interested in getting one

[1375]

So I like the looks of the TH but I have some ? 's. I take my cars on hiking trails so the terrain varies from rolling hills to hard core up hill rock crawling.
So looking at this car am I going to have to lock the front diff for crawling or can I just use a thick grease? And how does that effect the high speed handling?
Are the shocks crappy?
if I get a larger outer diameter 1.9 wheels can the diffs handle it?
can I swap out the 48p for 32p with out a problem?
will venom 5000 lips fit in the battery tray?
are the servos as crappy as propel say?

Thanks for all the help guys

[donuts]

Will tell you what I think I know.

For crawling, I think at minimum you should use a thick grease, like the 500k Traxxas or Kyosho. Doesn't seem to affect high-speed handling, which is traction-roll prone anyway. No experience with one, but I'd fully expect a front locker to mess with high speeds more.

Out of the box the shocks are ok. Weak spots are the factory build (loose caps and air not uncommon) and the scratch-prone shafts, especially in back. Can be greatly helped by rebuild with thicker oil, AE green slime in o-rings, and TiNi shafts. In rear, Losi 1.2" shaft fits, and probably any other 3x56mm-ish. Not sure about fronts quite yet, but those don't get scratched up near as bad, in my experience.

32p swap is easy, but doesn't seem necessary. What is necessary is to check the factory mesh, as I found mine a bit loose.

Pretty sure Venom 5000 won't fit without some work, if at all.

Servos are serviceable, but the shift servo end points *must* be checked according to bulletin. Can't speak to longevity.

Might want to play with anti-squat a bit, as it comes somewhat pro-squat.

The real weak spot and biggest disappointment immediately are the soft screws.

All this said, if you're game for some fiddling, don't let any of this deter you. I've beat on mine pretty hard, jumping and crashing and such, and broken some parts, but it's all been quite reasonable. But most of all, it's a really fun vehicle, and I don't know of any other that will both crawl and cruise quite as well.

[Hobine]

I think it's a pretty tough vehicle to beat for hiking trails. That's what I use mine for and it's pretty much replaced the Wraith as my go to rig. It's perfectly serviceable in stock form with a little TLC, definitely adjust the shift servo and use hex drivers that are in good shape.

This is a really fun truck to mod. You don't need to spend much money on changes if you don't want too.

I'll second the 500k diff fluid. Works good in most situations.

[tedo]

It's a great trail truck. It's what I use now instead of my 2.2.

But...

It's a good crawler, but not great. Locking the front diff helps a lot, but it's not as capable as a solid axle. However it will handle great at speeds. Sometimes you come to a clearing in the trails and its a blast to shift in second and get a nice wide open throttle. It handles whoops great.

Shocks are meh. Replaced mine right away.

No, a 5000mah will not fit the stock tray, but I am sure you could make a tray that would, but it's a super heavy and big battery for such a small truck.

Steering servo is weak, but run it until you can afford a good one.

I am still on my stock shift servo after about 50 packs. Just gotta set up the end points correctly, and make sure no wires are in the way of the servo arm and linkage. Personally I think that's why a lot are failing... There is a birds nest of wires right around the trans, and they are getting in the way. Make sure you zip tie your wires clean and out of the way.

Super fun trail rig. What some ultra4 races at Rauch Creek on YouTube.

[riskyjedi]

I love mine. and I used silly putty in my diff so it's locked but in a bind it gives so no breakages happen. Standard pack's don't fit correctly but shorty packs do. You definitely have to spend a little more time to service it but to me it's worth it.

[1375]

Thanks for the feedback guys

[Jafo99]

1375,

I agree with all info posted above. This is a great vehicle that works pretty good with a few tweaks. Worse part is the screws! I am running a locked front end, Holmes 13T brushed motor on stock esc. Have ran and bashed the heck out of this thing with no real issues! Did bind to DX3C set end points etc. but am still running all stock servos though as already stated the stock steering servo is not that great and painfully slow. Also no way will a 5000 Venom fit the stock tray without some mods and in my opinion would be way to heavy for this. I am now running an SPC 2600 2S a bit bigger then stock as I found my larger shorty pack was a bit too heavy.

I'll post a video I did on locked Vs. unlocked diff. My buddy Matt (other car in video) now has his locked his after filming of this video, does not really affect high speed that much and you really can't turn this thing full bore without is rolling at least for me.

Hope this helps,
David.