kirk13

And now a video! There'd be more videos,but it's been too muddy to put the iPad on the ground😫

So,how's the Treka on the road? Well,the news is mostly good. The 370 motor is full of grunt,it's pulled the Treka up some steep greasy slopes without issues. As I said earlier the drag break isn't the greatest,and you do need to take care on steep descents,as you can't depend the brake to stop you dead. The big issue to watch out for is the CoG/body roll. if your attacking slopes head on,the Treka is nice and stable,but if you take a lateral approach to a steep slope,then roll over is a real issue(hence the Trekas first dip into the river🙄) I suspect that changing the shock oil might help,as the shocks are very soft as stock. Widening the track would be a big help too! By in large though,it performs as well,if not better,with fewer mods than my other crawlers. For £140,it's a stonking deal!

As you may have noticed,the battery tray isn't between the rear suspension mounts😉 The stays on the tray can be set to hold either the Tamtech style battery,or for the usual 6cell 7.2v stick. I didn't much want to use the smaller battery(apparently it'll give 30 minute run times),so I relocated the tray to a lateral position. No great feat of engineering,but as long as you've got cable ties to hand,it's quick and cheep to do. The other thing I'd wanted was the try move the battery weight a little lower in the chassis. There's space to mount it over the front axel,in front of the electronics,which might be a better choice.

Both diffs are locked as you'd expect. Steering lock is pretty good,but as the pic will show,there's potential for more travel by trimming back the tab,just as you would with a Maverick Scout. I trimmed the tabs after taking this photo,and the turning circle becomes much tighter.

The Treka offers a reasonable turn of speed,more than adequate for trailing or crawling. Low speed performance is good,if not exceptional,although I've read that replacing the stock ESC with the Hobbywing 1060 offers a marked improvement. I can't comment on that,but what I will say is that the drag break isn't the best. It's not to say it's bad,just that care is needed on steep uneven descents. One last,and for me,important point about the electrics is that they are water resistant to a high level. My Treka has had two major drops into the Hogsmill river without harm(though we'll come back to this later)

The Treka comes with a slim line 1500mAh NiMH battery (bit like in a Tamtech,with a mini Tamiya connector)running a 370 type motor,rather than the high turn 540 we usually see in crawlers. The battery tray sits between the rear suspension uprights. The reciever and speed controller are a combo unit,with an extra port for LEDs,or a winch. You also have option of running on LiPos. As you can see from the first photo,there's LEDs built into the front bumper,and red LEDs in the back bumper. Tyres are soft and very grippy.

A few weeks ago,while browsing through eBay I came across the Outback for the first time. It looked far too good to be true. Ladder chassis,multi link suspension,and body shells looking much like Landys,Land Cruisers,and Broncos. Hundred and forty quid later,I had my combination birthday/Christmas present to myself. Before pulling the trigger,I did a little research. MSUK and YouTube had lots of good things to say,although worryingly,no one said anything bad🤔

And firstly, my Ripmax Across Goes like stink,lots of suspension movement,just needs a bigger battery!

Had a couple of new cars out for a proper run today. Secondly,the FTX Outback Treka I bought myself for my birthday/Christmas **** good little car for the money. Survived a dip into the river,and climbed some pretty slippy slopes without issues. It's a real competitor to cars like the Maverick Scout!

My combination birthday/Christmas present to me,from me arrived today...a brand new FTX Outback Trekka. Pics to follow!

...and

Playing in the leaves

Wow! I hadn't realised how long long it was since I updated this thread.... Anyway,there's been a few refinements. I've fitted two sets of LED spots for night driving,and fitted a set of Fasttrax Kongs on bead lock rims. The bead locks jammed on the front uprights so a set of track expanders have been added too.

I use a Kamtec T25 shell on my FTX crawler So far so very good!

Full set of Fasttrax Kongs on bead lock rims for the Landfreeder

Finally got around to fitting a driver to the Brat

That is massive! Thank you for sharing the build,I'll be following it avidly!

Finally got around to chopping up a Stitheen to act as driver in my Maverick Brat crawler. He seems to think it's a fair swap to loose his legs and most of his body to gain a car🙄

Just back from a moonlight run with the Landfreeder. I fitted two sets of LED spots to her earlier today. Its been her first outing since the failure at Mickleham back in September. It's when your on the trail,and it's so much easier to run than a full crawler,and you remember just why you love the CC01!

I like those rules👍

Yesterday rather than today,but... Got the 'drift spec' TL01 I'd won off eBay up and running at last! After a test run,I took the Maverick Brat crawler off for a moonlight trail run. It was a sublime hour and a half under a nearly super moon!

Fitted the replacement front suspension upright,and fitted new disk style back wheels to the Beemer Ratrod. Got a quick fox free test drive in too!

Bodged a mounting for spotlights on my Beemer Ratrod