My R/C truck will be stealing my knife money!

tknife

tknife

Joined
Mar 18, 1999
Messages
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I always wanted a "real" R/C car ever since I was a kid. I finally broke down and bought a Traxxas T-Maxx nitro powered monster. This thing is a total BLAST! But at almost $500 out the door, and a million cool hop up parts, this thing will be taking money normally set aside for blades. (ARRGGHH!) Anyone else found the pure kid joy in these things?
 
I was into them for a while during early High School. I had an Associated RC10 (this was the late 80s, it had the anodized aluminum bathtub chassis and electric motor). This was back before I had a part time job, so I was financing this on $10/week allowance and my $10/week lunch money stipend (preferred to go hungry at school rather than wait twice as long for stuff). It was tough. A set of tires was a week's allowance. A motor was two or more. It took a month to save for the radio, etc.

Still, it was a blast.

I have an unassembled airplane kit in the basement right now. The only thing keeping me from building it is time and the fear I will become obsessed. :D

Chris
 
I hear that! The flying R/C's look like a total blast, esp the helos. These things remind me of my knife habit in a way, there are so many anodized titanium, aluminum, and CF things to buy! My wife thinks I am nuts, and one of my friends wives is mad at me because now HE wants one! But as the old saying goes, how do you play in the game of life, without any TOYS?!
 
I have a HPI RS4 nitro truck. Lots of fun! Yes they can eat up lots of money!:(

Tknife, they have an outdoor RC track in Saugus by Magic Mountain. They have T-maxx racing class. Looks like a miniature supercross track. Whoops, table tops, double jumps. Kinda neat! Lots of kids...and lots of old dudes with lots of money! :D

The nitros are the way to go. Nothing beats the sound of a little motor winding out. Adds to the fun!
 
That sounds cool, I'll have to go check it out. I'd be afraid to race, the little kids would probably smoke me! Mine's still bone stock and I'm still learning to drive it. I drive the darn thing every single day though, so I should improve!
 
I had an Associated RC 12-I growing up. Cool car and fast. My father was always into building and flying helos. Too complicated for me.
 
I used to be into RC cars in my late 20s (late 80s early 90s) and started with a cheap Grasshopper, but later added an RC10 to my kit. After hundreds of dollars in add ons and upgrades that thing was amazing. It would corner so hard it would lift the front inside tire when cornering. It would do about 35 MPH in real time.

Then I got busy with other things in life and figured I was done with RC cars. So I sold my whole kit (two cars, two radios, gnarley charger set up, many spare batteries and parts) for about $250.00.

WHAT THE HELL WAS I THINKING??? Now ten years later, I want to play RC racer again and I have to start from scratch. I'm afraid this might get expensive.

Any recs on what the hot truck or 4x buggy set up is today? Radios, chargers?...

jmx
 
JMX

I had a RC-10 too. What a fun car. My 2 friends and I would race each other any where there was dirt or grass.

I just got back into them too. I would recommend getting a nitro truck. Much more fun! Don't have to charge batteries...just fill the tank and you can run for hours! The sound adds to the fun too.

They have RTR's (ready to race) now. All built, with radio and everything. Just add receiver batteries, fuel and you're good to go. Course you can still build your own.

Go to the bookstore and get a RC magazine to fill yourself in on all the new hot toys! ;)

The old names are still around...Associated, Losi, etc.
 
I'm only about 30 min from Saugus. That track sounds like a blast. I'll probably stay with DC power for noise reasons. I like to play with the things around the neighborhood. Losi's still around eh? I had one of their motors in my RC-10. I still can't believe I sold all that stuff so cheap. Hell, I barely got enough to cover the motor, my battery charger and a couple battery packs!


Argggghhhh!

jmx
 
I've been bit again. I just went to the hobby store to look (Hobby People, er... evil people) really. Unfortunately I'm a man of very little willpower. I had done a whole bunch of surfing on the RC car topic since this thread started and was pretty sure that if I did break down and give in to my urges, that I could get out with a Traxxas Stampede monster truck for about $200.00.

Right.

Once you've had an RC10 it's hard to go back.

Now I have a Team Ascociated RC10TB3 stadium truck with all the accessories and no money left for a Mayo TNT! Of course I wasn't smart enough to get it ready to run (the kit form was $100.00 less), so it's off to the garage for me!

jmx
 
I went with the T-Maxx because of all the available parts for it. It also comes pretty much ready to run. The thing is basically a tank, except I blew out my stock shocks this weekend, and the upgraded big bore shocks are $100! It's definitely an expensive hobby, but is such a blast.
 
I'm about 40-45 minutes from Saugus. Dropped by to watch some races when I bought my truck. Have to practice a lot more before I try that...I run into things too often! :)

Tknife-you will like the T-Maxx class. They have lots of 'em that show up...some pretty heavily modified.

I run my nitro truck around the neighborhood. No one complains...it's not THAT much louder than the electric ones. Everyone that has come out to look just thinks it's cool. Some of the old grey haired guys wanted to know where to buy one. :D

I have to make a hobby store run. I ran into a curb and broke a suspension arm. Mine is stock, except for a better air filter and a thingie to shut down the car if the radio gets out of range or gets interference.

