I'm a massive Hypocrite..... let me explain....

[Kpowell911]

Hi, strange to see me in this area I know....

Its been very well documented on here that I dont really get Crawlers.... The majority of my thoughts can be summed up by a recent post with @Jack Reacher found here.

 

And all that is true. I owned a Losi Crawler, for like 2 days, and sold it. It bored me......

 

However, my Mrs is well into the 1:1 Version of this, and does a lot of Greenlaning? In various Land Rovers. I first met her brother when he was cutting the back off his L Reg Discovery for some reason? To make it shorter. And my girlfriend has a Defender 90 herself, so she loves the idea of them. She also has a Maxx and a Rustler 4x4 so likes RC, and is in a few Facebook groups.

 

She randomly sent a screen shot of someone in one of these groups, with a TRX4 Defender, and a real one, and she thought it was cool, she then also sent me a screenshot of a TRX4 For Sale, for £450 on Market Place.

 

I jokingly said, lets go halves on a TRX 4 and not bother with Valentines Day, she yes and was happier than me.

 

So I did some research, watched a few videos. I didnt really find anything and about it (and its a Traxxas!!) I decided we shoud get the Sport Kit as it was cheaper. I also decided brand new was the way forward, as second hand prices were strong, and its a 'gift'. She said no to this, it has to be the Red Defender. No more was said.

 

The weekend, I took a fair few trucks out on my own. The X Maxx was brilliant, as usual, the Maxx, excellent. The 1/16ths have their place, but the rest of my collection is just inferior to the X Maxx and Maxx. Theyre the same, but worse. Terrarin by me is perfect for a Crawler.

 

So I said lets go halves on a TRX4. It is completely diferent to everything Ive got. We'd have (wasted) some money on each other for Valentines anyway (not £275 each granted), Ill probably have to sell some other R/Cs at some point too, and it appears to hold its value should I not like it. 

 

I ordered it 22 hours ago from Appliance Electrical as they were the cheapest @ £539, but more because they had the X Maxx stuff in stock too

 

We went with Red, My Girlfriends Defender is Blue, but not Navy Blue. I wanted Silver, but I lost. Its a deep red, looks very nice, but I think she might be dissapointed its not RED RED?

 

 

Seal was broken (genuinely?) which was a worry but I think its all there. Im also going to get the blame for opening it now

 

 

Thats it for now

 

 

I'm now off to work to pay for this weeks RC Splurge! Luckily Im on out of Town work for the next two months from Monday!

 

I'm sure Ill have lots of questions (like is it meant to not roll easily haha)

 

 

[Gaz!]

Lmao, at least you’ve got the best to start with, 

 

although keep a new servo ready, the stock one doesn’t like being in a crawler but not too bad in other rc’s like a slash etc.

 

make sure the end points are set on the micro servos too, saves burning them out.

 

have fun and look forward to the pic with 2 trx4’s and your good lady’s Landy. 
 

and finally to quote Will Smith in the film IRobot,  “you know when i told you so, just doesn’t cover it”. 

[turok007]

I have a crawler  and only touch it once or twice a year.  if more people in my area  had them i think i would take it out alot more

[Suits]

I have the TRX4 Defender also, in grey, bought it on a bit of a whim but after the first run out over the woods, I understood the enjoyment.

 

I enjoy the change of pace and get serious satisfaction navigating obstacles and watching the suspension and tires flex.

 

Not taken it to a crawler course yet but can already appreciate how much fun that would be.

 

Not sure it's the only way I'd like to enjoy the hobby but it's a wonderful and welcome change of pace.

 

I've also bought metal shackles for it.............😛 

[Lone-wolf]

Oh my..........................right lets not get sarky or any thing, have to say i am surprised, and welcome to the crawler scene, just my opinion that will cause a stir, you had the Losi and from what i have seen they dont do so well, the TRX is one of the best RTR crawlers, yes it needs some tweaks heavy ali beadlocks are a good investment, but super cheap from Aliexpress, keep stock tyres as they are good, run it on 2s lipo, but it will take 3s and can be rather fast.........look forward to meeting you at scale nationals.....nice one mate

[Kpowell911]

4 hours ago, turok007 said:

I have a crawler  and only touch it once or twice a year.  if more people in my area  had them i think i would take it out alot more

Ive said a few times, my local bash sites are probably more suited for Crawling. Im in the construction industry too, so theres plenty of areas to use it. We will see how I get on!

