Dazza1976

I had actually spent some time looking at eh holiday buggy, something I’d like myself tbh. Thought my nephew would end up smashing the shell/body to bits on it. re the FTX Tracers he enjoyed the initial runs with it, better than his grandad already! they cover the wet bumpy grass in the garden no problem and actually I’ve been very impressed with them. The controllers allow me to dial the speed down and there are some basic hop up parts so I will get couple bits for us to upgrade in a year if he’s still interested. If he really picks it up then I’ll get him one of the tamiya’s mentioned in this thread.

That’s disappointing to hear. At the moment they will be using it in the garden so I’ll make sure I check it thoroughly before they use them. If there are any issues I’ll see what can be done. These are RTR kits which I’ll have the power turned down on so fingers crossed they last at the least a few runs! If they turn out to be brittle I’ll update here. The YouTube vids I’ve seen have commended these particular models as being able to take some abuse so putting my faith in that! 😬

After much back and forth and also an order and then cancellation of RX Memorial buggy (the DT01 model, black and gold) Modelsport suggested a cheap FTX Tracer truck. I’ve acted on their recommendation and bought two, one for the nephew and one for his grandfather. watching YouTube vids it will handle the garden no problem and also when he inevitably breaks one of them I can butcher the other one for spares. I’ll see how he gets on and once he has mastered the controls I’ll get him onto my Freedlander. So after all that I didn’t even get a tamiya. Also had a Rising Fighter in basket ready to go. With the savings I’ve made (£100 on my Fighter RX memorial order!) I’ll get some hop ups for my CC01 or maybe a DT03 buggy that nephew can progress onto to.

Oh that real one is beautiful! did you restore her yourself? I have a modern one, can’t compare but I still love it and most likely never sell.

Thanks to everyone for your input, very helpful. I’ll let you know what model I end up going for.

First of all, love the User pic, what Alfa to you have? I’m assuming you have one or have had them in past. if could get the tamiya Alfa gta I would, hesitated a year ago and now i can’t find them anywhere! Secondly, interesting point. As a child of the 80s it was Tamiya that stuck in my psyche but I haven’t ruled out another brand. I only got my first RC couple years ago and due to missing out as a child I plumped for tamiya!

Yeah it is the AmPro brace I saw on YouTube, it changes the angle of the shocks. I’m thinking I’ll end up spending a lot on the little RF so perhaps it is better to get a better chassis early on. So many different chassis to choose from! mad bull seems to be out of stock everywhere.

I must admit even thought I know it might struggle on the garden when it is long or muddy I keep thinking “start nephew off in the rising fighter”. Is it essential to do the rear spring mod in the RF?

Ah now I’ve been researching the DT01 chassis. Is that the way to go? Bit more expensive but future proof a little? can get the fighter buggy for around £130 ish it seems.

Approx £150-160 all in I’d say. I could get him just a car and let him use my hand controller/battery/fast charger. You might wonder why I don’t let him just use my freedlander but I won’t be with much during covid and want something resilient for him to learn with.

Thank you Turnip and Taffer . so madbull is rugged and good upgrade potential but to stop him spinning it out of control all the time limit the top speed and maybe get buggy wheels to put on it. I think that’s a good and very simple solution because it’s the 4 big tractor wheels that I dislike. Regarding the rising fighter the grass is not always cut that short and the garden is very up and down, bumpy really, as the cracks in the clay just beneath the top soil open up. Appreciate all the responses so far, very helpful

Thanks, it’s pretty big garden (about 300ft long, maybe 50 ft wide), the turning circle should be ok i think, it was with my LandFreeder. It’s more the bumpy surface which makes me hesitant on the buggy’s. They might end up jumping around and flipping all over the place or getting stuck when it’s wet. He will be crashing it everywhere at first, he’s pretty heavy handed and there are a lot of trees to crash into. those controllers look good, thank you I’ll grab one of those. Also take your point on more power but using controller to tone it down. re budget I’m thinking £150 ish all in, might mean I need to grab a decent 2nd hand car. The rising fighter is cheap as is the grasshopper, I already have the fast charger from my LandFreeder purchase so he can use that. my head initially said rising fighter, and maybe do the rear suspension mod on it but I’d rather get something that is good do go (maybe add some metal bearings to whatever I get). But would also be good to get something he can grow with and upgrade before I give him the freedlander. Shop near me is selling rising fighter for £70-80!I think.

Hi all. appreciate this will be topic that has come up many many times but searching I couldn’t find what I needed. Summary: got my first RC couple years ago, LandFreeder special. Too much for my then 3 yr old nephew to use obviously so got him some cheap indoor RC cars but I want to get him something for his garden, which is very big, mostly short grass with the some long grass. Scope to make a mini course to be honest as it’s pretty big. It does break up in summer as the ground is mostly clay so gets bumpy. I was looking at: Rising Fighter - think it would struggle on grass a bit, and also with bumps end up hopping everywhere? grasshopper - might not have the power to get through the grass and again bump around a lot hornet - as per grass hopper but maybe too much power for him. madbull - probably the one tbh but not I like look of it and seems pretty fast so maybe downgrade the engine/gearing. or perhaps something like the freedlander but lower motor/gear in it, the 4wd helps on his garden. Also are there any hand controls where you can limit the throttle inputs? 5 years old is young but he seems to show interest in mechanical things so might be good hobby to get him into. Plus I get to indulge my lost childhood. apologies because I expect there will be a few eye rolls at this topic coming up again, appreciate any suggestions. cheers

Bearings arrived from rcbearings and tyres/wheels ordered from RC4WD Wheels and tyres chosen below, sure it won’t be last set I order! hopefully these will do the job. I saw another LandFreeder on YouTube with 1.55 wheels and it looked good. Z-W0260 OEM Stamped Steel 1.55" Beadlock Wheels (White) Edit Z-T0159 RC4WD Goodyear Wrangler MT/R 1.55" Scale Tires changed wranglers to MUD THRASHERS 1.55" SCALE TIRES, it think they will be better bet as I’m not ready for full on crawling yet and the wranglers might by too soft. bearings now installed, couldn’t quite shim the rear axle as suggested in this thread, had to use plastic bearinf and one brass bearing to shim.

Unable to post more (size restrictions) but I’ll figure it out this weekend and order JIS screwdrivers and some bearings