FTX Outback Treka:a Kirk chronical

[kirk13]

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🤔

[kirk13]

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. 

[kirk13]

[kirk13]

[kirk13]

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)

[kirk13]

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.

[kirk13]

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.

[kirk13]

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!

[kirk13]

And now a video!

 

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

[Mad Ax]

Great write-up - interesting stuff and good to see another budget option in the crawler market.  Proving again that it's time for Tamiya to get back on the game with a capable CC02

I was looking at these too, the bodies really aren't bad given the price and plenty of scope for customisation too.  Knowing that they're more than capable on the rough stuff is great news, despite having a million half-finished scaler projects I'm tempted to add one to my burgeoning fleet  

[kirk13]

 

Cheers mate! I fully agree about a CC02,but I do wonder if it might not be too much of a departure of philosophy for Tamiya? Would they do a scaled down CR01?

There is one question about the Treka that I didn't cover...

Is the Treka tough? I'd say yes.

Being the idiot I am,I'd reversed the Treka clean off the edge of this culvert,trying to set the iPad up for a video. I'd had to wade in to recover it(there's a reason I wear wellies😉) The drop,and spending ten minutes underwater didn't hurt the Treka at all! Gotta be impressed aft

[Terz1]

This looks great. I've got a maverick scout which I'm transforming from crawler to scaler. I've finished my jeep wrangler rubicon body complete with accessories including roof rack, spare wheel, snorkel and light bar etc.. My next stage was going to get a axial scx10 chassis or the radshape one to complete the transformation. After seeing this though I might keep the scout as it is and get one of these.

Have you seen the cmx kit by mst? Thats also a great scaler kit and looks very similar to this. It is much more expensive though.

[kirk13]

Terz,yes,I have seen the CMX,(someone's doing one as their winter build) but all in your starting to get into Axial money. For £140,the Outback is way cheaper. 

 

I enjoyed your Scout thread. Are there any updates?

[Terz1]

I was thinking that, It's a great value kit. If I get a ladder chassis I would be right up there cost wise with an axial scx10 too. No further updates at the moment. To be honest I like the way it is. It's kind of inbetween a scaler and full crawler looks and articulation wise. 

Thanks for putting this thread up. I wouldn't have known about this kit otherwise. Wonder if they do hops ups for it?

[Davy Crockett]

Nice post kirk! Seen the trekka and wondered whether it was any good. Chassis certainly looks the part, can definitely say the 1060 ESC is brilliant and can't recommend it enough, drag brake works well

 what's the wheelbase length, front to rear wheelnuts? Thinking of a build for the new year and have a shell I might use......

[Mad Ax]

16 hours ago, Terz1 said:

[Mad Ax]

16 hours ago, Terz1 said:

This looks great. I've got a maverick scout which I'm transforming from crawler to scaler. I've finished my jeep wrangler rubicon body complete with accessories including roof rack, spare wheel, snorkel and light bar etc.. My next stage was going to get a axial scx10 chassis or the radshape one to complete the transformation. After seeing this though I might keep the scout as it is and get one of these.

Have you seen the cmx kit by mst? Thats also a great scaler kit and looks very similar to this. It is much more expensive though.

Sorry - got stuck with the "can't type outside a quote" bug  

Anyhoo - sorry for the thread derail but check out the TCS X-Trail chassis, if you can still find one - the Maverick Scout chassis transmission plate is a perfect fit.  I'm in the process of building a Budget Bruiser using a battered old Tamiya body, Maverick Scout running gear and TCS X-Trail chassis.  You just need to make new front and rear ladders.

http://www.tcscrawlers.com/tcs-x-trail-scale-chassis-for-the-axial-ax10-scorp-p/sku28149.htm

 

[Terz1]

That looks great mad ax. Can only find them in the US though and the shipping is dearer than the item . The radshape ladder chassis for the maverick is now £52 which is much cheaper than last time I checked. Think it was £80 before. 

https://www.radshaperc.com/product/trail-scout-chassis-maverick-scout-conversion-kit

I like really like your ford bronco body kirk, I like this one too it's the thundra which is an old toyota fj40 style body. I might have to have that one .

