RC Crawler for kids 2021?

[jeepinmatt]

Motor #5 of 6 just died on yellow JLU. Gladiator (motor death #4) now has the Injora 50T Pro in it. Easy install with a little trimming and patience dealing with 1mm allen wrench for about a dozen screws. It's about 10-15% slower top speed, but way more torque, especially down at lower rpms, which makes for better control.

I'm really not impressed with the stock motors, but everything else is performing great and holding up ok (so far). To be fair to the stock motors, then are mostly run on 1000mah 35c batteries instead of the stock 350mah 30c. But 2s with the same voltage, and they are never getting hot.

 

[Tacoma747]

Jeez you have had really bad luck. That or you just suck at driving

Were the burnt motors mostly your kids driving, or you? 1000mah battery seems it would add a bunch of weight up high. I think the first one I had burn up was likely from my 3 year old driving it and not letting off the throttle when she ran into stuff. I pound it in my boys heads to try not 'stall' them out.

 

[NCJeeplover]

What I'm reading is that the SCX24s are huge pieces of shit.... Unless you're willing to spend the purchase price over again to replace all the crappy parts. Sound about right?

This is the reason I've been kicking around building one from scratch instead of buying one and modding it. You can piece together a pretty badass one without any axial stuff.

dealing with 1mm allen wrench for about a dozen screws

This is my biggest complaint with the scx24. My damn gorilla fingers have a hard time working on them. I picked up these and it made it a little easier, but it still sucks.

 

[LBarr2002]

Jeez you have had really bad luck. That or you just suck at driving

Were the burnt motors mostly your kids driving, or you? 1000mah battery seems it would add a bunch of weight up high. I think the first one I had burn up was likely from my 3 year old driving it and not letting off the throttle when she ran into stuff. I pound it in my boys heads to try not 'stall' them out.

I blame it on the kids' driving style. On off on off on off wide open throttle to stop, little tiny brushes. The one my son mainly drives killed 2 motors before the first one died in the other one.

This is my biggest complaint with the scx24. My damn gorilla fingers have a hard time working on them. I picked up these and it made it a little easier, but it still sucks.

I appreciate that almost every screw is the same size though. The only thing I've found that's different is the motor plate screws. Not like working on an SCX10 where there are 3 different sizes.

 

[jeepinmatt]

Jeez you have had really bad luck. That or you just suck at driving

Were the burnt motors mostly your kids driving, or you? 1000mah battery seems it would add a bunch of weight up high. I think the first one I had burn up was likely from my 3 year old driving it and not letting off the throttle when she ran into stuff. I pound it in my boys heads to try not 'stall' them out.

Bad luck, and I suck at driving?

Like I said:

I can't attribute the failures to driving style. I probably drive them the hardest in the manner they are supposed to be driven, my oldest is very careful, and my youngest is a 3 year old so he stalls it and drops it and runs into things at full throttle.

I definitely make mine output torque a lot, but in appropriate manner. Mine was the first to die.
The 7y/o is a cautious, careful driver. He tries to use finesse, and is pretty easy on it. His was the second to die.
The 3y/o is balls to the wall. Wide open into a wall, spin til it makes funny noises, back up, repeat. His was the third to die. Then his replacement died almost right outta the box, so nothing to do with driving there. My second one died within exactly 1 week. My first one also lasted almost exactly 1 week, but that first week was probably 4-6hrs/day of usage in a sandy, salty environment, whereas the 2nd one was maybe 2-3hrs/day. We will see how long the motor lasts on the 7y/o's second one, and how long the Injora holds up for the 3y/o (I quickly realized the extra torque will probably now lead to the destruction of other driveline components ).

 

[jeepinmatt]

I blame it on the kids' driving style. On off on off on off wide open throttle to stop, little tiny brushes.

Is there another way to drive?

