Next rig?

[BroncoAZ]

I currently own a very modified RTR Bomber and an accessorized RTR Yeti. I’m thinking about getting a third rig, but I’m not sure what. The Bomber is great for crawling and trailing, the Yeti is good for bashing but not great for trailing or crawling. Last year I was thinking I needed a Rock Ray as it seemed better than the Yeti, but I never got one as it seemed like there were still issues. I have a decent fire road area near my house for fast runs, but not really a place to put together a track. I live near plenty of hiking trails for trailing and some decent areas for crawling.

I was thinking scaler, the Axial offerings (SCXII) seem like they are cheapening the product too much. I don’t mind spending $200 on mods for a new rig, but it seems like I’d end up doing axle housings, links, servo, motor, etc. on a SCXII. I’ve been reading some threads on here about the Traxxas TRX4 Bronco, obviously from my screen name I’m a Ford Bronco guy, but the 11 mph top speed doesn’t sound like it’s enough and I’d need a beater body to save the nice scale one. My Bomber with the 2 speed and a Traxxas 21T 550 motor runs probably 18 mph on 3s and is just fast enough to be fun. I looked at the Vaterra options, looks OK, but I haven’t seen any locally. The Redcat Gen 8 Scout II looks interesting, but I haven’t done much reading on it.

What else should I be looking at?

 

[WHITE-TRASH]

If you have experience and nothing out of the box strikes your fancy why not pick an axle and transmission then build from there? Stock sucks and stock rtr sucks even more so build it once and be happier with it over all.


Oh and in before the "get an assender" crowd comes in with their torque twist machine recommendations. :lol:

 

[Voodoobrew]

If 18 mph is just fast enough to be fun then, well I would never buy one, but you should get an X-Maxx.

Solid axle vehicles aren't great at speed but they're good for crawling.
If you want something fast, don't buy a crawler.

 

[indybama]

I built my scx10ii piece by piece. I got the parts 'I' wanted, not the cheap axial plastic parts. At first i had a few stock parts, but that was because i got them in a "lot" purchase n they were there n was able to get my rig runnin. But all in all, i built mine from ground up with aftermarket/good parts the way i wanted it. It does good for my first crawler build. Lookin forward to buildin another soon. Also lookin to get myself the bronco as well at tax time, the wife just dont know it yet lmbo. Theres alot of awesome builds from people across the whole brand table. Its all in how much u wanna spend n how capable u want your rig to be. Let your imagination run wild n go with it lol

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[Jim85IROC]

My next rig will be the Gen8. Based on the portals that I have, along with my study of the manual, I'm pretty confident that the truck will be a home run. If it weren't for the Gen8, my next rig would have been a TRX4. The Sport is already a proven truck.

 

[ferp420]

I start with the body i want then build it to fit the body but i like rtrs also sometimes its nice to just take a rig out of the box and run it and not spend 2 years building it i got a rtr spawn and payed for it 3 times over and ended up tossing most of the stock parts and replacing them with aftermarket parts so now i just start with aftermarket parts and save the 300-400 initial cost

 

[JatoTheRipper]

Get the TRX-4. You say the speed isn't fast enough, but it's not any slower than the other scalers. And it can take crazy power better than the rest.

You can even go stupid fast like this guy if you'd like.

The TRX-4 is the new scaler to have.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/hkcM5PiGK9s" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

[Shinchu]

...
Oh and in before the "get an assender" crowd comes in with their torque twist machine recommendations. :lol:

HEY i resemble that remark!! :lmao:

yeah the ascender isn't for everyone.
since you said you have a yeti and bomber, i would have to humbly agree the TRX4 sounds like the perfect rig for you.
i don't think 11mph top speed is accurate? 2 speed on 3s it should really cook.
as long as you are ok with portals the TRX4 or redcat gen8 seem right up your alley. but i think the redcat would be slower?

also i do agree with the few that mentioned building a rig from the ground up with whatever parts you want.
sort of intermediate/advanced approach but i think for a 3rd rig you might be at that level by now.

question for you though would you consider a leafed "trail" truck or do you want links/coils ("comp" style)?
you could do either with quite a few brands.
or both like my ascender...;-) had to throw that out there haha
ascender with leafed rear has ZERO torque twist hahaha

really im in the same boat as you. about to finish mentioned ascender and looking for something to build after that. "thumbsup"

 

[WHITE-TRASH]

Out of the box a trx4 with a decent servo is pretty hard to beat. I enjoy the hell out of mine.

 

[BroncoAZ]

Thanks for the responses, guys.

Regarding top speed, my Bomber out of the box was disappointingly slow, then I went underdrive gearing with the 2 speed kit to make it crawl better, even slower. I tried the brushless Yeti setup and it was completely overpowered and cogged badly when crawling. I went with the higher top ratio on the 2 speed and the Traxxas 21T 550 motor and it fell into a sweet spot where it crawls great and there is enough power to pull the front end up and self recover on a decline but it’s not so fast it just tumbles on turns. I don’t need Yeti speed on my next rig, but I want it fast enough so I’m not waiting on it between obstacles. I’m going to run 3s regardless, but I’ll probably stick with brushed vs brushless because of how well it works in my Bomber at minimal cost. I get over 2 hours of runtime on the Bomber with a 5000 3s pack.

RC is not my primary hobby, I’m a 42 year old dude significantly into guns/tools/my 1:1 truck. Unfortunately I also work 60+ hours a week and travel 40+ weeks per year for work. With my time constraints a kit or RTR makes more sense. I would be cool with something with leaf springs in the rear. I’m capable of building whatever and have significant fabrication skills, I just don’t have time. My other project for 2019 is a LS swap (probably LQ4) into my 1:1 Bronco.

