Thinking about getting a twin hammers, have some questions

[theTman]

For a little while I was planning on getting an SCX10 when I get some extra cash, but after looking into the Twin Hammers I think it might be the rig for me. I live in a relatively flat woody area with some farm land. There are awesome rock crawling spots 30-45 minutes out that I plan to take it hiking with me for fun and exercise, but when I can't get out there a full blown crawler is kind of boring on the local terrain. I have some nice dirt trails in the woods by the local river that would be great for a twin hammers (it isn't a very gnarly trail, just some roots and dirt formations.

I am wondering first of all how well this thing crawls stock. I read it has a 15T motor which seems rather fast, but I also read it has a 2 speed transmission so it can have a low gear for crawling.

I also hear the front diff isn't locked. I read some people suggesting very heavy diff oil up front for crawling while still being able to turn decently. How well does such a setup crawl versus a locked front diff?

I heard that there is a 4000 mah battery upgrade for this thing and that it comes with the ability to move the battery mount to fit it. Where does the stock battery mount and where does it move to to mount a bigger battery? Also, can it take other packs than it's stock one and the Dynamite 4000mah pack upgrade? Anything in the 5000 mah range, and cheaper than that 60$ 4000mah pack? (Seriously, I can get 5000 mah stick packs for 20$ less).

I've seen some of these rigs with the fake light shapes turned into working LED lights. Is there any kits out there for giving the thing actual light buckets and lenses. Any good kits that work for it for lights and wiring?

Are there any upgrades that are must-haves to make this thing perform decently?

Lastly, I was reading some reviews on the thing and there were many angry people ranting about breaking a bunch of stuff, mainly the steering and gear shifting servos. These were all about a year or more ago (I think when this thing was relatively new) have they fixed it's common issues by now? What all needs to be looked out for when getting a new one these days?

[COORZ]

I love mine. I have a scx10 and a ax10 but the first one I grab when hitting the trails is my twin hammers. It crawls ok right out of box, did a locker better tires and steering up grade and it crawls really well. And I bought mine when it first
Came out ( still running original shift servo) and Stock motor.

As for batters I'm running gforce 4000 shortys.

[theTman]

Originally Posted by COORZ

I love mine. I have a scx10 and a ax10 but the first one I grab when hitting the trails is my twin hammers. It crawls ok right out of box, did a locker better tires and steering up grade and it crawls really well. And I bought mine when it first
Came out ( still running original shift servo) and Stock motor.

As for batters I'm running gforce 4000 shortys.

how does it handle at speed with the locked front diff? I'm used to using a crawler with locked front and rear diffs, but this thing can go a lot faster and I never knew about packing the diff with 500k weight diff fluid.

What kind of steering upgrade are you talking about? A new servo, new linkages and other guts?

Also, how does it handle with stickier tires? I was watching an Ultimate RC review that said stickier tires would cause this thing to flip when maneuvering at high speed.

[COORZ]

Steering. I'm running a derwood designs bellcrank kit.
I mostly crawl with little trail running.
Yes it will traction roll, running a sway bar in the rear helps.

[theTman]

I'm looking at somewhat rocky trail runs and some rock crawling, but nothing like comp difficulty. I mainly plan to have fun and don't mind if I can't do everything perfectly. I need enough performance for rock crawling to be fun and at least feasible, but don't need crazy performance.

I should also add that the places I rock crawl are ancient lava flows and as such are large continuous areas of rock rather than a pile of boulders. The crawling can still be pretty tough as it has quite a bit of variation and in my state it is the prime competition spot for dedicated crawler rigs, even super class crawlers back in the day.

I don't plan on doing any mindless speed runs where you just zip around a flat open area at max or near max speed. I got bored of that years ago with my Losi XXX-T stadium truck (which I gutted of electronics and it's tranny to make my TLT tuber back in the day lol!) I might enjoy some jumps briefly, but trail runs and crawling just for fun are my main plans for whatever rig I buy next.

I wonder if this truck would benefit from a higher turn motor for my purposes. Would a 27T holmes hobbies motor of some type be good for it even in low gear or would a 27T and low gear be ridiculous? If so, any other suggestions for a slower motor?

[MeanTT]

Originally Posted by theTman

I'm looking at somewhat rocky trail runs and some rock crawling, but nothing like comp difficulty. I mainly plan to have fun and don't mind if I can't do everything perfectly. I need enough performance for rock crawling to be fun and at least feasible, but don't need crazy performance.

I should also add that the places I rock crawl are ancient lava flows and as such are large continuous areas of rock rather than a pile of boulders. The crawling can still be pretty tough as it has quite a bit of variation and in my state it is the prime competition spot for dedicated crawler rigs, even super class crawlers back in the day.

