1/8 vs 1/10 Crawling Ability

[usleer]

My 7yr old son wanted a "Big RC Truck" for Christmas. Knowing how long attention span often is, I went with a Maisto 3XL crawler. Even though it is a $35 crawler, I am now hooked. We are having a blast seeing what obstacles it can overcome. Over the last week, I have now spent numerous hours looking for a crawler for myself. I like the idea of a bigger 1/8 crawler such as the Mad Torque (actually like the look of the Maxstone 8 better) but am seeing a pretty consistent message that the Losi Night Crawler 2.0 is an excellent newbie choice out of the box. I want a minimal initial investment and am looking for something reliable that can be easily repaired, which will overcome the most obstacles. Will the 1/8 scale crawl up and over larger objects than a 1/10 because of the size? Any advice would be appreciated and I apologize if a similar thread already exists. I looked but was unable to find it. Thank you!

[Drm31078]

Originally Posted by usleer

My 7yr old son wanted a "Big RC Truck" for Christmas. Knowing how long attention span often is, I went with a Maisto 3XL crawler. Even though it is a $35 crawler, I am now hooked. We are having a blast seeing what obstacles it can overcome. Over the last week, I have now spent numerous hours looking for a crawler for myself. I like the idea of a bigger 1/8 crawler such as the Mad Torque (actually like the look of the Maxstone 8 better) but am seeing a pretty consistent message that the Losi Night Crawler 2.0 is an excellent newbie choice out of the box. I want a minimal initial investment and am looking for something reliable that can be easily repaired, which will overcome the most obstacles. Will the 1/8 scale crawl up and over larger objects than a 1/10 because of the size? Any advice would be appreciated and I apologize if a similar thread already exists. I looked but was unable to find it. Thank you!

I was reading this and could have written it myself! I also bought both my 3 year old and 5 year old a Maisto 3XL for Christmas and I have gone down the deep dark rabbit hold of RC crawling. I literally went from knowing nothing to bidding on an $800 dollar rig on ebay last night in the matter of 2 weeks! Let alone the 80 posts I have and only being a member of this forum for literally 2 weeks. Maybe a little obsessed, but the technology is awesome! Haha!

Anyway, RC has come a long way since when I was a kid. All I remember is my 8 AAA batteries lasting for about 20 minutes and then waiting 6 hours for them to recharge. Good luck to you!

[onebullet]

ive never messed with a 1/8 crawler but ive watched videos and reviews of the integy irock.

From what i understand if you have even the slightest clue of how crawling works its laughable at what you can tackle with it. Its point and shoot for almost everything.

that being said, if you dont understand how any of it works, any crawler can be a bad crawler.

[Drm31078]

I still consider myself very much a noob, so take this for what its worth. The most popular size seems to be the 1/10th scale trucks. The most popular brand seems to be Axial. If you want to get up and running immediately you will want a truck deemed as "Ready to Run" referred to as RTR versus a "Kit". The difference is that an RTR is pre-assembled and only needs a battery for you to be able to run the truck. A Kit is something you put together and requires you to purchase separate electronics for it to run. A little more daunting and time consuming, but most people here will sway you in this direction for the enjoyment / knowledge gained in putting together your own rig (hence my 80 posts in 2 weeks). An example is the Axial Wraith Spawn RTR vs. Axial Wraith Kit.

That should get you started...this forum is awesome and very active. You will get all the help you can handle.

[onebullet]

RTR also started getting referred to as "ready to replace" for a reason.

An rtr will have crappy electronics, plastic links and some other things that arent such a great idea. It will work for awhile but you will eventually be replacing all of it anyway. Some have all the stock parts last for quite some time, others break everything first time out.... depends on how you use it and the conditions you are in.

Its a pros and cons type of deal. If you feel you are ready to commit and have a proper crawler i would get a kit, if you still arent sure how you feel about it i would get an rtr.