 

Its interesting seeing that despite being Traxxas it’s considered one of the best with very little negativity. 

[Kpowell911]

4 minutes ago, Jack Reacher said:

Oh my..........................right lets not get sarky or any thing, have to say i am surprised, and welcome to the crawler scene, just my opinion that will cause a stir, you had the Losi and from what i have seen they dont do so well, the TRX is one of the best RTR crawlers, yes it needs some tweaks heavy ali beadlocks are a good investment, but super cheap from Aliexpress, keep stock tyres as they are good, run it on 2s lipo, but it will take 3s and can be rather fast.........look forward to meeting you at scale nationals.....nice one mate

Haha youve just reminded me. Ive no idea if I have a lipo for this 😂😅 Thought never crossed my mind. 
 

Ironic you mention heavy wheels, Ive spent my life avoiding heavy wheels haha. 
 

Dont get me wrong, This wouldn’t have happened without my Mrs having an interest in RC/Real Defenders. Id have not gone for one, but I cant really slag the scene off without trying it. The RC scene is ALLL crawling/scaling lately, so?

Edited February 9, 2022 by Kpowell911

[Lone-wolf]

9 minutes ago, Kpowell911 said:

Haha youve just reminded me. Ive no idea if I have a lipo for this 😂😅 Thought never crossed my mind. 
 

Ironic you mention heavy wheels, Ive spent my life avoiding heavy wheels haha. 
 

Dont get me wrong, This wouldn’t have happened without my Mrs having an interest in RC/Real Defenders. Id have not gone for one, but I cant really slag the scene off without trying it. The RC scene is ALLL crawling/scaling lately, so?

Have you got a 5200 2s lipo, and if you have then more than likely with silly traxxas connectors on already, and expect about 2 hours plus on one lipo, 1.9 heavy beadlocks start at about £17 a set on Aliexpress, they will really help

[Kpowell911]

4 minutes ago, Jack Reacher said:

Have you got a 5200 2s lipo, and if you have then more than likely with silly traxxas connectors on already, and expect about 2 hours plus on one lipo, 1.9 heavy beadlocks start at about £17 a set on Aliexpress, they will really help

Are the stock tyres glued? Ive got a Traxxas Lipo actually that may fit

Edited February 9, 2022 by Kpowell911

[Lone-wolf]

17 minutes ago, Kpowell911 said:

Are the stock tyres glued? Ive got a Traxxas Lipo actually that may fit

I guess they are glued but some one that has one will chip in and confirm one way or other, if glued boil them of the rim failing that again on aliexpress they are doing fake canyon trail that are said to be as good as real ones i just fitted a set to my Hobao DC1

[Kpowell911]

Ill give it a try stock and go from there

[Lone-wolf]

For the record @Kpowell911 i honestly dont think you a hypocrite at all, you are giving a new venture a good try and involving your good lady, me and Mrs  Reacher take a crawler each and go for nice long trail walk/drives and really enjoy it 

Edited February 9, 2022 by Jack Reacher

[Stormbringer]

Welcome to the trail/crawlers mate 👍 

I wasnt keen on crawlers a while back but i do like the scale looks and got 1 then proceeded to enjoy using it 

[supersavage]

The stock tires are glued. I can recommend a set of Gmade steel wheels that are pretty heavy and would look great on the defender. I have a set on my sport and they really help get some weight down low without going mad with brass bits.

 

 

The stock tires are pretty reasonable too after they've broken in a bit.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Daddyroo]

Welcome to the dark side! 

 

A couple of things I did with my defender (well, the lad's now) to limit falling over etc.

Fitted the bronco spare to remove some of the rear mounted weight and also some cheapo ally beadlocks

Also a steel front axle - that made a big difference to stability and climbing ability. 

 

Havent felt the need to try different tyres yet as its more trail based but the stock tyres grip well on damp rocks and stuff. 

 

Have fun with it and then see what you need to do to suit you. As always with Traxxas based models there are loads of upgrades available 

 

[Gaz!]

16 hours ago, Kpowell911 said:

Its interesting seeing that despite being Traxxas it’s considered one of the best with very little negativity. 

and as I’ve been banging the trx4’s drum from the beginnings, it’s just taken everyone else time to realise I was right lmao…but you will always get the few pick faults because it a Traxxas or they defend their own purchases. 

 

it just works, yes there are flaws, but as a Traxxas owner, you’ll know most of them.

a set of nice alloy bead lock wheels will help with traction, but it puts more strain on the already struggling servo.

