RCCrawler Forums

tigman250 · 11-20-2009, 09:12 AM

Hi all, new guy here, looking to get into Rc Crawling but a total newb so I'm looking for some help. I want a decent rig but would like to keep my budget in the $200 range, I have a 2 channel radio already (used it for a large scale RC project many years ago) but basically nothing else that would cross over to this project. I have no knowledge of Speed Controllers or Motors as my last project was gas powered. I would prefer a kit I have to assemble (I'm just a geek like that LOL) and I would like something of some quality even if it means breaking my budget a little bit LOL.

1. been looking at the Red Cat Racing RS-10, price is VERY attractive, I could be crawling for $160 clams. downside, I don't get to assemble it and if I beef it up with more power (wich I always seem to do) I'll blow the axles out of it. The questions for this unit, could the axles be upgraded down the road with heavier ones (this would probably mean a transfer case and driveshafts) and are the servos upgradeable (they appear to be another weak link from what I read)

2. been looking at the Venom Creeper, I can buy just the truck kit for $150 but it requires 3 servos, ESC, 540 motor, 7.2 battery and charger (I already have the radio) questions for this unit, do you have to buy crawling specific servos, esc and motors? if not do all servos, esc's and motors play nice together? why 3 servos? can I buy this truck and stay anywhere near my budget???LOL

I'm and adult (probably too old to be playing with toy trucks LOL) and love to tinker, I am a machinest so making custom parts will not be a problem. I would buy the RS-10 and upgrade it as I go but I'm afraid of it falling apart. I would rather go over my budget just a bit and have a quality unit insted of settling for something that will not last and be hard to upgrade.

lastly, why do companies go with x-fer case and driveshafts? seems like dual motors would be easier and cheaper to produce and less of a hassle to maintain???

Greatscott · 11-20-2009, 12:58 PM

Your best bet is to go with the Creaper to keep your costs down. You only really need one servo, unless you want to unlock your diffs remotely. Also, you can run your 2-ch TX with that.

Chances are you are looking at about $300 to get started (batteries, chargers, etc) if you buy new, if you buy a star and look on the classifieds you could likely get a used rig and be up and running for around $200.

jsowens · 11-20-2009, 01:36 PM

I personally have an RS10 and would recommend it for sure. You're not gonna blow the axles on these things very easily with "more power" The weak link is finding compatible motors, but it can be done with a little research. You'll have people try to tell you that there's no aftermarket support for the RS10...which is BS. You can upgrade any of the electronic parts including the servos and motors, the wheels/tires can be upgraded, body, chassis, links, shocks, pretty much everything. There are no beefier axle upgrades at this point unless you upgrade to bully axles or bergs in the future...both are moa axles and you wouldn't need to buy driveshafts or transmissions for them...or if redcat actually makes an axle upgrade.

There is nothing hard about the RS10 as far as upgrades are concerned...you just have to modify some things to work and I've never had issues with parts breaking or falling apart. I would highly suggest getting the RS10 if you like making custom parts, because it's what a lot of us do that actually own the rigs...it makes it more fun to me. I'm certainly not downing the creeper...it's a fantastic rig, but if you're looking for a lower cost rig consider the RS10. If you do pick one up, pick up a set of aftermarket tires like panthers or rovers...the stock tires are terrible.

check out my post about the RS10's...it shows you upgrade potential and has a lot of suggestions on parts available.

Redcat RS10 revisited

tigman250 · 11-20-2009, 03:36 PM

Thanks a bunch for the help, thanks for moving the thread too (sorry about that).

What is the radio like that comes with the RS-10? decent quality? Is the battery any good? if not what is a good upgrade?

thanks again for all your help!

jsowens · 11-20-2009, 03:42 PM

The radio that comes with it works fine, I actually liked it quite a bit. My stock receiver messed up and caused a lot of glitching so I picked up a new radio/receiver from ebay for pretty cheap...that's the only reason I'm not using the stock radio now...it wasn't compatible with the new receiver.

The stock battery is decent...at first I thought it was horrible because I was only getting 15 minute run times at the most. I bought a new battery from cheapbatterypacks.com and it also had a bad runtime, turns out my stock charger was just a bad one and didn't charge fully. With a new charger I get about 30-45 mins out of the stock battery and over an hour easily with my new battery.

tigman250 · 11-21-2009, 09:23 AM

Thanks again for all your help, after browsing this site till the wee hours of the morning, then getting up and starting all over this morning (dang this is addictive stuff) I think I'm going to go with the Axial AX-10. I know I know, that's prety much my entire budget on just the rig, but the AX-10 build thread put me over the top, that's exactly what I wanted was something I could COMPLETLY assemble, and the AX-10 kit looks to be a dang good one!!!

