Bulletproof trucks

[Rebelgium]

Hi everybody.
I currently have a brushed E-revo, and I want to go brushless.

The most important thing for me is durability and price.
I want my new truck to be durable, so I don't need to replace broken parts too often.
And with durable I mean able to withstand jumps and crashes, and mainly the entire driveline (diffs,...)

In my understanding Truggy's are considered to be the toughest trucks, is this right?
After a lot of reading it seems the toughest are:
MBX5T (prospec)
Hyper ST (pro)

So I'm thinking about selling my E-revo and getting one of those.

But buying and converting a 1/8 truggy is quite expensive, so I was thinking about getting a smaller scale truggy.
CRT .5 maybe? What are the toughest trucks around in 1/10 or 1/12 scale?
Will these smaller scale truggy's be as tough as a 1/8 truggy?

Or is there another type of truck I need to look at? Buggy's?



I mainly want to bash and blaze over rough tracks.

Originally Posted by Rebelgium

Hi everybody.
I currently have a brushed E-revo, and I want to go brushless.

The most important thing for me is durability and price.
I want my new truck to be durable, so I don't need to replace broken parts too often.
And with durable I mean able to withstand jumps and crashes, and mainly the entire driveline (diffs,...)

In my understanding Truggy's are considered to be the toughest trucks, is this right?
After a lot of reading it seems the toughest are:
MBX5T (prospec)
Hyper ST (pro)

So I'm thinking about selling my E-revo and getting one of those.

But buying and converting a 1/8 truggy is quite expensive, so I was thinking about getting a smaller scale truggy.
CRT .5 maybe? What are the toughest trucks around in 1/10 or 1/12 scale?
Will these smaller scale truggy's be as tough as a 1/8 truggy?

Or is there another type of truck I need to look at? Buggy's?



I mainly want to bash and blaze over rough tracks.

Flux

[Bondonutz]

1/8 scale buggy will only be a little cheaper than a truggy after all said and done.

Just get what you want and slowly build it when funds will acomodate.

[_paralyzed_]

first off, nothing is bulletproof. If you expect to have crashes and rollovers and failed jumps, you will need to replace parts.

Truggies are tough, they're meant to be. The more you spend, the better you will get. If I was to start over, I would start with a truggy. I have way too much invested in maxxes to switch.

Your best bet for the money would be to put a brushless powerplant in your revo, and upgrade as needed.

You'll get a million different opinions on this subject. No matter what you get if you drive hard, you will break.

IMO the LST is the strongest monster truck, maybe someone else will post what they think the best buggy and truggy are.

If you're looking to save money find a different hobby

[bigboi146]

+1 on the hyper ST!

[scarletboa]

*cough* savage flux. the CEN matrix truggy and buggies are really tough too once you replace the steering knuckles. they are a little heavy for competitive racing though. the diffs in the CEN matrix series are so tough that HPI based their new bulletproof diff on the same design.

if you are strictly bashing, go for a savage flux. i have yet to see a savage break under anything less than abusive bashing.

[lincpimp]

I would say flux as well, but my savage diff experience is less than positive... Seems like al bulks/case and the "bullet proff" diffs would cure that. The savage tranny loos strong, the motor mount is very strong, and the battery boxes are versatile. Put some truggy wheels and tires on it and it would be a decent dual purpose basher/racer. The lighter wheels/tires would also cut down on strain on the arms, cvds, etc.

For ultimate bash worthiness my nod has to go to the lst2. It is pricey to build, but does not need much to be a solid truck. The muggy is also good, if you replace the stock chassis (I still run stock, but am not that hard on it.)

Truggies are kinda boring to me, the lack the "soul" that a monster truck has. Just too stable and low to the ground for my tastes. That is why I like the muggy, turns well due to the center diff, and the weight is lower so it handles well, but it still has MT suspension and can get over more stuff than a truggy can.

[Desert Rc]

My experience with the truggy is that they are WAY more fun then the buggy unless your going for all out speed, and the CRT .5 is a waste of time IMO...sorry to the diehards. I have a flux now in a quest to try the MONSTER part of this hobby. I also have some asperation to try the LST2. Truggy wise any money spent on the upper class of line of truggies is going to be well spent. I recently went to a skate park and took some seriously ugly landings and the only part that got destroyed was a MMM after the collapse and splitting of the stock body after a 12-15ft landing on the shell. Never saw this coming and the location of the MMM brought it to the end of its short life. . Go figure the most expensive part to replace got toasted. BTW the truggy I am running is a XT8 Xray and I bought it NIB for a little over $200 if I remember it correctly. It was the 2008 model but that doesnt matter to me as Im a basher.