 

[Tacoma747]

I just scored three trucks today, one for my nephew (he is paying for it), one to keep (mainly as spares parts) and one to sell (below). So if anyone wants a brand new SCX24 (deadbolt) for $100 shipped let me know. The one catch is it has a (also new) FMS transmitter/ESC (previous owner had tried to waterproof the Axial ESC and messed it up). I have tested it and it functions perfectly.

 

[jeepinmatt]

A 2 speed 1/24 scale crawler with portals just came out. $150 RTR. I assume it will be rough around the edges compared to the Axials, but 2 speed sounds fantastic.

FMS FCX24 Power Wagon 1/24 Scale Micro Rock Crawler w/Hard Body (Blue) [FMM12401BL]

FMS FCX24 1/24 Power Wagon - Redefining the 1/24 Rock Crawler The FMS FCX24 Power Wagon brings huge features to a small scale! Using portal axles, a... FMM12401BL

www.amainhobbies.com

And if you want to see a train wreck, read the FULL page about it on FMS's clearly Chinese based website

FMS model airplanes -FMSMODEL

www.fmsmodel.com

 

[Pless]

A 2 speed 1/24 scale crawler with portals just came out. $150 RTR. I assume it will be rough around the edges compared to the Axials, but 2 speed sounds fantastic.

FMS FCX24 Power Wagon 1/24 Scale Micro Rock Crawler w/Hard Body (Blue) [FMM12401BL]

FMS FCX24 1/24 Power Wagon - Redefining the 1/24 Rock Crawler The FMS FCX24 Power Wagon brings huge features to a small scale! Using portal axles, a... FMM12401BL

www.amainhobbies.com

And if you want to see a train wreck, read the FULL page about it on FMS's clearly Chinese based website

FMS model airplanes -FMSMODEL

www.fmsmodel.com

Yep, I had to just order one of those. I have a soft spot for power wagons.

 

[Tacoma747]

Hopefully someone will offer metal gears for the FCX24 diffs and portals. There have already been people stripping out the portal gears. Other than that they definitely look sweet and have a great top speed and great crawl gear too.

 

[jeepinmatt]

Hopefully someone will offer metal gears for the FCX24 diffs and portals. There have already been people stripping out the portal gears. Other than that they definitely look sweet and have a great top speed and great crawl gear too.

Mine will be here tomorrow. I'll let you know how long it lasts. Based on my track record so far it should be about a week.

 

[Tacoma747]

Changed the files some and printed a new chassis. Also added a big engine sticking out of the hood, but I doubt it makes it any faster....

 

[orange150]

I wonder if you can adapt the two speed to the scx24s

 

[LBarr2002]

I wonder if you can adapt the two speed to the scx24s

I was thinking the same thing. Just a matter of time before we start seeing custom 2 speed, portal axle scx24s.

 

[jeepinmatt]

I just hope the motor lasts. A 2 speed SCX24 would be great, but so would a 2 week old one that still runs The FCX24's have a bigger motor, so I'm hoping that will help. Still probably the cheapest china shit they can source, but I suppose it all is.

 

[jeepinmatt]

FCX24 showed up this evening. Definitely seems a little bigger, more like 1:20 scale or so. It's quite a bit wider and taller. Length and wheelbase are about the same.

Obviously the angle on the last pic exaggerates the difference, but I think it captures the size difference better than the other pics.

 

[jeepinmatt]

The specs are good, but im less than impressed with some of the details and build quality. Blue ESC is the Axial SCX, black ESC is the FMS FCX. Dang thing is just plain crooked.

The way the battery is secured is a joke. There are hooks on either side of the battery tray, and an o-ring stretches across the battery. As if that weren't janky enough, the battery lays vertically on its side, so it's impossible to keep the oring across the top. I swapped it from the hook over to the body mount so it would at least function, but it will be replaced with some different method.

The ESC has a lead for the battery, so it's nice and easy to plug/unplug, and doesn't put wear and tear on the ESC pins and force you to pull on the wire to unplug it.

The motor is waaay bigger.

A couple underbody shots

The on/off switch is a pushy-clicky type, which is fine, but looks like a poorly positioned like an afterthought. Kind of hard to get to with the body on.