That happened to my RC-10. Got out of range and the car kept going wide open until it smacked a log. Ouch.
 
Ok, if the T-MAXX is the "Mayo TNT of R/C Trucks", what would be the equivalent of a Benchmade 940? That's about the price range I'm in, and would like to have some recommendation in hand before heading down to the hobby shop and coming out like tknife--without any more knife money!

Any/all recommendations welcome. Just looking for something fun to pass the time up at the lake house where we have a big perfect beach to run these little R/C trucks.

Thanks one and all!
 
I'm a re-entry RC'r. That is to say, I was into it years ago and am back. If you buy one of these things, don't ever sell it, unless it's to get another one. I made the mistake of selling all my stuff and now it's costing me. Had I kept at least one of my old rigs, I'd probably just have gone to buy some new batteries and gone playing.

Instead I've more than spent enough to get a TNT and spent the whole weekend building it (an RC10 B3 is NOT a one day affair).

I'm starting to see the wisdom of RTR (ready to run) kits. They usually include everything you need except batteries and chargers.

I read a good article on a website about how to build a $200.00 car including radio. It seemed like a reasonable approach and that's what sent me to the hobbie store. Unfortunately, I'm usually not satisfied with the basic model of anything.

My saga aside (was back at Hobby People again tonight for an radio exchange/upgrade because a servo didn't fit) here's what I learned:

You really could put together an adult level RC car with batteries and charger for around $200.00. For about $300.00 you can have real fun.

For beach use or bashing around the neighborhood, Monster Trucks rule. Their big tires allow them to get over stuff that hang other types of RC racers up. Especially if you get a 4X4 version. Remember that to an RC car or truck, a slightly overgrown lawn is tough to overcome. RC Cars, Buggies and Stadium trucks have limited ground clearance. The extra clearance on a Monster Truck really helps here. The Tamiya Clodbuster even has four wheel steering!

The Traxxas Stampede seems to be the most bang for the buck for a general fun/ thrash about type toy. It's a 2 wheel drive (2WD) Monster Truck styling available in RTR form for $169.00 from Hobby People. All you need to add is batteries and a charger ($60.00 - $100.00 to start) and you're ready to go.

The killer easy way in for a go anywhere truck seems to be the Traxxas E-Maxx or T-Maxx. The E version is electric, the T version is Nitro powered (you know, like the NHRA). The E-Maxx has dual motors and 4WD. It's $319.00 RTR at Hobby People plus batteries and charger. This truck uses 2 batteries at a time so 4 battery packs are recommended to start as are two chargers. Figure $$550.00 to play but this thing looks rad!

Myself, well I'm hoping for lots of fun from the RC10 Truck with the recently added FM radio.

I gota go to the garage and work on it now.

jmx
 
I was gonna suggesst the Traxxas Stampede as well. You could probably get out the door for right around $200. Some stores have different cars that are ready to go and will allow you to test drive them. It's the little things that get you. I usually have to go to the hobby store after every couple of times I run it. I walk out spending less than $5, but spend the next day cleaning and repairing it! It's all part of the fun for me though. This hobby grabbed ahold of me as bad as knives have, now I have 2 expensive hobbies!
 
Next question: Will I save money by buying the Traxxas Stampede online? If so, which vendor?

Thanks again gents for the pointing in the right directions.
 
I'd suggest getting one of the nitro trucks. I have had both...electric (RC-10) and now nitro (HPI RS4MT) and I like the nitro a lot more.

With our electric cars...it was 5 minutes of fun, switch batteries, 5 more minutes of fun. Wait for batteries to cool then throw then on the charger for 15 minutes. The car was very fun...but it seemed we spent more time charging batteries than goofing around.

With the nitro truck...it's fill the tank and play around until it runs of of fuel...fill up the tank and you're off again. As long as you have fuel and your transmitter and receiver batteries are good you're up and running.

I built my RC-10 and got a RTR nitro. Personally I like the RTR. I still take the truck apart to clean/repair and it's hard to get a new toy and have to wait a few days to play with it because your building it. :p The RTR's have everything but trans/receiv batteries (usually AA). Radios, servos and everything else included and already built.

I think HPI, Associated, Traxxis and others make RTR nitro trucks. Mine is 4 wheel drive but not as big as the T-Maxx. I think I got mine for around $375-400 at Hobby People. That included batteries, fuel, cleaner and other small stuff. 4 wheel drive might be a good idea for a sandy beach.

http://www.hobbypeople.net/

Good luck and have fun! :D
 
Are the nitro truck/cars loud?

My 3-yr. old daughter--who will be playing along with me--does not like loud noises (i.e. vacuum cleaner, motorcycles, etc.)
 
They make more noise than the electric ones, but they are not too loud. They are quieter than gas powered RC planes.

:confused: :confused: :confused:

Don't know what to compare it with. Lot quieter than vacuum cleaner. The little kids in my neighborhood aren't bothered at all...matter of fact they all come running to watch. Maybe similar to a Dremal tool???

Unless she is REALLY sensitive, I don't think she'd mind. Once she sees the little thing racing around, I'm sure she would want to play with it too.
 
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