Where to start?

[thegreywizard]

So my son is really into building things and likes working on cars, so I figured getting him into serious RCs would be a cool hobby for him

This is such a vast world, it's easy to get lost & over whelmed.

This is going to be a project we buy a piece or two here or there as time goes on to build something cool & high quality

I'd rather take our time and spend a little more on each part to get a premium setup long term

But where do I start?

I guess a chassis & drivetrain right?

What would be suggestions for a chassis if we wanted something a little more off-road capable, but yet still has good speed?

 

[Chapman951]

How old is he?

I had fun building the Tamiya Neo Scorcher

https://www.ebay.com/itm/2854624461...J68aH1fjtUEO1jIKSRAAs/Fg==|tkp:Bk9SR4D41Z_8Yg

 

[thegreywizard]

He's 19

 

[WickedFog]

If you want a quality kit that narrows it down, but there are still a lot of great high quality kits to choose from. Some brands I would suggest would be Tekno, Losi, or Associated.

Is there an RC track near you? If so you might ask them what they race there if racing is something your son may be interested in. They will usually run buggies, truggies, or short course trucks. Do some research before you buy to find out what classes they run at your local track if there is one near you.

If you think he'll just be wanting to bash around, maybe a Monster truck would be a good choice. The Tekno MT410 would be a great choice for that. A short course truck would be fun as well.

If you want something with a lot of tinkerability, it's hard to beat a rock crawler. Axial, Associated, Vanquish, RC4WD, Traxxas, and Redcat for example all have some decent crawlers to choose from.

Another thing is price range. RC vehicles can be built for about $200 on up to thousands of dollars. What is your budget?

So if you could narrow it down, we could help you a bit more. Like you said, there is just a lot of stuff out there to choose from. One thing you can do is look at Tower Hobbies here at all the kits. Which ones appeal to you?

One of the funnest builds I have ever done with my kiddo is the Axial Ryft.

 

[Greywolf74]

If you want a quality kit that narrows it down, but there are still a lot of great high quality kits to choose from. Some brands I would suggest would be Tekno, Losi, or Associated.

Is there an RC track near you? If so you might ask them what they race there if racing is something your son may be interested in. They will usually run buggies, truggies, or short course trucks. Do some research before you buy to find out what classes they run at your local track if there is one near you.

If you think he'll just be wanting to bash around, maybe a Monster truck would be a good choice. The Tekno MT410 would be a great choice for that. A short course truck would be fun as well.

If you want something with a lot of tinkerability, it's hard to beat a rock crawler. Axial, Associated, Vanquish, RC4WD, Traxxas, and Redcat for example all have some decent crawlers to choose from.

Another thing is price range. RC vehicles can be built for about $200 on up to thousands of dollars. What is your budget?

So if you could narrow it down, we could help you a bit more. Like you said, there is just a lot of stuff out there to choose from. One thing you can do is look at Tower Hobbies here at all the kits. Which ones appeal to you?

One of the funnest builds I have ever done with my kiddo is the Axial Ryft.

Kyosho makes some great kits too.

 

[Tunedfrog]

I'm thrilled your son is interested in RC, I would do yourself a huge favor and think about you getting into RC as well.
One thing you might keep in mind is, buillding a rig a few parts at a time can be challenging but very enjoyable.
However, parts rarely come with instruction/installation manuals. Youtube can be your best friend sometimes.
If you go the "a few parts at a time" route then I would check out Jenny's RC .
All of their parts are genuine manufacture parts. Sometimes it takes them a while to restock and they sell out fast.

 

[bill_delong]

Where do you plan to run it? That will help determine what class you want to go with.

1/10 On-road cars tend to be the least expensive with a budget in to $300-$500 range depending on quality of components.

1/8 Off-road buggies are very durable and will tend to be less expensive to maintain over the long haul with an entry cost in the $700-$1500 range. Typically the more expensive kits will include higher quality upgrades that you won't get nickle and dimed on expensive upgrades/repairs with lower quality brands.

Once you establish the class you're interested in, then we can hone in from there.

Here's a build thread of my HB Racing E819RS to give you an idea of what's involved with building the kit:
https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?4192321-BUILD-REVIEW-HB-Racing-E819RS

As club racer, I feel that HB suits my driving style the best, I have also done similar build threads on TEKNO and Caster as well:
https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?4322447-BUILD-REVIEW-Caster-ETO821

https://www.teknoforums.com/threads/build-review-eb48-2-0.1864/

If there's a local race club in your area, I would encourage you to visit the track and talk to the locals before making a final decision if you think you might get into club racing.

