why does REDCAT get a bad rap

[Volsfan25]

Just curious as to why REDCAT gets a bad rap from so many people? I actually like the look of their trucks. I am actually debating on getting a GEN 8 V2 scout. I have wanted one of these since i bought my first truck 3 weeks ago

[smog]

Do they really get a bad rap? I know Josh, a.k.a Harley Designs likes to slam Redcat. He is unnecessarily vocal when he isn't fond of something. Sadly, his voice travels and influences people who likely haven't formulated an opinion of their own. I am sure there have been issues with some Redcat products, but that could easily be said for most if not all RC manufactures.

I know many experienced RC builders who love their Redcat products. John of Holmes Hobbies appears to be fond of Redcat. He has even begun placing his products in their off-the-shelf RTR models.

[Volsfan25]

Ive heard alot of other drivers bash them. but , there is always that crowd that isnt happy unless their complaining

[bgredjeep]

Until pretty recently they were pretty much slapping their name on knock offs of years old axial designs. I'm sure that plays into the rep they got.

I've been happy with my e10, but at this point it's down to the trans and links. Nothing else from the original truck is left.

[Volsfan25]

Ive been happy with my gen 8 so far. I also have an axial scx10 with a gmade r1 roll cage. I am going today to look at a redcat gen 8 v2 scout

[HumboldtEF]

I have a lot more respect for them now that they're designing their own stuff and coming up with bold ideas like the lowrider.

[Volsfan25]

The LHS has one for sale. I could have some fun with the lowrider

[cutlaSS]

I think it started from the Everest 10 being a AX-10 knock off and the Everest 16 being Losi mini crawler knock off. But like said by others with design and development of their own stuff they are slowly shedding the "bad rap".

[Volsfan25]

The LHS has several different models of the redcat. I know there's alot of upgraded parts for them. A guy at work just bought the Everest 10 yesterday to get in to crawling with us at my Buddys place . I have a friend that has a basement in his dry cleaning business, his wife gave him the approval to turn it into an indoor crawler course for the colder months since they don't use the basement.

[xtreme4x2]

I remember my first redcat from Toys r us or walmart. Was your typical store brand "fast" 4wd RC. I think some folks still remember those days and associate it to anything they make. I have the Gen 8 V1 and have nothing bad to say other than I wish it came with clear windows, but the V2s now have that.

[kincer]

I've been real happy with both of my Gen 8s, they are good rigs, not the best but very good, they get a bad rap from the earlier years before they started developing their own stuff, I had one of their basher trucks years ago and it took a beating but it just looked cheap and toy like, had fun beating it into the ground but was never fond of it or felt like upgrading it but my Gen 8s are a whole different ball game.

[Timmahh]

When RedCat first came out around the 2007 timeframe in the Large Scare RC Arena, they were hammered a lot for being a cheap china knockoff company, but anyone that knew RC could tell they weren't that. They may not have had the best quality but they were not just a cut copy paste china company. They used design concept from other 1/5th scale RC but not all from one company. They made different items work together from various types of previous large scale rigs.

you could tell they did follow FG closely as many of the parts were quite similar to FG stuff, but not quite the same design.
So they've always gotten some crap, but I find it funny, that most people giving them crap (folks like Josh is an exception, not because its Josh or he works at VP, but he at least pointed out the facts and not bashed the brand as a china knockoff company, just that the quality is low, but could be much better) are big buyers of Cheap Chinese Knock Off gear.

A portion of it is Fan Boy bashing. Which is common.

I think many hear some of this crap and get the concept cheap Chinese knockoff company, thus avoid it thinking parts availability is next to non existent, as it actually is with actual Cheap Chinese Crap.

[Timmahh]

Originally Posted by bgredjeep

Until pretty recently they were pretty much slapping their name on knock offs of years old axial designs. I'm sure that plays into the rep they got.

I've been happy with my e10, but at this point it's down to the trans and links. Nothing else from the original truck is left.

I know I as out of RC for a while, but that could be said of the Losi Night Crawler, HPI Wheely King, and even the TRX4.

That is not what Redcat is. They have never been a knockoff company from what I have seen since their launch into the RC world with the 5th Scale rigs.

[smc-93]

Originally Posted by HumboldtEF

I have a lot more respect for them now that they're designing their own stuff and coming up with bold ideas like the lowrider.

