advice on new crawler for my 5yr old

[troyweaver]

I'm taking my son to his first G6 style crawler competition in September and I'd like to get him a more capable truck so he doesn't get discouraged. He has been driving since age 3 when he started with a redcat everest 10 since I picked it up for $50 to gauge his interest. He loved it so I got him an scx10.2 when he turned 4 which he's been driving for a year now. He does really well for being a box stock 10.2 with amazon servo. He does struggle picking lines that wont get his differentials caught up though being 5. I'm wondering if I should snag him something custom built comp truck with portals or even getting him a stock trx4 sport or basecamp that we can slowly build together. Any suggestions from folks with kiddos in the hobby??

 

[Fallen]

I have 5 kids, 4 of which drive RC cars with me. My initial thoughts are to just stick with the 10.2. With all of my kids' rigs, I've found as cheap as possible, while still being capable has been the ticket. If your kids already have something they're enjoying, that's probably the best bet. Maybe some new tires or a body to spark his interest in it, and just to have a fun project.

But, I'm not even sure what a G6 competition is. Is that the long distance trail competition where you run behind your truck?

If so, then I'd assume the crawling wouldn't be super technical in a competition like that, and the 10.2 would probably do great. With new tires and a body of course!

 

[hnoroian]

Buy a new body and let his driving skills improve. Let him pick the body and color(s). It would be a new truck in his eyes. It will bring much more new excitement than him making a modification. Give him an old tooth brush to dry clean the truck too.

 

[troyweaver]

Buy a new body and let his driving skills improve. Let him pick the body and color(s). It would be a new truck in his eyes. It will bring much more new excitement than him making a modification. Give him an old tooth brush to dry clean the truck too.

I thought about that but he has a nicely painted power wagon body on it right now that he likes. My thought was keep his 10.2 as more of a dedicated trail truck for the local hiking trails and build him a separate comp truck that stays on the shelf until events. He would spend all day every day driving so I'm not worried about the investment part of it. I was kind of leaning towards the base camp or trx4 sport kit that he could help me build.

 

[twade984]

I thought about that but he has a nicely painted power wagon body on it right now that he likes. My thought was keep his 10.2 as more of a dedicated trail truck for the local hiking trails and build him a separate comp truck that stays on the shelf until events. He would spend all day every day driving so I'm not worried about the investment part of it. I was kind of leaning towards the base camp or trx4 sport kit that he could help me build.

I think you’re on the right track… personally I would choose a base camp over a trx4, mostly from a performance stand point. But a trx4 sport kit will be more then good enough for a younger person still learning.

Fwiw my son (5) has a gatekeeper I got for dirt cheap, and that’s been good for him. He isn’t particularly interested in driving for more than 20-30 minutes though, so that’s his rig until he is interested enough to want something different.


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[ferp420]

In my opinion something with portals maybe a Capra based custom build
The lcg thing seems to be the way everyone's going
If you think he's going to be competing with it might as well give him the best rig you can

I just built a custom chopra for around $300 and that's with all the goodies I wanted for the most part lol

 

[troyweaver]

In my opinion something with portals maybe a Capra based custom build
The lcg thing seems to be the way everyone's going
If you think he's going to be competing with it might as well give him the best rig you can

I just built a custom chopra for around $300 and that's with all the goodies I wanted for the most part lol

They have a 12 & under division with no rules on tire size etc so Ive been keeping my eye out for some sort of lcg truck with portals. I actually drive a STH truck with capra axles and it does really well so well see what comes up before the event. Worst case I'll take him to the local hobby shop and let him pick out a brand new truck to take. I just know its a better bang for my buck to buy something built already.

 

[Jim85IROC]

I would think that working with him to pick better lines would be more productive than a different truck. Moving to something with portal axles is going to trade one drawback for another. He won't get axles hung up, but the higher CoG is going to introduce newer limitations that will likely be even more difficult for him to visualize and account for. Understanding how axles get hung up and searching for lines to avoid them is a much easier (and more visual) thing to learn to avoid than something more conceptual like CoG.

 

[ferp420]

I would think that working with him to pick better lines would be more productive than a different truck. Moving to something with portal axles is going to trade one drawback for another. He won't get axles hung up, but the higher CoG is going to introduce newer limitations that will likely be even more difficult for him to visualize and account for. Understanding how axles get hung up and searching for lines to avoid them is a much easier (and more visual) thing to learn to avoid than something more conceptual like CoG.

True but the cog is easily changed with brass

Or potmetal

Driver mods are best though works on any rig

 

[troyweaver]

I would think that working with him to pick better lines would be more productive than a different truck. Moving to something with portal axles is going to trade one drawback for another. He won't get axles hung up, but the higher CoG is going to introduce newer limitations that will likely be even more difficult for him to visualize and account for. Understanding how axles get hung up and searching for lines to avoid them is a much easier (and more visual) thing to learn to avoid than something more conceptual like CoG.

This is a good point. For now we are getting him a new body so we can install some larger tires (currently on 4.19) and then we will stroll through the camp area at the event and see what personal rigs are for sale

 

[MAGNUMB]

Comp ready out of the box(kinda)- Losi night crawler

Super capable when setup correctly and cheap- Carisma SCA-1E

Easy to find parts for a pretty good crawler- Element SE

Portal rig and easy to find parts for- TRX-4

 

[troyweaver]

Well I found a deal on a 10.2 roller on ebay when I was at work so that arrived Monday. It had a fair bit of brass on the axles already so we just added some wheels with 4.75 tires and a decent servo and CF battery tray over the front axle perfect for a shorty pack. Just going to paint up a power master body for him in whatever color he wants and call it a day. I figured others were right in teaching lines over adapting the truck and this way his two trucks will drive close to the same other than tire size.