Shocks/springs are much bigger with more travel and a bigger diameter shaft.

Also, the body kind of snaps on and off. Time will tell how well that holds up and how easy it is to use. The velcro on the Axial SCX24 Gladiator only made it a week before the adhesive unadhered, so it will probably be better than that.

 

[jeepinmatt]

Didn't have time to get outside, but did some couch crawling and data gathering.

Wide open Low range on the FCX is about 15% slower than the SCX. High is WAY faster. It will do wheelies and stoppies (and flip itself over).

Then I did some max climbing angle testing.
SCX Gladiator 45deg Fwd, 56deg Rev
SCX JLU 46F, 47R
FCX Powerwagon 51F, 42R

The JLU was nicely balanced.
The Gladiator was decent going forward, but RIDICULOUS going backwards. 56 degrees climbing angle!
The forward climbing of the Powerwagon was excellent, but going downhill it flips over far too easily. Needs a little popsicle stick flatbed to balance it out a bit.

 

[mikek]

you took pictures and measured angles......

 

[grapehead]

Starting to think the "for kids" in the thread title is a misnomer

 

[jeepinmatt]

Starting to think the "for kids" in the thread title is a misnomer

Most bad ideas start off with good intentions

 

[jeepinmatt]

A couple of updates...
Bought an upgraded motor for the Yellow JLU SCX on ebay. Installed it yesterday. Same diameter, but longer and with better magnets, and a 13 tooth brass pinion. Tons of power, super fast! But low speed control is poor, and it doesn't crawl well. Im sure the larger pinion doesnt help, but the low rpm modulation is crap regardless. Also, my quickie battery relocation put the COG too high and it's unstable.

On the plus side, it will do wheelies and is not too much slower than the 2 speed FCX with high range and bigger motor.

Stock SCX24 is still my favorite crawler. The Injora 50T Pro motor swap in the Gladiator has gained some speed now that it's broken in, and is on par with the speed of the stock SCX. If it holds up, it will probably be the ideal combo. Great, controllable torque down low, and enough speed to not be a downgrade from stock.

Took em out for a flogging this afternoon and came back covered in mud and broke Two driveshafts and a portal. Just u-joints popped off on the SCX's (snapped back on). The FCX24 seems to have stripped a gear in the left front portal. So it took 2 days to break it The chevron tires did best in the mud today, but aren't as good on the rocks. Also, the FCX is way too top heavy. The extra width is better, but overall balance is poor.
But the kids had a great time flogging em.

 

[jeepinmatt]

Welp, broke the frame on the FCX Powerwagon. Now it has a stripped portal and a busted frame.

Not a great design in my opinion. The Axials have a through bolt in double shear, which is probably about 8-10x stronger.

 

[Pless]

Welp, broke the frame on the FCX Powerwagon. Now it has a stripped portal and a busted frame.
View attachment 375925
View attachment 375926


Not a great design in my opinion. The Axials have a through bolt in double shear, which is probably about 8-10x stronger.

I got mine in the mail today. Compared to the 6x6 version of the truck I feel like they really dropped the ball. The whole thing seems cheaper built and the location of all the electronics seems thrown together. The quality of the 6x6 isn't that great, but definitely better. Still some weak gears though in the 6x6, mine has something stripped in the transmission as we speak. I'm going to try to graft a SCX24 all metal transmission into it.

 

[Tacoma747]

I got mine in the mail today. Compared to the 6x6 version of the truck I feel like they really dropped the ball. The whole thing seems cheaper built and the location of all the electronics seems thrown together. The quality of the 6x6 isn't that great, but definitely better. Still some weak gears though in the 6x6, mine has something stripped in the transmission as we speak. I'm going to try to graft a SCX24 all metal transmission into it.

The gearing is wrong unless you swap to scx24 axles as well. I can't remember which way it goes but it either makes the Atlas ridiculously fast or slow. We have an Atlas as well, it's a really cool truck and very capable, but I am just waiting for axle or transmission gears to strip.