Just My Luck...

sidewinder · Post by **sidewinder** » Tue Sep 02, 2008 5:14 pm

I was about to bite the nitro bullet until one day at the park a kid had sportwerks chaos, it looked and sounded cool but I smoked it with my stock Mini Baja. I mentioned that to the truggy guy at the LHS and he pointed out that their brush-less E-Revo will outrun their Revo 3.3 (I think it was a 3.3...it was a 3.something). I was planning on ordering a 1/8 Himoto Monster that night until we took the E-Revo out back and played with it. Now I'm starting the E-Revo/Brush-less savings account.

payaso · Post by **payaso** » Tue Sep 02, 2008 7:24 pm

You'll have way more fun with a nitro and the new electrics out there are going to cost you a fortune.

Betwee a BL motor and ESC and RX and lipos, you'll be out a grand. Yep, a grand.....

To make BL as much fun as nitro, you'll need a couple batts. Those alone will run you between $400-$800

A 4s 8000mah lipo is around $400 for one.

You'd need at least 2 to keep from waiting on batts to charge. There are cheaper batts, but you get what you pay for.

Not that nitro is cheap, (especially at $35 a gallon) but it's way cheaper than BL for monster trucks.

silla

crazydave · Post by **crazydave** » Tue Sep 02, 2008 10:39 pm

I have to agree with Payaso on this one. A single battery brushless/Lipo 2wd truck will run about what you'll pay for that Himoto, probably more once you get the Lipo charger, and when looking in a comparable price range, I believe the larger gas truck is gonna give you more for your dollar. Personally if I had a grand to blow, I'd be looking at a Baja 5B... alright, so I'm already having fantasies, that will never happen, but a guy can dream can't he?

crazydave · Post by **crazydave** » Tue Sep 16, 2008 8:56 am

Ok now I can elaborate on this. I recently reviewed the Exceed Techtonic, it's a 1/8th monster that sells at NitroRCX.com for $270. The radio gear is crap, but the truck itself is solid and worth every penny. The E-revo was reviewed in the same issue so that gave me a good chance to make a direct comparison.

The E-Revo runs $450, and was tested with a pair of MaxAmps Lipos, which would run just over a hundred a piece, and you'd need the appropriate charger. Altogether about a $350 power package, so you're looking at a grand total of around $800, and that setup tops out at 27mph

The Techtonic on the other hand is $279. A glow starter and a quart of fuel will run you about $25, so you're up and running for just over $300, and it tops out at just over 35mph.... seems like a no-brainer to me.

Smoke&Mirrors · Post by **Smoke&Mirrors** » Tue Sep 16, 2008 1:50 pm

Well sorry to go off topic and back on to my nitros

but I got her running. I took it to a local shop and they said basically that the starter motor was too weak. So I got a new one for $12 bucks and now she runs well. The thing is it's so fast that I've already broken the rear shock tower ($6 rpm) and now the air filter ($12). I think this thing is going to be too much money for me and I already have my S-Maxx. I'd really like to get an Axial like I've been talking about for a while now. There's a huge swap meet coming up at my local shop in Sacramento. How much do you guys think I could get for the 4-Tec? It runs great now and I've replace all the broken parts. It has scratches from use.

payaso · Post by **payaso** » Tue Sep 16, 2008 4:51 pm

You should be able to get around 250ish for it. If you can't get that, I'd just keep it.

silla

sidewinder · Post by **sidewinder** » Tue Sep 16, 2008 6:03 pm

Yeah, $250 seems like it would be doable. I've looked on ebay and there are some pretty beat-up 4-TECs' that have gone for over $200.

Hey Dave, what do you mean by pretty crappy when you refer to the electronics? Glitchy, short range, slow? It sounds like a pretty good deal, and with the shell that you painted it looks pretty good too.

payaso · Post by **payaso** » Tue Sep 16, 2008 7:54 pm

sidewinder wrote:Hey Dave, what do you mean by pretty crappy when you refer to the electronics? Glitchy, short range, slow?

Yup....

RTR electronics are basically to get it RTR and out the door. Losi is the exception and not the rule with theirs. They actually use nice JR synth gear. NOT RTR shit at all.

silla

Smoke&Mirrors · Post by **Smoke&Mirrors** » Tue Sep 16, 2008 9:36 pm

Well so far, every time I've taken the 4-Tec out I've busted something on it. Just to top things off today I had her in a parking lot and just as I was pulling her in I blew a tire. Now I need to get a whole new set before I sell her. I'm done with the 4-Tec. I'll go low and slow now. I've found what looks like a pretty good deal on craigslist for an axial. What do you guys think?

The AX10 is pretty much stock. It does have the front axle battery mount with a Nimh brick battery and rear steering. It has a integy 55t lathe motor and a dynamite tazer ESC. The servos are Hitec HS645mg. The only thing else that is not stock are the tires which are Losi rock claws. If you want the Spektrum reciever add another $50 to the price. Other wise add your radio, reciever and battery charger and you are all set up.
Here's a few pictures:

He offered a Spektrum receiver for $50, but I don't have the transmitter and I know those suckers are expensive. Any cheap suggestions? I was thinking of getting a Traxxas receiver and using the TQ3 from my smaxx with it. I'm kinda new to it all so correct me if I'm wrong.

payaso · Post by **payaso** » Tue Sep 16, 2008 10:35 pm

You can use the TQ3 and Rx ...

Even have an open channel for lights or something.

silla

SHAUN · Post by **SHAUN** » Tue Sep 16, 2008 11:48 pm

It depends on how much he wants for it, but it looks alright to me. The RX and TQ3 radio would be fine, I'm running one in my comp rig and haven't had any problems.

For some reason alot of the guys like to use expensive radios with crawling, it really isn't needed at all, I like to use the TQ3 because its cheap, you can pick up a brand new receiver and Transmitter off of Ebay for $20. Also why I use cheap radio with crawling is because your bound to drop it at some point, the TQ3 is tough as hell, not to mention if I drop it and break it, its just $20 for a new one, instead of $250 for a new Spektrum transmitter.

Smoke&Mirrors · Post by **Smoke&Mirrors** » Wed Sep 17, 2008 3:38 am

Oh, I forgot to add, he only wants $250 for it all. Just add receiver, TX, and charger.

crazydave · Post by **crazydave** » Wed Sep 17, 2008 12:27 pm

That sounds like a deal to me.