night crawler or RS10 XT

[Branman444]

I have done a little searching but haven't ran across a tread that really tells me why i would buy say a Losi or Axial over a Redcat. Can you help?

A couple of buddies and i are looking into getting rigs and I am in a delima.

One friend has a axial wraith and right out of the box he is having to do all kinds of stuff to it just to keep it going. I have little or no background with these machines and would like to make a good decision when choosing one. I ran one of the old walmart 1/8 crawlers and still have them(cant remember the name), but never anything like these guys. I am mechanical, so mods and upgrades and things of that nature will not be a problem, but i do not want something that i will have to be working on just to keep it running.
We are weekend crawlers at best and will not be doing comps at all. Looking for something in the <400$ range.
Thanks !

[crawlhog]

the redcat is a good starter rig and kinda fun.and right off the bat your gonna need new servos and tires. there not much aftermarket support for them and the motors are small. with all the cash you have to put into it you could buy 2 good rigs. i used to own one but they grt boring real fast. do it right the first time and save yourself the headache

[Branman444]

Yea that's kinda the conclusion I came too after a little research. To be honest I'm not real sure what one I want. Tons of options! I want a RTR so its kinda between the night crawler and ax10 at this point, unless I can find a kit that someone has already built.

[sedative]

Check out the classifieds section.. Lots of good RTR or ARTR rigs posted in there in your price range. If I wasn't into building my own from the ground up, I'd be shopping for ready to go from here.

[hoghead5150]

what type of crawling are you planning on doing? i have a redcat, and while it's pretty decent it's just pretty decent. zno carries alot of hop up parts for the redcat.

if you plan on trail riding or alot of extended runs (over 20 minutes at a time) i would suggest an axial. a scx10 honcho for trails, or even a wraith or ridgecrest for general bashing and fun. they both need work to be durable but it's not really that much.

if you plan on crawling, and don't mind running for 15-20 minutes and then letting the rig cool down, the losi will outcrawl all of them out of the box.

[crawl-o-matic]

If you're not going to comp, I feel the RS10 is going to be your best bet. My first crawler was an RS10 and I still have it. The tires are fine if you're not comping, they're perfectly good for bashing. The motors are 300 and not good for comping but they work just fine otherwise...and the upside is that a fairly small lipo will give you a lot of run time. The stock esc will take a 2s lipo, no problem. The servo(s) aren't bad either and for bashing, you'll LOVE the 4 wheel steering!! The one thing I would do is add a bec...it won't cost much but it'll make a huge improvement in overall power.

Also, when they say RTR they mean it! It comes with all the electronics, even a basic battery and charger and it even comes pre assembled.

If you're not a comp level driver, you might want to stay away from used crawlers. You might end up with a rig that'll need a good amount of TLC to stay in its good graces...sort of like a finely tuned sports car. Also, you're probably not going to find anything for under $400 that'll include everything you need to actually run the truck.

As for product support, redcatracing.com is second to none. They have all the parts you need at a very fair price. Also, zno-rc.com has quite a few hopups made just for the RS10, also at very good prices.

At the end of the day, I did very little to mine and it's a lot of fun, you can crawl with it right out of the box, no problem. If you wanted to, you could build a nice comp rig with the axles at a later date as well...you'll see many comp builds here on the redcat forum.

here's some good video:

bashing:

RedCat RS10 Electric Crawler at DSO - YouTube

out of the box crawling:

THE BEST RC Crawlers - YouTube


head to head with AX10:
Redcat RS10 vs Axial AX10 - Can a low cost crawler compete? - YouTube

[losikid]

the night crawler is what you need if you want the best crawling ability, and as long as you upgrade to the the hd worms, then maintenance isn't as required as it is with stock gears, and axle temps stay low, you just got to watch motor temps. the rtr electronics probably arn't ideal for hour long bash sessions, you'd need to upgrade to a sensored brushless setup, which isn't cheap.

If your just looking for something to drive for long periods of time and nothing very serious crawling wise, a wraith might be a good choice, from what i've seen they hold up to some abuse in their stock form

I'd also give the new rc4wd trail finder 2 a good look over, it looks like a slick little rig, although i haven't followed it much

[Branman444]

Sweet, some great info, but again that's what I figured. I'll let you know......

[Docwolf]

I run a redcat rig, love it, though my rig is so heavy now that I am just chewing up the plastic gears. if your going with a southern buggy style, or something along those lines, you will be fine. I just bought one for my dad with a custom built SB style chassis, they can be little crawling monsters.

[Swerve]

Branman, to bad there isn't somewhere close where we could test drive...

[sick86burban]

I love my rs10. It is my first rig, but i have driven 2 others axial and a lnc. Not gonna lie, out of the box, my rs10 that cost $150, out crawled both, and we were all box stock. Everyone will say axial or losi, no doubt, because they have aftermarket support. You sgould really do a test drive before the purchase, it may change ur mind.

[Docwolf]

come up to lindsborg ks july 7th, i have a rs10xt southern buggy you can try out, might have a venom creeper by then too.

[Swerve]

I'm pretty well set on an rs10 XT unless I can find a good deal on something used for under $200. Just from what I read it seems like every crawler has issues out of the box and any used crawler is going to be worth more than $200 once a person has fixed all these issues.

[Sydwall85]

Originally Posted by Swerve

I'm pretty well set on an rs10 XT unless I can find a good deal on something used for under $200. Just from what I read it seems like every crawler has issues out of the box and any used crawler is going to be worth more than $200 once a person has fixed all these issues.

Overall, this is the right attitude and true at the same time. A Redcat was my first crawler and I still love it. I learned how to drive with that and have made a lot of changes, then I buillt my Bully and I love that. I have WAAAYYY more money in that one. Is it near bullet proof? Yep, but a good tumble can break shit on any rig. Dollar for dollar, RTR... Redcat gets my vote. But definitely plan on servos (yes, servos.. and quick. Mine broke within 20 minutes) and tires. Lower the shocks on the links and you'll be amazed how well it will work!

[crawl-o-matic]

YES! Lower the shocks on the links...this is the FIRST thing you must do!!!

[kicker1solo]

LOVE my RS10. In the year that I've had it I've had to replace two steering servos and I threw on a different set of tires recently. This thing is great, it crawls like a champ right out of the box!

[Swerve]

How does the RS10 XT compare to a Venom Safari Creeper w/ Dig? I seen that rcplanet.com is running a deal now where the Creeper is under $200. Most of what I've found so far says the RS10 will out perform the Creeper but what is your opinion?

Docwolf - Is there a reason that you are getting a Venom Creeper now?

[Docwolf]

Originally Posted by Swerve

How does the RS10 XT compare to a Venom Safari Creeper w/ Dig? I seen that rcplanet.com is running a deal now where the Creeper is under $200. Most of what I've found so far says the RS10 will out perform the Creeper but what is your opinion?

Docwolf - Is there a reason that you are getting a Venom Creeper now?

it's cheap and I am curious about it, my Rs10xt scaler is my baby though.

[Swerve]

OH! I have to say I do like your rs10 Bronco.

[Docwolf]

Originally Posted by Swerve

OH! I have to say I do like your rs10 Bronco.

thanks, i keep saying i am going to do a shafty conversion, but i am going to try her out with 9.6 3800MAH packs first, my only do0wn fall now seems to be clod stall and i am still running the plastic gears and 380 cans ;)