moa vs shaftie
 

whats the differance and why do people say that moas are better

MOA = "motor over axle". Also known as a the Enroute "Berg". Hot Racing makes one as well:

http://www.hot-racing.com/?partnumber=SCP12RX01&c=420

Berg kit:
http://rcpcrawlers.com/product.php?p...9&cat=0&page=1

More expensive in the long run, good for competition use. I have never used or seen one (other then photos). So others will have to chime in on their thoughts on it.


Shafty: Basically means a rig driven with driveshafts coming from a transmission in the middle of the chassis towards the axles. Cheaper to purchase over an MOA and cheaper parts as well.

If you are just looking to start out in your backyard and run around with some buddies etc (or smaller comps), then you are going to be fine with a "shaftie". Axial ARTR would obviously be the way to go if you are looking to start. There is the new Losi Crawler soon to be released as well.


Hope it helps.

Absolutely not. Bergs are super tough. It is easy to burn through money to make a shafty as tough/capable as a Berg.

I run HRs but use Berg internals.

Once the Losi comes out this will likely all change, but right now the Berg is the best bargain in RC crawling.

I beg to differ. If you are just getting into the hobby it would be more economical to buy a shafty in the sense of initial investment (Just to make sure you want to get into the hobby) Berg's are great but you will spend alot up front to just get it up and running. Where with a shafty you just upgrade as time goes on. You are correct that you will spend money to get a shafty dialed in to compete against MOA's but it will hurt the pockets alot less initially

what if I had about 800$ to spend initially and i dont have a radio

Be easy to do. Read the stickies in the different sections your curious about. Axial,Electronics,Berg,General,Tires & Wheels and Newbie. Allot of good tips in these stickies to build on a budget.

Like Raptormand said take your time and see what works for other people. The only thing I would suggest getting is the DX3R Best radio out there and if you get tired of Crawling (Which I doubt) you can always use it for other vehicles. $800 can go really quickly if you are not cost conscious.

re
 

Go to a comp near you.And watch both kinds of rigs and then talk to some drivers.

well then, do yourself and your RC hobbylife a favor, and start out with a QUALITY RADIO, the Nomadio React. it ll work on ANY surface rc, inlcuding boats, crawlers, Large scale Gassers, has well over 300yrds range, not that you ll ever use that crawling, but run a large scale out in the sand dunes and a 1/4 mile is more the possible. its more radio of better quality and less issue than any of the spektrum offerings. the only other radio of its quailty (or closest too them) are the Futaba 3pk and 4pk. imho, the React beats both of them too. you ll be hard pressed to find Nomadio owner that dont just LOVE the unit, and proudly says so. to bad the same cant be said for the spektrum owners thruough the RC community.

plus its a 4 channel radio, has 20 models to store into, has built in 4WS capibilities for crawling, built in Failsafes ON ALL 4 channels, not just your t/b channel. can be used as a cpu joystick. you ll love this radio quickly.

runs around 250 shipped for Tx, TX Battery and Rx. you really wont find another radio.

as far as rig (this leaves you 550.

buy the ARTR Axial or the new LOSI 2.2 when released.
put a good esc and motor, and a good steering servo init. then add items you see fit, like weighted tires, the free mods to improve performance ect...remember you will also need batteries and a charger.

Yeah buy a nomadio then try and get a new reciever when it burns out ( it will, many of them will) and find out the only place to get one is used on fleebay. Or buy a dx3r and be done. Or you could look for my nomadio that I tossed in the trash.

Also you could buy a rtr axial for about $239, then buy a servo. try and comp it, break a drive shaft, then buy a dig and dig servo. Then burn up the dig servo, then buy another one. Then burn that new one up, then maybe on the 3rd servo it might work. Sometimes. Then buy a new chassis, new links, fight with the torque twist, then get it all dialed in and go to a comp and get your ass handed to you by a berg. Then you would get mad, throw your axial off the side of a mountain. Then you could buy a berg and have a much more capable rig.

Berg axles $200
skeeter chassis $50
or
kk chassis kit $120
Berg dig $20 ( which works like a champ everytime)

Servo which you would buy for your axial anyway
$130
Speed control which you need anyway
$100
New wheels Eritex berg offsets $60 ( you would replace the stock axials anyway)

In the end the Berg will be much cheaper. And way more capable.

while the V1 transcievers (original model now 2 yrs old and was replaced with the V2 transcievers) did have some failures, the v2s have been SOLID. fwiw, 10 of the 13 local folks in various surface rcs have had serious glitching and range issue (and by range issue im talking 100 FEET and failsafe) with the Spektrum systems.

i had 2 spektrums that promptly glitched, and even allowed run aways on properly setup and properly failsafe settings of my 3500.00 baja 5B. one DX3 and one DX3.0 i tried out on the baja. this isnt an opinion, this are local stats. so that equals around a 70% failure rate. Those are NOT good numbers.

out of the 10 local people i know that own Reacts, only 1 had issues and it was determined he had the failsafe adjustments for low rx battery improplerly set so the unit didnt go into failsafe when the battery level dropped below 6v ( failsafe for rx was setup for a 4.8v system) so that equals 10% failure rate that is trackable. maybe specktrum just sucks on large scale gasers, but when you have 3grand plus into a machine. you DONT want a runaway on a unit that weights 30 lbs and can go 50mph.

I will admit the Nomadios are cool, but I have seen far to many problems with them. If you say that the recievers were the problem thats great that they got it fixed, if you need the channels its cool. But for me the DX3R is awesome a huge model memory, easy to adjust, huge LCD. I have even dropped mine a couple times cracked the case, but still runs like butter in the microwave."thumbsup"
Only down side in my eyes are extra recievers are expensive new.
With the way everyone is using 2.4 now you could probably get away with a cheap radio. I loved my TQ3 until I decided that 2 feet of range was just not enough.:lol: But at 20 bucks they are very cost effective.