really new to RC crawling

[mclovinal]

okay, i had never heard of RC crawling until just recently, when i saw a thread about it in the jeepforum. after grazing through that thread, i remembered that i saw a really cheap rock crawler-esq thing at my neighbor's yard sale, still in the box. so i ran over and offered $20 dollars for it, and he said sold! now the problem comes in. as i mentioned, i have a jeep. and it wasnt long before this RC was off pavement. after a short while i noticed it had terrible power problems. less with new batteries, but still pretty bad. so i found the box, saw that it was a maisto "Radio Control 4x4 Off Road Rock Crawler RC Truck RTR RC". so i searched for it and found this forum. so my question is, is this truck moddable? if it is, where should i start? can i put more powerful motors in it? i noticed it had two motors, one in each axle. anything you can say to help me would be appreciated.
tl'dr: halp

edit ps: like i said i have a jeep. any significant amount of spare cash goes to that. Just Empty Every Pocket you know? pretty much anything over $100 is jeep related.

 

[KrazyKrawler48]

Maisto is a wal-mart brand crawler, and no you wont be able to find any aftermarket support for it.

 

[mclovinal]

so there is no way to put anything in it? no motors you can put in it? batterys? new axles? anything?

 

[2JSC]

More than likely not. Sorry to say.

 

[mclovinal]

eh oh well. the last thing i need is another expensive hobby anyway.

 

[GRIMGREG]

Yeah most "toy class" RCs aren't upgradable. Depending on how much of a tinkerer you are, you might be able to pull it apart and do some tweaks, but nothing is going to be a direct plug and play swap for it. The problem probably isn't the motors, but the speed controler which is probably part of an all in one circuit board with the receiver.

 

[mclovinal]

okay, so could replace the motors and the circit board/ reciver, then it would be semi-functional? of course by that point most of the workings of it would be "aftermarket".. but thats the point right? its not good stock, so make it good.

 

[mclovinal]

yes, thats more or less what it looks like. i am a good bit of a tinkerer, and is there a way you would suggest for getting a new circuit board, or replacing the whole system? or could i modify the current circut board to use more power? i think i'm gonna try and use a better rechargeable battery, as the whole 6AA thing got old in about ten minutes. somewhat off topic, did i mention i may have accidentally rolled it into a pond, off a 20ft cliff? i fished it out with a fishing rod and put new bats in it and it still works.

 

[MnRockCrawler]

Dont give up on the hobby. Odds are if you have a jeep and like offroading, you will LOVE rock crawling. There are a few rtc's and kits out there that you can do pretty reasonable.

 

[AdverseCity]

Upgrading a toy grade RC is like making a good 1:1 4x4 out of a 4wd car. Yes it can be done but you'll end up spending just as much if not more than just buying a quality vehicle in the first place. If you enjoyed the little bit of crawling you did with this toy then you will love a good RC crawler. The other side is it is not a cheap hobby, the cheapest you're looking at is still in the $200 range all the way up to $1000. I'd suggest picking up a Losi MRC, either new or used as they have the cheapest aftermarket parts and are very capable for their size. The next cheapest route could be one of the many cheaper 1/10th scale crawlers (redcat RS10, Exceed Maxstone,etc) but they don't have near the same aftermarket support as Axial, the biggest name in RC crawling. It all depends on how much you're willing to invest in the hobby but regardless of what you choose, if you get hooked you'll spend money on it.

 

[TexasJeff]

Sorry to say it, but it is a waste of time. The motors on the Maisto are tiny- really tiny. As in about the same size as my Micro Crawler's motor tiny. And the gears in the axles are pretty thin plastic- upgrade the motors & you'll most likely grind down the gears within minutes.

How do I know? Check this link- I don't wanna clutter up RCC w/ it:
http://www.rcbashers.com/maisto-rock-crawler-project-pics-t840.html

In a nutshell.... I bought one, I upgraded to a 9.6V rechargable battery, upgraded the tires, then realized that I had worn the front end completely out. Tried to fix the front end, then saw just how small the motors were & how cheap the gears were. Next thing I knew the motors were so worn that it wouldn't hardly move.

I quit screwing w/ it & bought me a Losi Micro Crawler- now I'm having a blast.