RC Crawler for kids 2021?

jeepinmatt

jeepinmatt

#1 WEBWHEELER
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Mar 24, 2005
Location
Stanley, NC
I like the idea of the scx24, but the kids prefer rustlers.
 
I have 2 of the SCX24 JLs. I got 1 for my 5yr old last birthday and the second for my 7yr old daughter or I to play with him. The yellow is his, white is "mine". We're on the third motor and have done tons of upgrades to his. He's hard on equipment, and I don't think the brushed motors like the constant wide open stop wide open stop of a 5yr old driver. Mine is still all stock.

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www.offroadsc.com

Beginner Crawler

What are some good options for a beginner's RC crawler? Bennett wants an RC car for his birthday, and I'd rather not buy him something from Walmart that will break in the first week... I have an SCX10 and a few 2S lipo batteries if that sways the decision.
www.offroadsc.com www.offroadsc.com
 
Got mine a Traxxas summit years ago. Seemed to be the most versatile thing out there. He's 15 now and still has it. Destroyed it several times, but that's all part of the plan. He figured out how planetary gear sets work, differentials, shock tuning, wiring, controls, and the value of u-joints being the weak point (most of the time). Been a good learning platform for him especially since he could run it, brake it, and fix it while I was at work.

And before I get flamed for spoiling my kid... It all started when I went to the scrap yard and saw a yerf dog go cart that was scrapped. Bought that for $75 and took it home. We got it running, but wifey said he can't ride a 30 mph cart if he can't touch the brake pedal (she's always the logical one, and he was 5 at the time). So after months of bombing around the neighborhood after work with him on it with me, I asked if he wanted the go cart or a decent rc truck. We would either keep the cart or sell it and he could buy what he wanted. He chose the summit since he could use it when I wasn't there. So we sold the cart and bought a used summit. Both of which destroyed my lawn but I'm raising kids not grass... That's my 2 cents anyway
 
Bought my son and I a pair of SCX24s when they came out. Best couple hundred I've ever spent on RC stuff. They survived some pretty good abuse and upgrades are like 10-20 bucks instead of a factor of 10 more for 1/10 scale stuff. Perfect for kids: play inside or out, stack blocks in the living room or go play in a creek and batteries last 45+min on a charge.

Steering servos will give out and the EMAX upgrade is perfect. Motors burn up after a while with their minuscule brushes, stock replacements are cheap. Best upgrade has been the RC4WD steel wheels and better tires.
 
🤷‍♂️ guess I was mistaken
 
If you're looking for a low cost simple 1/10 scale crawler I'd try the redcat everst 10. I've been out of the hobby for 20+ years but got bored this past Christmas at the beach and wanted to find a common interest with my then 7 y/o daughter so we ended up at a hobby shop from my childhood. By the end of the week we (wife, daughter and myself) and $1500 later were playing with 3 rc's in the campground. From that adventure I've accumulated an Arrma Kraton 6s, 2 awd buggies (can't remember what they are), carisma coyote, redcat gen 8 scout, redcat gen 7 pro, traxxas trx4 blazer, and 3 redcat Everest 10's. I find myself using my modified everest over the other, more expensive crawlers, I bought my wife one while we were in the mountains last month and my daughter's came in today ( well yesterday) because she couldn't run the same lines with her gen 8 this past weekend. They are (in my opinion) the best bang for the buck so far. We're planning to spend thanksgiving weekend at URE with the sxs and taking all the crawlers with us to find that perfect spot. If you find yourself that way you're welcome to run any of them to see if it's what you're looking for.
 
So are all the crawlers single gear and slow? Or are there any with a 2 spd option for slow and not slow?
 
jeepinmatt said:
So are all the crawlers single gear and slow? Or are there any with a 2 spd option for slow and not slow?
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The everest are single speed and pretty slow out of the box, like a slow walking pace slow. I replaced the stock motor on mine with a 35t and that put it at good pace and still crawls great. The gen 7 and 8 are both single as well but are pretty quick but still do well crawling. The coyote is about the same as those 2. The traxxas is a 2 speed, it's fast or slow with the flip of a switch on the radio itself. It also has selectable lockers controlled by a switch on the radio. The everest is around 200 to the door, the Coyote around 375-400, and the trx4 550-600.
 
bashed said:
The everest is around 200 to the door, the Coyote around 375-400, and the trx4 550-600.
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Thank you for answering my next question before I even had to look it up :D
 
jeepinmatt said:
So are all the crawlers single gear and slow? Or are there any with a 2 spd option for slow and not slow?
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Pretty sure the SCX24s are 3-speed but don't quote me on that.

Just got done putting new motors in both the ones I got for my boys back in March. One has only needed a motor, the other has needed motor, steering servo and the computer ramajam thing that everything plugs into. Those 2 things went out shortly after I bought them. Called Axial and they sent new parts no questions axed
 
Scx24s are single speed. They're about a walking pace, so not terribly slow but not a trophy truck. Some of the larger scale ones are starting to come with high/low transmissions or are upgradable. Not sure if there's anything like that out for the 24s yet cause they're so tiny.
 
LBarr2002 said:
Scx24s are single speed. They're about a walking pace, so not terribly slow but not a trophy truck. Some of the larger scale ones are starting to come with high/low transmissions or are upgradable. Not sure if there's anything like that out for the 24s yet cause they're so tiny.
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I'm certainly not going to act like I know what I'm talking about, but on ours...this little toggle switch circled below makes them go from low speed, to medium speed, to high speed. All that said, they ain't hauling ass but there's certainly difference between L, M & H

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rcalexander105 said:
I'm certainly not going to act like I know what I'm talking about, but on ours...this little toggle switch circled below makes them go from low speed, to medium speed, to high speed. All that said, they ain't hauling ass but there's certainly difference between L, M & H

View attachment 362970
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I hadn't noticed that, but its probably just a limit to the range for the esc. The motor is direct drive to the "transmission". There is no shiftable high/low.
 
LBarr2002 said:
I hadn't noticed that, but its probably just a limit to the range for the esc. The motor is direct drive to the "transmission". There is no shiftable high/low.
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Again, I don't know what I don't know about these jokers. When you say limit to the range, are you referring to distance the remote will transmit to the crawler? If so, that's definitely not what that is. After replacing the motors, I do agree with the direct drive to the "tranny" so it's not like these "speeds" are different gears in a transmission or t-case, but rather they will slow down or speed up the pace of the rig.

This switch most certainly makes it stupid slow crawl mode in L to medium speed to higher speed.
 
rcalexander105 said:
Again, I don't know what I don't know about these jokers. When you say limit to the range, are you referring to distance the remote will transmit to the crawler? If so, that's definitely not what that is. After replacing the motors, I do agree with the direct drive to the "tranny" so it's not like these "speeds" are different gears in a transmission or t-case, but rather they will slow down or speed up the pace of the rig.

This switch most certainly makes it stupid slow crawl mode in L to medium speed to higher speed.
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No, if your speed is say, 0-10. Low may allow 0-5, M 0-8, and H 0-10. Like a brick under your gas pedal keeping you from having full power.

There are rigs with true shiftable transmissions where you have a separate channel (button or switch) on your radio that physically shifts a gear on the rig.
 
LBarr2002 said:
No, if your speed is say, 0-10. Low may allow 0-5, M 0-8, and H 0-10. Like a brick under your gas pedal keeping you from having full power.

There are rigs with true shiftable transmissions where you have a separate channel (button or switch) on your radio that physically shifts a gear on the rig.
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So it's a governor, of sorts...got it

I'm slow / dumb (both really)...thx for breaking it down for me
 
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