Posted the Kraton 8s for sale, what should I get next?

[jojobeans]

Batteries are hard to come by in my area and I can't get them shipped here anymore. All the hobby shop sells are Common Sense Lectron Pro's and I'm tired of spending several hundred dollars on batteries for 3 minutes of run time out of those junk LiPo's... I want another one and this go around I'm looking at a Gas one. Not looking for speed or massive jumps, I just want to drive the darn thing!

Ideally I wan't to stay under or right at $1,000. Losi 5t and DBXL is out of the budget. HPI Baja 5b has been a dream of mine since I was in middle school, but it looks like all they sell is kits now and that's not something I'm really interested in doing at this time. Have the clones like Rovan improved over the years or are they still regarded as not being very good? Any other brands for 1/5 scale gassers that have popped up over the years? Thoughts?

 

[WickedFog]

@Tunedfrog has two Rovan 5b's that he built from parts and brags on them quite a bit. A couple other guys here have them. And if you look around on aliexpress, you can get them for cheap.

 

[fstnd]

You could buy a second handed HPI baja or a new Rovan. Their quality is kinda close so far I've heard.
I've heard a lot of unsatisfied people with the ChungYang engines they come with though

 

[RELIC01]

Save , save , save , and do the gas thing right losi 5t 2.0 and FORGETABOUTIT , trustworthy rig and worth every penny I’ve been through the “ it’s all I can afford debacle, you just end up fixing the crap you get for being a affordable p.o.s. , this whole freeeeekn world has been charted !!!! U GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR !! Buy quality or spend money trying go make good out of trash

 

[TeknoJ]

Grab a 30degree north truck roller and a zenoah 32cc. It’s a solid truck and a zenoah is a quality engine. I think you could be right around the $1000 mark.

 

[TeknoJ]

 

[9x19]

Is the 30 degrees north model a clone of the Lost 5T?

 

[TeknoJ]

Is the 30 degrees north model a clone of the Lost 5T?

It sure is, and a pretty darn good one from what I hear. I dont have the 5t so I can’t confirm but, I really enjoy mine and have had no issues. I Have driven the crap out of it.
The only issues I have had were with the motor and that was a mix of a small crankcase leak and inexperience. It runs well now.

 

[KnowAir]

Batteries are hard to come by in my area and I can't get them shipped here anymore. All the hobby shop sells are Common Sense Lectron Pro's and I'm tired of spending several hundred dollars on batteries for 3 minutes of run time out of those junk LiPo's... I want another one and this go around I'm looking at a Gas one. Not looking for speed or massive jumps, I just want to drive the darn thing!

Ideally I wan't to stay under or right at $1,000. Losi 5t and DBXL is out of the budget. HPI Baja 5b has been a dream of mine since I was in middle school, but it looks like all they sell is kits now and that's not something I'm really interested in doing at this time. Have the clones like Rovan improved over the years or are they still regarded as not being very good? Any other brands for 1/5 scale gassers that have popped up over the years? Thoughts?

Sorry to hear you’re having trouble sourcing batteries. I just bought a pair of Ovonic 4s 9000 from Temu for $33. Yes, a pair for $33! LOL. Good? Well they do work. Which is really all I could hope for. Ran once in the K8, several cycles through the Xmaxx, no complaints. Definitely not true 9000’s, but $33.. ridiculous.
I been eyeing both the 5iveT and the 30 DN Roller. I’m looking to go electric myself so either would require a conversion. I hear the v2 30 DN is really good also. Biggest difference being driveline parts “they” say. Losi metals are better I guess. Wish Losi made a 1/5 truggy, I’d be all over that.

 

[jojobeans]

Sorry to hear you’re having trouble sourcing batteries. I just bought a pair of Ovonic 4s 9000 from Temu for $33. Yes, a pair for $33! LOL. Good? Well they do work. Which is really all I could hope for. Ran once in the K8, several cycles through the Xmaxx, no complaints. Definitely not true 9000’s, but $33.. ridiculous.
I been eyeing both the 5iveT and the 30 DN Roller. I’m looking to go electric myself so either would require a conversion. I hear the v2 30 DN is really good also. Biggest difference being driveline parts “they” say. Losi metals are better I guess. Wish Losi made a 1/5 truggy, I’d be all over that.

I really wish I could get cheap batteries again. Amain is the only place that will ship them and they want $150 in just shipping for even a small 2s LiPo and they take 3-4 weeks to get here. I remember 13 years ago I could get dirt cheap packs off hobby king with free shipping, but ever since they put the restrictions on LiPo's for airlines, shipping has become ridiculous. Oddly enough though, they'll ship a gallon of nitro fuel with no hazmat fees. Riddle me that one! lol

I can get Gen's Ace Redline LiHv packs locally, they just don't have the capacity for a 1/5 scale. I just hope the RC man gets enough business to keep his doors open for a long time, otherwise id have to get out of electric RC's entirely at this rate. The Losi 5t is super appealing and saving a little longer to extend the budget would be fine, I'm just not into SCT's like I used to be. The Baja 5b really tickles my brain and I actually like the idea of it being 2wd. All my current RC's are 4wd and it would be nice to have something a little bit different.