[Nubster]

Kits are fun to build. So is buying something all janked up for really cheap and bringing it back to life. That's what I did 5 years ago and don't regret one second or dollar spent. I do regret selling off all my stuff though. Now here I am trying to relearn the hobby since it's changed some even in just 5 years and figure out the best low budget path to take. I don't have $800 to spend on something off the bat and really don't want to even spend $300+ on a new rtr or artr or kit. So I'm personally looking to either cheap out on something like a Redcat and upgrade over time or get janky with it again and buy someone elses junk and turn it into my treasure.

[usleer]

Thank you for the replies. Does anybody have thoughts on 1/8 vs 1/10 for crawler ability?

[lonleycreeper]

OK give you the idea here. A big 1/8 cscale rig will climb just about anything. They in my opinion make crawling almost to easy. RCCrawler Brand Specific Tech - Superclass Crawlers at RCCrawler.com

1/10scale on the other hand is a little less capable but a lot larger community.

Compare super class crawlers to 2.2 comp crawlers to 1.9 comp crawlers.
That should give you 2-3weeks of you tube watching. Lol.

[dirtman71]

When I first got into crawling awhile back I had a limited budget to start. Plus I didnt know if I would really like it and stick with it. I knew nothing about rock crawlers. Like you I wated something cheap, capable and reliable. The big Mad Torque for under $200 was on my list. It looked like it did rather well. I looked into trying to get parts. Not many places to find parts, and most were out of stock. If I ever wanted to upgrade the power system I had to get 2 motors. I didnt want to mess with the MOA setup.

I got the Everest 10. Same as the Max Stone and pretty much an Axial AX10 clone. I picked that for price and I found out that most Axial parts were a straight swap. Plust I had a brushless power system I planed on using in it already

Now let me get to my point. I spent $140 on the E10. Out of the box it needed work to get to crawl good. The stock no name 2.2 tires had no real traction and the offset of the stock rims were way to deep and limited the steering and the stock servo got hot really quick trying to turn the 2.2 tires. Plus the center of gravity was way to high and would tip over very easily. Oh and the stock esc worked for one battery pack(Red Cat did replace it but it took 4 weeks). But I had the brushless system. So by the time I made all the changes to make it crawl over everything, new tires and rims, added the 4 wheel steering, got shorter shocks I dumped $175 into the $140 truck

I could point and shoot and climb almost anything but I wasnt happy. Things were just too easy, no real challenge and I wasnt happy with the overall look of the rig. Plus the group that I found to crawl with all ran Axial Wraith's and SCX10's. So what did I do next? I spent another $130 or so and got an SCX10 chassis, found some used 1.9 tires and wheels and a SCX10 Deadbolt body, SCX10 trans, and made my own links and converted it into an SCX10. And now I couldnt be happier. I can still climb most anything but I have to choose my lines wisely.

If I were you and wanted something bigger forget the Mad Torque and spend the extra money upfront and get the Wraith. Everything works well out of the box, but everything needs some modifications to work really good no matter what you buy.

Bottom line is there is no real cheap way into this hobby. If I were to start over I would have gone Axial just for the amount of parts. Honestly just pick the one you like the looks of. They all will crawl great and they all will need mods, but you need to be happy with the style of the rig

[usleer]

How does the Wraith compare to the Losi Night Crawler? I do like the looks of the 2.0 especially.

[dirtman71]

Don't know much of the losi but it is considered a comp style crawler and the worm drive is very low geared for crawling. Same basic setup as the max stone and Everest 10 but probably better electronics and components

The wraith is a rock racer. It's a bit faster and I would say has more fun factor. But can still crawl great.

Out of the box the losi will probably climb better. But in the long run I feel that the wraith is way more versitel than the losi. Changing the balance of the wraith by moving the battery and adding wheel weight. You can make it look scale if you want. There are a ton of options avalable with the wraith

Do your research and get what you like. If you want a dedicated comp crawler get the losi

You said you had the bug...think about what you might want in the future. Almost all the guys I crawl with do have or have had comp crawlers. But they all sit on the shelf today. They run Wraiths and SCX10 because they have more fun factor. Like I said I got board with my comp style crawler real quick

Not saying that you will but most do. Remember you can have more than one crawler!

