Looking for best 1/18 or smaller rock crawlers

[Rockpiledriver]

I own a large RC track manufacturing company from which we build pro tracks for racing events all over the world. In addition to RC car tracks, I build custom off road tracks for manufacturer RC truck demos, usually performed at trade shows and similar events. A majority of the off road tracks I build are for stadium trucks and higher speed off road racing demos.

For an upcoming full size truck manufacturers event I am going to build a very large (10' x 20') platform that will be used for RC rock crawling type truck demos. I am looking for 1/18 scale or smaller, electric RC rock crawling trucks that are manufactured with low gearing that would work well for the demo display. I would like to be able to run at least 4 trucks on the track at one time. Recharging batteries may be a problem, so it would be ideal to have something that uses AAA or AA batteries.

Any suggestions?

 

[sparko]

errr your not realy going to get crawlers that compliment your show if you get ones that run on AA batteries, your best bet would be to use hobby level ones.
Something like a tamiya TLT (pictured below) would probably be your best bet if you want something small.
AS for recharging, you can quite easily hook most quick chargers up to a car battery which should last you the show

That help you out any?

 

[Rockpiledriver]

Thanks for the info.
Yes, I agree hobby grade is the best way to go. Does this truck offer true low gearing for typical rock crawler speeds? If not, is there a simple way to modify it?

 

[sparko]

Im now way near as knowlegable as some of the guys on here so once they battle it out you will have a better idea but in my opinion that is probably your best option. All you will need for low speeds is a slow motor, check out the scale section here as there are quite a few TLT's there so you will get a good idea of how they are rigged for comps ;-)

http://www.rccrawler.com/forum/showthread.php?t=20123
for example

 

[EeePee]

errr your not realy going to get crawlers that compliment your show if you get ones that run on AA batteries.

Crazy talk. I use a 7 cell Energizer 2500 mah pack to power my Clod and my TXT.

TLTs are good enough in their stock form to impress the unknowing. They're monsters in a modified form. Truely awesome.

 

[Mad Scientist]

The 1:18 Nylint Crawlers are pretty capable out of the box. And for about $50 each, you would save quite a bit of cash. Up to 4 can be run at a time, and you could probably get some compatable battery packs to keep charged up and ready. You may even be able to contact Nylint and strike up some sort of deal - I dunno if that is the kind of thing you are looking to do, but it may work out for both parties.

 

[crawlerkid]

there is also the venom mini giant which sucks cos of its high cog but when lengthened can be good crawlers.

 

[TwistedCreations]

well to me, it sounds like you just want to slap one together to put on a show real quick. From the sounds of it, you really don't want to put any money into a crawler either, due to the fact that you said you want one that runs on AAA or AA batteries and you want a 1:18th or smaller..If that is the case, you shouldn't be putting on a show. If you are not ready to fork out some cash on a good crawler, then what is the point? a stock TLT or those crappy Nylints can't do crap without seriously modding them. A stock Emaxx would outclimb both of those trucks.

Now don't get me wrong, a TLT or a nylint can be fun to play with, but they are no means a truck to do a show with. Unless you buy a new chassis for the TLT, upgrade tires,etc.etc..Maybe it would be better to get some RCcrawler members that have built actual comp trucks or whatnot to possibly come to the show and put on a display? That way noone would be disappointed, since the members would be running built clods,TXT's,TLT's, etc... I just don't feel a newbie to Rccrawling should be putting on a show and trying to take the cheap way out. but that is just my opinion and it doesn't mean much.

I know several of us ( well more than several) threw a display on at an UROC event, thanks to several members of RCC to make it happen. But we had everyone attending the comp, watching our trucks as well. We had a range from built TLT's, to tubed out emaxxs, to "The Stick" to whatever.. the point is that there were built for comps, not just out of the box.I highly doubt we would have had the response we did, if we was running stock TLT's and Nylints..

but as I said, just my point of view and opinion.. really doesn't mean much

 

[Mad Scientist]

Well, I think we need a bit of clarification on exactly what you are intending for this demo.

