Recommended trucks

[IKZ4]

hi all,

 

only recently started with RC's when i got my son an FTX Outlaw brushed for christmas. got myself a carnage brushless in january to chase the outlaw round skateparks, bmx tracks, etc. have really enjoyed the cars and my son totally loves taking them out. but i've had enough of the breakages so i'm looking for recommendations for something much stronger. i know that all cars can break, but the ftx cars have been too fragile for us. Having had them both apart several times i'm not that impressed with the chassis design or build quality, and the original carnage body lasted 10 days!

 

i'll be e-baying both cars once they are fully fixed and i'm looking for suggestions for stronger cars. my son is only six and he's still learning (as am I!) so i dont want anything too fast. the brushed outlaw was maybe a bit slow and did topple over in corners a lot. my 2S brushless carnage is a good speed.

 

ideally i'd like something very strong for jumps, skateparks and generally hooning, preferably with the ability to limit the speed. 3S is probably as high as we'd want. spares availability is important, but ideally the cars would take a beating without breaking too much. i like the size of the outlaw at about 50cm so something similar would be good. also want 4wd and either monster truck or truggy typecars with decent ground clearance. i dont have a budget but dont want to spend more than is needed.  looking for 2 different models, so maybe 1 cheaper for son and a better / faster car for me.

 

based on some googling and reading this forum options i've seen so far are -

 

arrma granite 3S BLX £309 (or has anyone got experience of the £215 brushed version?)

traxxas rustler 4x4vxl £409

associated rival mt10 3s £249 (not out yet, so spares??)

possibly even the arrma senton 3S at £289, just not sure how that handles compared to the wider looking trucks

 

any other advice or suggestions greatly appreciated, thanks

 

[Oh How Original]

I'd say in terms of a monster truck, then the Granite... If you like short course, then the Arrma Senton... Both available from https://www.makeitbuildit.co.uk/ with discount code welcomeback, about £30 cheaper than MS.

The brushed one might be okay for going slow, but brushed motors don't like to go fast really, so you'd be better off future proofing yourself with brushless, the stock transmitters on the Arrmas can be turned down to 50% or 75%, so that's handy.

[RadioFish]

Not sure this is appropriate but how much would you be looking for the outlaw?


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[IKZ4]

Sent you a message

[nut-nut]

Skateparks break all cars, it's a fact.  But I'm sure you'll find something less fragile.

[Ollykamakazi]

Sorry I seem to have written an essay, but this my experience as an average joe with a kid.

I have the Senton and my boy has a Granite.
He has others including a brushless Outlaw ( his first car )but the Granite is by far his favourite.
He is 11 and started when he was about 7.
The granite has immense torque.
Pulls wheelies with full throttle. He loves the power. It comes with a handset that you can have 50, 75 or 100% power use at flick of the switch. Good for learning with.
Bear in mind this feature doesn’t work once you’ve had to change out their rubbish ESC for a different brand for some reason?.
The Arrma 100 blx version is plagued with cutting out problems.
It’s a lottery as to if yours will work right.
We’ve been through 2 on the granite in a week so ended up changing to a hobbywing version which was changed for free under warranty.
Otherwise they are good cars. Tough. They jump well, but even now my son has trouble landing it , as it wants to back flip off everything and he’s finding it hard to find the balance.
It’s not put him off too much though. Still loves it.
Ooh one other issue.
If you land them on their backs or barrel roll them on there backs the rear shock tower punches through the body pretty fast as it’s set about 5 mm below the body. We’ve reinforced it with scrim tape and silicone sealant.
Now fully rubberised.
Bodies are over 30 quid.
As for the Senton, I love it, but it’s not without faults.
Esc problem is the same.
Had it on this too.

I found it rolled over in corners way too much and the tyres were pretty unimpressive.
I ended up andding spacers to widen the wheel axle. Which made a big difference.
Also put proline badland tyres on
( with bigger wheels ).
Grip is on another level.
Same issue with the body being smashed by the top of shock housing.
Now have a new body, reinforced and have glued sponges to top of shock towers to soften the blows.
Last bad point which I didn’t find by watching videos is that because it has enclosed wheels, it fires all the filth you are running through strait into the interior of the car.
Everything becomes caked in crud. And I mean caked.
Every time too. Major cleaning after each run.
I’ve even made removable internal mud guards and it still gets in to a point.
Lastly the shocks leak if you jump it a lot.
There are good upgrades available though.
This post sounds negative which it definitely isn’t meant to be.
We both love them with the changes we’ve made and they are bloomin tough generally.
I leave you with positive,
my Senton was run over by a full fat Range Rover with its front and rear wheels and the only damage was, it cracked the body a little, bent a turn buckle, bent a body post and destroyed one wheel.
That’s pretty tough in my book.