[Nubster]

Can something like the Wraith be made into more of a crawler than a racer but still maintain some of that fun factor?

[USP45]

Another suggestion would be an Axial Bomber. I too have gone down the rabbit hole and recently bought a Bomber....and it has been a blast! Of course I already put in a MMP/Tekin 3300kv combination, SSD 2 speed transmission and all kinds of other things, but the end result is that it is a great crawler that can run across a field as well. With that being said there are all sorts of great options out there.

[Tech]

Originally Posted by Nubster

Can something like the Wraith be made into more of a crawler than a racer but still maintain some of that fun factor?

Go check out the wraith forum on this site. Multiple members have made crawlers that can move out when they want them to. I built my Wraith to be a slow crawler. It's still quick enough to run over chickens (yes it did, won money too) but I can push a 40lb coffee table on a rug (traction) if I want to. That's been proven...

You can make it do whatever you want with some minor upgrades. Lots of budget builds and there's a few all out build threads as well. Grab a drink, relax, and start looking.

[dirtman71]

The wraith can climb slow. It has plenty of torque. If you don't want the speed you can change the pinion gear on the motor to slow it down even more

What I have noticed with crawling is that everybody does their rig different. Nothing stays stock or rtr. I don't know anybody who has the same motor and esc or gearing. Everything gets changed for your needs and driving style

[Nubster]

I'm not even talking so much about the speed as I am the suspension setup. I know the speed is pretty simple to change with motors and gearing...but the suspension and overall setup is quite different between the Deadbolt and Wraith. I'm trying to get back into the hobby with crawler on the mind but if the Wraith can be setup more crawler than racer then that opens up more options for me when I'm looking for a new starter rig. I'm not trying to compete...just have fun. But I'd rather go slow and climb stuff than I would go fast and bash around the yard. I've done the speed with T-Maxx and Revo and Monster GT's....fun but I'm over that and just want to climb rocks and logs.

[LiftedAWDAstro]

The wraith is a very fun crawler! I bought my wife a Poison Spider Wraith and I already had a Summit. With just a few mods, the wraith became a much more technical crawler than the summit with it's 2 speed trans and lockers. The Summit was just too big and crawled over everything! I sold that and bought a Vaterra Ascender Bronco for myself. I like the slow technical crawling much better. We also have go-fast buggies we can run if the want is there.

All the wraith needed for crawling was better gears and moving the battery forward.

Poison Spider Wraith with mods

Vaterra Ascender Bronco mods

[dirtman71]

The wraith crawls great. Fast or slow depends on your trigger finger

The one thing I don't like about the losi is support. When I googled the night crawler couldn't find much other than sales adds. But the Wraith their is info and mods and reviews everywhere. Every local hobby shop around here carries parts for the Wraith

Yes I buy most of my stuff online but when you break a knuckle or c-hub or a small part it's nice to run to the LHS and get a quick fix

But don't let us talk you into something. This is just our opinion or my opinion

Get the one you like. Seems like the losi will fit your needs for now

I am just about done getting my SCX10 were I want it. So the next rig on my list is the Wraith

[MassiveOverkill]

If you want maximum crawlability, then go 1/8th MOA. Get the Mad Torque 1/8th. The Max Stone has plastic gears.

[Alonjp]

There is no replacement to displacement.. Also true for wheelbase.
A 1/8 moa crawler (even the cheapest one) will out crawl some of the best 1/10 crawlers.
This is my Madtorque 8 in his stock form (excluding the 4WS):
http://youtu.be/wkorfK_SEtI

And here is the same Madtorque just after some "minor" modifications..
https://youtu.be/bsXVolnqg6I