Currently, I'm on the fence between the Rovan 5b or the HPI Baja kit. I can find the Rovan on sale on eBay for around $500 RTR and the Baja kit is around $700. I'll do some more research and hopefully some more people chime in that have the Rovans. If the drivetrain is solid and they're reasonably durable, I'll probably settle for the Rovan and upgrade the motor at a later date. Like I said in the OP, I'm not looking to massive jumps. I just want something I can get a lot of run time with in an open field in the woods or something to take camping so I don't have to lug batteries with me or worry about charging them.

 

[jojobeans]

Save , save , save , and do the gas thing right losi 5t 2.0 and FORGETABOUTIT , trustworthy rig and worth every penny I’ve been through the “ it’s all I can afford debacle, you just end up fixing the crap you get for being a affordable p.o.s. , this whole freeeeekn world has been charted !!!! U GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR !! Buy quality or spend money trying go make good out of trash

I know this all too well and normally advocate it. I have my fair share of wildly expensive RC's in my fleet. I also have some cheap ones and they work fine as long as I manage my expectations with them. I just can't swallow spending $1500 for what I actually want to do with this. If I wanted to bash it like I do my 1/8 scales, this wouldn't even be a question lol. I just want something huge I can drive in an open lot and maybe do *small* jumps with... My favorite thing about the kraton was I didn't need to rally or launch it into the air it to have fun. I had a blast just driving it like we all did when we got our first RC's because it was just so big. I just want to do that for more than 3 minutes

Shoot I have a 18 year old 4909 Tmaxx. Short wheel base 3.3 with reverse. Probably the worst Tmaxx ever made with original factory bulkheads and I'm yet to break a single thing on it because I don't feel the need to launch this one into oblivion. If I can keep this together in one piece, I'm pretty confident I can save a buck on a 1/5 scale and get something a little lower quality as long as its not such low quality it'll destroys itself under its own power.

 

[WickedFog]

Folks were buying the Rovan off aliexpress for around $350 shipped during black friday.

 

[RELIC01]

Have fun with breaking motor mounts and also will need to upgrade gearing spline I’ve got a bash bud who bought one after I told him not to he has a unrepairible broken motor mounts on the engine housing not fixable without a new motor or housing not to mention there gutless and loud as world war 3 sorry but it is what it isnt

 

[TeknoJ]

Have fun with breaking motor mounts and also will need to upgrade gearing spline I’ve got a bash bud who bought one after I told him not to he has a unrepairible broken motor mounts on the engine housing not fixable without a new motor or housing not to mention there gutless and loud as world war 3 sorry but it is what it isnt

I have flipped it many times and never broken anything, my apologies but your friend must be unlucky.
I suggested the zenoah because it’s a high quality engine, and a good pipe. If your friend used the one it came with then that’s his problem. Maybe he also got the small engine, (it’s a 28cc or something ridiculous), anyway It comes with a terrible pipe which will make it gutless, don’t use it. I haven’t had any problems with the “gearing spline” (wtf is that)

 

[jojobeans]

I got a message from someone last night offering to trade an original and complete HPI Baja 5t that looks to me in VERY good shape for the Kraton 8s. Not to mention what looks like a Rovan clone "parts car" to go with it.

So that's settled, hopefully in the next week or so hell be driving up with them to do the trade.

 

[TeknoJ]

I got a message from someone last night offering to trade an original and complete HPI Baja 5t that looks to me in VERY good shape for the Kraton 8s. Not to mention what looks like a Rovan clone "parts car" to go with it.

So that's settled, hopefully in the next week or so hell be driving up with them to do the trade.

That’s a good deal I think.

 

[WickedFog]

I got a message from someone last night offering to trade an original and complete HPI Baja 5t that looks to me in VERY good shape for the Kraton 8s. Not to mention what looks like a Rovan clone "parts car" to go with it.

So that's settled, hopefully in the next week or so hell be driving up with them to do the trade.

Does it have the purple chassis? If it does, don't let @Chewbacca find out about it

 

[jojobeans]

Does it have the purple chassis? If it does, don't let @Chewbacca find out about it

It's not that old, orange parts and judging by the body, I'm guessing it was probably made around 2013ish. Hopefully the motor is still tight, doesn't look like it was ran very much judging by how clean the body and chassis look. We will see though once I can actually lay eyes on it in person as pictures can be deceiving, it's 300+ miles away at the moment.

I'll be sure to update this thread once that time comes. Id say its a pretty fair deal for both parties.

 

[WickedFog]

Well the current ones sell for $700+. So a gently used one woild be worth quite a bit. And it gets you what you want, and solves you battery problem. Win win.

 

[KnowAir]

I got a message from someone last night offering to trade an original and complete HPI Baja 5t that looks to me in VERY good shape for the Kraton 8s. Not to mention what looks like a Rovan clone "parts car" to go with it.

So that's settled, hopefully in the next week or so hell be driving up with them to do the trade.

Oh man! A GC Baja 5T is becoming scarce, score!!