I don't plan on doing any mindless speed runs where you just zip around a flat open area at max or near max speed. I got bored of that years ago with my Losi XXX-T stadium truck (which I gutted of electronics and it's tranny to make my TLT tuber back in the day lol!) I might enjoy some jumps briefly, but trail runs and crawling just for fun are my main plans for whatever rig I buy next.

I wonder if this truck would benefit from a higher turn motor for my purposes. Would a 27T holmes hobbies motor of some type be good for it even in low gear or would a 27T and low gear be ridiculous? If so, any other suggestions for a slower motor?

I think we are using the rig for the same purpose. I would say that I am looking for higher speed. I bought a 3500 KV Traxas motor and esc and installed it over the weekend. I am running a 25 tooth pinion instead of the stock 28 tooth.

The speed is good, but on 3S it is nearly uncontrollable. I also highly recommend the swaybar kit, as I am using the medium bar and it helps a great deal. With a brushless system and some hard bashing, I get about 20 minutes out of the 2000 mah mini packs.

I have modified pretty much everything, but I would recommend considering the upgraded steering systems available for this rig. The stock servo is terrible, and there is slop in the set up as well. When I say slop, I mean maybe 20 degrees of it... holy bump steer.

I hope to post a few pics later tonight of my rig as it stands so far. I still need to install the lightbar and a few other odds and ends, but I am waiting for ebay to deliver liquid electrical tape and zip ties.

Finally I will tell you that the axial beadlock wheels (yup, the cheap ones) look very good on this rig and I think you will be happy with them. I suggest new rims and tires if you can afford them, but remember, you can get a great brushless system for around 100 dollars, or you can spend 100 dollars on rims and tires. Your call. Either way, if you should definitely run 500K diff oil in the front diff to give you some limited slip characteristics. It will greatly help the crawl-ability, and will not interfere with your ability to steer your rig.

[Farmers00]

I love mine. I locked up the front diff and got some bigger tires for better ground clearance and some wheels with extenders all from rc4wd. Still using stock shift servo (just set the end points out of the box) and upgraded my steering servo as the stock is a little weak for crawling. It goes plenty fast for what it is. I primarily crawl with mine so its more setup for that but if you want speed i would suggest getting the rear sway bars since this thing 3 wheels every turn at speed. Has great articulation for good crawling. Lots of aftermarket upgrades and support and more are being developed all the time. (Vaterra is a new brand). If i didnt get this rig, I would have gone with an axial wraith. But I like the versatility if the TWH. Just requires some small tweaking to make it beastly. Great ring out of the box. The only thing ive broken are both front dog bones but like I said my diff is locked. Its almost expected. (doesnt really help when there's a summit on top of the left front tire and you gun it)

Oh Batteries, I use stock tray and found a 3800 and a 4100mah that fit perfectly. It will take any of the "shorty" packs. Usually hard case lipos used for racing. If you want to move the battery, a popular way to go is getting the upright front shock mount and moving the battery there. Will give it a heavier front end (ideal for crawling) too.

[theTman]

Originally Posted by MeanTT

I think we are using the rig for the same purpose. I would say that I am looking for higher speed. I bought a 3500 KV Traxas motor and esc and installed it over the weekend. I am running a 25 tooth pinion instead of the stock 28 tooth.

The speed is good, but on 3S it is nearly uncontrollable. I also highly recommend the swaybar kit, as I am using the medium bar and it helps a great deal. With a brushless system and some hard bashing, I get about 20 minutes out of the 2000 mah mini packs.

I have modified pretty much everything, but I would recommend considering the upgraded steering systems available for this rig. The stock servo is terrible, and there is slop in the set up as well. When I say slop, I mean maybe 20 degrees of it... holy bump steer.

I hope to post a few pics later tonight of my rig as it stands so far. I still need to install the lightbar and a few other odds and ends, but I am waiting for ebay to deliver liquid electrical tape and zip ties.

Finally I will tell you that the axial beadlock wheels (yup, the cheap ones) look very good on this rig and I think you will be happy with them. I suggest new rims and tires if you can afford them, but remember, you can get a great brushless system for around 100 dollars, or you can spend 100 dollars on rims and tires. Your call. Either way, if you should definitely run 500K diff oil in the front diff to give you some limited slip characteristics. It will greatly help the crawl-ability, and will not interfere with your ability to steer your rig.

I don't think we want to use the rig for the same purposes. I don't like zipping around at high speed. I like trail runs in the woods and crawling. The trails I would do would constitute mild crawling quite often.Think of what people do when they take scalers like scx10's out for a hike.

[photon_trap]

Originally Posted by MeanTT

The speed is good, but on 3S it is nearly uncontrollable.