Bash, Break, Build, Repeat...

[No brains]

If you take your cars to a skateparks and bmx track then everything breaks and even if you buy a more expensive cars, maybe a tekno survive,  the a arms of my arrma typhon 3s blx broke only  at a 10km per hour roll over, so good luck if you buy a granite,  and go to  a  skatepark I bet you break the arms in the first battery pack.

 

The problem with rc cars is they have al weak point even if you buy a 900 dollar car,  and it is difficult to recommended one.

 

I know  a lot of people recommended the arrma 3s line,  I had one and I was not impressed with it, yeh maybe if you willing to pay a 200 extra to make it durable, I was not and a sold it ,   The esc is not good a lot of people have problems with it, then the arms  are a weak point, you need an adjustable motormount the mesh from the spur and the pinion gear is to tight, the shocks leak, stock servo is to slow and weak, and the radio is crap.

 

The best advice that I can give you is first look for something that you like and ,then go to google  and forums to get as much information over the car what the weak points are and what kind of upgrades its need.

[IKZ4]

Thanks for the detailed posts, very helpful. Seems theres no bulletproof options out there. 

 

 Read about the arrma issues on other posts,  seems mad it would get past any kind of QC process. After all these things are way above toy money. I might hold off for a few weeks and see how the reviews are for the rival mt10. 

[No brains]

For me the only car that not needed  a lot of upgrades out of the box, only some stiffer springs, was a serpent spider srx2 short course truck kit version, I beat that truck for a long time without breaking  and not needed any parts from wear, I still don't know why I sold it.

Edited February 4, 2020 by No brains

[Kukynas]

On 04/02/2020 at 19:35, IKZ4 said:

I might hold off for a few weeks and see how the reviews are for the rival mt10. 

 Should be at least as good as Helion Avenge but if you aren’t in a hurry it’s always better to wait 

[Oh How Original]

I've yet to test my Senton at the skate park, but I feel it would do very well, here is some footage of the beatings it gets, bare in mind this footage is about 20% of what it gets every single bash, nomally a lot more because a tyre came unglued, so it ended early, otherwise it'd have for 4x this for all 4 batteries.

 

 

[IKZ4]

Went looking at arrma cars today and bought a granite 3S for my son. Nearly went for the typhon but the monster truck look won in the end. Aware of the issues with arrma, but after all the work on the last 2 cars I feel happier to swap stuff as it breaks. Chassis is really substantial, overall it feels heavy and solid.

 

Got it home and noticed front bumper spring bracket was cracked, so the rc problems keep coming! Rang shop, very apologetic and will post replacement out. Glued it and taped up the inside of the body to hopefully make it last a while.

 

Charged up a 2S battery to help my son get used to it. Started out on 50% throttle on gravel carpark but soon moved to 75% which was fast enough for where we were. My son absolutely loved it, was doing small jumps and donuts, handling is quick as it's such short wheelbase. Decided to avoid skateparks for a while.

 

Then had quick blast on a field on 100% throttle  and even on 2S it was doing wheelies, which when you're 6 is very cool 😁

 

We hit a metal post at mid speed and nothing broke. Was fun hooning round with my carnage, which feels much livelier than the granite, might be the much faster servo I put in. Both were actually loads of fun today, we emptied both batteries and came home filthy!

 

I know the granite costs a lot more but initial impressions  are that it's a very solid car and makes my carnage feel lightweight. Sure there'll be breakages and esc failure but today was good.

 

Thanks again for all advice, it's been invaluable

 

[Ollykamakazi]

Good job.
Your lad sounds tickled by the granite.
Loads of fun.
You never know, it may just run fine without issues.


Bash, Break, Build, Repeat...

[namastebuzz]

The best way to avoid breakages with kids is to improve their driving.

You can buy the strongest cars possible and spend more beefing them up but, ultimately, it's the skill of the driver that minimizes damage.

Our kids have learned over the past 3yrs by starting slow and having the throttle turned down. When we were all out bashing any stupid driving would result in a ten minute timeout and "demotion" to a slower car.

We built a big ramp in the garden and practised on it until they could land jumps properly.

If you took a modded Tekno MT410 and just launched it off skate ramps with no skill it would eventually break.

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