RC crawler... wreckommendations

Cribb

Cribb

Formerly cufor98
Joined
Feb 21, 2009
Location
no idea
Santa might be bringing my son (7) a RC Crawler for Christmas. Santa just doesn’t know what the hell to get. I got him a cheap RC Jeep thing last year and he was easy on it and took care of it. He’s a gizmo and doo-dad kind of kid.

what would be a decent off the shelf crawler that’s not too complicated for him (and me!) to run without the need for immediate upgrades and breaking all the time. I have a WJ for that.

I’ve worn my googler out reading reviews on these things and figured out that the more I learn the dumber I get. I just want a decent, solid, and simple crawler under $200-250 RTR (learned that one on the google machine).

any recommendations?
 
You don't realize the hole you're about to go down. Just give @adamk a call and he'll get you the info you need. My pick would be an axial scx10 II but that'll blow that $250 budget.
 
Head down 109 to business 85. Cross it and take Business 85N. Just a bit on the left you'll see Anderson R/C

HUGE shop with lots to choose from. And they're great help too
 
I'm in the same boat. We were thinking it would be fun to have at the inevitable trail traffic jams and such or hanging around camp, messing around in the backyard. I'm trying to stay ignorant enough to not want to do mods, other than maybe a body swap. This is for a to-be 8 year old to play with, doesn't need to be a competition rig.

We've gone to Hobby Town up in Mooresville and the Race Dawgs RC store down in Fort Mill (now closed) to see them hands on. Looks like there's a place over in Monroe as well.

Getting them 2nd hand seems to be somewhat cheaper but you're typically inheriting someone else's mods.

At the 200-250 price point it looks like there's a Redcat "everest" model that looks like a weird Tahoe or something. At $300 they have a scout II that looks pretty good. They seem to have good reviews if you are OK with how they look.

At $185 there's these cool FJ45 1/12 scale rigs CR12 Toyota FJ45 Pick-Up RTR | Associated Electrics but I have no idea on quality.

Axial deadbolt is sort of a buggy rather than a scale rig, but it's around $300 as well RTR.

I wish I had more experienced knowledge to pass on, but I'm pretty much right where you are, except I've accepted that Santa will likely need to cough up more like $350 :D
 
**Cracks knuckles before fingertips hit the keyboard**

Here's some of the learning I've done over the years when it comes to these hobby grade RC cars.

Lesson 1) Something will break eventually. This is good and bad. For the obvious reason, "it broke", it's bad. However, it's great because instead of the cheap RC cars that would normally just find their way into a trash can, you can head to your local RC shop (in this case Anderson R/C) or towerhobbies.com or Amazon and order the part(s) you need and have it running again in a few days.

Lesson 2) If it's for your son, resist the urge to "upgrade". In stock form, and if your son treats it like you say, a RTR Axial Deadbolt will last quite a long time but remember lesson 1. I did not resist the urge to upgrade, change, and customize and now I've got two $1k+ crawlers sitting in my garage that haven't been touched in almost a year. That's not to mention the additional costs of batteries, chargers, spare parts, etc.

Lesson 3) Always, always, always buy name brand. The two largest, in my mind, are Axial and Traxxas. Team Associated, Veterra, and a couple others are good as well but finding parts in stock is a little more challenging. Again, see lesson 1.


That's all I'll chime in with unless you have questions about a specific brand/model.
 
Thanks for all the info. That's a lot to think about. Sounds like I'm heading to Anderson R/C, @CasterTroy as I've never even run one. @paulevans76 , I'm thinking the budget will be blown. Thanks again for the info and lessons, @adamk. Sounds like you've been down that hole, @Chris_Keziah ? lol

I'll let y'all know what I go with. Even the least expensive SCX10 II will be $400+ to get rolling. Maybe a lower end "disposable" model is more in order here, lol.
 
Yeah there's over a grand in parts sitting on a shelf of rc stuff, I tore my crawler down to start a custom chassis build and lost interest. If you want cheap but still decent buy a RedCat Everest 10, it's what I started with and in stock form it was pretty good. I'm pretty sure Anderson keeps them on the shelf.
 
Don't let anyone fool you... this RC stuff isn't JUST for kids.

You'll get the boy something cheap, and get hooked, so Budget $1000 and you BOTH will have a wonderful Christmas!!! (I too have an Axial Wraith with all kinds of crap, and 2 stadium trucks...all with brushless motors and stoopid upgrades)
 
I see these 1:24 models too. The Axial SCX24 looks cool (at least for a 7 year old). Yeah, I could get dumb quick with this stuff I think.
 
Yup

Mine all started when my middle child wanted a "monster truck" (hers on the right)
20191202_170729.jpg


She got bored driving it alone, so I got a stadium truck to play with her.

She lost interest after a few months so I got a rock crawler. After i got the jeep i found a new bright toy body and started a body swap

Everything kinda stalled after i joined the trailblazers :lol:

20191202_170738.jpg
 
Are the carisma brand rigs good quality? They have a few interesting ones out there in the typical $350-400 range.
 
