The past year!

WOW! What a year it's been for RCCrawler.com!!! As a matter of fact, what a year it's been for rock crawling, especially, Radio Controlled Rock Crawling! I'll never forget sitting in my office a little more than a year ago, searching for RC crawling web sites on the internet. I get a call from Jason Hensel he says, “Hey Digler, I'm starting a website and really want to get it off the ground quickly and make it The Only hardcore RC Crawling site around, one that will smoke the competition with the best rigs, people and information around.”

It was only a matter of days when Jason called back and said, “It's time to pick a name for the web address and the site will be running in a matter of days. Write some articles and I'll do the rest.” I was hooked, mostly because Jason is the type of guy that just gets things done fast!!! Jason and I were telling as many people about the new site, www.rccrawler.com , as we could. Members started signing up fairly quickly and the hits came at a decent rate for such a brand new web site. Month one for the site brought about 9,000 hits! We all watched the activity increase over the next few months, usually doubling the previous month. When I say WOW, I think you'll all agree that going from 9,000 hits in January 2004, to 600,000 hits in January 2005 is a major accomplishment. As for members, last time I looked it was over 1,600 and growing rapidly.

Many of the regulars like Grizzly, Badger and SR5Dave, just to name a few, found the site early on and are still around. They are the ones that truly make the site great, with their knowledge of RC, crawling and technology. Thanks to Badger (John) and Jason, the site has just received a new face lift and a much needed software upgrade. This is a true milestone and mark s the beginning of a new year at RCCrawler.com. The site will continue to grow with all the members support. A perfect example is the raffle that was held at Jason's house. Almost everyone participated which helped in raising money to fund the site and some of you guys even lucked out with some pretty cool prizes. We are all going to continue to work with vendors and manufacturers that have supported and will continue to support the site and the sport. I can't even imagine what the site will look like in 2006 and won't even bother to speculate on the statistics.

There are now moderators in each forum area. There is a section on pretty much every aspect of RCCrawling, including truck type, for sale and wanted, chit chat, electronics, just to name a few. It has truly come a long way. What is most impressive is the reliability of the site! I have only seen RCCrawler.com down a couple of times and it was only for a matter of minutes. I can't say that for other sites out there!!!

All of you can agree on this: You have gained knowledge about RC Crawler vehicles from the web site and that is the point. You may have asked a question and gotten ridiculed and flamed for it, but I'll bet you got your question answered. It's all in fun too, and that is what RCCrawler.com is all about. With all the knowledge that we've gained from each other, look at how much the sport has changed. Look at how much the rigs have changed. There are competitions on a weekly basis around the country in almost all 50 states. Guys like Fishmaxx fly from Atlanta , GA to Colorado Springs , CO to join in a small crawling event. That is hardcore dedication!!!! Small companies have formed and are selling top quality products for dedicated RC crawlers, like RC Rock Gear, and The Crawler Store. Once again this has all happened in only 12 months!!!!

You probably remember the high riding rigs we all used to drive around, thinking that they could tackle any terrain! It was only a year ago that 13 inches of wheel base and skid plating was acceptable and clod tires still ruled the rocks!!!

Most of us had slightly modified clods and TXT-1's that were mostly stock. Bodies were mounted high, cantilever suspensions were cool and 4 wheel steering was still being experimented with. And remember the extreme travel that we were all after? Some of us even had 90+ degrees of travel!!!!

Then, some of the hardcore guys started to think outside the box, swapping in X-Factor axles under TXT chassis, converting nitro to electric, Stampede transmissions in a homemade chassis, “Ten Ways To Make the Ultimate TXT-1 Crawler”, longer and lower slung rigs and narrowed tires all come to mind. My god!!!! Ace (Andy) even made a frigin slinky crawler that could adjust the wheel base remotely!!! Now that is hardcore! People started coming of the woodwork, fabricating clod chassis like the UTRCRC V2.

Custom tube framed creations were appearing every day, although, within a years time, have somewhat petered out in the competition scene. Everyone is so creative now, it's hard to keep up but it's great to see that many of the manufacturers are starting to see the light. It is no fluke that ProLine made their new tire for crawling. They even named it Moab , a name synonyms with rock crawling.

Its super soft and aggressive with perfectly placed side lugs and no one can argue that 7 inches tall is just about perfect! We members of RCCrawler.com are changing the RC sport and have added a niche that is helping drive the industry. Thanks to Jason at RC Driver Magazine, we have seen a crawler related article in every issue for the past several months. IMEX is listening to us about how to make the perfect crawling tire. RCGuy.com, the company that built the first crawler chassis in 1999, is still at it and building a ton of different high quaility parts specifically for RC Crawler's and Tamiya is actually working on the TXT-2, a rock crawler based rig in kit form. I'd say that everyone in the RC world is looking at RCCrawler.com and you, the members, are part of it!!!!

What I'm most curious about is what our crawlers will look like in January 2006. Within a year, I know my rigs went from something like this, a nitro burning, high riding, wannabe crawler, to this, a slammed, electrified crawling machine!!!!

I know RCCrawler.com will still be running and looking awesome but when you have transformations of rigs that looked like this only twelve months ago, you have to wonder what types of “rock craft” we will be piloting in 2006. Here are a few predictions and thoughts from the RCCrawler.com Team:

Air actuated shocks/so springs

Decreased center clearances (dragging bellies)

Better tire choices from manufacturers

Minimal lexan use in bodies (heavily cut bodies)

Extreme Light weight rigs / under built chassis

4 wheel independent steering (one servo per wheel)

LiPoly batteries

Home Made Tires

Robot Servos

Valved C02 canisters for steering systems and hydraulic

I'll bet you all have some thoughts as well and what better place to share those ideas than www.rccrawler.com and all the cool people that have helped make it the number one hit, most informative RC Rock Crawling site in the world! From the RCCrawler.com Team, we want to wish you happy crawling and look forward to seeing you on the forums and in the rocks in 2005!!!!!!

To keep great things happening the site needs your support, buy a star today!

Dirk Digler