Ideally I’d love to have a scaler identical to my 87 Bronco. My Bronco is a competent crawler that can also go fast over rough terrain. That means coilover independent up front and leaves on a solid axle rear. I know it could be done, but I’m not willing to put in that much time to fab a scale TTB setup.

All that being said, the TRX4 and the G8 are both interesting. Redcat is based in AZ, but Traxxas certainly is a more proven brand. My buddy has 2 Traxxas rigs, slash brushless and a rustler, I’m always amazed at the punishment they take without breaking. I like the selectable lockers on the TRX4 Bronco and Defender, as my 1:1 has ARB selectable lockers, otherwise the TRX4 Sport looks fine.

 

[Shinchu]

It all makes sense. And now I'm 100% convinced you need a TRX4 bronco.

 

[BroncoAZ]

Dammit, there is a 15% off eBay coupon today until 6pm PST. And I just got $140 deposited in my paypal account from befrugal. And I still have the $100 in Christmas cash my mother in law gave me.

I was looking at the TRX4 Sport ($288.96), Kit (314.46), or Bronco ($382.46). The Bronco is the obvious choice for me, but I’ll probably end up with a different body to keep from destroying that one. I was doing some reading and it seems some are removing the diff locks for simplicity. I’m used to the 2 speed in both of my Axial rigs, so that is a feature I’d like to have. Spending $51 to add it on the Sport seems dumb, and I don’t think the stock radio will work.

What else do I need to order out of the gate to make the TRX4 a competent truck? Knuckle weights, steering servo, hobbywing 1080 ESC are all mentioned.

 

[WHITE-TRASH]

The front locker never gets unlocked but unlocking the rear is killer when turning and climbing.

Losing the bumpers and sliders and slapping a better body on it are solid too. I'm still rocking the stock electronics which is weird since I never do that. :lol:

 

[BACK40]

You(I) should get the TRX-4 Bronco 8)

 

[Inspector86]

You would be amazed at how well the Bronco will crawl out of the box with open diffs and when you get into a tight spot the ability to lock diffs with the flick of a switch is sweet. The Sport is a no nonsense stripped down TRX4 but is still very capable. I personally run with diffs unlocked 98% of the time. If you want more speed you can gear it up with a simple pinion swap. Out of the box, I would add a servo like the ProModler 470/630 or Savox 2290, an HW1080 ESC and some SSD portal weights and that's' it. I have five TRX4s now with various bodies and I never get tired of driving them.

 

[BroncoAZ]

I ordered the Bronco with the red graphics and a HW 1080 with the 15% eBay coupon. I was trying to figure out what else to buy, but I ran out of time before the coupon was going to expire. I’m not sure if I’ll use the HW 1080 right away, but I mainly bought it to support a future servo upgrade so I can avoid standalone BEC.

 

[Inspector86]

Sounds like you're off to a great start and you got a great deal!

 

[JatoTheRipper]

My other project for 2019 is a LS swap (probably LQ4) into my 1:1 Bronco.

Smart man! "thumbsup" When you complete this project, please, post it here in our #lsswaptheworld thread!

I ordered the Bronco with the red graphics and a HW 1080 with the 15% eBay coupon. I was trying to figure out what else to buy, but I ran out of time before the coupon was going to expire. I’m not sure if I’ll use the HW 1080 right away, but I mainly bought it to support a future servo upgrade so I can avoid standalone BEC.

Congrats! I think you'll love it. The 1080 is a great start. The servo will probably be another good pickup when your stock fails.

 

[Howlkat]

I currently own a very modified RTR Bomber and an accessorized RTR Yeti. I’m thinking about getting a third rig, but I’m not sure what. The Bomber is great for crawling and trailing, the Yeti is good for bashing but not great for trailing or crawling. Last year I was thinking I needed a Rock Ray as it seemed better than the Yeti, but I never got one as it seemed like there were still issues. I have a decent fire road area near my house for fast runs, but not really a place to put together a track. I live near plenty of hiking trails for trailing and some decent areas for crawling.

I was thinking scaler, the Axial offerings (SCXII) seem like they are cheapening the product too much. I don’t mind spending $200 on mods for a new rig, but it seems like I’d end up doing axle housings, links, servo, motor, etc. on a SCXII. I’ve been reading some threads on here about the Traxxas TRX4 Bronco, obviously from my screen name I’m a Ford Bronco guy, but the 11 mph top speed doesn’t sound like it’s enough and I’d need a beater body to save the nice scale one. My Bomber with the 2 speed and a Traxxas 21T 550 motor runs probably 18 mph on 3s and is just fast enough to be fun. I looked at the Vaterra options, looks OK, but I haven’t seen any locally. The Redcat Gen 8 Scout II looks interesting, but I haven’t done much reading on it.

What else should I be looking at?

My vote is for the SCX10 II!
I’ve always had a desire for eventually obtaining an Axial from back in the day (2008)ish era. I think the new version had some steering improvements and it is a nice platform to scale build off of. I enjoyed working on my rig and i find it a stable and snug crawler now. I still have some upgrade options in mind and for the type of crawling I find myself doing I think it’s plenty fast. I went brushless, way more controllable and I like the program options and brake tuning.

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[BroncoAZ]

My vote is for the SCX10 II!
I’ve always had a desire for eventually obtaining an Axial from back in the day (2008)ish era. I think the new version had some steering improvements and it is a nice platform to scale build off of. I enjoyed working on my rig and i find it a stable and snug crawler now. I still have some upgrade options in mind and for the type of crawling I find myself doing I think it’s plenty fast. I went brushless, way more controllable and I like the program options and brake tuning.

That’s a great looking rig. With all the expensive parts I think I’d be looking at the Vanquish VS4-10 kit. I really like the idea of the portal axles on the TRX-4.