Same here. The low riders are awesome (the price? Not so much)

I don't necessarily have a problem with the brand itself. I have a problem with the one platform of theirs I have experience with though, the Gen7. The Gen7 feels like Chinese knockoff trash. It kind of soured the brand for me.

By the time they released the Gen8, which I think is a decent competitor, I already had a TRX4, TRX6 and a Trail King, the Gen8 just didn't seem to be on the same level to justify the similar price point. Then the lowrider came out. As cool as it is to see a "big" name doing something different and as much as I like the cars, I don't feel like I would be getting my moneys worth.

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[DrIsotope]

Redcat is, IMO, the king of the false economy. Sure, those RTRs have lower pricepoints than many of their competitors-- but you'll end up dropping the value of the truck in upgrades, parts, and replacement electronics. Say what you will about Traxxas, but you can take a TRX-4 Sport out of the box and drive it--- without breaking a single thing-- until the RTR electronics eventually give out. The Hexfly stuff that comes in Redcat is worse than getting nothing at all.

I've owned two Redcats-- an Everest 10 and a Wendigo. The Everest 10 was a torque twisting monster, happy to lift the left front at any moment. I also broke three driveshafts, two steering knuckles, and both of the plastic diff housings. The Wendigo blew up it's own transfer case less than 5 minutes into the first pack. Oh, it also has uncorrectably bad suspension geometry, and was virtually undrivable at speed. That truck could flip over driving in a straight line on flat ground. To this day, Redcats stand alone as the only crawlers I've had break parts. Every other rig, from any other brand, all I do is strip out servo horns.

That said, I don't go out and actively bash Redcat. I just won't be buying any more. Compared to a Gen8 V2, 10 bucks more gets you a Gatekeeper, 30 more gets you a TRX-4 Sport, and you can get an MST CFX-W right now for 40 bucks less. If I had to have the Scout, I'd buy the body and put it on something else.

[soze]

Granted that I only have 1 Redcat, the Gen8 is the only one that ever interested me. I've got a Gen8 v1, and other than the electronics and the correctable steering geometry, it's done fine for me. I've actually crawled it quite a bit and it does fine. Mostly the huge body holds it back in certain situations. Stock electronics do need to go though. If I remember correctly, I stuck a Holmes Trailmaster Sport, a HW 1080, and a DS3218 20kg servo in there. Oh and tires... some better tires. This is stuff that I mostly change on all other crawlers I get that come as RTRs as well anyway.

[ferp420]

Originally Posted by DrIsotope

Redcat is, IMO, the king of the false economy. Sure, those RTRs have lower pricepoints than many of their competitors-- but you'll end up dropping the value of the truck in upgrades, parts, and replacement electronics. Say what you will about Traxxas, but you can take a TRX-4 Sport out of the box and drive it--- without breaking a single thing-- until the RTR electronics eventually give out. The Hexfly stuff that comes in Redcat is worse than getting nothing at all.

I've owned two Redcats-- an Everest 10 and a Wendigo. The Everest 10 was a torque twisting monster, happy to lift the left front at any moment. I also broke three driveshafts, two steering knuckles, and both of the plastic diff housings. The Wendigo blew up it's own transfer case less than 5 minutes into the first pack. Oh, it also has uncorrectably bad suspension geometry, and was virtually undrivable at speed. That truck could flip over driving in a straight line on flat ground. To this day, Redcats stand alone as the only crawlers I've had break parts. Every other rig, from any other brand, all I do is strip out servo horns.

That said, I don't go out and actively bash Redcat. I just won't be buying any more. Compared to a Gen8 V2, 10 bucks more gets you a Gatekeeper, 30 more gets you a TRX-4 Sport, and you can get an MST CFX-W right now for 40 bucks less. If I had to have the Scout, I'd buy the body and put it on something else.