Oooh and stick on a alloy servo horn too (25t stock).

 

sorry, I’m not being a arse but learn to drive it as it should be, it sharpened up my throttle and steering control no end and that difference carries over to bashers too. I’m not a fan of removing stuff to help keep the weight low, I mean if the guys doing the camel trophy back in the day had to remove everything strapped to it so it was a easier drive it just wouldn’t have happened, again though, set up to your driving style with some added weight and even playing about with the shocks and you won’t notice the higher cog, you will simply drive though it.

 

tyres are glued and as already said, they aren’t a bad tyre.

 

sorry for going on a bit, lol.

[stretch]

Welcome to The Crawler Club and great choice on the the trx4 I have the sport and love it. It's night and day vs the losi crawler I take mine on family walks etc and the kids love it (plus gets them away from screens).

[Kpowell911]

Ok, had it out a little bit today….. its actually fast on 2s in second gear? Like, actually fast? That suprised me, cant wait to try 3s.

 

I was smiling when my Mrs drove up some small steps in the garden. It all seems well built, it genuinely doesnt feellike a Traxxas product as crazy as that sounds to say?

 

I have a genuine Traxxas 5800 2s Lipo and EZ Peak Plus charger Im using at the moment, what sort of run time will this give fully charged? Ideally, I wanna keep to TRX connectors, but Ive spent over a grand this week on RC, so dont really want to buy another battery haha

[Kpowell911]

Its crying out for lights, wonder if theres any cheaper ones?

[Redback]

 

Sounds like your getting on with it!
Yes the 2nd gears a good gear for trailing / cruise control to get you to the rocks or just a blast about / some jumps 😱 then low is perfect for technical crawling.
Sometimes i pop into high range for a boost of speed if needed to pop over an obstacle, 2nd gear makes it a rocket if you upgrade to brushless.
I just moved mine to 4s to drain some speed run batteries and the trx4 hit the spot as it can handle the power and go out whatever the weather.

 

TRX4's are tanks, you will have a hard time breaking it, just keep the bearings in good order and it wont need much maintenance.

4 hours on brushless probably about 2-3 hours on brushed, depends on how heavy going the work is.

Edited February 11, 2022 by Redback

[Lone-wolf]

1 hour ago, Kpowell911 said:

Ok, had it out a little bit today….. its actually fast on 2s in second gear? Like, actually fast? That suprised me, cant wait to try 3s.

 

I was smiling when my Mrs drove up some small steps in the garden. It all seems well built, it genuinely doesnt feellike a Traxxas product as crazy as that sounds to say?

 

I have a genuine Traxxas 5800 2s Lipo and EZ Peak Plus charger Im using at the moment, what sort of run time will this give fully charged? Ideally, I wanna keep to TRX connectors, but Ive spent over a grand this week on RC, so dont really want to buy another battery haha

Really pleased to read your kinda liking the rig, find a really good spot and let it shine

[supersavage]

Unfortunately the Traxxas light kits are probably one of the best options for lights as they're really easy to fit and just work really well. There are probably plenty of other options that are just as good and bright but at least with the Traxxas ones you'll know they'll fit and you won't or at least shouldn't have to fight anything to fit them 

[Lone-wolf]

Light kits are simple and cheap or fancy and expensive, i fitted front and rear to my DC1 and total cost about £5, just work out what size LED for red rear and white front make a wiring loom job done power from spare RX channel for 5v or from balance plug for 2s or 3s.

Now one big problem your gonna have....................

............your good lady does off road driving on 1:1.............so she will want to hog this crawler when pair of you go out, your likely to get to play when lipo is nearly done, so you know your gonna need a second rig for crawling ha ha🤣

[Kpowell911]

5 minutes ago, Jack Reacher said:

Light kits are simple and cheap or fancy and expensive, i fitted front and rear to my DC1 and total cost about £5, just work out what size LED for red rear and white front make a wiring loom job done power from spare RX channel for 5v or from balance plug for 2s or 3s.

Now one big problem your gonna have....................

............your good lady does off road driving on 1:1.............so she will want to hog this crawler when pair of you go out, your likely to get to play when lipo is nearly done, so you know your gonna need a second rig for crawling ha ha🤣

Ill just drive over her when she is crawling with my X Maxx 😇

Edited February 12, 2022 by Kpowell911

[Lone-wolf]

1 minute ago, Kpowell911 said:

Ill just drive over her when she is crawling with my X Maxx 😇

Have you got a summit? if so that will crawl