Unless you want a comp crawler, its really hard to beat the redcat gen 7 sport for the money. I got one for my youngest son. Parts availability is great, they come with alot of upgrades the scx10 dosnt (aluminum links, aluminum steering, beadlocks, waterproof, battery, ect). This comes from an axial fanboy (I have a wraith myself). The only thing we didn't like was the body, so we picked up a $30 ebay honcho body and swapped it in. My only recommendation is lower gearing. They tend to be a little fast for young kids (ie, brake things....).
 
NCJeeplover said:
Unless you want a comp crawler, its really hard to beat the redcat gen 7 sport for the money. I got one for my youngest son. Parts availability is great, they come with alot of upgrades the scx10 dosnt (aluminum links, aluminum steering, beadlocks, waterproof, battery, ect). This comes from an axial fanboy (I have a wraith myself). The only thing we didn't like was the body, so we picked up a $30 ebay honcho body and swapped it in. My only recommendation is lower gearing. They tend to be a little fast for young kids (ie, brake things....).
Click to expand...

OK so super newb question - what's the easiest way to determine what bodies will fit the frame? Would they need to just be the same brand and general frame size, or will other brands swap over fairly easily as well?
 
CasterTroy said:
Head down 109 to business 85. Cross it and take Business 85N. Just a bit on the left you'll see Anderson R/C

HUGE shop with lots to choose from. And they're great help too
Click to expand...
x2 on the guys down at Anderson.

This is where the old Honda shop used to be if you're at all familiar w/ T-ville. Good folks in there.

I'm somewhat in the same boat. My oldest has a cheap one now and absolutely loves it. I'm trying to avoid them like the plague because I know they ain't cheap. So, I bought a Suzuki QuadSport 50 instead.

Side note, The Truck Show Podcast had Traxxas on their most recent episode (ep. 99) if you want to listen in and edumakate yourself a little more than you already have

EDIT: looks like I'm x3 as @doc dropped a plug for Anderson too.
 
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Also, below is the current el cheapo rig my son has now (Chinese Amazon deal) and how I found it one day while I was walking through the garage and he was letting the batteries charge.

upload_2019-12-3_14-41-31.png


upload_2019-12-3_14-41-56.png


upload_2019-12-3_14-42-11.png
 
paulevans76 said:
OK so super newb question - what's the easiest way to determine what bodies will fit the frame? Would they need to just be the same brand and general frame size, or will other brands swap over fairly easily as well?
Click to expand...

You can make pretty much any body work with any chassis of the same scale. You may have to adjust the wheelbase but you can make it work. I made a hinge for the rear of the body and used Velcro for the front. Once you get them together you can pretty much figure it out (btw, the red at gen7 comes with pads for Velcro on the body mount post making it super easy to adapt to any body).
 
NCJeeplover said:
You can make pretty much any body work with any chassis of the same scale. You may have to adjust the wheelbase but you can make it work. I made a hinge for the rear of the body and used Velcro for the front. Once you get them together you can pretty much figure it out (btw, the red at gen7 comes with pads for Velcro on the body mount post making it super easy to adapt to any body).
Click to expand...

Nice, thanks for the info!
 
We have a Redcat Everest 10, but it is probably a little slow for a 7 year old. It does OK, but I would suggest something nicer like an Axial. I would highly suggest buying used, although I am all for you buying new to support Anderson R/C. I buy a lot of airplane parts there, but I always buy my planes and r/c trucks used---let someone else take the hit on it. I recently bought a Traxxas Summit for $200, it was already converted to a brushless motor which is a big plus. I have had a couple issues with it, but at way less than half price of new (and that doesn't factor in the brushless setup) I can do lots of upgrades and still be less than the cost of a new stock one. I have already ordered aluminum bulkheads, a-arms, upgraded gears, etc for it. Still won't have as much as a new Summit costs in it.

I have bought two used E-Maxx's from Anderson that were on consignment. Both looked brand new and already had tons of nice aluminum upgrades. One was literally EVERYTHING aluminum, brushless, and everything was new. Would have been over $750 easily to build it, I paid $300. The other was also new and had a set of Integy tracks, I paid $500 I think, then sold the tracks for $550 (but I still had to buy electronics). That was 'my' truck for awhile but it will be one of my sons for Christmas. It is pictured below. I put a new body on it that I got from Anderson r/c for $10 (one he said he had for 5+ years). This thing will run well over 50mph but I have it set to go slow so my 5 year old can manage it. Their 2wd r/c's just don't do good in grass or the woods.


So, long story short, buy used and fix it up as you want. Anderson r/c has plenty of used crawlers on consignment. Be picky though. Definitely get something that has a good aftermarket following. I have a Vaterra Glamis Uno and it is impossible to find parts for.
 

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And FWIW, my boys don't enjoy the crawler near as much as they do the buggy/truck (both 2wd). They get bored with the crawler very quickly, but will run the fast stuff till the batteries are dead (which at the speeds I have them slowed down to is still 30+ minutes)
 
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