• Welcome to RCTalk! 🚀

    Join the #1 RC community where hobbyists connect, share, and get expert advice on RC cars, trucks, boats, drones, and more!

    • Friendly & passionate RC enthusiasts
    • RC tips & troubleshooting
    • Buy, sell & trade RC gear
    • Share builds & upgrades

scale rig question

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

hpinitromt

Gone - bye bye.
Messages
386
Reaction score
0
Points
0
RC Driving Style
  1. Bashing
recently i have been getting interested in scale rigs, mostly crawlers, like the tamiya land cruiser or maybe a hi-lift turned crawler
does anyone have some links to scale rig websites?
 
i like that site, the rc4wd rigs are nice, but more than i want to spend, i mean more than the wife will let me spend, lol
 
That's why it's taken me a year to build my tuber, trying to keep the wife out of my paypal account is like trying to keep Michael Jackson out of Chuck-e-cheese, lol. Even though I am building a large percentage of it myself from scratch, good electronics and running gear ain't cheap.

You might do better picking up a used scale rig and then customize it to make it your own. You could also pick up a used ax10 for a decent price and then throw an x-trail chassis underneath it.
 
Last edited:
That's why it's taken me a year to build my tuber, trying to keep the wife out of my paypal account is like trying to keep Michael Jackson out of Chuck-e-cheese, lol. Even though I am building a large percentage of it mtself from scratch, good electronics and running gear ain't cheap.

You might do better picking up a used scale rig and then customize it to make it your own. You could also pick up a used ax10 for a decent price and then throw an x-trail chassis underneath it.
thats what i was thinking of doing, the xtrail is from rc4wd, right?
i wish i had the talent to build something like your tuber
oh ya, that micheal jackson joke was funny,lol
 
$39!? wow, ill get one before i get a ax10 lol, I've been planning on getting a ax10 anyways
i can use all the parts of the ax10 on the xtrail? i want a scale body and wheels and tires though, I'm new to the whole scale rig scene
 
Sure, run an 8th scale lid, my personal preference is the Jeep Rubicon with 2.2 tires, but any Savage lid should look good on the ax10. You could also go with some 1.9 rims and some of the taller 1.9 tires made by RC4WD. It has an adjustable wheel base, so fitting different lids is not too difficult. Everything from the ax10 bolts right up to the x-trail, but you will need to buy their hardware kit also to set the stock shocks up for full droop or they won't work on the chassis.
 
I was considering going that route, but then when I looked into scale rigs, I realized that the x trail and axial combo is a long way away from a true scale setup. You will spend a lot more trying to make that actually scale than you would if you just went and bought a trailfinder chassis.

I'm with NCNitro, look around at the used rigs. Just like any other RC, people poor tons of money into these rigs, usually have several, and when they want something new they have to sell one off really cheap. I've been seeing TONS of scalers for sale, because so many guys are trying to buy the slash's right now.

I'm just telling you because I was planning to do a scale build with an x-trail chassis, the end result will be nothing like the bruiser style chassis or even not as scale as the high lift.
 
I was considering going that route, but then when I looked into scale rigs, I realized that the x trail and axial combo is a long way away from a true scale setup. You will spend a lot more trying to make that actually scale than you would if you just went and bought a trailfinder chassis.

I'm with NCNitro, look around at the used rigs. Just like any other RC, people poor tons of money into these rigs, usually have several, and when they want something new they have to sell one off really cheap. I've been seeing TONS of scalers for sale, because so many guys are trying to buy the slash's right now.

I'm just telling you because I was planning to do a scale build with an x-trail chassis, the end result will be nothing like the bruiser style chassis or even not as scale as the high lift.
i was thinking of the high lift, we'll have to see, where have you seen scalers for sale, ebay?
 
Nope, I buy most of my scaler and crawler stuff on the crawler forums. I used to buy a few things each day on ebay, and lately everything I've been buying (except for a few things here and there) has been on the forums.

I tried to send you a private message but it says you can't receive them. Over at rccrawler.com, they have a very active classified section. I hardly ever post or open threads there because they guys there can be so self centered and such big gopher nut in their face heads. But the classifieds section is great. the scale site that NC posted has more stuff for sale specifically for scalers. I would say on the crawler site, there's usually about 20-30 different for sale threads started every day. All you have to do is buy a supporting star for 20 bucks, and you can buy and sell all you want. I've bought 2 chassis, 3 motors, and a bunch of other misc. parts there in the last few days.

I considered the high lift too. If you mainly aren't concerned with the chassis, and bing able to see the clamps on the scale fuel lines kinda stuff, then the highlift might be a good choice for you. Personally, I think the hilux looks more scale than the F150, AND it comes with a surfboard lol. It looks very scale with the body on, and it's a pretty good little runner. My big scaler project is going to be a shelf queen, and I will probably be building the trailfinder or a similar chassis. I'm going to be building a tube chassis scaler for my basher. I'm in the Ark-La-Miss crawlers, and we have a comp every month, along with a scaler get together. So they set up courses that go down trails and through water and stuff for the scalers, so that's what my tuber will be for. If I was mainly concerned with how it looks with the body on, I would probably do the HiLux. But I'm building my shelf queen for the scale appearance without a body. Also, there are some aftermarket parts to upgrade the highlifts when you want.
 
Last edited:
I'm just telling you because I was planning to do a scale build with an x-trail chassis, the end result will be nothing like the bruiser style chassis or even not as scale as the high lift.

Nothing is as true to scale as a bruiser chassis. But the high lift is so far from scale once you take the lid off it's not even funny. The chassis looks nothing at all like a real chassis, no more than the x-trail does. Not everyone has unlimited deep pockets either to go balls out bruiser style truck, so the x-trail is a very nice option for the money, and it will look as scale as a high lift if you were to detail a lexan body or throw a hardbody on the chassis. So imo it's a real nice set up, especially for the price.
 
Yeah well you know your scalers a lot better than I do NC, and now I'm really glad that you talked me out of the high lift. Would you run the x-trail with 1.9 or 2.2 inch tires? I'm going to look around. I just haven't run across an x trail that had really been scaled out. Would you use leaf springs to get rid of the links?
 
Last edited:
I tell ya what, the droop set up with the 4 link on the x-trail works nice.

As far as tire size that would depend on what body and what look you are going for. My tuber I'll run 2.2s but on my next scaler, a clod bodied scaler I have begun messing with, I'm gonna run on 1.9s

Are you gonna go with a hard body or lexan?
 
Those are some sweet axles. Hows the width compared to your body? You know they are going to be making a mini t-rex axle that will be narrower to fit the wheels completely under the lid.
 
I'll have to check the width before I order. I'll be using 1.9 wheels for it, and if the axles are too wide, I'll just raise the body a little higher.
I would MUCH rather rust these up than some polished aluminum beauties, and besides, after looking at the two crawlers with the leaf springs yesterday, I decided to make my own frame.
Now I need a lead on a trans and drive shafts so I can start my layout.
 
i definitely want something with leaf springs and a hard body, i think ill go the ax10 and x trail route
 
Back
Top