SCX-10 Trail Honcho vs Power Wagon

[ZzSniperzZ]

Hi all, recently I've decided to finally get myself a trail truck, and since a super expensive RC4WD TF2 was out of the question, I was just wondering if the newer Power Wagon was a better truck than the Trail Honcho.

The Power Wagon has a metal servo but I'm pretty sure the Honcho has a few pros, as well as looking a bit better IMO.

Thanks!

[KJ10]

Not many differences, afaik. You'll wind up replacing the servo, and most other electronics, so they seem pretty equal, to me. Do you prefer Dodge or Toyota?

[Col_Sanders]

Honcho has LEDs and a more tunable ESC (Castle Link will allow you to take advantage of it). Power Wagon has 32p pinion and spur gears, which are more durable, HD driveshafts, dual disk slipper, and a waterproof ESC. If you want an RTR and are going to swap out the body anyway, the Deadbolt is a good buy.

[Derekuda]

The Power Wagon is water resistant while the Honcho is hardly even splash resistant. I've taken my Deadbolt (basically the same car as the Power Wagon) up to the top of the rims in running water with no issues.

[jeff22]

The honcho has a better overall ESC but the Powerwagon ESC is waterproof.

The axial site says the Powerwagon has a water resistant servo while the honcho's is not. I'm not sure this is accurate though as I think the honcho also has the tsx45 unless there is a new version out that the dodge uses.

If you are planning on going near water I would get the Powerwagon unless you are going to take the steps to waterproof the honcho electronics. I personally like the looks of the honcho better though.

Tough decision to make.

[svt923]

In addition to what has already been said, the Honcho has a front bumper and roll cage. Those thing go a long way towards keeping the body in one piece. The Power Wagon, on the other hand, absorbs every hit and roll with only the lexan body.

In the end, just buy the one you think looks better.

[rustneversleeps]

they both nice rigs but i would go for the waterproof one.Your bound to tackle some water sooner or later and it's fun plus the waterproof one you can run in the winter month now that fun.
Good luck on your purchase.....

[ZzSniperzZ]

Thanks all for their 2 cents!

Here is how I see the benefits of both:

Honcho:
-Roll cage (more durable BODY +awesome looks)
-LED Lights
-Better ESC? (I'm new to crawling so IDK the benefits of that)

Power Wagon:
-Waterproof
-CHASSIS more durable with metal + waterproof servo
-Less used (more unique)
-Newer

I'm still torn between Durability and waterproofing VS cool functions and looks.

Is the Ram SIGNIFICANTLY better in any way? I live in Canada so I'm leaning towards the Power Wagon a bit.

[Col_Sanders]

I have a Honcho and a Power Wagon. Durability wise, the Power Wagon should be better, but whether or not you will ever notice the HD driveshafts, better slipper, or better spur/pinion gears, I dont know. I suppose that depends on what you are going to do with it. Leave it stock, or put more power through it...I have yet to break any of that stuff on my Honcho, but I am running less voltage and a weaker motor through it. I also have substantially less drive time on it.

The body on the Power Wagon hangs over the frame quite a bit and will get snagged up/broken if you dont add bumpers. The Honcho is a bit heavier and more top heavy due to the cage and spare tire and the front bumper is kind of flimsy.

Servos...I cant really tell a difference. The PW servo may be a little bit more powerful? ESCs...The ESC in the Honcho is a bit more adjustable if you like to tinker with things and fine tune. It is not waterproof, but can be made waterproof if you wish. The AE5 in the PW only has a couple settings, but if you are not a fine tuner/tinkerer it works well. I was happy with it until I started screwing around with other ESCs and was able to fine tune.

I know I said it earlier, but the SCX10 Deadbolt is the same as the Power Wagon except the body and is $60 cheaper. You could buy some decent mods with that $$.

[ZzSniperzZ]

Originally Posted by Col_Sanders

I have a Honcho and a Power Wagon. Durability wise, the Power Wagon should be better, but whether or not you will ever notice the HD driveshafts, better slipper, or better spur/pinion gears, I dont know. I suppose that depends on what you are going to do with it. Leave it stock, or put more power through it...I have yet to break any of that stuff on my Honcho, but I am running less voltage and a weaker motor through it. I also have substantially less drive time on it.

The body on the Power Wagon hangs over the frame quite a bit and will get snagged up/broken if you dont add bumpers. The Honcho is a bit heavier and more top heavy due to the cage and spare tire and the front bumper is kind of flimsy.

Servos...I cant really tell a difference. The PW servo may be a little bit more powerful? ESCs...The ESC in the Honcho is a bit more adjustable if you like to tinker with things and fine tune. It is not waterproof, but can be made waterproof if you wish. The AE5 in the PW only has a couple settings, but if you are not a fine tuner/tinkerer it works well. I was happy with it until I started screwing around with other ESCs and was able to fine tune.

I know I said it earlier, but the SCX10 Deadbolt is the same as the Power Wagon except the body and is $60 cheaper. You could buy some decent mods with that $$.

I was looking at the deadbolt's page, and even though it has the new ESC and Servo it says that it's not waterproof/resistant like on the power wagon :/. Not sure if it's just a mistake or not.

[ZzSniperzZ]

If I were to go on a regular nature walk trail, either dry or a bit muddy, which one would perform better with less damage? I'm worried about the Honcho's weakness to water and the lack of bumper on the Power Wagon. I'm not sure about the Falken Jeep because that may not be waterproof either.

