nice heavy front vanquish rims (the best in my opinion), and by Sunday evening your orders are placed. Your wife’s still awake but by this time she’s no longer talking to you and you have no idea why. It’s not like you actually DID anything that could upset her. Don’t fuss, two weeks of silence from her will be just what the doctor order to finish your rig. Thank goodness for small blessings.

Three months later you utter those very proud words to that old man: “YES, I built it MYSELF, and yes, that mars rover was probably a Chinese kit”.

And yes, this is only the beginning, your next CRAWLER will be even better, the best. Maybe a bully axle up front, nice handwound motor, I still think that Beeslejuice chassis looks sick, but that berg that started it all will always be on my crawler, somewhere. You have the best crawler in the world, dreamt up, engineered, custom built, tested and perfected by none other than, YOU.

Have fun! Outdoorsman J