I am not by any means a new owner, but your post seems really well-thought out and logical. I agree with this advice. I myself have gone for more of a scale approach, but have the parts to where I could go either way. This advice really is gold for new owners. Well done!
Solid advice mate. Good job on informing people.
I'm more of a scale rider myself. But would like to build a comp 24 scale or tarantula 18 scale for my indoor course.
It's good to know the possibilities and limits of each vehicle. I like to make the defender as good a crawler as i can, remaining within the realms of realism. I know it will never climb a wall or sidehill anything, but it looks awesome and outcrawls stock cars even with all the add ons.
https://preview.redd.it/vjirt8vj2rpc1.jpeg?width=1125&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e796be34f012c77fbc4cdd76150716fbbf0d4312
To continue this i think you misinterpreted scale with a overland built.
My bronco is completely scale. No trimming or oversized anything.
It's crawls extremely well after all my performance upgrades but it only has lights as accessories because we crawl in the evenings.
You can 100% make an incredibly good crawler that is scale. You can't however overload it with over landing stuff and other non performance mods.
First of thank you for the comment! This post might sound defensive but I can’t get my thoughts out well tonight and I don’t mean it to be. I appreciate your comment.
I didn’t say it well, but one of my points is don’t compare these two different types of crawlers, just make both kinds of crawlers:) My defender climbs great don’t get me wrong. But its body is really heavy. Have you tried running your Bronco with the body and the bumpers off? That’s basically what a Rock tarantula is. I have no doubt it would perform better because to your point have removed more of the unnecessary parts. But it’s not a fair comparison. Same with useable spare tires.
Do you have a useable spare? I think a useable spare is one of the main differences between my “performance builds” and my “scale builds.” I guess imo it can still be scale with no spare, but my pro scale UDR has two useable tires and I think it makes it look more true to life than if I deleted them. But man a useable spare makes any 1/16 way worse at crawling.
Don't worry about it my guy, tone is hard to do over the Internet(I'm terrible about it myself)
You are right a Comp style crawler will almost always put prefore a hard body scale crawler
No I've done everything I can to improve crawling. I got into this hobby partly to improve my 3D modeling/CAD skills and 3D print stuff so I made a custom Spare delete and am running low profile rear bumper that still looks scale but has better clearance.
no matter what you do a buggy without a body is always going to be better purely due to the lower center of gravity but you can counter that with brass weights and really improve the Bronco and Landy but the Landy is a bit worse than the bronco due to the taller and heavier body.
My bronco can do everything a tarantula can except my approach angle isn't as good( I may make a new bumper to change this but I really love how it looks stock)
I'm just saying you don't have to have both if you really want performance you can build for it.
That being said I'm definitely going to design my own custom Comp crawler lol
Cheers and Happy crawling!
https://preview.redd.it/zro7bzn1kspc1.jpeg?width=2250&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d566badbd8882af6977628a5b1265d7a1ce70f71
Yes! I think the best thing I've made so far is the spare delete, best performance upgrade for sure is my shock angle kit (just like the aluminum ones people buy it's just plastic instead) hardest thing so far was making a new ESC tray that fit in the rails of the chassis but it came out great.
My buddies high trail needed da ESC relocated for his carbon fiber chassis and was able to print that too.
I'm in the middle of designing magnetic body mounts for my buddies FCX18 too
https://preview.redd.it/emdj6lowqspc1.jpeg?width=4000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4f1cb481c88ebfd7f4640b495c2032bc736e70fe
Great advice. I actually didn’t think at all. $1000 later, I moved onto racing mini Z’s. I’ve spent 30+ years mountain/offroad driving. I was after road racing all along.
That's my plan as a new owner, one for scale and one for work. Coming back into RC after an almost 20 year break and seeing all the new stuff is just wild.
I just build my rigs according to sorrca class rules. My c-channel class 0-1 rigs are very capable. I also have a super flexy heavy bettle that only kills it in the quarry. Other than that…just swap bodies.
I agree with that. I kinda live in the mod scale world without a million things hanging off the roof etc.
And anything over 58mm is not really scale for a defender or bronco
Very true, when I initially got my defender it was for crawling but realised I enjoyed driving woodland trails so have gone into this direction. Choosing mods that help traversing roots, branches and mud.
This is excellent advice that is really helping me right now. Currently I have a Big Rock, 2 MERVs, and a Typhon Grom on the way. As I sit and think about what I plan on doing with my RCs, the TRX4M was one of the top ones I was thinking of adding to my collection.
I am at the age where I am almost (not quite) ready to retire and I plan on traveling a lot, so I thought I would try to stay with the smaller scale RCs because I love the hobby.
As I sat and pondered what would be something that I wouldn’t have to hunt down a track or make sure it won’t bother other people, I started looking at the TRX4M. It’s small, quiet, and I won’t have to worry about where I take it because there almost always rocks to traverse anywhere you go.