A truggy is definetly durable, unless you hit a tree at an odd angle and then the long arms put a lot of force on the hinge pins and could sheer the aarm (my experience with my X1-Crt anyway). The ground clearance isn't a problem in my experience as long as you carry enough speed, you can bash and smash through anything. The only thing that breaks it are very solid objects, even these aren't a problem if you center them with the bumper. X1 or X2-crt gets my vote.

[Rebelgium]

I like the looks of a truggy and a MT much more than a buggy. And I have been looking at the flux, but it's just too expensive... By the time I get all the stuff I'd need here in Belgium, I'll pay about 80$ in shipping (total) and then another 21% in customs taxes ... :(


I don't bash very hard, And I like going fast, and "drifting" through dirt tracks, throwing up decent rooster tails in the process :D

But I want to have the feeling I'm safe (in terms of not breaking stuff). Right now I don't have much confidence in the brushed Titan motors (due to bad stories everywhere). So I want to tgo brushless, but then I'd also need a truck with a very durable drivetrain, so I never need to worry about diffs and stuff.
And ofcourse I want a very durable truck in terms of crashproofness (invented a new word there ;) )


Basically I need a very durable sturdy MT or Truggy, which is affordable ... XD
And because this is hard to keep affordable in 1/8, I'm looking to go to 1/10 or so.
Are there extremely durable trucks in 1/10?

[JThiessen]

Give us a ballpark number of your price range. Do you have lipo's yet? How about radio system - your gonna want a 2.4 system for brushless.
An alternative to a Flux is to buy a Savage X or XL used and convert it - not much to converting one to be a copy of a flux at all.....

Or, as someone said earlier, if the cost is too high, do a conversion on your Revo, and at a later time, you can move the "good" stuff over to whatever truck you want. Just upgrade your diff cups to Aluminum at a minimum, and you should be good to go for a while.

IMHO, there isn't much in 1/10 that is very durable, unless you consider an Emaxx 1/10. And with that, you wont be money ahead compared to converting your Revo - especially since its pretty much ready for brushless as it sits. You'll spend some maintenance money in axles and arms on it for a while, but it shouldn't be too bad.

[magman]

You said that you were looking at the mbx-5t. I own a mbx-5 buggy and 5T truggy and both are built like tanks. I have owned a T-maxx, Revo and others and by far my favorite is my Mugen truggy.

[Rebelgium]

First off, thanks for your replies.

Well, I'm looking to spend about € 400 maximum. That's 573 USD, but keep in mind, If I'd buy something outside of the EU I'll have to pay 21% on it :( . And don't forget shipping.

I don't have Lipo's or a radio system yet, My nimh batts and AM radio system are for my E-Revo, and aren't gonna cut it for a brushless system.


I have spent 730 USD (about 8 months ago) to get my brushed E-Revo (radio included), nimh batts and charger here (shipping and taxes included)
So I don't feel like paying up another 200USD to get an MMM combo...
I think I'm better off selling my brushed E-Revo and everything with it here and get about 550 USD for it.

And I want to be comfortable about not breaking stuff on my car with normal usage, and I know about the mediocre diffs and axles on the E-Revo...



I'm definitely looking at used cars, new is way to expensive.
What is the cheapest way to get used RC cars? Check regularily here, at rcgroups and rctech?



Do more people share the opinion that there are no extremely durable cars in 1/10?

I will have to go with the LST as well, or if you are trying to save money the Aftershock. The drive train is about as bullet proof as I have found and if you do manage to strip a diff out you can rebuild with the ti-nitride parts. Link I think has these in his LST, but he will have to chime in on that.

For cost and simplicity you could go used on an Aftershock or LST roller, I have heard of people getting the XXL roller chassis for as little as 150.00 USD. Then get "The Dude: racing mount for the motor and if funds permit the single speed conversion, though I have seen people make homemade versions.

If you go the Aftershock route, keep in mind here that the A-arms are not as stout as on the LST, but you can upgrade to the LST arms, hubs and drives easy. But there again you are talking more money. I personally have not had any trouble out of my Aftershock arms, but I am kind of easy on stuff. (I like to build about as much as anything) RPM also makes replacement arms for the LST/Aftershock.

Good luck let us know how it turns out.

I think the "mediocreness" of the E-revo axles and diffs is not an issue with normal usage. Especially since they are very cheap and easy to replace. I also think that since you will need a brushless system, and radio no matter what, go ahead and get them. Slap them in your E-revo and see what you think. If you then find you have issues , sell it and get something else, perhaps with extra money. I just don't see how your gonna get a more reliable , brushless ready vehicle, for what you could sell your E-revo for.