Is it worth getting a 1/10 rs10 Crawler?

[Volture'Z]

hey guys im new to this off brand motel of crawler and kind of want to make it a comp type of crawler. i have 2 other crawlers the axial xr10 and the venom creeper which are both great crawlers. and love this hobby. i think it would be fun to turn this off brand motel to a omg thats a sick crawler! let people see that you can turn nothing into somthing. anyways thanks guys let me know. "thumbsup"

 

[THX_138]

There are people that will like every brand and model.
Ass for every seat, so to speak.

Me personally, you couldn't give me a Redcat.

Can you make an OMG super duper everyone will want it RC from the Redcat?

Sure you can... But I doubt there would be many Redcat parts left on it when done..... So.... Is it really a Redcat anymore?

I did what you are asking about with an Exceed MaxCrawler years ago. It ended up being a badass rig, but it has more then double the normal money to do it, and I think the only thing left on it from Exceed might be outer axle housings and a couple links.

Take the same time, money and effort and put it towards a quality rig and instead of the end result being "Holey Crap!"..... You can end up with "Holey Crap with EXTRA Crap Sauce!!!":lmao:


No offense meant to you Redcat fans... I just personally have never seen much good from them unless highly modified with parts made from anyone But Redcat. Once highly modified, is it still much a Redcat?

Fab up a killer tube chassis or some decent tune-able chassis sides
Upgrade the weak axle shafts, C' and knuckles
Install some after market axle gears
Replace the extremely weak fragile servo
Install an ESC that will hold up past your flat carpeted living room
Throw some good aftermarket shocks that function like shocks on there
Replace the stock motors with something with a little torque ability
A couple pinions with teeth that will still be there after one battery cycle
......... And that's a decent start......

 

[Volture'Z]

i understand there.

 

[kicker1solo]

Hey, we used to be neighbors until I moved away 2 years ago.

Anyways, yes, I LOVE my RS10. Mine is still completely stock except a different body and wheels/tires and crawls like a champ. Here's a short clip I shot this morning. Sorry for the crappy drving, I was steering with my chin so I could hold the camera lol

M4H01513.MP4 - YouTube

 

[XtrmTJ]

It is what it is, an entry level crawler. Nothing more, Nothing less. Yes you have to mod it, Yes you will spend $$$ on it, but tell me one RC Crawler that you don't Mod and spend $$$ on. For what it is, it is OK. Mod it some, Tweak it some, put Rovers on it and go have FUN ! For an ENTRY level RC, it is a good bang for your buck IMO. "thumbsup"
Semper Fi
Smitty

 

[Docwolf]

Well unjust finished a build for my dad with all stock axles and electronics, custom tube chassis and losing rock claws and.......OMG. Thing can't be stopped, I really don't want to conveniently him. Thing about upgrading parts, also long as they are not broke, you can build another rig. Weight is what kills these axles the most, build it lite, it should be fine.

 

[kicker1solo]

And don't listen to THX, he talks a lot but obviously doesn't know what he's talking about. I doubt he's ever had a RS10.

In the year that I've had mine, I play with it probably 5-6 days a week. It's built pretty tough for a beginner crawler right out of the box.

I have never broken an axle shaft, C' or a knuckle.

I haven't had the need to upgrade the axle gears.

The servos are kinda weak, I've had to replace 2 of them in a year. $30 over a year, not bad in my book.

ESC that will hold up past your living room carpet? I run my truck hard every day and it's still on the factory ESC, never had any problems with it.

Replace the motors with ones with some ability for torque? I can pick my redcat up by the front two tires, hold it in the air, and have someone hold the throttle on the remote and the thing will start doing flips while I'm holding the two tires. It's got torque and everything holds up to me doing random things like that.

Pinions and teeth that will be there after one battery cycle? I can't even count the amount of charges I've ran on my truck on everything stock. Like I was saying, 5-6 days a week for about a year. Hard stuff, not just stuff in my back yard.

In the year I've spent $30 to replace two servos, everything else has held up like a champ. No broken axle shafts, no broken knuckles, electronics have held up. It's a good rig!

 

[Axial SCX10]

I've had My RS10XT for 4 months now. It's all stock except for a set of Rovers and a front Hitec MG servo. My stock servos still worked just wanted a better one for the front. I locked out the rear steer (just didn't care for it). I run mine hard at least 4 nights a week and so far no issues. I stripped out the threads on one stub axle putting a wheel on. (not a Redcat issue I put the wheel nut on crooked).
IMO it is well worth the price for all you get. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to anyone.

Jeff

 

[Froadr]

Personally I think half the fun of owning an RS10 is getting to do lots of upgrades for really cheep. There's no Vanquish $50-$150 dollar parts that you 'have' to have. Honestly most of the upgrades are under $20. ZNO-RC has a lot of good upgrades and Redact sells almost any replacement parts you could need.

I would agree that so much more is possible with an xr10 but you have to be ready to spend a whole lot of money at one time.

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[jsowens]

Actually, THX_138 hit the nail on the head on a lot of things. For a beginner rig, a RS10 is a decent little rig to get into the hobby with if you don't have a lot of money to spend. I felt like mine was a good enough platform to learn on, and never regretted buying it. When it comes down to it, if you're looking to make it a contender against a lot of the nicer rigs out there...you sink way too much money into it for what it is. My build was done on a pretty low budget considering how many parts I upgraded on the thing, but my ultimate goal was never to out-crawl a berg or xr10.