 

[thegreywizard]

Ok everyone, thanks for your input!

I'm thinking we lean more towards an off-road buggy/truggie/ or even monster truck maybe? But buggies & rock crawlers is probably the way we lean for now.

What's the difference between these 3 classes?

I think kits are great, but I would like to be around the $1000+ category, but only spend about $500 of that right now on chassis, few other parts etc for xmas and then we can finish building it out next year as budget allows.

But I also don't mind having to spend less lol. But this is a long term hobby I'd like him to stick with, so having higher quality/metal parts would probably be preferred.

He loves to tinker, so I definitely think going the route of a rock crawler as @WickedFog suggested would be better. Do the buggies/truggies/monster trucks not have as much tinkerability?

Is a rock crawler different than a buggie/truggie or monster truck?

I'm not sure if we have a track near us or not, we live in Cleveland area, so there's probably one I'd imagine. But there's a lot of other natural areas to run something like a buggie or rock crawler on.

 

[WickedFog]

Ok everyone, thanks for your input!

I'm thinking we lean more towards an off-road buggy/truggie/ or even monster truck maybe? But buggies & rock crawlers is probably the way we lean for now.

What's the difference between these 3 classes?

Buggies are best use on smooth terrain. They will jump well, but only shallow long jumps. You don't want to be tryong to send your buggy flying way up in the sky. Buggies are most fun on a track in my opinion.

Truggies are like buggies with bigger tires, typically a bit more suspension, but still handle well. They can hsndle bigger jumps too.

Monster ttucks are fun hitting big ramps and such with. Not really good for racing, but I have seen people race them.

I think kits are great, but I would like to be around the $1000+ category, but only spend about $500 of that right now on chassis, few other parts etc for xmas and then we can finish building it out next year as budget allows.

Sounds like a Tekno would be a good choice for you to me.

He loves to tinker, so I definitely think going the route of a rock crawler as @WickedFog suggested would be better. Do the buggies/truggies/monster trucks not have as much tinkerability?

You can tinker with all RC's, but you can build a rock crawler with so many different options it's crazy. 1-speed, 2-speed, diff lockers, dig units, light kits, various chassis mods, body mods, scale details, etc. That's not to say you can't get crazy with other types of RC's with a little engenuity, but with crawlers, there is a myriad of optional upgrades for the various brands/models.

Is a rock crawler different than a buggie/truggie or monster truck?

Rock crawlers are used to slowly climb over very tough terrain. They don't go fast unless you have them setup with a 2-speed transmission. But even then they usually don't go very fast.

 

[thegreywizard]

Ahh ok, thanks for those great explainations.

So now I've narrowed it down to a truggie or a monster truck

Racing is cool, but we'd probably just use it more in a solo application and would like to drive over whatever we can and have some good speed

So now that we've narrowed it down to truggie or monster truck, any more info on these 2 types to help me decide?

Is the frame/chassis different for these two type and just the wheels are different?

 

[WickedFog]

Is the frame/chassis different for these two type and just the wheels are different?

I bitch to @Greywolf74 all the time about this... but here goes.

A true monster truck to me has solid axles and is not great for bashing around. But in this hobby, for some ungodly reason, they like to call anything with monster truck tires a monster truck. The day Grave Digger comes out with a monster truck running on independant suspension, I will play along. But until then... I'm gonna bitch and moan.

Ok, rant over.

That being said, if I were wanting a monster truck I would be looking at the Tekno MT410 most definitely. Now, in my opinion, this is closer to a truggy than a true monster truck, but maybe that is a really good thing. Best of both worlds. They are nearly bulletproof from what I have seen. And you could build a really badass one within your budget. If you want a truggy kit, Tekno has that as well with the ET410.

As far as kits go, those are the ones I would look at. I am sure others will have suggestions too.
https://www.teknorc.com/product-category/vehicles/

Another thing I would suggest once you narrow it down is watch some build videos on the rigs you are looking at. Just about any kit RC will have a number of build vids on YouTube. See... YouTube is good for some things.

 

[cbaker65]

To me ,I think that monster trucks are fazing out ,they are mainly just to beat around on in
a more rougher terrain ,a truggy style is versatile!..

