Newbie advice please

[Tbone]

After being out of the r/c hobby for a few years I've gotten the bug again. What I wanted primarily was a 4wd truck for playing around the back yard and while camping. Initially I was hoping for something clodbuster-like as I had one in the past.

When I finally made it to the hobby shop I was surprised by the number of options available now.

The crawlers intrigued me and I took a good lok at the Axial units but again there are so many choices.

What I'm wondering is how fast the crawlers are? While I'm not expecting a race truck it would be nice to have something that could possibly jump curbs etc...

I noticed that one of the AX10 kits says it can be a rock racer or rock crawler by changing the pinion gear, diff locker and motor.

I also saw the wheels to put bigger tires on the axial trucks, would be great to get some feedback on this too.

Thanks in advance, I've got a lot to learn yet...

[goodoldlevi]

They have a demo video on the axial site of the RTR.
http://www.axialracing.com/ftp/ax10rtr/
hope this helps

[Tbone]

Thanks, I'll check it out.

[Tbone]

I checked out the videos there, looks great.
Some models say they have bearings, some don't. Does anyone know which axial kits have ball bearings?

I think I'm leaning toward the RTR version just wondering what it would take to transform it into a crawler? They say just a smaller pinion and front locker but it appears to be quite a bit higher also compared to the crawler version, can it be easily lowered?

[stona]

Here, scroll to the bottom of this link: http://www.axialracing.com/ftp/ax90011_ax10_rtc.html

There's a chart showing the differences between the different axial kits. They all have bearings

[Tbone]

Thanks, just what I was looking for.
I also found that you can change the axle gear ratios which would probably be beneficial with bigger tires.

[fernando]

Well it depends on your budget. If you want speed and crawl ability go with the " Traxxas Summit ". It's a monster truck with rock crawling ability but its on the high end, and its not a true rock crawler. The AX10 RTR is a good choice if you want alittle speed and is still a true rock crawler.

[Tbone]

I saw the summit but it's out of my budget once you add the price of batteries, charger and what else needed.

The ax10 rtr seems the best so far. Parts availability at the local hobby shop will also be a consideration.

[goodoldlevi]

You dont have to do much to be competitive. I have seen alot of people do really well with with almost stock trucks. With some rovers, 8-12 oz. of weight in the front rims and batteries over the front axles you would be supprised how capable it really is. The pinion is easy, just undo the set screw, slide it off slide the 14 on and re-adjust the motor with a piece of paper between the two gears to get the proper mesh. Once the paper is creased between the two gears lock the motor down and rotate the paper out. Installing the locker isnt hard at all, the istructions lay it out really well and it give you a good oportunity to see how its put together. The whole conversion takes about a half hour

[Tbone]

I'm not really looking to compete, mostly just for fun. I will have to look into some local clubs, it would be nice to see some rigs in action before making a final decision.