Need some advice
 

Axial X-Trail for sure... allows you to have the scale look but with good rock crawling performance. The Hi-Lift is leaf-sprung and won't hold a candle to the X-trail. After you buy an Axial and the X-Trail chassis, I still don't think you're up to the same price as a Hi-Lift either...

I have 2 x-trails and they perform well. You'll have a lot of options building with the x-trail.

The high lifts are great kits. The reason to get one is you want something with a 3 speed tranny, and the more scale looking leaf springs. I've seen some that have decent flex for having leaf springs, but you need to know how to set them up, and the leafs need to be broken in.

Agreed. This High-Lift that I'm looking at right now (not mine) is quite a nice scale piece. I get the feeling the owner isn't really feeling much love for it, so I might make an offer. I know I have no other point of reference, but I love my CR-01 to bits (quite literally, since I knocked it half to pieces last weekend), but the High Lift feels more...delicate. Maybe its all the chromed plastic, or the ridiculously small wheels, or maybe its the fact that the hard body (ABS, right?) needs to be painted on the outside, but it just doesn't have the same feel as my Land Cruiser.

I really don't like the tiny wheels. First thing I did was try on the wheels from my CR-01 for size, and they look so much better.

The High-Lift is also very heavy, and lots of that weight is set high above the axles. I can see how the suspension can be adjusted to offer more reach, but the rest of the chassis seems to be quite tall and narrow, rather than the low and wide that seems to be common amongst "proper" crawlers.

Put it this way: Wheely Kings and Clod Busters seem to be pretty far removed from crawlers, but they have sections on here, because apparently they can be adjusted to make quite decent crawlers. High-Lifts don't have a section. That tells me that the amount of work involved in converting a very expensive and pretty truck into a crawler is an exercise best left to those with lots of spare money and time, who perhaps don't really want to drive their creations. :shrug:

I do like the Hilux shell, though. I'd love a Hilux top for my CR-01...

Thanks guys this really helped me, because i want a scale truck but also want to be able to beat it on the rocks and in the mud. Maybe ill just get that high lift body and put it on there

Also where is the best places to buy these.

Don't forget that the body that comes with the CR-01, the FJ40 Land Cruiser, has been described on here as one of the most detailed and finely made lexan body shells available. If you are considering a CR-01, I'd say get that first, and check out the included shell before you think about buying another one. Being lexan, you paint it on the inside, which makes the colour more resistant to scratches than if you're painting the outside of an ABS shell. So if you want to scrape the thing about, personally I prefer the idea of lexan. Any ABS shells I've had I always felt I had to be careful with them.

Also, lexan shells are thinner and lighter, and you already know that crawlers need as much of their weight as possible kept low to the ground, so a heavier ABS shell on top of a chassis that is already quite top heavy might make it topple more than you're like. (CR-01s are top heavy because they are quite tall to begin with, and the battery holder is set high up over the front wheels - weight at the front is good, but weight up high isn't).

Come to think of it, this post has helped me talk myself out of getting a Hilux shell for my CR-01. :lol:

Trail finder
 

I think the ultimate ride for you would be the Trail Finder from RC4WD. Go with the 2 speed tranny and the 4 link suspension. I'm including the link. Check out the peoples rides at the bottom, I know this rig is a little more than the Axial but for what you get it is awesome!"thumbsup"http://rc4wdstore.com/product_info.p...roducts_id=817

One last thing does the AX-10 with x-trail sit as high as the High lift.

It depends on what shocks you use. You can set the height you want by the length of shocks you use.