Thinking about crawling

[ibanez830]

Hey, I'v seen a lot of videos showing electric rock crawlers and that sort of thing, and I'v always been intrested in the real rock crawling with actual cars. But now I'm thinking maybe I'll give this a try, but I have no knowledge what so ever about this whole thing. I only have a Savage so I'm thinking of trying something electric. But like I said I have no idea were to start looking. I'm 15 and have a crap part time job so I'm looking for something that is cheap yet reasonably good. If anyone has any suggestions on what crawler to get please help me out, and were I can get it, like ebay or something.
Oh and i forgot to add that also a truck with a lot of after market parts and parts that are easly found at LHS and online places.
I'm thinking of some kind of kit that comes with the battery's and chargers and everything. I'm not looking for something crazy good but something i can learn from then see if crawling is for me.
Thanks

 

[CharliesTheMan]

Hey Man, welcome to the rock! I can't tell you how much I found that I enjoy rock crawling, and I never even had an interest in full size crawlers. I've had about 20 RC's, monster trucks, race trucks, nitro, electric, and a large scale HPI Baja 5B SS gasser, and I enjoy crawling more than any other aspect of the hobby. It's a rush like no other, yet it's still very relaxing. And the best part? It's cheaper than anything else RC that I've been able to find.

For the rig, I definitely reccomend the Axial AX-10. You really have a couple of options. You can get the RTR Axial, which is a decent crawler, but has a lot of plastic on it and needs some upgrades to be ready to crawl. Or you can buy the Axial Kit, which is a MUCH more capable rig. Also, with the kit, you can buy a combo deal off ebay that comes with pretty much everything that you'll need to get started, including radio, batteries, charger, motor, ESC, and servo. Basically with this kit, and a $12 Towerpro or $20 HiTec servo, you will have a VERY capable rig to get started with.

You can buy the RTR for about $239 plus some shipping. You can buy the kit combo from RC Superstore on Ebay for $339, and it has everything you need. The kit is a much better deal and it has tons of aluminum upgrades that are plastic on the RTR.

If you have any questions feel free to shoot me a PM, I've been helping a lot of guys get started in crawling. A good friend of mine on here just bought that combo deal off ebay and has been very pleased with it.

There's also the new ARTR Axial that comes in orange, but you would have to buy all of the electronics, radio equipment, battery, charger, etc... for it seperate, and it would cost a good bit more money than buying the combo deal.
http://cgi.ebay.com/Axial-AX10-Scor...VQQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp1638Q2em118Q2el1247

Oh yea, you can check out my ride in the members projects section. It's phase 2 of charlie's crawler.

 

[SAVAGE_BASHER_K4.6]

i just got my crawler for fathers day and its da BOMB!!!!!!! best rc ever besides my Savage. i say totally get one and you will never regret it.

 

[Radron]

Yea, What Charlie said. I just got into crawling & am hooked. The AX-10 is a great rig! May I suggest as Charlie said, Go with the kit, You will be swapping out the electronics soon anyway. I started with the Castle Creations Sidewinder ESC & the Integy 55t Lathe Brushed motor. A very good starter set-up for just under $100.00 & you can switch to a brushless motor later & use the same ESC. I am very happy with this set-up & look forward to switching to Lipo's & brushless soon.

 

[ibanez830]

Hey, thank you for taking the time and writting so much, you guys got me all excited now lol. But I'll read more about crawlers cause i wanna learn more about them, and ill read reviews and all that and ill see what i can afford lol
once again thanks

 

[CharliesTheMan]

No problem man. Once you decide what you're looking for, I can help you find some stuff. I watch a lot of the forums for good deals on used rigs, so I'll be on the lookout. It's hard to be that deal on ebay though, because you get so much stuff with the rig for the price. I can't stress it enough, I never dreamed that I would like crawling. I thought going slow would be boring, but once I got behind the trigger it was over with. I think I made it three days after driving a crawler and I already had my Novak Goat brushless system ordered, and the next week I was building my first crawler. Words can't describe how much I enjoy crawling. I'm going to be first big comp tomorrow, and when I get back I will start work on my comp rig.

 

[ibanez830]

I'm lookin on ebay right now to see what kind of stuff they have. there are quite a few Axial AX-10 so i think I'm going to aim for one of those. i have no money now so i might have to wait a bit, but for now I'm gonna keep looking for some good deals. Itd be nice to find a complete kit with everything included like batteries and servos, but that might be hard

 

[CharliesTheMan]

No, it's easy, I included the link in the first post. With that kit, you can open the box and be crawling. It has a servo included, and you can upgrade later if you want. I buy a lot of my stuff from the forums, but if you buy a used rig, most likely you'll have to buy all the other stuff seperate, which will probably be more than the new combo above.

