Total amateur in need of help!

[totalamature]

Hello there!
Im as green as they come in the subject of anything RC but am super keen to get into this. I have zero experience so apologies in advance for the stupid questions. There will be many.. I've just brought a CR-01 Unimog kit along with a Novak Rooster Crawler ESC and a Terra Claw 55T Motor Combo.

I'll get into all that hop up stuff later. For now i'd just like to get started. So what else do I need? Survo, rc gear, battery and charger?

Recommendations for kit too get would be greatly appreciated!?

Thanks mates

[railripper]

First of all, no such thing as a stupid question:thumbup:
Second, I don't much about the cr-01 (never had one and don't know anyone personally who has one) other than they don't do too good in off camber situations due to the tall stance (I read about this somewhere) but I'm sure with a bit of tlc and lowering the suspension setup, you can get it to crawl like the rest of them. Someone with experience with the cr-01 will chime in on this to help you out.

As far as servo, I like the hitec 645 mg bb as a good starter servo, haven't had a problem with mine since I got it over a yr ago, but I'm not trying to move boulders with my tires either.
You can check out the electronics thread for more info on servos, battery etc.:thumbup:

[railripper]

Oh yer gonna need some good hex/nut drivers too. Check out dynamite, hudy, they make quality tools (I love them).
There's many other companies out there too but I can't name them off the top of my head.
I have so many tools I never thought I'd own cuz of rc's!

[1rcmonster]

You will need a servo and I recommend a 3 channel radio.

As for a servo, a Hitec 645mg works fine on a CR-01, it is what I run on mine.

Check out the Spektrum DX3c, a very nice, inexspensive radio.

The esc you have is the exact one I run in my CR, only difference is I am using the stock, silver can, Tamiya motor. You may find your CR is pretty slow with a 55t motor in it.

The next upgrade is tires, and that is a huge choice. I personally run Pro-line Flat Irons on mine and they work pretty good. If I was to change out my tires now I would more than likely use Pro-Lines TSL, a very good all around tire.

And finally the best mod and it is free, relocate the shocks. Ditch the canti-lever system. There are alot of how-to write ups here, I have pics if you want just im me...

Hope this helps you get going in the right direction...

[Gunngee]

Like railripper says, they aren't to good in off camber situations right from the box. There are many things you can do to improve this for example weights inside the wheels, suspension mods etc...
Another thing they are notorious for is bad turning radius. Are you planning on locking the front and rear differentials? If you are you may want to look into 4 wheel steering other wise it'll take more room to turn around than an 18 wheeler lol (exaggeration of course). Do you want to keep it scale or do you want to build it so it's as capable as possible? You will also want to ditch the stock drive shafts, they are very weak. Read through other threads in here there is a TON of very useful information. Other than that have fun and enjoy the build !!!

[Gunngee]

Oh in answer of your question about battery and charger, I run a 4200 LiPO and get about 1.5 hours of run time. If you run a LiPO I would recommend a balance charger to go with it as well...

[totalamature]

Thank you very much for the advice. I've got some research to do I believe!
Im more interested in keeping it scale at this stage.
I do want to run 4ws however. Should I be running the same servo front and back?
Are there any batteries i should avoid? Ie to much power, physically to big etc etc etc? I had a good read through the electronics thread but I found it hard finding CR-01 specific info. Or is everything pretty standardized throughout the brands / models?

Thanks

[Gunngee]

If you are going to run 4ws I would also recommend a 5 channel transmitter, that way you can control the rear steering completely separately if you want. That's how I run it and I know a couple other guys that do that as well plus I've found being able to crab walk really comes in handy. I don't think it's crucial that your front and rear servos are the same but I think it would just be easier. Also you will want an esc with a drag brake.

[totalamature]

Ok so all i've got left to buy is the battery and a charger. I have read through the electronics forum but still I've no idea on what kind or size i should be looking at. Whats too big? Or for that matter too small?

[Gunngee]

Originally Posted by totalamature

Ok so all i've got left to buy is the battery and a charger. I have read through the electronics forum but still I've no idea on what kind or size i should be looking at. Whats too big? Or for that matter too small?

I myself am not sure what different dimensions batteries come in I only have experience with mine. The CR01 is my first RC as well but I've been tinkering with it for over a year now. There is another thread in here about batteries here's the link: CR-01 Batteries

As for the charger just tell your hobby store that you want a good balance charger for that battery, they are programmable so they can be used for other batteries as well.

[totalamature]

Thanks for the help mate!

[totalamature]

Ps, cheers for the link to that thread. I missed that one. Exactly what I was looking for.