Crawler newb here, Just bought a TFL Racing "big truck"

[rc10mike]

Greetings,


First post here, been involved in R/C for about 20 years. From the days of 1700mah matched NiCad packs to nitro 1/10 and MT and now on to brushless/lipo technology. A mix of racing and bashing.


Now, browsing ebay the other day I came across this absolutely stunning RC from a company Ive never heard of, TFL. All aluminum and carbon fiber I just couldnt resist. After some searching I found a place to purchase it through "BG" and bought it with a nice discount code for first time buyers. Should be here in a few weeks.


When I went to do more research on this company I found this forum. The Bronco is apparently pretty popular with the scale/crawler crowd.


From what Ive researched (please correct if wrong) about TFL is..


1. Its Chinese
2. Their parts are pretty much exact copies of Axial parts
3. Quality is overall good (Ive read about shimming issues on here)


Thats all I know about them right now. Any other info about them (good or bad) would be appreciated. Still dont have electronics for it yet because Im not quite sure how I want to run it. I might make it into a basher or I might make it a crawler.

[lonleycreeper]

Welcome to the forum Mike.

I also raced back in the day of 1700mah nicads....The AE Rc10 was my first hobby grade rc, lol.

Crawling is a blast, and I find it much more relaxing than the days of racing. I tend to try to crawl an obstacle, and if I dont make it, back up and hit it with every thing the truck has....

I'm sorry I cant help you with any info on the TFL rigs, as they are kinda rare around here.

[rc10mike]

Originally Posted by lonleycreeper

Welcome to the forum Mike.

I also raced back in the day of 1700mah nicads....The AE Rc10 was my first hobby grade rc, lol.

Crawling is a blast, and I find it much more relaxing than the days of racing. I tend to try to crawl an obstacle, and if I dont make it, back up and hit it with every thing the truck has....

I'm sorry I cant help you with any info on the TFL rigs, as they are kinda rare around here.

Crawling definitely looks fun, just trying to figure out the best way to get the most fun from this rig.

EDIT:
One thing I do find interesting is the price of some of these brushed crawler motors. Back in the day, you paid a high price for a FAST brushed motor, now you pay a high price for a SLOW brushed motor. Times have changed..

[mewalsh100]

TFL is indeed an "offshore" company, but they don't seem to be typical in that regard. Their quality seems to be on parity or even better in some instances than others. (I have a set of their SCX style axles on a Barrage I built up and they have been excellent!) As you mentioned, their designs are pretty much Axial knockoffs as well. The rig you bought is basically an OG SCX10, so it's a little bit dated, but still plenty capable. That said, because it's largely an Axial design, you have a whole world of aftermarket items intended for the SCX series rigs at your disposal.

Based on my experience with their axles and other reviews I've read, I really don't think you will have any issues at all with this rig in terms of quality. (I did break the axles down prior to ever running them. The grease was like dried cheese and zero locktite on anything, so double check that sort of stuff straight away before you ever turn a wheel!)

Other than that congrats on your new purchase and welcome to the world of RC Crawling! Be sure to post some pics up in the forums and a review / your impressions of the truck when you get it. Also, any idea what body you're going to run?

[rc10mike]

A full break down will happen before I run. I want to get a good look at everything first.

After that, Im still not sure how I will run this rig. Im not going to be doing speed runs or backflips with it, but I would like it to be as fast as it can within reason, and still have great low end. Im not quite sure where to go for electronics for this either. Right now Im looking at a Tekin 440 servo and Mamba X brushless.

[lonleycreeper]

I find, at least with my scx10's, that a 3000kv motor and 3 s is a fun combo, that doesn't break parts every time out. Much more wheel speed than that and parts breakage becomes a real factor. about 10-11 mph, just a guess, but enough to hop over stuff, and jump small gaps. Its also fast enough to roll the truck every time you turn above 1/2 throttle..... Monster truck donuts are fun...

[durok]

Check these threads out for TFL Bronco info:

Shome's TFL Bronco

TFL Bronco

Ditch's scx10/tfl Bronco hybrid/with a little rc4wd

Blue TFL Bronco

The-Gamer's TFL Racing Bronco

Johnny's TFL Bronco

TFL Bronco

TFL Fiberglass Bronco Tuber

(I got a little hyper there... )

[mewalsh100]

Mamba-X is a great ESC. A Holmes Hobbies Puller Pro 3500kv would give you a good balance of the wheel speed and low end resolution you’re looking for. I run the Puller Pro 3500kv in my Wraith and the Puller Pro 3500kv Stubby in my Truggy.

[rc10mike]

Ok it finally showed up! Parts quality seems very good so far. I did notice a lack of lock tite, but I can fix that. First thing I wanted to inspect was the gear mesh. I noticed that both the ring and pinion gears had about 1mm of play when pulled in and out.