 

[ibanez830]

Darn...I was reading the shipping info and i get this " We no longer ship to or accept payments from outside the US" and I live in Canada.
Oh well I will keep looking

 

[ibanez830]

Well I was looking around and I saw tons of Axial AX-10 kits so I'm probably going to get one of those kits, but it doesn't come with electronics some I'm going to need your help with this.
Electronics (Not Included)
* Radio: 2 Channel
* Servos: 1 (Standard Size)
* Speed Control
* Motor: 540/550 Size
* Battery : 7.2v Stick Pack
This is what it says, but does it come with a remote? If anyone has any suggestions on what kind of motor, battery (and charger),and speed control and the servo please comment. And I'm also wondering how much all these extra electronics are gonna cost.
Thanks
http://cgi.ebay.ca/Axial-Scorpion-1...ryZ44029QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
This is what I'm going to try to get, but i just wanna know how much the electronics are going to cost

 

[Radron]

No. No Controller included. I used my Sensor Radio.Here's a list of the items I used. No real costly & should take you a long ways......

Servo; Hitec hs-645mg $25.00
Speed control, Castle Creations SideWinder ESC $80.00
Motor; Integy 55T Lathe $18.00
I made my own battery pack; 1400 mah 2/3 8 Cell $22.00

Hope this helps, Ron

 

[ibanez830]

Thanks Radron, thats exactly what I wanted to now

Okay, I have returned with more questions. I've been reading about batteries. I am aiming for lipo batteries but would I need anything special done to the actual truck. Also, to have a brushed or brushless motor would I need to do anything special with the truck. I'm looking for the good and cheap electronics but I want stuff that is fairly good. So if someone could write a full list of parts (that you would recomend) I would need and a price or an estimated price I would really really appreciate it. I'm looking for some brushless motor with lipo batteries and some sort of ESC. If anyone could tell me some good setups with those types of electronics I'd appreciate it. Or anything that is just good and would work too lol
Oh and about the controller. I have an old nitro truck in my basement that doesn't work, could i just take the crystal from the truck and put it in the Axial AX10 and just use that old controller.
thanks

 

[Radron]

The ESC I listed above is brushed & brushless compatable. You can also use Lipo's with it. That's why I used it. Yes you can use that controler also.

 

[CharliesTheMan]

Ibanez, I just got home from my comp, been going at it since 4 this morning. I'm worn out, but after a quick nap, I will be answering all of your questions.

 

[ibanez830]

That is fine, no rush Charlie, and Thanks Radron again, I'm gonna try to get that

 

[CharliesTheMan]

you can find the mamba's for around the same price as listed above, and they are a much better ESC. There is also a lot of them floating aroud used. If I was going to spend that much, I would go ahead and buy the mamba.

 

[ibanez830]

Okay so a mamba ESC. I'm writting all this down, so what kind of motor, and batteries do you recomend. and a servo
are these good
http://cgi.ebay.ca/High-torque-Brus...ryZ44028QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

http://cgi.ebay.ca/2-RC-7-2-V-3800-...ryZ34061QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

or here is a package with that motor and ESC
http://cgi.ebay.ca/Brushless-system...ryZ44028QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
This package thing says its for 1/8 scale trucks but the motor would fit, i checked the size and it said 540 and the truck specs say 540 to 550 or something like that. Hopefully it is good cause itd make it easier for me since its so close to wear i live

 

[Radron]

Wow, a new mamba for $80.00 Where at, I'll buy one.The best I could find was $129.00
I looked at my order & I paid $69.99 for my Sidewinder.

 

[ibanez830]

So has anyone heard of those batteries and that motor and esc combo thing?

 

[CharliesTheMan]

If you want an easy to use and fairly affordable, very powerful system, go with the Novak Goat. The other option that I would reccomend would be The Mamba Max ESC and a Holmes Hobbies outrunner motor.

The Novak goat systems can be had new for $180, used for around $120 (in mint condition, I wouldn't buy anything else for less)

The Mamba ESC's run around $120 new, but you can buy them in near perfect used conditition for $70. The Mambas are very plentiful for sale on the crawler forums.

If you're not looking to spend that much, you can go with a sidewinder ESC and 55 turn lather motor. The sidewinder is a good ESC, I have one. BUT, The Mamba provides much smoother throttle response and will handle a lot more power. I wish I would have just gone on and spent that money on the mamba in the first place.