[Col_Sanders]

The AE-5 esc is waterproof. The last line on the description of the esc on the Deadbolt page also says so.

I own a crew cab 2014 Ram 2500, which is why I bought the Power Wagon. I have built my Power Wagon to be basically what my 1:1 would be if I had the $$. If I didnt own that truck, the Deadbolt is what I would have bought. Bang for the buck, you cant beat it. Tower Club price right now is ~$255 with coupon codes.

[Mike Flea]

Just my 2 cents, and what I might do in your shoes:

A) Buy a Dingo kit and upgrade it as necessary to make it your own ultimate scaler/crawler. Even on the more pricier kits or rtr's, most people change servos, motors, esc's and links anyways.

B) Buy the Honcho. Has pretty much everything you need/want right out of the box, upgrade parts as you need/break, most people will change servo's, motors, and links, just because.

C) Buy the Power Wagon, Has more of what you need/want right out of the box, upgrade parts as you need/break, buy bumpers to protect body, most people will change servo's, motors, links just because.

OR

Do what I did: Buy a basic RTR. You get all kinds of parts for a running truck: axles, chassis, electronics, tires, wheels. Run it for a while and decide what or how YOU want YOUR truck to be, then modify it accordingly.

Don't trust anything that says waterproof. Personally I coat everything electrical with a conformal coating (liquid electrical tape)

[mr.rick]

I don't know how everyone else feels about it but I usually just hop on Craigslist since I can't see the classified ads here yet. But in my opinion used is the way to go... I picked up a used Honcho with upgraded steering, upper and lower links, metal tranny gears, tekin motor, 2 batteries and brand new wheels and tires on CL for $200 bucks. It was RTR with the stock tx/rx and I took the money I saved buying it used and bought a new body for it... I love the sport but for a rig that I won't run all the time since I have others, the scx10 platform was the important part for me and a body of my choosing is just a few dollars difference. The money I saved went to a waterproof servo, and new esc since it was just the AE-2. I spent the same amount of money I would have on a new one in a box but I have a ton of upgrades. Just a thought! Good Luck on the search.

[ZzSniperzZ]

Thanks to all and their suggestions!

I guess I should try to break down the options:

Deadbolt: I'm not a fan of the body, and I intend to keep it stock for some time. (AKA if I get the deadbolt it will stay that way for a little while, no upgrades)

Honcho: leaning further from this because it's not waterproof and an older model.

G6 Falken: starting to like this the most because it has the NEW chassis, the waterproof components, and a cool looking body IMO.

Ram: I would've chose this INSTANTLY if it had a bumper.

Thanks!

[Col_Sanders]

Originally Posted by mr.rick

I don't know how everyone else feels about it but I usually just hop on Craigslist since I can't see the classified ads here yet. But in my opinion used is the way to go... I picked up a used Honcho with upgraded steering, upper and lower links, metal tranny gears, tekin motor, 2 batteries and brand new wheels and tires on CL for $200 bucks. It was RTR with the stock tx/rx and I took the money I saved buying it used and bought a new body for it... I love the sport but for a rig that I won't run all the time since I have others, the scx10 platform was the important part for me and a body of my choosing is just a few dollars difference. The money I saved went to a waterproof servo, and new esc since it was just the AE-2. I spent the same amount of money I would have on a new one in a box but I have a ton of upgrades. Just a thought! Good Luck on the search.

Thats basically why I have a Honcho. I hate that body but $150 for an almost new RTR was too hard for me to pass up.

Dont just look for scx10 if you are trying to find one on craigslist, also look for scale rc and crawler.

[scalemadness]

Never hurts to try kijiji either my first crawler was a nee rtr honcho now upgraded to the max now my daughters then on to a cc01 yj for the wife and a trailfinder for me and a second scx10 for my son all great trucks in their own unique way

[k7zpj]

Originally Posted by ZzSniperzZ

Thanks to all and their suggestions!

I guess I should try to break down the options:

Deadbolt: I'm not a fan of the body, and I intend to keep it stock for some time. (AKA if I get the deadbolt it will stay that way for a little while, no upgrades)

Honcho: leaning further from this because it's not waterproof and an older model.

G6 Falken: starting to like this the most because it has the NEW chassis, the waterproof components, and a cool looking body IMO.

Ram: I would've chose this INSTANTLY if it had a bumper.

Thanks!

Scaler Fab makes really great bumpers for the Power Wagon body.
ScalerFab RC Scaler Accessories, Axial SCX10, Wraith, G-Made Sawback

Another great thing about the SCX10 is you don't have to choose just one body. You could buy the power wagon and then pick up a G6 body and set of links and change back and forth.

[ZzSniperzZ]

Originally Posted by k7zpj

Scaler Fab makes really great bumpers for the Power Wagon body.
ScalerFab RC Scaler Accessories, Axial SCX10, Wraith, G-Made Sawback

Another great thing about the SCX10 is you don't have to choose just one body. You could buy the power wagon and then pick up a G6 body and set of links and change back and forth.

Just out of curiosity, how hard will it be to trim the body for it to fit? I have never trimmed/painted a body before.

[ZzSniperzZ]

Anyways, this is my view now:

G6 and Deadbolt: Leaning closest to these two.

Power Wagon: Leaning swcond towards this, and I can get a bumper from scalerfab which will make it look better than both the G6 and Deadbolt IMO

Kit: too expensive for me as of now, and risk of painting the body shittily :(

Trail: leaning furthest from this because of it being older and not waterproof.