 

[WickedFog]

To me ,I think that monster trucks are fazing out ,they are mainly just to beat around on in
a more rougher terrain ,a truggy style is versatile!..

Agreed. The Losi Grave Digger is a solid axle rig, and looks like a lot of fun, but every time I jumped it I'd be waiting for an axle to break. I wouldn't be at all worried about jumping a truggy.

 

[thegreywizard]

Ok this is good info thanks!

Hmm I think I'm leaning more towards the MT410

The ET410 is cool too, I'm going to have to watch some videos on a comparison on these 2

I would just need to see the performance ability of each one and then which one would be more durable overall and have less parts that break

I assume the ET410 is faster and more of a racer truggy vs the MT410 that's more of an off-roading truggy?

We don't want a "rock-crawler" but an "off-roader" if that makes sense.

Thanks!

Agreed. The Losi Grave Digger is a solid axle rig, and looks like a lot of fun, but every time I jumped it I'd be waiting for an axle to break. I wouldn't be at all worried about jumping a truggy.

Being able to do jumps without worry is a must for sure.

Is the MT410 also capable of this, or is it only the ET410 that is safe for jumps?

 

[cbaker65]

Agreed. The Losi Grave Digger is a solid axle rig, and looks like a lot of fun, but every time I jumped it I'd be waiting for an axle to break. I wouldn't be at all worried about jumping a truggy.

Yea ,I seen people run them an try to do high speeds while turning ,they dont fare too well!..
Agreed..

 

[9x19]

I've only run mine on 4S (2200kv motor), but even at that, the MT410 is fast and capable of handling big jumps. The build went really smooth and I have no complaints. I could go to 6S on mine, but honestly don't have a need for any more speed where I play.

 

[WickedFog]

I assume the ET410 is faster and more of a racer truggy vs the MT410 that's more of an off-roading truggy?

The ET will handle better. It is more of a racer with its lower stance and all. Truggies are hella fun on a track. But they are fun bashing around too. I just wouldn't want to send one 20 feet in the air. That is unless it is like a Kraton or something meant for stunts and such.

Being able to do jumps without worry is a must for sure.

Is the MT410 also capable of this, or is it only the ET410 that is safe for jumps?

The MT410's in the vids I have seen were doing crazy jumps, withhad bad landings even, and they just kept on going.

 

[Chapman951]

Always thought the Kyosho Optima was an attractice buggy. Nice racing pedigree also.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/1951782120...fKJC6FGr9BLi7VJVU|tkp:Bk9SR4ipmtb8Yg&LH_BIN=1

Heard positive reemarks about the Team Associated Rival mt-10

https://www.ebay.com/itm/2954372848...xtRibnv0nYuXFxJZRj0N5GoN2P|tkp:Bk9SR4SXsdb8Yg

Traxxas X-Maxx looks wicked

https://www.ebay.com/itm/3251464985...DD_oZwFmTeQd1JGRuwVTeRDkI6Ey-gQHX31vWWJ4rTThw

 

[thegreywizard]

Ok I've thought it over and the MT410 is definitely the style I want to go with for him.

He has 2 real trucks so I think he'd like the monster truck look more with the bigger tires

And it seems the MT410 is super durable, which is a big plus.

I'm open to other manufactures other than Tekno, but the MT410 is the style & ruggedness I want.

Now I need some help finding a good deal on a new one.

I see on Tekno's website they have them on sale for $369 right now, but they're sold out?

Do you think their website will have them back in stock & still at this price any time soon?

Will any other retailer of these be having a great black friday sale on the Teckno MT410?

I'm seeing the internet prices all over the map for these, even all the way up to $850 - why the huge price swing? What should I be looking for to make sure I'm getting the right kit and not getting ripped off?

Can I get any color body I want? I know he'd want it to be red.

You guys have all been super helpful and I think we've got it narrowed down to an awesome RC he's going to love building and playing with.

 

[J’sCrawler]

New is always nice but sometimes you can find one used on eBay for a fair deal, just expect to tear it down soon after getting your hands on it to refresh it. Components like bearings, outdrives, and all those swivel ball thingies need maintenance, and it’s good to keep those parts in good shape. Plus the differentials usually need a fluid change/rebuild. I just got a used Tekno sct410.3 in great shape, but it had leaking differentials. Some of the bearings were about to be trash because they needed some grease. Theirs always trade offs buying used.