loco_oso 108 Posted January 12, 2012 Hey all, This Christmas I got a Kyosho Rock Force from Santa and just wanted to share it with all of you. It's a 2.2 inch crawler, and I'm currently running a Dynamite 1500 NiCd pack, a Sidewinder 4600 combo on 50% (although the ESC isn't installed in the truck yet), a Futaba S3305 servo, and Airtronics Blazer AM radio. The body is a Suzuki Jimny. The paint lines didn't come out too well, but overall I like the look, especially the green that I mixed up (blue, white, and green) . I haven't run it outside yet, but I'll probably do that tomorrow. I really liked the look of this truck when it came out, and it's great to finally have one. Hope you all enjoy the pictures. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
loco_oso 108 Posted January 20, 2012 Took the truck out behind the house the other day and took the camera along with . Some are posers, most are not. Hope you all enjoy the photos. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Max Power 5 Posted January 20, 2012 Great pics loco_oso. Do you find the Rock Force to be a good crawler? Is the Sidewinder a tad fast? I had a HPI Crawler king for a short time, I found it very disappointing, and I couldn't get rid of it fast enough. I think it left a bit of a negative impression of crawlers in my mind. Would you recommend a Rock Force? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
loco_oso 108 Posted January 20, 2012 Thanks very much . Honestly, the Rock Force is my first crawler, so I don't really have anything to judge by unfortunately. To me it feels like it does pretty well, but the steering link and the center get caught on quite a few things. It can also feel like it wants to tip over sometimes, mostly when I've got one tire up on something and the others trying to go up the same path. The servo saver isn't very good, either. Outside of that I think it's a pretty good truck. The Sidewinder in regular form would probably a bit too fast, yeah. I have it running at 50% power, which seems to help, and honestly I'm quite happy with it. After each time I've taken it out the only thing that wasn't basically room temperature was the battery, which was just very, very slightly warm. I'm sorry to hear you had a bad time with the Crawler King. I've had a great time crawling. I've really only every had 'conventional' R/C's, ya know, for fast running on- or off-road. Not to say that they aren't fun, but it's definitely awesome running something off-road and over things that you really just can't or won't with other R/C's. The slow running and 'skill' you have to have makes it fun, as well. I'd recommend a Rock Force, yeah. The thing appears to be built like a tank, as it mostly uses 1/8 and 1/5 scale parts (hub carriers are I think pulled off the 1/8 scale Infernos, huge links, etc), and feels like one too (especially with the weight!). Because of this the amout of spare parts you'd need to buy will likely be relatively few. The crawling ability is there - I read a lot about it before I got the truck, and there were a few that said it was the best out of the box crawler one could buy. I think the guy over at stampedeproject.com put this in his review? Can't remember, sorry. Here's the link, though: http://www.stampedeproject.com/2010/11/kyo...got-torque.html You just have to know how to set it up, which I have to learn how to do. Outside of setup some modifications are required, like the steering link, but I can explain that later if needs be (it's a relatively simple mod). It's also good to get a Rock Force if you only have regular electronics lying around; it should do fine with just a 27T motor and regular ESC, as you don't need a drag brake or torquey motor due to the worm gears. Right now the main thing is that it's about $250, so I thought it was a pretty good deal. When it came out (years ago, granted), it was around $550. It's not a very popular platform, but after running it if I had the choice to exchange it I wouldn't. Hope this helps. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Max Power 5 Posted January 20, 2012 That is a good price, especially for such a heavy duty rig. If I ever decide to have another try, I will defiantly consider one of these. Have fun with it! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
loco_oso 108 Posted January 21, 2012 Sounds great man; I hope you do . And thank you! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
gordb 121 Posted January 21, 2012 Not to be too down on the RF (I have one in a box somewhere in the basement), but I'd suggest reading through the Rock Force forum on rccrawler before I dropped any money on one. From memory, I think the general consensus was that the Losi was a better bet for a worm gear, and Axial for a straight shafty - mind you, that was a while ago now. Take it with a pinch of salt because the hardcore crawler guys play by a different set of rules (and probably have equally disparaging things to say about my beloved CR-01s) - but just in case you wanted somewhere to read up on them. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites