Force RC Muckraker

[Jerry-Rigged]

That reminds me, I need to re-up my tower membership. I need to buy some tires, so now would be a good time...

SS coupon would make it about $220?

 

[Jimbobjr]

tower coupon code 011P2 is $35 of of $230 or more so if it works $215. Not a bad deal.

 

[Slick2500]

Sales tax

 

[Jimbobjr]

Made front and rear braces and rear support. Also put a BLX system in it. It is the fastest car a own, absolute nut case. Very please how this all worked out. I see some more aluminum suspension mounts being made and a motor/diff top plate in the future.

 

[karimsameh95]

I am debating between this and an Arrma Granite/Big Rock 4x4 BLX. Any opinions?

 

[Jerry-Rigged]

If you have $300, for a first RC, I'd say Granite. If you have a few 1/10 MT and SCTs already, then I'd say try the Force truggies.

But as a stand alone RC, get the Arrma.

 

[Jimbobjr]

Tough call there. I don’t own any of the 3s arrmas. They seem really tough, plugand play but they are 90% plastic. This truggy when on sale for $250 (215 with the coupon) you have a tunable 3 diff all metal drive train, aluminum chassis, shock towers, and shocks and will run 4s with a 100amp esc. That is hard to beat. At least one guy switch out the esc for the BLX185 (like 45 bucks on eBay) and runs 6s with the stock motor. I switch out the whole system with the arrma 6s motor and esc.

It will run just fine with the system that comes with it. I geared mine up a bit maybe 16t I think for bashing with no trouble. Comes with 12t installed and a 14t in the box. You will want to at least put the 14t.

Read up on the Granite, lots of good reading and watching. Some cool upgrades available. My pick out of the 3s line would be the typhon because of the 17mm wheel hexes.

 

[karimsameh95]

Sounds good, leaning towards this over 3s Arrma. Two questions though.

How big of a pinion do you guys think I could put in the stock setup on 4s without running into overheating issues?

Also what's with the turning radius problem I keep hearing about? JayTee from YouTube said it's because of upper a-arm flex. Heard that Duratrax upper a-arms work on it (part number DTXC4221). Has anyone tried this?

 

[Jimbobjr]

I ran a 16tooth pinion with no trouble. Comes with 13 and 15. You may be able to go higher just keep an eye on temps.
Turning radius is not great, combination of small hinge area on arms, arm design(flexy) and cheap servo. Mine is far better after I put my mods into it. They are found in my thread on it in other rcs. Don’t expect race quality, it’s still a cheap truggy. I wouldn’t throw tons of money at it just do mods you can do for cheap. Mine, aside from the 6s system I had in a box, cost me a few hours and and some aluminum a had laying around. Pays to have a Bridgeport mill and south bend lathe in the garage. I don’t know how anyone lives without them...

 

[Jfpryde]

I was looking at this, but I noticed all the Force stuff is "on clearnace". Is it possible that the brand is being killed off? I'm ready kind of annoyed with the direction that ECX went with. Also, I dont wanna end up with another rig that wont have part support a few years down the road. Say what you will about Traxxas, but I can always get parts for my kids Rustler.

 

[Jimbobjr]

I am a little concerned with that as well. However with a little research I’ve found many parts from Duratrax fit this. They don’t make any cars any more yet their product lives on...

 

[karimsameh95]

Anyone here also try the HobbyKing Basher Sabertooth? Seems pretty similar to the Muckraker.

 

[Jfpryde]

Looks like the Force Rc stuff is on clearance at Tower. I guess they are done, too bad...
I'm in process of making braces for this as the plastic ones are clapped out. Too flimsy and once they are flexed a couple hundred times they are permanently bent. Also throwing in a BLX system I have as a spare so I can run 6s. the difs in this thing are very stout (next time I have them out I will take a pic...) and the drive shafts and cvds are the same diameter as my 6s arrmas so it should take it.

I guess I should read the whole thread

 

[GhostProtocol]

I received my Muckraker today and ran it briefly (around 10 minutes) just to get a feel for it and I must say, that I am impressed so far. I mostly drive on low grass, relatively flat dirt, and pavement so I probably won't be testing the upper limits of durability but it seems tough enough. I did smack a curb at about 20mph but that was nothing major. It will get a chance to stretch its legs out tomorrow if it doesn't rain but so far, so good.

 

[karimsameh95]

Seems like FS Racing is the OEM. Here is the Monster Truck Version, which comes with 6S capable electronics stock.

http://www.fs-racingart.com/detail.php?pid=2134

Can't figure out where it is actually sold though.

 

[GhostProtocol]

Seems like FS Racing is the OEM. Here is the Monster Truck Version, which comes with 6S capable electronics stock.

http://www.fs-racingart.com/detail.php?pid=2134

Can't figure out where it is actually sold though.

I was on that site last night. It is interesting that the OEM stock electronics are set to run 6S but the Americanized version is only 4s.

 

[Jimbobjr]

I’ve been running this with the blx setup with my mods on 6s for a few runs with weather permitting. It is a lot of fun, maybe my favorite at the moment. No breakages yet due to the relative light weight, not even the wing. It’s a wheelie machine and does backflips on 6s no problem and just sails. After my rip today I maxed out at 168f motor temp with the 16t pinion. I have some talion wheels I’m going to try which are a bit lighter.

It is the right weight for the blx. I feel the Kraton maxes the blx out and then add a few heavier upgrades and next thing you know the motor is pushing 200f. At least mine is...

I found some aluminum suspension mounts and rear brace for anyone who can’t make their own. Looks like Force bought the DuraTrax design and changed a few things. Brace, diffs and suspension mounts and maybe a few other parts can possibly be used. https://www.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0005p?&I=DTXD78YY&P=Z

 

[karimsameh95]

Just got mine! You guys think the T-Bone bumper for the Duratrax 835B would be a direct fit?

https://tboneracing.net/products/17063-tbr-1-8-basher-front-bumper-duratrax-835b

 

[Jimbobjr]

I bet it would, i did not know about the DuraTrax vehicle being similar so I bought my bumper undrilled. If the Muckraker bumper is left on it might be a little tight.

 

[Jimbobjr]

Update on breakages, bent my rear tower today and broke front cvd. Thankfully I found my cvd and fixed it. Just had to make a new pin. For the tower I just removed it and beat it straight with a dead blow hammer and put it back on. Good to go. Will need a new body soon, this one is pretty durable but the front body mount holes are both in bad shape and the pins pull thru now...