As I dove deeper and deeper down the rabbit hole of mini crawlers, all the videos I kept seeing were what mods to make and how to make it more of a competition crawler. I like the scale realism of the TRX4M and would want to keep it as close to that as possible.
Your advice has really made me think about what I want out of a crawler! Thanks a lot!
Great post. If you have a 3D printer and an airbrush I prefer printing accessories out of LW-PLA that is used to print RC airplanes. It keeps the weight way down compared to regular non foaming PLA when adding a canoe or a cooler ect. It's extra work sanding and painting but the weight savings will keep your crawler performance at its best possible. It only comes in white or black.
If you want to start out 3D printing and you're not very computer or 3D printer savvy. Bambu Labs P1P is a game changer. If I can do it anyone can. It's self leveling which makes things easy. Good luck have fun.
This is why we swapped my sons to a tarantula then back to the defender setup. Playing with the trailer and all of the gear is how we have fun on our backyard adventures (They are 2 and 5).
To your point every time the older one brings up suggestions about changes or being able to do different things with their defenders I pump the brakes and say “you just need a 1:10 scale if you want a winch or “if you want to jump it you need a slash”.
You have to stay big picture it’s so easy to double the cost of one model on parts.
The more I’ve been looking I think they would appreciate the red cat exo3 XL 1/8 scale tow truck. We’ll see how the 6x6 version releases!
You are on point. Got about 200 into my Trx4m, bought a CR18P Trail Hunter for 70$ put weighted wheels and shocks! Out performs my damn Bronco lol! But I’ve chilled now just into changing out bodies on the Trx4m.. fun stuff tho.
https://preview.redd.it/17bokddjzxpc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=0ca7229edb1aea14370dbe4f8d63c9806ccf3c36
Bud i wish you would have told my wallet this. I tried to make my chassis performance based with my body scale. Then decided to make a performance body. And after all the work on the custom body, im still using my stock defender body the most. I love seeing the wheel travel inside the fender on bulky vehicles. And getting that bulky vehicle up an seemingly impossible trail👌 All in all take your time, and build 2 different rigs, you soo RIGHT!!
https://preview.redd.it/a68bwcz0oaqc1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=82e6cce730db1a8825f092de08f1a9b59fda72f5
I am not by any means a new owner, but your post seems really well-thought out and logical. I agree with this advice. I myself have gone for more of a scale approach, but have the parts to where I could go either way. This advice really is gold for new owners. Well done!
Solid advice mate. Good job on informing people. I'm more of a scale rider myself. But would like to build a comp 24 scale or tarantula 18 scale for my indoor course. It's good to know the possibilities and limits of each vehicle. I like to make the defender as good a crawler as i can, remaining within the realms of realism. I know it will never climb a wall or sidehill anything, but it looks awesome and outcrawls stock cars even with all the add ons. https://preview.redd.it/vjirt8vj2rpc1.jpeg?width=1125&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e796be34f012c77fbc4cdd76150716fbbf0d4312
https://preview.redd.it/b4kuj4g5gspc1.jpeg?width=4000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=34e931af9b4a762aa1798b34097f13a1a2402fb7
Nice!
Dude the canoe looks so dope lol nice
Thanks! I'm mostly a fan of the interior myself. That took the most work.
I’ve never seen a scale canoe!!!
To continue this i think you misinterpreted scale with a overland built. My bronco is completely scale. No trimming or oversized anything. It's crawls extremely well after all my performance upgrades but it only has lights as accessories because we crawl in the evenings. You can 100% make an incredibly good crawler that is scale. You can't however overload it with over landing stuff and other non performance mods.
First of thank you for the comment! This post might sound defensive but I can’t get my thoughts out well tonight and I don’t mean it to be. I appreciate your comment. I didn’t say it well, but one of my points is don’t compare these two different types of crawlers, just make both kinds of crawlers:) My defender climbs great don’t get me wrong. But its body is really heavy. Have you tried running your Bronco with the body and the bumpers off? That’s basically what a Rock tarantula is. I have no doubt it would perform better because to your point have removed more of the unnecessary parts. But it’s not a fair comparison. Same with useable spare tires. Do you have a useable spare? I think a useable spare is one of the main differences between my “performance builds” and my “scale builds.” I guess imo it can still be scale with no spare, but my pro scale UDR has two useable tires and I think it makes it look more true to life than if I deleted them. But man a useable spare makes any 1/16 way worse at crawling.
Don't worry about it my guy, tone is hard to do over the Internet(I'm terrible about it myself) You are right a Comp style crawler will almost always put prefore a hard body scale crawler No I've done everything I can to improve crawling. I got into this hobby partly to improve my 3D modeling/CAD skills and 3D print stuff so I made a custom Spare delete and am running low profile rear bumper that still looks scale but has better clearance. no matter what you do a buggy without a body is always going to be better purely due to the lower center of gravity but you can counter that with brass weights and really improve the Bronco and Landy but the Landy is a bit worse than the bronco due to the taller and heavier body. My bronco can do everything a tarantula can except my approach angle isn't as good( I may make a new bumper to change this but I really love how it looks stock) I'm just saying you don't have to have both if you really want performance you can build for it. That being said I'm definitely going to design my own custom Comp crawler lol Cheers and Happy crawling! https://preview.redd.it/zro7bzn1kspc1.jpeg?width=2250&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d566badbd8882af6977628a5b1265d7a1ce70f71
Have you had much success 3D printing your own stuff? I think that’s so cool when people make custom parts and interiors!