i have been beating the snot.out of my redcat blackout for 6 years brushless and its never broken a single.part everything replaced on it has been simply worn out on to the everest 10 ran the stock front axle plastic locker and all for 5 years moved the axles to another truck then pulled them apart for spar parts to fix a freinds rig it did split the transmission in half on 3s but that really all the broke on it

the gen8 broke the portal gear but someone figured out that if.you reliefe cut the shaft the gears dont break anymore.then redcat remade.them so that was a non issue it took 3 years for.the v1 axle housing to give out and the gen8 has become my go to rig the transfer case is the same as in the windigo and its been known for a long time that there needs to be a shim behind the driveshaft to keep the shaft and pin tight or the gear stripes out the metal gears fixed that issue too

redcat also uses alot of hobbywing electronics and they hold up pretty good the servos lasted a few years for both cant ask for more.from any cheap 20kg servo from china

in contrast the axial wraith

over $400 new the servo kicked it second run transmission gear 5th run motor 10th run esc.15th run opps new axle gears opps broken shaft
well after $1500 that wraith was bullet.proof and i could.run a whole battery pack through it with out it breaking but it took alot of money to get it to the point it was drivable

the og scx10 ate front axle.shafts like candy i remeber one time at proline by the fire carring $50 in spare shafts with me when i went out on the trail and ending up puting it away becauze it broke all the shafts i had and haddent even used up 1 pack i even rebuilt 1 shaft from peices left iver but it too dident last more than a few minutes

oh and the yeti xl want to talk about barrel roling going in a stright line damb whatz it even saposed to be lol i love it dispite its problems but it to.breaks every time i take.it out and not only are yeti xl parts.exspensive there also getting vary hard to find $800 for a.rig you cant drive out of.the box. yay axial



on to traxxass they have the worst.electronics of any rc i bet even wpl has better quality than traxxass every time i ever pluged a battery in to a traxxass esc it was a smoke show dosent matter if its new used or prewired or anything there servos dont hold up for even 1 pack the only time i had a traxxass servo last was.when i ztripped 3 other servos and.rebuilt.the traxxass one with new gears and a new motor and i have been running it for 4 years now in a 1/12 scale and i only used the case cauze the color matched the body lol

the trx4 has had portal gear issues also and traxxass customer service sucks they also do alot of burrying issues they have kinda like toyota or.honda hide the issues with there cars


so in my opinion redcat is on par with todays rigs and.there old.stuff wasent bad ether when compaired to.other brands old stuff but by todays standerds stuff like the everest 10 is just considered junk although its still a.good.rig just like the gen7 its by todays standerds it dosent hold a match to anything new on the market but still not a bad rig

personaly i think redcat got its reputation when it was in compatition with traxxass for a while and traxxaasssss faucied redcat just like they tryed to fauci arma by sueing the snot out of.them

and pressure on the dealers from traxx-ass to not sell any competing brands and openly bashing on others im sure dident help redcat ether

[Nogman]

Originally Posted by smog

Do they really get a bad rap? I know Josh, a.k.a Harley Designs likes to slam Redcat. He is unnecessarily vocal when he isn't fond of something. Sadly, his voice travels and influences people who likely haven't formulated an opinion of their own. I am sure there have been issues with some Redcat products, but that could easily be said for most if not all RC manufactures.

I know many experienced RC builders who love their Redcat products. John of Holmes Hobbies appears to be fond of Redcat. He has even begun placing his products in their off-the-shelf RTR models.

I just came across an old video of his on the gen7, he basically must slammed it bc he couldn't put vanquish parts made for the scx10 onto it... just made him come off like a vp/axial fan boy pretty quickly.

[ferp420]

Originally Posted by Nogman

I just came across an old video of his on the gen7, he basically must slammed it bc he couldn't put vanquish parts made for the scx10 onto it... just made him come off like a vp/axial fan boy pretty quickly.

ya he dident even try to fit the parts he just sead the holes dont line up right so no axial parts will.fit but most of us already knew they did at that time so it was kinda like a F U to redcat

they did fit you just needed to slot the holes and if you look at.alot of the aftermarket parts that came out after the gen7 the holes came slotted from the factory just not vp parts

kinda smart in my book cause scx10og was on its way out and the gen7 is almost a exsact copy
sounds like a good way to make a few extra $$$$ for vary little work

[Volsfan25]

I went to our local RC park and met a few guys that were extreme anti redcat. The following week i ended up buying the GEN 8 I currently have. I usually like to form my own opinion of something. I have been happy with my GEN 8. Thats why I was curious about the bad rap, aside from the fanboys. I really want the GEN 8 V2 scout, that may be my next purchase