RC4WD Beast II 6x6

[IronGut]

So I have followed Szczerba & JeepinDoug's builds of their Cross 6x6's and have been trying to determine if I want to buy one or build a 6x6 from a SCX10 donor (or do both). But today, I see that RC4WD is coming out with a new 6x6, the Beast II. The pricing (apparently introductory) is only $50 more than the Cross and looks pretty impressive, particularly in the drive train.

I've only ever used wheels & tires from RC4WD so I have no opinion of their other products but I get the impression that they have great & reliable stuff, correct? I'm assuming that for the $, it'd totally worth getting the Beast II instead of a truck from Cross. Thoughts? Opinions?

I'd still like to build a 6x6 at some point, but I have no fab skills yet so I have no doubt I'll start with a kit.

 

[Szczerba]

When I got the Cross MC6 the axles were weak but they have since updated those issues. Comparing the running gear, the RC4WD is probably going to be the better buy, IMO. The RC4WD cab and bed are similar to the Cross RC cab and bed, as this type of cab/bed has shown up on several companies 6x6's over the last few years. You can buy the almost identical cab from a Czech company right now.

 

[Kylar]

The Chassis, transmission, axles, shocks, wheels, etc are alot better then the Cross stuff.

If i didnt already have an Axial based unimog 6x6 i would be buying one of these.

I might even be tempted to sell mine and buy one of these actually...lol We will see...

 

[monster13]

The Cross rc 8x8, with the newer axle setup, is actually a perfectly decent kit. Cannot fault it, and the parts quality seems no worse than others.

 

[STANG KILLA SS]

i think the origonal Beast had Rockwells/Blackwells.
looks like this only has yotas.
clearance and snagability is probly better, but the blackwells were just so cool.

 

[Sarra]

So I have followed Szczerba & JeepinDoug's builds of their Cross 6x6's and have been trying to determine if I want to buy one or build a 6x6 from a SCX10 donor (or do both). But today, I see that RC4WD is coming out with a new 6x6, the Beast II. The pricing (apparently introductory) is only $50 more than the Cross and looks pretty impressive, particularly in the drive train.

I've only ever used wheels & tires from RC4WD so I have no opinion of their other products but I get the impression that they have great & reliable stuff, correct? I'm assuming that for the $, it'd totally worth getting the Beast II instead of a truck from Cross. Thoughts? Opinions?

I'd still like to build a 6x6 at some point, but I have no fab skills yet so I have no doubt I'll start with a kit.

I jsut peeked at that kit. Why is the first thing that came to mind 'Wow, I should get one, and paint it traffic cone orange.' I must be really tired.

 

[new2rocks]

I don't have any experience with Cross RC products to compare, but so far, I really like what I'm seeing in the Beast II. Many of the components (esp. the R3 2-speed tranny and Yota 2 axles) do very well on other RC4WD platforms like the TF2 and Gelande 2, so they should work well on this one. The chassis and mechanicals were quite straightforward to assemble and will be very familiar to anyone that's built a Gelande or TF2.

 

[theshackle]

I'm thinking about buying the Beast II kit as well. I have a RC4WD Trail Finder 2 that I'm very happy with. The kit is top noth in my opinion, although my experience is more with racers than scalers. The 2-speed transmission is something people seem to love or hate. I love man, but it does have a lot of slop and is a pain to get setup right. They say the one in the Beast is improved... even if it wasn't that wouldn't stop me from buying it.


It's tempted to scratch build my own out of a scx-10, but I'll probably end up spending more money and end up with something that doesn't perform as well. If I do buy the beast, I'll probably build my own body in the style of a 2 1/2 ton convoy truck.