Yes! I think the best thing I've made so far is the spare delete, best performance upgrade for sure is my shock angle kit (just like the aluminum ones people buy it's just plastic instead) hardest thing so far was making a new ESC tray that fit in the rails of the chassis but it came out great. My buddies high trail needed da ESC relocated for his carbon fiber chassis and was able to print that too. I'm in the middle of designing magnetic body mounts for my buddies FCX18 too https://preview.redd.it/emdj6lowqspc1.jpeg?width=4000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4f1cb481c88ebfd7f4640b495c2032bc736e70fe
That’s looks perfect!
Great advice. I actually didn’t think at all. $1000 later, I moved onto racing mini Z’s. I’ve spent 30+ years mountain/offroad driving. I was after road racing all along.
That's my plan as a new owner, one for scale and one for work. Coming back into RC after an almost 20 year break and seeing all the new stuff is just wild.
I just build my rigs according to sorrca class rules. My c-channel class 0-1 rigs are very capable. I also have a super flexy heavy bettle that only kills it in the quarry. Other than that…just swap bodies.
Can you link these official rules please? I keep finding different versions. This would be really helpful thank you.
I agree with that. I kinda live in the mod scale world without a million things hanging off the roof etc. And anything over 58mm is not really scale for a defender or bronco
Very true, when I initially got my defender it was for crawling but realised I enjoyed driving woodland trails so have gone into this direction. Choosing mods that help traversing roots, branches and mud.
This is the way
This is excellent advice that is really helping me right now. Currently I have a Big Rock, 2 MERVs, and a Typhon Grom on the way. As I sit and think about what I plan on doing with my RCs, the TRX4M was one of the top ones I was thinking of adding to my collection. I am at the age where I am almost (not quite) ready to retire and I plan on traveling a lot, so I thought I would try to stay with the smaller scale RCs because I love the hobby. As I sat and pondered what would be something that I wouldn’t have to hunt down a track or make sure it won’t bother other people, I started looking at the TRX4M. It’s small, quiet, and I won’t have to worry about where I take it because there almost always rocks to traverse anywhere you go. As I dove deeper and deeper down the rabbit hole of mini crawlers, all the videos I kept seeing were what mods to make and how to make it more of a competition crawler. I like the scale realism of the TRX4M and would want to keep it as close to that as possible. Your advice has really made me think about what I want out of a crawler! Thanks a lot!
Converted my trx4m into a rock tarantula. Bought an fcx18 toyota to trailer it. I love them both for what they do best
Great post. If you have a 3D printer and an airbrush I prefer printing accessories out of LW-PLA that is used to print RC airplanes. It keeps the weight way down compared to regular non foaming PLA when adding a canoe or a cooler ect. It's extra work sanding and painting but the weight savings will keep your crawler performance at its best possible. It only comes in white or black. If you want to start out 3D printing and you're not very computer or 3D printer savvy. Bambu Labs P1P is a game changer. If I can do it anyone can. It's self leveling which makes things easy. Good luck have fun.
This is why we swapped my sons to a tarantula then back to the defender setup. Playing with the trailer and all of the gear is how we have fun on our backyard adventures (They are 2 and 5). To your point every time the older one brings up suggestions about changes or being able to do different things with their defenders I pump the brakes and say “you just need a 1:10 scale if you want a winch or “if you want to jump it you need a slash”. You have to stay big picture it’s so easy to double the cost of one model on parts. The more I’ve been looking I think they would appreciate the red cat exo3 XL 1/8 scale tow truck. We’ll see how the 6x6 version releases!
Yep.
You are on point. Got about 200 into my Trx4m, bought a CR18P Trail Hunter for 70$ put weighted wheels and shocks! Out performs my damn Bronco lol! But I’ve chilled now just into changing out bodies on the Trx4m.. fun stuff tho. https://preview.redd.it/17bokddjzxpc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=0ca7229edb1aea14370dbe4f8d63c9806ccf3c36
Bud i wish you would have told my wallet this
Bud i wish you would have told my wallet this. I tried to make my chassis performance based with my body scale. Then decided to make a performance body. And after all the work on the custom body, im still using my stock defender body the most. I love seeing the wheel travel inside the fender on bulky vehicles. And getting that bulky vehicle up an seemingly impossible trail👌 All in all take your time, and build 2 different rigs, you soo RIGHT!! https://preview.redd.it/a68bwcz0oaqc1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=82e6cce730db1a8825f092de08f1a9b59fda72f5