Oddly Underrated - Element Gatekeeper

[MVRCA]

With some tuning and love, the Element Gatekeeper does pretty well out on the rocks. There's no doubt it has some limitations, but for the kit price ( when it was still offered - sub $300 ), it's not too shabby.

 

[WickedFog]

With some tuning and love, the Element Gatekeeper does pretty well out on the rocks. There's no doubt it has some limitations, but for the kit price ( when it was still offered - sub $300 ), it's not too shabby.

View attachment 197782

Are you planning on hopping it up more to fix the limitations? I always loved the look of the Gatekeeper.

 

[majin]

man id kill for terrain like that looks like your crawling on mars

 

[MVRCA]

Are you planning on hopping it up more to fix the limitations? I always loved the look of the Gatekeeper.

We went through this truck and made a handful of changes:

1. Motor flip
2. Electronics relocation
3. Shock tower mounts
4. Shock mods
5. New steering linkage
6. Brass knucks and diff cover.

It remains a chassis -mounted servo though. We have 2 Gatekeepers; one for crawling and one of rock racing, and on the rock racer we did a servo-on-axle mount.

Some time ago we had an Ecto body on it for weight savings ( shown in this photo ) and it was a very good crawler. That said, I missed the personality of the Gatekeeper, so I reinstalled the heavy roll cage. It makes a big difference on steep lines, but I've just learned to deal with it's limitations.

 

[WickedFog]

We went through this truck and made a handful of changes:

1. Motor flip
2. Electronics relocation
3. Shock tower mounts
4. Shock mods
5. New steering linkage
6. Brass knucks and diff cover.

It remains a chassis -mounted servo though. We have 2 Gatekeepers; one for crawling and one of rock racing, and on the rock racer we did a servo-on-axle mount.

Some time ago we had an Ecto body on it for weight savings ( shown in this photo ) and it was a very good crawler. That said, I missed the personality of the Gatekeeper, so I reinstalled the heavy roll cage. It makes a big difference on steep lines, but I've just learned to deal with it's limitations.

View attachment 197783

Love that body on it as well.

 

[MVRCA]

At some point we will get the new Vanquish H10 Optic, and I want to compare the factory setup to our modified Gatekeeper. Compare and contrast the two units. I'm pretty confident our Gatekeeper will out perform the H10 in it's OEM setup, but I think with a little tuning, the H10 can surpass the Gatekeeper. I'm just waiting for the kit version or for it to go on a Black Friday sale; the OEM electronics are destine for the trash can on day 1, so I'd rather avoid paying for them if at all possible.

 

[WickedFog]

At some point we will get the new Vanquish H10 Optic, and I want to compare the factory setup to our modified Gatekeeper. Compare and contrast the two units. I'm pretty confident our Gatekeeper will out perform the H10 in it's OEM setup, but I think with a little tuning, the H10 can surpass the Gatekeeper. I'm just waiting for the kit version or for it to go on a Black Friday sale; the OEM electronics are destine for the trash can on day 1, so I'd rather avoid paying for them if at all possible.

It pisses me off that companies are optimg to do away with kit versions of their RC's. My thinking is they must be making more profit off the crappy electronics than they do off the actual kit. I don't know why else they wouldn't just sell every RC vehicle they make as a kit. I miss the good old days when RTR wasn't even a thing.

 

[MVRCA]

It pisses me off that companies are optimg to do away with kit versions of their RC's. My thinking is they must be making more profit off the crappy electronics than they do off the actual kit. I don't know why else they wouldn't just sell every RC vehicle they make as a kit. I miss the good old days when RTR wasn't even a thing.

I think it's two things: more profit and a wider audience. I absolutely favor kits myself. Except for that stupid 1/24 kit of mine, but it's no more. I traded it for lunch next week. Expensive lunch for sure, but I'm tired of seeing it as a $700 paperweight. At least the lunch will be good.

 

[Chubaka]

I think it's two things: more profit and a wider audience. I absolutely favor kits myself. Except for that stupid 1/24 kit of mine, but it's no more. I traded it for lunch next week. Expensive lunch for sure, but I'm tired of seeing it as a $700 paperweight. At least the lunch will be good.

I traded my e10 for water and Gatorade for the week at work.

 

[Lucifur10]

I have a gatekeeper as well. Depressing that AE stopped producing it. I'm impressed with the crawling ability. It's no lightweight but seems strong and sturdy.

 

[shwiftypickle]

I did the same, built the ecto and it was super capable. Its also 40mm wider and on 137mm 2.2s. Went back to the cage with some new panels. Fun rig!