Locked up diffs are not meant for speed - Another trade off. I thing I'm gonna move to rear open diff since i expect pretty little of this kit in terms of crawling anyway

[theTman]

yeah, I have no plans for 3S unless I were to switch to a slower, higher torque motor as well. It's stock speed is plenty for me, if not a little overkill. I don't see myself ever going 18-20 miles an hour on a trail run unless it is falling off a cliff LOL!

Also, are there any steering upgrades to fix the crappy stock steering that don't require a new, upright shock mount? What I seem to see is stuff that requires a new upright shock mount and new shocks just to upgrade the steering.

[69rd96]

I loved mine, but I am selling it as it's no where near as good as an SCX or Wraith, chassis pan is too wide and hangs up on everything.
Good crawler set up like an FXR with low, low spur/pinion and you can still get some speed in 2nd gear for hill climbing.

[theTman]

Originally Posted by 69rd96

I loved mine, but I am selling it as it's no where near as good as an SCX or Wraith, chassis pan is too wide and hangs up on everything.
Good crawler set up like an FXR with low, low spur/pinion and you can still get some speed in 2nd gear for hill climbing.

Yeah, I had been debating now if I really want a twin hammers or a SCX10 Honcho. What I like about the twin hammers is Independent front suspension, 2 speed tranny, Capable of higher speed handling when needed, and it just looks BADASS!

Also, if I get a honcho I have to get a 60$ metal link kit right off the bat as the plastic lower links and steering links are awful. I would also need to get a separate battery pack and charger on top of that. The Twin Hammers also has a nicer radio.

The nice thing about the Honcho is the wide array of upgrades and 3rd party support, and I just feel the Honcho is a better build base for making a scale rig that is truly unique.

Edit: I just figured out a good way to show you all what I want out of my next rig. This is a video of our local group last fall on a trail run in the state park we meet at the most often. This terrain is about the toughest I expect to put one of these things through. Other trails near home are less rocky but have a lot of terrain variation made of roots and dirt that allows for a lot of mild crawling and a lighter trail run.

Here is the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7d5Mt167n4

the video is sort of in stages so you sit and watch truck after truck go through the same area before it moves on. If you get borded then skip ahead so you can see the various terrain they encounter. If you are skipping make sure to watch at 13:11 as it is pretty hilarious.

[Farmers00]

ive heard the scx10's are too tall and not wide enough. i would personally go with a wraith if not the TWH

[69rd96]

I'd take a Wraith over anything else, I was part of a little trail thing, I watched as 4 other SCX's including a Wraith swap go up, struggling and spinning, I'd take the same line and just walk up. Bigger is better.

[theTman]

Originally Posted by 69rd96

I'd take a Wraith over anything else, I was part of a little trail thing, I watched as 4 other SCX's including a Wraith swap go up, struggling and spinning, I'd take the same line and just walk up. Bigger is better.

Wraith isn't the greatest scaler. I'm not looking for just performance but also for some scale realism. Also, if I wanted to run in our local scale class the gates would be too narrow if I used the wider wraith axles. They specifically are making sure the rules will allow the Twin Hammers to compete in 1.9 scale competition.

Also, I enjoy the extra challenge of a 1.9 scale rig for crawling. I already have an old 2.2 comp tuber from back in the day. A rig that isn't all out performance oriented can make less extreme terrain more fun. I'd have an easier time finding places to drive that are fun if I use a scaler. Of course, there is a line where performance can drop too low to be any fun.

I think part of the reason scale crawling seems to be doing better than all out performance comp crawling is that it is less about bleeding edge performance and more about having fun, and it is easier to find fun places to drive.

Even though my old crawler is 6 years old, heavy, and uses TLT axles with a cannibalized and jury rigged 8 year old XXX-T tranny for a drive-line it still has enough performance to make all but the rockiest places rather boring to crawl at LOL!

[Farmers00]

Sounds like you answered your own question then lol. TWH all day! Its a great rig. Saw a ton of cool ones at the U4RC event at Glen Helen. Its a fun class plus super scale. Ive seen someone put a truck body on it and it looked like a trophy truck. Was pretty sick.

[MeanTT]

Originally Posted by photon_trap

Locked up diffs are not meant for speed - Another trade off. I thing I'm gonna move to rear open diff since i expect pretty little of this kit in terms of crawling anyway

I don't have a locked up front diff. I run 500K in the front. The problem is that the rig seems to float at speed. It literally just wanders around. Part of it is likely due to the sloppy steering, but the high center of gravity is what kills it.

I did manage to make some amazing roosters in the mud the other day after it rained. It was a ton of fun. The IROCs worked perfectly for this purpose.