Budget Build - How bad is brushed?

[jdtree]

I'm looking to pick up a Rock Rey kit and make a budget build for my son's 6th birthday. He's had an Everest 10 for a few years, and he is wanting to go faster (I've already upgraded the stock motor with a 35T, which is about perfect for that platform as a crawler). We lucked into a hand-me-down Traxxas Stampede, which feeds his need for speed, but the Stampede is useless when we go trailing.

Is it a total crime to set up the Rock Rey as a brushed system? I was thinking about putting in a 21T brushed motor to keep the cost just a little over $300. Do you think the RR would make for a (somewhat) capable crawler for trailing, but also allow for some higher-speed bashing with this setup?

Any thoughts / suggestions / ideas are welcome... thanks!

[Crawler Cads]

You can always change that brushed out at a later date for a decent sensored brushless system and get everything your heart desires. Or go decent brushless now and save yourself money in the long term. I know which way I'd go!

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[TooOldForThis]

To go brushed you'll need a new pinion because the Rey pinion has a 5mm hole (too big). I think you'll want to go brushless eventually because big power and speed are the best things about a Rock Rey in my opinion.

[jdtree]

Thanks for the feedback. I'm really torn on this one! I know he'd really like going super-fast and doing big jumps... but I also want to keep in in the crawling / trailing world because that's a big part of our family activities... gonna do a bit more research - thank you!

[TooOldForThis]

As Cads mentioned, a good 550 sensored brushless system would get you close to having the best of both worlds (low speed control + high speed capability), however, that would blow your budget.

Either way, the Rey kit is a fantastic value right now at $250 so it wouldn't hurt to put it on order when you decide on the rest

[fxblflyr]

I have been debating the same thing. I bought an rtr 6 weeks ago, and I love taking it on trails and hiking with it, more than bashing or really going fast. We just bought the kit for my son's 13th birthday so that we will have 2, and I ended up swapping all the rtr electronics into his kit. He is more of a speed demon than I am, and he loves it. I would love to get a high dollar sensored s brushless setup, but for trailing, I was thinking of a traxxas 775 motor, I believe has a 5mm shaft, and brushed waterproof esc's are cheap. Let us know what you decide to do with it, and how it performs.

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[MrBlank]

I have been wondering about doing the same as well,

I just picked up the Rock Rey from Horizon, during the free shipping sale. $250 USD plus customs/taxes through Borderfree came to $388.00 Canadian - a damn good deal compared to $500-$600 Canadian I would pay locally.

I don't mind ordering a half decent brushless system, something mid range, but I would like to use it next weekend, and nothing ships that quickly reliably due to customs, even if I pay $50+ for express shipping.

I have multiple extra brushed ESCs, and can pick up a 550 Titan 12 or 21 turn dirt cheap locally and have the kit assembled this coming week.

My question is, will it have any speed, to it, or will I be cruising around at crawler speed.

[Ninomaniac]

IMO a 21t 550 can is just enough to make a Wraith fun on really rocky stuff. It's nearly free to try it out, so why not?

[fxblflyr]

Wanted to let you guys know that I tried a cheap 3100kv motor off amazon, and paired it to a sc700bl esc I had laying around from an associated sc10 rtr. I couldn't believe how smooth it was, almost zero cogging. I have very little experience with crawlers, but this thing performed great. The downside was it's only a 70 amp esc, and after 1 battery, you could fry an egg on the speed control. I tried the same cheap motor on the stock esc, and cogging was almost the same as the stock motor, so most if not all the stock cogging problems are coming from the stock esc.

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[Jim85IROC]

A cheap brushless setup may be something that you want to consider. I've got an ebay 3660/esc combo in my Desert Fox. I think I paid about $40 for it. The ESC sucks, but the motor is solid. For $40, it'll get you up and running, and aside from too much cogging, it works great. I think the Rock Rey is geared lower than the Desert Fox, so you should get less cogging than I do, and then down the road you can just buy a better ESC and you'll be in real good shape.

[jdtree]

Originally Posted by Jim85IROC

A cheap brushless setup may be something that you want to consider. I've got an ebay 3660/esc combo in my Desert Fox. I think I paid about $40 for it. The ESC sucks, but the motor is solid. For $40, it'll get you up and running, and aside from too much cogging, it works great. I think the Rock Rey is geared lower than the Desert Fox, so you should get less cogging than I do, and then down the road you can just buy a better ESC and you'll be in real good shape.

Do you happen to have a link for that combo?

UPDATE:

Nevermind... a quick ebay search shows:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/GoolRC-Wate...asketball.TRS0

[alexleblanc]

I’m running a traxxas 21t, WP1080 hobbywing esc and 3s in my RR10 bomber and it’s a very flexible fun combo for trailing, cheap and dirty for now.

[SloJoeRacing]

I was thinking the same thing. I am looking to get into the crawling/ rock racing scene and the Losi kit is the cheapest kit next to the twin hammers. Just don’t like the size of that one, but the two speed does peek my interest

[fxblflyr]

My son and I have rock reys. We locked the center diffs, and put silly putty in the front diffs. One was an rtr, the other a kit. I would highly recommend the kit and picking the electronics you want. They crawl pretty well, and with a sensored brushless setup would be awesome.

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[MrBlank]

I just typed up a detailed couple of paragraphs, and once I submitted it said the "token had expired", asked me to hit back, and deleted everything.

Here's the short version:

Got a 550 sized 5mm shaft 3300 brushless motor from eBay ($20 CDN)

Called around and will be picking up a Sidewinder 4 at LHS about an hour or so from me in the next month when I work out that way. ($115 CDN + HST)

In the mean time running:

27t RC4WD brushed with 5mm adaptor sleave
Aluminum heat sink / fan
60A wp1040 I had bought to power a winch (no drag brake version purchased by accident)
25c 2200 3s lipos

I average about 45 min per battery with a combination of w.o.t. and slow driving, mostly rockytrails, sand, hills, small jumps and occasional pavement.

No issues with overheating, although motor and batteries do get warm (not hot).

I am sure once I get brushless installed it will blow my socks off, as far as what I am used to, its quite fast now on brushed!