Should I shim both or what?

[Natedog]

Yes, always shim. 1mm needs shimmed.

[rc10mike]

So I just noticed the TFL didn't come with any shock oil in them, is this normal for crawlers lol?

[HumboldtEF]

Originally Posted by rc10mike

So I just noticed the TFL didn't come with any shock oil in them, is this normal for crawlers lol?

Not really, did they at least put a tag on it saying to add oil? You'll get aftermarket shock kits with no oil but not usually assembled kits, er... uh ..wait did you get a kit or RTR? if its an RTR it will be built and shocks should have oil. if its a kit you'll likely need to assemble the shocks and fill them but they should provide the oil.

Post up some pictures of your build if you can.
To get pictures up you'll need an image hosting site like Imgur (avoid Photobucket) or you can use tapatalk I believe.

[rc10mike]

Originally Posted by HumboldtEF

Not really, did they at least put a tag on it saying to add oil? You'll get aftermarket shock kits with no oil but not usually assembled kits, er... uh ..wait did you get a kit or RTR? if its an RTR it will be built and shocks should have oil. if its a kit you'll likely need to assemble the shocks and fill them but they should provide the oil.

Post up some pictures of your build if you can.
To get pictures up you'll need an image hosting site like Imgur (avoid Photobucket) or you can use tapatalk I believe.

I plan on getting pics up ASAP. Right now the truck is torn apart as I inspect everything. So far, Im very impressed with the quality of this rig. It came as a pre-built roller. No oil was provided and the instructions are kind of basic, but they never mention adding oil. I just added Losi 30wt.


Still having a hard time trying to figure out what I want this truck to be. The chassis is basically a "MT" version of a SCX10, kind of a mix between a Wheely King and SCX10, but all aluminum and carbon fiber.


The included body is ugly AF, So Ill probably put it on my kids Stampede, but tires are another issue. 1.9 seems too small, but 2.2 might be too big..


Also trying to decide on a servo. Right now looking at Tekin since the black, grey, and red colors match the aluminum on the truck perfectly, or a ERB-861.


So many decisions...

EDIT: Trying to link picture;
https://rcgenesis.net/image/rcgenesi...-1-800x800.jpg

[HumboldtEF]

Oh yeah thats a monster truck for sure! Thanks for the link

30 wt should be a good starting point.

As for what to make out of this truck I can only think of mud truck or a slow-ish basher/monster truck.

If you really wanted to convert it to a crawler you might need to remove the black plates holding the skid in place essentially turn it back into a SCX10 height truck, as it is its gonna be very top heavy but it might be fine on light terrain (nothing too steep or crazy). It looks like the shocks can be mounted higher to lower the truck down.

Tires will come down to what you intend to do. Also within the 1.9's and 2.2's there are a number of different heights available, If you let us know the height or whatever your looking for in a tire we might have some suggestions.

Maybe a better question than what will the truck be is where will (or can) you drive it? maybe that will help lead you to your answer

Originally Posted by rc10mike

EDIT: Trying to link picture;

You cant just link a picture you'll need to host it on an image hosting site

[rc10mike]

Thank you for pointing out that I can convert this back to a Crawler. I didn't even realize it would be that easy. This now opens up new ideas! I just hope the links and driveshafts still work with it lowered. TFL shows different shafts installed on their Crawler version.

[lonleycreeper]

Originally Posted by rc10mike

I plan on getting pics up ASAP. Right now the truck is torn apart as I inspect everything. So far, Im very impressed with the quality of this rig. It came as a pre-built roller. No oil was provided and the instructions are kind of basic, but they never mention adding oil. I just added Losi 30wt.


Still having a hard time trying to figure out what I want this truck to be. The chassis is basically a "MT" version of a SCX10, kind of a mix between a Wheely King and SCX10, but all aluminum and carbon fiber.


The included body is ugly AF, So Ill probably put it on my kids Stampede, but tires are another issue. 1.9 seems too small, but 2.2 might be too big..


Also trying to decide on a servo. Right now looking at Tekin since the black, grey, and red colors match the aluminum on the truck perfectly, or a ERB-861.


So many decisions...

EDIT: Trying to link picture;
https://rcgenesis.net/image/rcgenesi...-1-800x800.jpg

That big truck will be easy to convert to a crawler, as Humboldt stated. Just remove the drop brackets for the shocks and the skid and you then have a scx10 clone. There was a couple companies a couple years ago selling lift kits that had all of what is shown on your rig as far as skid and shock brackets. As far as where it sits now, a Monster truck body from J-concepts would give it the look. I really like their Trail bodies on my scalers.