I bought my RS10 just after they came out...so I've been tinkering with these rigs since the beginning pretty much. Out of the box, a lot of the parts are terrible from a performance standpoint...the servos, tires, and other electronics being among them. Granted I have zero experience with the new 2.4ghz radios these things come with...the original stock one failed on me quite quickly, but I was pleased that I had good luck with the stock ESC.

For the most part, I've had good luck with my axles (the only actual redcat part left on the thing), granted I've sheared teeth off the stock gears. All in all, not a bad starter rig, rig to let a buddy who isn't into r/c drive, or decent enough rig for a kid if you don't want to spend much. As it's been said numerous times, though...don't expect it to be on par with nicer rigs.

 

[asian195]

I've never owned a redcat before. Was actually thinking of maybe buying their Super version someday just to have a Super class on the shelf.

And to THX, "after all the upgrades, can you really call it a redcat anymore". How many people can call their xr10, a xr10 anymore if thats your theory? I've seen xr10s that I swear the only thing left stock is the lower axle housing.

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[THX_138]

And don't listen to THX, he talks a lot but obviously doesn't know what he's talking about. I doubt he's ever had a RS10.

In the year that I've had mine, I play with it probably 5-6 days a week. It's built pretty tough for a beginner crawler right out of the box.

I have never broken an axle shaft, C' or a knuckle.

I haven't had the need to upgrade the axle gears.

The servos are kinda weak, I've had to replace 2 of them in a year. $30 over a year, not bad in my book.

ESC that will hold up past your living room carpet? I run my truck hard every day and it's still on the factory ESC, never had any problems with it.

Replace the motors with ones with some ability for torque? I can pick my redcat up by the front two tires, hold it in the air, and have someone hold the throttle on the remote and the thing will start doing flips while I'm holding the two tires. It's got torque and everything holds up to me doing random things like that.

Pinions and teeth that will be there after one battery cycle? I can't even count the amount of charges I've ran on my truck on everything stock. Like I was saying, 5-6 days a week for about a year. Hard stuff, not just stuff in my back yard.

In the year I've spent $30 to replace two servos, everything else has held up like a champ. No broken axle shafts, no broken knuckles, electronics have held up. It's a good rig!

He wasn't asking if it was a good rig out of the box.... He was inquiring about making it an OMG! Crawler...... Big difference in my opinion.

And yes...actually I have owned 2 of them. They were given to me and our son for X- Mas one year by the in-laws. His broke before it ever got outside X-Mas day by using it as a kid surely would. I babied mine few times around the living room and broke the first time it went outside with a little hill climb on some landscape timbers. Repaired it one time and quickly had flashbacks of the Exceed I once dumped paychecks in to and never touched it again. It might even still be in my sons room somewhere with his? Sure... I could have kept fixing things until it was a reliable rig, but I admittedly did not. Had been down that road before and wasn't doing it again.
If you "play" with them they might last a while for fun use. But if you attempting an OMG build... I just do not see them as worth the effort. But like I stated in my original post.... Just my opinion and an ass for every seat.

I've never owned a redcat before. Was actually thinking of maybe buying their Super version someday just to have a Super class on the shelf.

And to THX, "after all the upgrades, can you really call it a redcat anymore". How many people can call their xr10, a xr10 anymore if thats your theory? I've seen xr10s that I swear the only thing left stock is the lower axle housing.

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"Sure you can... But I doubt there would be many Redcat parts left on it when done..... So.... Is it really a Redcat anymore?"
It was more of the fact of Redcat not making their own aftermarket parts to be able to make it the OMG rig he was asking about. To me I guess replacement parts and parts to make something an impressive OMG rig are entirely different.

But in all honesty to get something to an OMG crawler condition and you end up with something with only 5%-10% of it's original parts left.... Then NO, I don't believe anything would be considered it's stock name.... It would surely be a custom rig all the way.

Personally, I think some of the best rigs are pure customs"thumbsup"

 

[Docwolf]

Personally, I think some of the best rigs are pure customs"thumbsup"

I agree with this, and this is why I think the RS10 is a great place to start, and yes, I do think you can make a OMG crawler using there RS10/Rockfighter axles. the one thing you have to keep in mind is that redcat is a reseller who brands the product with their name. they did not design and do not produce this unit. the same goes for all their products, hell redcat even sells full size dirt bikes. so no, they are not going to offer much of a upgrade line. Crawford has stepped in though, and offers some great products. personally, if you are just wanting a cheap but solid drive train to start a buggy build with, no, don't buy the whole RTR kit, jump on eBay and buy a set of axles for 50 bucks, buy your bane-bots or do a 540 big boy, throw in a rooster crawl and some 3s packs, build your tube, some links, use some nice quality 3mm rod ends and you would still have less then 400 bucks in a custom crawler.

a note on the axles, on this current build, I tore them clear down, super glued the pin to the place, used some larger and longer torx head machine screws i pulled from a dead hard drive to secure the gear to the spur and lock-tited everything. then I drilled the housing on the motor side at the cross hole for the counter shaft (first shaft nearest the motor) and after assembly I put a screw in to insure the shaft has enough insertion to both sides of the case, I noticed that insertion on the case half opposite the motors was about about 1/16th of an inch. I think this is where alot of gear wear comes from. then I filled the case with a nice lite grease. the cups and bones are another problem area, need to find someone to make either CV's or at least U-joints for these. there is guy in the general forum that makes heavy duty U-joint shafts for a lot of other rigs. I suggested the redcat to him, but he never responded back. Maybe if enough of us hit him up, he will consider the market.