Is the TH a good basher for a 10 year old?

[generalbacardi]

How do TH's hold up when used mostly in high gear for bashing?

I'm thinking of purchasing a TH for my 10 year old son. 70% of the use would be racing around our tight 18' x 26' backyard BMX track, 20% would be bashing / jumping at the local dirt jump spot, and 10% would be some light trail / crawling. The TH would spend the majority of its time in high gear.

Since most of the use will be at our tight backyard track, I was originally looking at things like the 1/18 Losi Mini Desert Truck, 1/18 Latrax Teton, 1/16 Traxxas Slash, and 1/14 Tacon Thriller, but those trucks will get destroyed in short order at the dirt jump spot, and they are no good for rough terrain bashing or crawling. There's also the 1/16 Traxxas mini Summit, but that's very overpriced for what it is.

While the TH is biased more toward the crawling spectrum, and that is only 10% of the anticipated use, it seems like a good "do it all" rig. However if it's overly vulnerable to breakage during jumps and high speed bashing, I may need to consider something else.

Also, is the TH susceptible roll overs in high speed turns, and is the steering twitchy? Since it's for a 10 year I would want to avoid the TH if it's too squirrely.

[Dbx]

The TH is a robust car when compared to many. I couldn't compare to traxxas, since i've never had one. It sounds like you will be a bit pressed for space in the yard. Something smaller may be more fun imo. I have a modified kit version, and its great fun on the local bike track with my 10 year old. It takes some big hits and only occasionally comes home broken.
Roll overs were my number one dislike of the TH when i first had it. I think it depends on your expectation, but i was used to buggies, and the TH in stock form rolled over ALL the time. Once i relocated the battery it was ok.

[generalbacardi]

Originally Posted by Dbx

The TH is a robust car when compared to many. I couldn't compare to traxxas, since i've never had one. It sounds like you will be a bit pressed for space in the yard. Something smaller may be more fun imo. I have a modified kit version, and its great fun on the local bike track with my 10 year old. It takes some big hits and only occasionally comes home broken.
Roll overs were my number one dislike of the TH when i first had it. I think it depends on your expectation, but i was used to buggies, and the TH in stock form rolled over ALL the time. Once i relocated the battery it was ok.

Thanks. This style of truck by its nature is more rollover prone than a short course truck, but it sounds like that could be mitigated with battery relocation as you said, and maybe some shock spring/oil tuning as well.

What parts tend to break during jump sessions?

[Dbx]

We've broken a couple of axle drive pins, cracked a hex adapter... but thats about it really. 4, 5, 6 foot jumps. It's a kit version, always on brushless. I've kept away from metal upgrades on the principle that its better to maintain light weight and allow all parts to flex together rather than leaving inevitable weak points that will break - and that seems to work for me. Vaterra did a great job imo. I've broken to many parts on my Wraith to list, and in a shorter time too.

[AngelowDoom]

Yes, very much so. I have tested it on kids 7-11 years old and they love it. And its very durable. If you use it stock, keep the rear a bit low and remember to mount the rear swaybars. Then its easier to handle. Since you are not crawling so much, its best with open front diff, or semi locked with thick silicone oil.

[Rotare]

As the others have said. With the stock motor, removing the spare tyre from the rear and adding sway bars front and rear goes a long way in improving the handling and minimising roll overs. From there fitting the battery low in the chassis will also substantially reduce the centre of gravity providing additional handling benefits.

On my own rig I've widened and lengthened the wheel base and have almost no roll over issues whatsoever on any type of surface. Don't use any sway bars either. The rig is fast (compared to stock) and I'm running a 3660 brushless motor on 3S, 31T pinion and stock 78T spur gear.

The only things I've broken on my Twin Hammers has been through my own stupidity. I've generally found them to be a pretty tough little rig.

[timfiredog]

My daughters first rc was a 2wd Stampede. The stock suspension lasted all of 3 days before I was at the LHS buying RPM parts. They are decent but I swear Traxxas has a deal going on with the aftermarket companies. Just from building the TH I've noticed a substantial quality difference. Vaterra seems to put more time into the designs. Just my 2 cents...

[meatmonkey]

While the Twin Hammers is very durable, its open-wheel design inherantly puts it at a disadvantage compared to a full-bodied/bumpered vehicle when it comes to surviving at the hands of children. While it is a responsive well-driving machine, that may be lost on the child who keeps barrelling into corners without finesse, and keeps rolling over. If you keep the stock brushed motor it should be fine after a little driving instruction.

Skip all the minis. They quickly turn into moneypits with limited capabilities.

While the Twin Hammers is my personal favorite out of my fleet, for a 10 year old I'd be looking at a 4wd short course truck, such as a slash 4x4. Full body and bumpers help shrug off the inevitable collisions. Run it in training mode and youd really have to try to break it. The high clearance chassis version actually goes pretty decent offroad if you put thick 500k oil in the diffs.