TRX-4 Defender Upgrade Options Recommendations

[emberwilde]

Hi! New to RC and crawling in general. Took my TRX-4 Defender out with HWY1RC and Diablo Crawlers last weekend and I can say I had a great time! I would like to get some recommendations for upgrades to make the performance better on my rig - TRX-4 Defender, TRX8030 light kit and a 3d-printed on switch from the bottom. I really love the defender body but I felt it held me back on some slopes as the weight in the back really tips the vehicle over. However, I do not currently want to switch bodies or have a “shelf body” and a “crawl body” - I want to crawl with the Defender.

I like the spare tire and would likely add more scale items to the roof rack later on. I may look into 3d printing a roof spare tire mount or better yet, a front hood mount but I haven’t found any designs out there. I am also looking into a bunch of aftermarket parts that I’d like some opinions on.

Brass Weights Portal Options
1. GPM Outer Portal + Pendulum (130-150g Per Side) $85
2. GPM Outer Portal (50g Per Side) $40
3. Treal Outer Portal (93g Per Side) $35
4. STRC Outer Portal (24g Per Side) $35
5. STRC Steering Knuckles (40g Per Side) $55
6. GPM Brass Front Bumper (102g Front) $35

If I keep the rear spare in the back of the body, do I want to have weights in both front and back portals? Or would it be better to have the weights in just the front? Or maybe uneven with 150g on each front and 50g on each back? And possibly the additional 100g front bumper? How much weight is too much weight? Do I need to worry about tire collapse? I want to make sure even with the Defender body, my front sticks down.

Assuming I get brass weights, I'd probably want a steering servo upgrade.
1. PowerHD 20kg-cm/277oz-in $30
2. Savox 1210sg 20kg-cm/277oz-in $85
3. Savox 1230sg 36kg-cm/500oz-in + Castle BEC + Sealant $100
4. Holmes Hobbies SHV500 32kg-cm/450oz-in $120

Do I need to go above 20kg with the brass weights? It seems people are running the 20kg ones straight from the stock ESC, but how well does that work with a light kit? Are there setups where the BEC only powers the steering servo, then the other 3 servos plus light kit still draw from the stock ESC's BEC?

At this point, I would have spent around $350-$500 on upgrades, should I just have gotten an Axial SCX10.2 or Vaterra Ascender instead of working on my TRX-4? LOL. Thanks in advance for any advice/help you can provide.