Gonna buy a TRX-4 Sport. Your thoughts?

[ZaneC]

I hope to buy a TRX-4 Sport here soon (my dad says I have to get rid of a RC or two first) and I need some tips. Are there any things that need to be changed or upgraded right away? What are it's pros and cons? Stuff like that.

 

[Greywolf74]

pros:
Its another RC
Its a Traxxas
Its another RC

cons:



I'm just being silly. I dont own that kit

 

[Doom!]

I can't help with this one either but from what I have seen it's pretty solid right out of the box, no rush to upgrade until ya see something it needs or just plain looks cool.

 

[ferrebee88]

Nothing wrong with the TRX4 sport. I have never purchased the RTR version, but I have built a couple in kit form. Nothing really needs "upgraded" unless the upgrades will suit what you intend to do with it.
Personally, I upgrade 2 things: I put in the Bowhouse RC LCG battery tray and steering servo mount. I just put in the bowhouse servo mount because it makes it easier to put non traxxas servos in. I would highly recomend buying the kit version. It is very easy to put together and you learn a lot in the process. Then you can pick your own electronics.


https://www.amainhobbies.com/bowhouse-rc-trx4-steering-servo-mount-bwh-btx-0030c/p753648
https://www.amainhobbies.com/bowhouse-rc-trx4-molded-low-cg-battery-tray-bwh-btx-0060j/p865867

 

[ZaneC]

Thanks for your reply. I will definitely look into that.
Also, I've never known what Low CG means.

 

[WickedFog]

The center of gravity on any RC is one of the more important factors to having a stable RC. The lower you get the CG, the less likely the rig will tip over. In buggies, touring cars, etc, it also helps keep the tires planted for cornering. That's why race cars are slammed on the ground.

This image is a good representation if how it works. Once the center of gravity is moved outside the support (tires on our RC cars), the object will tip.

Another example.

 

[ZaneC]

That's pretty neat!

 

[WickedFog]

Yeah, it is. You can actually figure out where your CG is. That is, if you understand this ...
https://www.grc.nasa.gov/www/k-12/rocket/cg.html#:~:text=Taking the sum of the,produce the center of gravity.

 

[Xraycer]

The TRX4 platform is excellent! The sport body weighs nothing, so the lcg is already fairly low. Best lcg bang for the buck would be brass wheel weights.
Those Canyon Trail stock tires are actually really good for crawling, so really no need to upgrade those.
This is my much heavier and taller Defender TRX4 with just brass wheel weights and no other mods.

 

[ZaneC]

I've considered that myself. I'll probably do that in the near future.

 

[FJC_GUY]

The TRX4 platform is excellent! The sport body weighs nothing, so the lcg is already fairly low. Best lcg bang for the buck would be brass wheel weights.
Those Canyon Trail stock tires are actually really good for crawling, so really no need to upgrade those.
This is my much heavier and taller Defender TRX4 with just brass wheel weights and no other mods. View attachment 158973

I haven't tried it but I've read a lot of people have cut the very small lugs out of the center section and it makes a big difference.

I love my Sport, ran it pretty much stock for 2 years other than a Hobbywing 1080 and aluminum axle housings that were needed after I snapped a housing playing in the snow.

I can say that out of the box it outperformed my wife's mildly modified Redcat Gen 8 V2 and I've run lines with it that guys with similarly modded SCX10s are running. If I was going to get into comps I would probably start with a different platform but for what I do I'm very happy with it.

Here are a couple of pictures of mine as it sat a month ago with the stock body, and where it's going, the blue body.

 

[ZaneC]

Man! That's really cool! Both bodies are really nice. I guess it's proved it's waterproof ability.

 

[FJC_GUY]

Man! That's really cool! Both bodies are really nice. I guess it's proved it's waterproof ability.

I put a Hobbywing 1080 ESC in it shortly after I bought it because I wanted more control than what the stock ESC provides. It's a pretty cheap upgrade that provides big "bang for your buck" results in how it drives. Ran that with the stock motor for I think a little over 2 years. Up until recently I didn't stay out of water but I didn't play submarine much. That just happened to be right after I swapped in the Hobbywing Fusion Pro 2300 brushless and I decided to make sure it was watertight while it was new and the river was high.

If I was going to do a kit, which is a great way to learn about the truck, and wanted to stay budget friendly I would buy:

1) TRX4 Sport Kit
2) Hobbywing 1080 ESC
3) Holmes Hobbies Crawlmaster motor
4) Flysky GT3 Radio and Reciever
5) for LiPo I started with this charger which isn't the cheapest but it was highly recommended and has proven itself to be accurate in my use of it.
https://www.amazon.com/Common-Sense-RC-Multi-Chemistry-Balancing/dp/B07BFKG5H3?th=1
6) for batteries there are a ton of suggestions and everyone has their favorites, I've had really good luck with Zeee branded packs from Amazon. I have several and they all charge and discharge well and have stayed balanced

The blue body is the Sport Camper body. Some people paint it like I did to look like an SUV and some people paint it to look like a truck with a canopy on the bed.

 

[Paul_G]

I like my sport

 

[Jimbobjr]

Theres tons of free upgrades you can do to the trx4 sport. get rid of the battery tray and mount a small battery up front. get rid of the receiver box and mount it inside a balloon. remove the bumpers (theyre heavy and get caught on everything), the body keys on the bumper mounts. make some spacers and raise the sliders up at least 1/4" and trim the body all the way around. theres more i just can't think of them. great truck as is but to get it to perform a little better takes no money.
Great rtr or kit. only one i might like a little better is the Element rc ecto (got one and its pretty good)...look at the axial Base camp as well (dont own one of those...) many really like it. anotherone thats worth a look is the redcat gen9 (i do have a gen8...). can't go wrong with the trx4 but theres a lot more options now and the others are starting to catch up after 6 years or so the trx4 been out.
rock on!

 

[ferrebee88]

Here is my TRX4 sport: bowhouse lcg battery tray and servo mount, savox servo, mamba x/2280kv motor, and front/rear selectable locking diff kit. I run it on a 3s shorty pack.

 

[Xraycer]

Another tip is that it's not necessary to run a large 5000mAh battery. A larger battery will raise your center of gravity. I run 2000mAh batteries with my crawlers, and it'll run for about an hour. This however, depends on how often you run at full speed.

 

[ZaneC]

Boy, this is great! All of this information will really help me. I'll definitely try out a lot of this stuff.