Recommendation: Slow and small, but quality, monster truck/crawler?

[Yonez]

Hi,

I need a small and slow truck to use at the cabin. Ideally it should use rechargeable AA's and be slow enough for indoor running on a small floor, but also capable of some outside gravel road running. The cabin has 12V solar power only and the capacity is too low to charge regular battery packs. But I have lots of Eneloops that I can bring and also charge while up there.

I can find lots of toy grade crawlers that fit the bill, but I'd really like to find one that is of decent quality and will last a few years. I have no idea where to start looking for that.

I'm in Norway, but am willing to buy from abroad if needs be.

 

[Dangerseeker]

i would step back from toygrade ones, as they tend to break soon and usually spares are unavailable.

 

maybe something like this:

https://hobbyking.com/de_de/orlandoo-oh35p01-4wd-1-35-crawler-kit-un-assembled.html

or that

https://hobbyking.com/de_de/basher-rocksta-1-24-4ws-mini-rock-crawler-rtr.html

 

the rocksta looks good, reviews are good, but i never saw one in real life. the orlandoo looks good as well, but reviews are mixed.

 

 

[markbt73]

RC4WD also does a mini version of their Gelande II Defender:

http://store.rc4wd.com/RC4WD-118-Gelande-II-RTR-with-D90-Body-Set_p_4914.html

Haven't seen one in the flesh, but their quality is much better than it used to be. Lots of metal in this one.

Pro-Line has also come out with a little crawler, called the Ambush, with an International Scout style body. It even has tiny leaf springs!

https://www.prolineracing.com/ambush-4x4-mini-scale-crawler-rtr/

The Pro-Line one includes a tiny battery that charges via a USB port, so if you have a laptop with you...?

[WillyChang]

Kyosho had some MiniZ monsters, but afaik they run on AAAs.

Had a Losi Micro crawler at one stage, that was very cute... haven't seen anything as nice lately. Couch crawling is kool

[Yonez]

Thanks for the suggestions!

The Gelande II looks absolutely amazing. But a bit out of the price range for this purchase. 

The Rocksta crawler could be OK. 

None of these run directly of AA's, but a simple USB charger isn't too bad.

Need to think a bit.

[Marco-1975]

Yonez,

I own a Rocksta micro crawler. Nice little truck, but quite low speed. My 6-year old daughter really enjoys it, as do I. I bought it because I can use it both indoors and outdoors.  What I particularly  like is that it uses 2S 350mAh lipos which I can charge with my "big" charger, it's a real "grown-up" car, not a toy. Maybe these small capacity lipos can be charged using a 12V solar panel and 12V charger?

Wheelbase  and width of the Rocksta are about the same as the RC4WD Gelände 1/18, so I ordered a body and am currently busy fitting it on the Rocksta. Needed to remove the cage which functions as an exo-skeleton so I had to do some design work for new chassis rails out of 5mm styrene sheet.  Pretty straightforeward rail design and easy to dyi:  drew it on paper, cut it out and glued it to the styrene. Next step is using the jigsaw. Sorry, but no pics available yet.

BTW: the hex screws that are used, are really low quality. I destroyed every one of them trying to get them loose. Had to use pliers to get them out... so be prepared to buy a bag of 2mm metric thread screws.

Good luck with your descision.

[Dangerseeker]

this one is small, too but it looks like it could be too fast

https://www.lindinger.at/at/fahrzeugeschiffe/autos/ecx-temper-1-18-4wd-rock-crawler-rtr

 

 

[Pumesta]

This thread is putting me in the notion off getting a little one for running round the house, and tormenting the cat with.  I like the look of the Orlandoo, but the extremely small parts might not work to well with my sausage fingers, and eyesight lol 

[Yonez]

I took a chance on the Rocksta. I can't find any decent cars that use AA or AAA in the car itself and the low speed of the rock crawler should make it fun to use indoor as well. 

[Dangerseeker]

2 hours ago, Yonez said:

I took a chance on the Rocksta. I can't find any decent cars that use AA or AAA in the car itself and the low speed of the rock crawler should make it fun to use indoor as well. 

anxiously awaiting field reports on the Rocksta ...

[Marco-1975]

Good choice, you will not be disappointed. Until it arrives: check out youtube, there are several comparison movies between Rocksta and other micro crawlers.

Only negative issue are the shocks, they are no real piston like types, but the central shaft slides up and down. But I think these can be replaced if necessary. For now, they work for me. The part protruding at the top doesn't touch anything in my Landy shell.

[Dangerseeker]

according go the reviews the plastic gears are prone to break. people suggest replacing the plastic gears with metal ones.

[Yonez]

On 2/9/2017 at 7:57 PM, Dangerseeker said:

according go the reviews the plastic gears are prone to break. people suggest replacing the plastic gears with metal ones.

Thanks for the heads up! Ordered some various spares including the gear set.

[Yonez]

So a quick followup on the Rocksta. I've run it for about 15 minutes to test it a bit.

• Plastic gears do break right away. One wheel got stuck, which gave a cracking noise and now the rear wheels don't turn.
• It's very hard to adjust the trim. The trim is digital, but you can click trim 15 times without a result and then it suddenly jumps 5-10 degrees. It does not return to the same neutral position from the left and right either. Looks like there's a lot of friction in the steering and the servos are very weak.
• Frame and construction seems pretty good, at least for the kind of use it will see 
• Controller is the FlySky FS-GT2G, with some modifications; the bind button is used to change the 4WS option from the controller in flight. Very nice for the price.