https://www.modelsport.co.uk/ftx-outback-4x4-trail-rtr-tundra/rc-car-products/403655

Another company make a similar kit. I think the chassis is identical but the body is different. Doesn;t look as realistic but it might be what some people prefer. It's called the ECX barrage.

https://www.hobbytown.com/barrage-1.9-1-12-4wd-rtr-electric-crawler-by-ecx-ecx01009/p538066

Found it in the UK too for £140 RTR

[kirk13]

On 19 December 2016 at 7:07 PM, Davy Crockett said:

Nice post kirk! Seen the trekka and wondered whether it was any good. Chassis certainly looks the part, can definitely say the 1060 ESC is brilliant and can't recommend it enough, drag brake works well

 what's the wheelbase length, front to rear wheelnuts? Thinking of a build for the new year and have a shell I might use......

Wheelbase is 225mm,with 160mm track as standard.

I fully agree about the 1060s. I'm running them in both my Maverick Brat and my Landfreeder👍

[kirk13]

On 19 December 2016 at 5:50 PM, Terz1 said:

I was thinking that, It's a great value kit. If I get a ladder chassis I would be right up there cost wise with an axial scx10 too. No further updates at the moment. To be honest I like the way it is. It's kind of inbetween a scaler and full crawler looks and articulation wise. 

Thanks for putting this thread up. I wouldn't have known about this kit otherwise. Wonder if they do hops ups for it?

There's a bunch of Ali parts for the steering,and the gubbens to increase the track. You can get them from CML direct or from Modelsport

[kirk13]

11 hours ago, Mad Ax said:

Sorry - got stuck with the "can't type outside a quote" bug  

Anyhoo - sorry for the thread derail but check out the TCS X-Trail chassis, if you can still find one - the Maverick Scout chassis transmission plate is a perfect fit.  I'm in the process of building a Budget Bruiser using a battered old Tamiya body, Maverick Scout running gear and TCS X-Trail chassis.  You just need to make new front and rear ladders.

http://www.tcscrawlers.com/tcs-x-trail-scale-chassis-for-the-axial-ax10-scorp-p/sku28149.htm

 

 

7 hours ago, Terz1 said:

That looks great mad ax. Can only find them in the US though and the shipping is dearer than the item . The radshape ladder chassis for the maverick is now £52 which is much cheaper than last time I checked. Think it was £80 before. 

https://www.radshaperc.com/product/trail-scout-chassis-maverick-scout-conversion-kit

I like really like your ford bronco body kirk, I like this one too it's the thundra which is an old toyota fj40 style body. I might have to have that one .

https://www.modelsport.co.uk/ftx-outback-4x4-trail-rtr-tundra/rc-car-products/403655

Another company make a similar kit. I think the chassis is identical but the body is different. Doesn;t look as realistic but it might be what some people prefer. It's called the ECX barrage.

https://www.hobbytown.com/barrage-1.9-1-12-4wd-rtr-electric-crawler-by-ecx-ecx01009/p538066

Found it in the UK too for £140 RTR

That TCS looks good. I hadn't realised that the Radshape chassis had come down in price. Certainly makes it a more attractive deal. I'm still pondering on getting their cc01 battery tray🤔

[Terz1]

Have you seen this guys youtubes kirk? He's got one of these ftx kits and has added some accessories. I think the weathering he does to the body really sets the shell off. Really liking this kit.

 

[Mad Ax]

Was actually tempted to buy one of the Land Cruiser kits in time for the weekend, got a mate popping over and we're off on an RC jolly on Christmas eve, but I only have one scaler in a running condition.  But nobody has the LC kit in stock for quick delivery - which has probably saved me from buying yet more stuff I don't really need!

[kirk13]

Well,we've done a bit of work since the last post. The steering mod I'd made had improved the turning circle,but introduced a glitch in centrering the steering after full lock to the right. I've cured that by fileing out 3mm from the servo mounting plate.

I've fitted the wide track hop ups,and replaced the stock ESC/rx combo with a Flysky rx and the Maverick Scout ESC.

I still working on a basic interior.

 

[kirk13]