What's the big deal with rock crawlers anyway?

Ok, maybe someone can enlighten me on this great mystery that iv'e been pondering for awhile. What is about rock crawling that's made it so popular the last two years? I've seen a few of my friends locally slowly and painfully crawl their way up dirt hills and some rocks and I honestly don't see what the attraction is.

I half assed tried doing some rock crawling with my Flux on some rocky boulders and rough dirt hills earlier this year and I honestly got bored as all hell with the slow and mundane pace of driving the truck thats about ready to get stuck or flipped over at any moment. Woopee, what fun. Give me high speed runs and flinging dirt in the air anytime of the day and landing *or not landing* jumps to watch the truck bounce around, now thats RC!

I think I would die of shear bordem if I went to a rock crawling competition where every thing looks like it runs at a snails pace.

Seriously, what's the attraction with this?

[Slowkrawl]

If it's not for you, then there is no point in trying to talk you into it. 80% of rock crawling is about building or wrenching on the truck. The other 20% is the challenge of it, slow and technical. There are a lot of guys that have little interest in running the truck, and more concentrate on the scale aspect.

Originally Posted by Slowkrawl

There are a lot of guys that have little interest in running the truck, and more concentrate on the scale aspect.

I care even LESS about the scale look aspect of RC.

[Slowkrawl]

So did you start the thread to tell us about how much you don't like rock crawlers? It seems as though you have already made up your mind about them, so why ask us?

Originally Posted by Slowkrawl

So did you start the thread to tell us about how much you don't like rock crawlers? It seems as though you have already made up your mind about them, so why ask us?

Because I have been known to jump on bandwagons with enough hype/talk.

[lincpimp]

Originally Posted by Freezebyte

Because I have been known to jump on bandwagons with enough hype/talk.

I suddenly have a tiny amount more respect for you dude! I too have fallen victim to that!

Case in point, I am know the proud (?) owner of a Desert Eagle in 44 magnum... God only knows why I would buy it, but I just had to have it!

My best advise would be to give it a try, maybe just borrow a buddy's crawler and see if you like it. I thought crawling was a bit weird (and dumb) at first, but I have a few now and they just offer a different dimension in RC. I get bored bashing with a MT after 30 mins or so, but I can crawl/play for hours...

[Semi Pro]

Originally Posted by Freezebyte

I care even LESS about the scale look aspect of RC.

good for you (thats what my dad always said when i came up with a negitive opinion.................then he hit me )



afew people still think 90's hoda civics are race cars if you put loud exhaust and a poorly made body kit on them



thats the point, its all based on opinions and opinios are like assholes, everyone has one and they all stink



personaly i race everything, from 1/10 touring car up to monsterusly over powered 1/8 scale monster trucks and soon 1/5 im sure. i fly planes, i crash hellis, i love my rock crawler.


some one here on RCM said he never though going so slow could be so fun and he was right, it isnt easy, (ok its alot easyer than heli) but its a blast

i started crawling this year and my favorite part is wrenching on the truck ,makeing new parts and testing new ideas

ax10's are crazy,they can be anything i have seen them turned into, sand rails,corr trucks,top speeders,monster trucks, touring trucks and even semi's lol


also scalers rock, they are as unique as the people who build them

[RCShocker]

Originally Posted by Freezebyte

I half assed tried doing some rock crawling with my Flux on some rocky boulders and rough dirt hills earlier this year and I honestly got bored as all hell with the slow and mundane pace of driving the truck thats about ready to get stuck or flipped over at any moment.

That really is no way "try" crawling. With your Flux that is.

Originally Posted by Semi Pro

some one here on RCM said he never though going so slow could be so fun and he was right, it isnt easy, (ok its alot easier than heli) but its a blast

Thats was me that said that. And I changed the fun to addictive.

I had done the BL builds and fast trucks and thought I was having a good time. And I really was. But once I tried crawling I was hooked big time. I didnt plan it that way. I was like many, WHAT?, Rock Crawling. How can that be fun? But little did I know what was about to happen.

I bought an AX-10, immediately started hitting every local comp, and then spent about $800 & 6 months on said AX-10. Sold all my E-Maxx's but one. Sold my Losi 8B and sold my Slash. I hated to spend money on MT wheels and tires. However now, I dont think twice about spending $100+ on just the beadlock wheels. I have 5 sets now. After all, it's for crawling.

Well after that, I never looked back. I've been building comp rigs, competing as often as possible, securing sponsorship, spending way too much money, and traveling more than I do when I go on vacation. Thats been almost 2 years now.

The social side of crawling makes it's very desirable as well. Plus I really enjoy being able to spend a day a nice comp location. On top of a mountain, next to a river, at the dam. It never gets boring or mundane.

And the #1 reason I like crawling so much is that I can run 2 motors off 1 $30 lipo for almost 40 minutes.


Here is a good example of what our crawlers are capable of:

Not me.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=atLod...ayer_embedded#

Little Rock City in Alabama:

[shaunjohnson]

Originally Posted by Freezebyte

I care even LESS about the scale look aspect of RC.

same here...until i saw the slash baja with paddles!! that was cool!! (i'm a beetle fanatic)

[lincpimp]

It is actually quite fun if you are out with a few buddies and you all have similar vehicles that are about as capable. My friend went as far to get about 12 tons of rocks in his backyard and build a rock course. I like scale crawling myself, basically make a vehcile that looks as close to scale as possible, waterproff it, and then go wheeling! You can play just about anywhere, even in a ditch!

I will say that I think big powerful electric monster trucks are the ultimate rc fun, but some technical crawling of just playing in a mud puddle is alot of fun too. I still remember how cool it was to drive my 1st scale truck in 3 feet of water at the boat launch.

[PBO]

I've never had a go but I imagine it to be similar to sailing...painful to watch unless you know what you're looking at and painfully addictive once you start

[BP-Revo]

I wouldn't mind trying rock crawling with a scale RC.

The thing with our other RC's (monster trucks and what not) is that everything is far from scale. We have far far more power, a lot less weight, and typically more advanced suspension systems (only because on the 1:1 scale MT's they can't make an advance one that large without having strength/reliability issues). However, this typically means that if we hit an obstacle with enough speed and/or throttle, we'll make it to the other side, be it by going over the obstacle or through the obstacle.

With scale, you know your R/C is pretty close to an actual vehicle (at least, that would be how I built mine, to an extent), so when you tackle a tough course, you can slowly work your way up as you would in 1:1. In 1:1, rarely do you make it to the top of the mountain by powering your way up. You usually break something or flip before that happens (which leads me to say that RC's are typically REALLY REALLY wide). So in a way you are forced to go the slow and technical route since your scale crawler won't be all that wide.

[Arct1k]

I got into rock crawling in a big way this year - enough to fly across the US for the world champs in cali - I find it a lot more social and more fun than racing.

It is more technical, they is a lot going on in the cars - Its also a lot more of a mind game than you think...

But whatever takes your fancy... I've a few of my builds in the crawler section...

[eovnu87435ds]

Originally Posted by Arct1k

I find it a lot more social and more fun than racing.

The lack of nitro engines means that you can actually hear the person talking next to you. To me, it sounds like it would be a hell of alot more social

I was selling my hyper 7, and found a trading deal for an ax-10 with lots of fixins' since i've been thinking of crawling for a while. I have no clue whether I want to do it competitively, but I definitely want to give it a shot.

Also, seeing that there are lots of people who do some crawling on the side, and lots of people who want to start crawling, would it be worth starting a subforum for crawling? Or can we just take over that silly general nitro one?

[Takedown]

Just put it this way. Its only fun when your in control of the crawler. Otherwise it looks boring as hell.