Now I need your help again fellas, need a list of good quality reasonable parts I need to get this kit up and running. I will buy the kit shortly (pending wifey's approval LOL) plan to assemble it and take my time watching ebay picking up reasonable parts that you guys hopefully point me towards. right now I'm looking for budget ESC, compatable motor and battery w/charger, high torque steering servo and 3channel radio (I know I said I have a radio but I would like to pick up a 3 channel for the dig option that will eventually come

) Suggest away!!!

jsowens · 11-21-2009, 04:58 PM

haha I think I'm the only one replying to your thread. I really doubt you could go wrong with that ax-10...they're really nice crawlers. You can find esc/motor combos for relatively decent prices...like the novak rooster crawler/motor combo for example. I picked up a traxxas tq-3 radio/receiver combo off of ebay for about $25 shipped and really like it. It's a 3-channel setup. For a low budget...a hitec 645mg servo is nice...I'm running one and so far it's holding up really solid and only costed around $30ish.

billm67 · 11-21-2009, 05:12 PM

I second the traxxas tq3 recommendation. I have two of them. It can be modded to a three position third channel to run a dig if you wish. I have the ax10 and have built and re-built it. I'm like you I'm a 42 year old guy that is too old to be playing with rd cars...but I have to many of them to stop now. I also worked my way through college in a machine shop (I wish I lad a lathe and a little mill to make some parts). A high tek 645 will work well for a budget servo and if you want to go the inxepensive route a traxxas xl5 reversible speed control will work (they go for around 25-30 on bay). The tq3, the xl5 and the high tek servo would get you up and running. Add a low bucks racing or integy 55 turn motor and you'll be out having fun in no time.

11-20-2009, 09:12 AM	#1
tigman250 Pebble Pounder Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Bad Axe Posts: 116	help me decide parts for a AX-10 Hi all, new guy here, looking to get into Rc Crawling but a total newb so I'm looking for some help. I want a decent rig but would like to keep my budget in the $200 range, I have a 2 channel radio already (used it for a large scale RC project many years ago) but basically nothing else that would cross over to this project. I have no knowledge of Speed Controllers or Motors as my last project was gas powered. I would prefer a kit I have to assemble (I'm just a geek like that LOL) and I would like something of some quality even if it means breaking my budget a little bit LOL. 1. been looking at the Red Cat Racing RS-10, price is VERY attractive, I could be crawling for $160 clams. downside, I don't get to assemble it and if I beef it up with more power (wich I always seem to do) I'll blow the axles out of it. The questions for this unit, could the axles be upgraded down the road with heavier ones (this would probably mean a transfer case and driveshafts) and are the servos upgradeable (they appear to be another weak link from what I read) 2. been looking at the Venom Creeper, I can buy just the truck kit for $150 but it requires 3 servos, ESC, 540 motor, 7.2 battery and charger (I already have the radio) questions for this unit, do you have to buy crawling specific servos, esc and motors? if not do all servos, esc's and motors play nice together? why 3 servos? can I buy this truck and stay anywhere near my budget???LOL I'm and adult (probably too old to be playing with toy trucks LOL) and love to tinker, I am a machinest so making custom parts will not be a problem. I would buy the RS-10 and upgrade it as I go but I'm afraid of it falling apart. I would rather go over my budget just a bit and have a quality unit insted of settling for something that will not last and be hard to upgrade. lastly, why do companies go with x-fer case and driveshafts? seems like dual motors would be easier and cheaper to produce and less of a hassle to maintain??? Last edited by tigman250; 11-21-2009 at 09:42 AM.

11-21-2009, 09:23 AM	#6
tigman250 Pebble Pounder Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Bad Axe Posts: 116	Thanks again for all your help, after browsing this site till the wee hours of the morning, then getting up and starting all over this morning (dang this is addictive stuff) I think I'm going to go with the Axial AX-10. I know I know, that's prety much my entire budget on just the rig, but the AX-10 build thread put me over the top, that's exactly what I wanted was something I could COMPLETLY assemble, and the AX-10 kit looks to be a dang good one!!! Now I need your help again fellas, need a list of good quality reasonable parts I need to get this kit up and running. I will buy the kit shortly (pending wifey's approval LOL) plan to assemble it and take my time watching ebay picking up reasonable parts that you guys hopefully point me towards. right now I'm looking for budget ESC, compatable motor and battery w/charger, high torque steering servo and 3channel radio (I know I said I have a radio but I would like to pick up a 3 channel for the dig option that will eventually come) Suggest away!!!

