Propel Toys - Off-road racers

[frizzen]

Was at a Kroger store today, I went into their last minute Christmas gift area looking for bodies for my MRC, and ran across some rc monster trucks about 1/2" longer than a ZZ-M claiming "4x4 Action indoors or out!"

Well, guess you want a review...
Made in China. Boxed under "Propel Toys" and called "Off-Road Racers". Rear motor pod is sprung, no suspension on front, front wheels are NOT powered, 2-speed in forward, dual cell, CG low enough to stand on sidewalls. TX is like the 1/52 cars that were out a few years ago.

I saw a F-350 body, semi-cab monster. Box also shows Hummer2 2-dr, and 4-dr. LED headlights hardwired to PCB. Body held on 2 screws.

RWD only, coil steering, VERY LITTLE torque, motor pod suspension seems to have binding that makes it mostly useless. My opinion might change after playing with it, but inital impression isn't very good. ***4x2 is NOT 4X4.***

I really like language gap things. The rims have Big&Little beads like the ZZ-M, the inside sidewalls are blank, the outer sidewalls on Left side of truck say "HIGH SPEED", on Right side of truck "DEEPS HGIH". Guess they need an english speaking "ytilauQ" guy there.

Short answer is this is just a Monster Truck bit clone with a 2.2" wheelbase, 1.4" tall tires. This would be at home playing monster truck in a stadium doing like jumps and maybe landing on some hotwheels, but not having any "4x4 action".

Maybe throw more power at it. Maybe a bigger motor. Maybe I should have just dropped the money that this used on one of the new ZZs.

[vwmicrosizer]

ive seen those around before. i was going to get one but i was short on cash

[rcrally]

Any pic of this?

[frizzen]

Ok, camera time...





Where's the T-case? I can't get it into 4WD for the "4x4 action"

[sidewinder]

Oh, those are the same as the ones I've been looking at on ebay...So they suck huh?

[frizzen]

I'm not going to go far enough to say "Avoid, they suck." But they're not what I *expected* from the packing. (The Engrish lies, there is no cake!)

I was expecting more like a cheaply made, stretched clone of a ZZ-M. This is 2wd, geared fast, coil steering, bit size motor. I would have been on it if this came out early in the micro craze back when Bits, Zips, and bullet clones were all you could get; the ZZ-SE and ZZ-M weren't even thought of for a couple years yet. I'd probably go $10-15 on one, but not the $20 I dropped.

It's a monster truck, maybe a mudder; not a crawler.

They can probably be modded pretty well to be better. Right off the bat I'm wondering about a ZZ-M motor, maybe 3rd cell, trim knuckle holders add pen spring, rework rear pod hinge...

[ibjamn]

now you're talking.....

[rcrally]

Looks so cool but I bet its steering is not so good.

[vwmicrosizer]

done anything to it yet?

[frizzen]

No, I got a Losi micro crawler for birthday. This isn't anywhere close to a priority for me.