11-20-2009, 12:58 PM	#2
Greatscott I wanna be Dave Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: North Idaho Posts: 3,648	Your best bet is to go with the Creaper to keep your costs down. You only really need one servo, unless you want to unlock your diffs remotely. Also, you can run your 2-ch TX with that. Chances are you are looking at about $300 to get started (batteries, chargers, etc) if you buy new, if you buy a star and look on the classifieds you could likely get a used rig and be up and running for around $200.

11-20-2009, 01:36 PM	#3
jsowens RCC Addict Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Blacksburg, VA Posts: 1,882	I personally have an RS10 and would recommend it for sure. You're not gonna blow the axles on these things very easily with "more power" The weak link is finding compatible motors, but it can be done with a little research. You'll have people try to tell you that there's no aftermarket support for the RS10...which is BS. You can upgrade any of the electronic parts including the servos and motors, the wheels/tires can be upgraded, body, chassis, links, shocks, pretty much everything. There are no beefier axle upgrades at this point unless you upgrade to bully axles or bergs in the future...both are moa axles and you wouldn't need to buy driveshafts or transmissions for them...or if redcat actually makes an axle upgrade. There is nothing hard about the RS10 as far as upgrades are concerned...you just have to modify some things to work and I've never had issues with parts breaking or falling apart. I would highly suggest getting the RS10 if you like making custom parts, because it's what a lot of us do that actually own the rigs...it makes it more fun to me. I'm certainly not downing the creeper...it's a fantastic rig, but if you're looking for a lower cost rig consider the RS10. If you do pick one up, pick up a set of aftermarket tires like panthers or rovers...the stock tires are terrible. check out my post about the RS10's...it shows you upgrade potential and has a lot of suggestions on parts available. Redcat RS10 revisited

11-20-2009, 03:36 PM	#4
tigman250 Pebble Pounder Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Bad Axe Posts: 116	Thanks a bunch for the help, thanks for moving the thread too (sorry about that). What is the radio like that comes with the RS-10? decent quality? Is the battery any good? if not what is a good upgrade? thanks again for all your help!

11-20-2009, 03:42 PM	#5
jsowens RCC Addict Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Blacksburg, VA Posts: 1,882	The radio that comes with it works fine, I actually liked it quite a bit. My stock receiver messed up and caused a lot of glitching so I picked up a new radio/receiver from ebay for pretty cheap...that's the only reason I'm not using the stock radio now...it wasn't compatible with the new receiver. The stock battery is decent...at first I thought it was horrible because I was only getting 15 minute run times at the most. I bought a new battery from cheapbatterypacks.com and it also had a bad runtime, turns out my stock charger was just a bad one and didn't charge fully. With a new charger I get about 30-45 mins out of the stock battery and over an hour easily with my new battery.

11-21-2009, 04:58 PM	#7
jsowens RCC Addict Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Blacksburg, VA Posts: 1,882	haha I think I'm the only one replying to your thread. I really doubt you could go wrong with that ax-10...they're really nice crawlers. You can find esc/motor combos for relatively decent prices...like the novak rooster crawler/motor combo for example. I picked up a traxxas tq-3 radio/receiver combo off of ebay for about $25 shipped and really like it. It's a 3-channel setup. For a low budget...a hitec 645mg servo is nice...I'm running one and so far it's holding up really solid and only costed around $30ish.

11-21-2009, 05:12 PM	#8
billm67 Rock Stacker Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Camp Hill Posts: 76	I second the traxxas tq3 recommendation. I have two of them. It can be modded to a three position third channel to run a dig if you wish. I have the ax10 and have built and re-built it. I'm like you I'm a 42 year old guy that is too old to be playing with rd cars...but I have to many of them to stop now. I also worked my way through college in a machine shop (I wish I lad a lathe and a little mill to make some parts). A high tek 645 will work well for a budget servo and if you want to go the inxepensive route a traxxas xl5 reversible speed control will work (they go for around 25-30 on bay). The tq3, the xl5 and the high tek servo would get you up and running. Add a low bucks racing or integy 55 turn motor and you'll be out having fun in no time.

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