I was under the impression that this was just to entertain attendees at a full-size truck show - where they walk up and drive the truck around a for a few minuites, and that's it. Not really as an advertisement for the rc crawling scene.

But if this is meant to show off what rc crawlers can do and to spark people's interest in them, then by all means you should represent them well. You wouldn't want people to walk away thinking rc crawling is a joke after seeing a poorly performing rig.

 

[TwistedCreations]

well maybe he meant he was doing something very small and didn't care. But to me anytime someone says the want to put on a show or demo, it doesn't matter if it is small or not even gonna be noticed, you should have well built things there to represent the demo.No matter what the hobby or sport.

That is like saying you are gonna go to a boat show and you want to put on a display.. well instead of bringing that one "red hanger mrs. budweiser" boat that flys and everything else, you bring a 19.99 nikko special....

 

[Mad Scientist]

True, true.

 

[gotmuddy]

It seems like he is just wanting it for people passing through. I would say the nylint's would work for the non-crawling public. If you want to spend the cash get TLT's, but you can get two nylints for the cost of one TLT.

 

[Rockpiledriver]

well to me, it sounds like you just want to slap one together to put on a show real quick. From the sounds of it, you really don't want to put any money into a crawler either, due to the fact that you said you want one that runs on AAA or AA batteries and you want a 1:18th or smaller..If that is the case, you shouldn't be putting on a show. If you are not ready to fork out some cash on a good crawler, then what is the point? a stock TLT or those crappy Nylints can't do crap without seriously modding them. A stock Emaxx would outclimb both of those trucks.

Now don't get me wrong, a TLT or a nylint can be fun to play with, but they are no means a truck to do a show with. Unless you buy a new chassis for the TLT, upgrade tires,etc.etc..Maybe it would be better to get some RCcrawler members that have built actual comp trucks or whatnot to possibly come to the show and put on a display? That way noone would be disappointed, since the members would be running built clods,TXT's,TLT's, etc... I just don't feel a newbie to Rccrawling should be putting on a show and trying to take the cheap way out. but that is just my opinion and it doesn't mean much.

I know several of us ( well more than several) threw a display on at an UROC event, thanks to several members of RCC to make it happen. But we had everyone attending the comp, watching our trucks as well. We had a range from built TLT's, to tubed out emaxxs, to "The Stick" to whatever.. the point is that there were built for comps, not just out of the box.I highly doubt we would have had the response we did, if we was running stock TLT's and Nylints..

but as I said, just my point of view and opinion.. really doesn't mean much

I completely understand where your coming from. I build on road and off road tracks for shows all over the US and I usually don't spare any expense when creating the tracks. 90% of the displays I build are not only to entertain the public, but to promote the products being run on the tracks. At the events I usually have teams made up of some of the top RC drivers in the world running cars and trucks on the displays. In addition, I have raced everything from 1/10 to 1/24 scale on and off road and believe I can pretty much hold my own when performing demos as well.

This particular event is a little different. Although I plan to spare no expense in an awesome rock crawling track display, the platform is not to promote any particular RC manufacturer product, it is more to provide entertainment for the people attending the conference. With this said, I would still be interested in providing the best type of RC crawler on the market, but the challenge is that only the public will be running the trucks on the track. We won't be providing pro drivers to do demos. I really don't think the average Joe can handle a truly modified crawler, if you know what I mean. Most people new to RC vehicles would most likely just peg the throttle and we will end up with trucks flying into the crowd all over the place.

One thought might be to offer the lower grade hobby style truck for the public to run and then maybe have some modified hobby class crawlers available for some short demos, so people understand what these things can really do. The only obstacle here is I would need to design the crawling course to suit the type of truck being used. In this case, I would have a relatively easy course for the general public to maneuver, but would need a second course much more challenging so the modified crawler could really show its stuff.

I think the cheap Wal-Mart trucks may work for the public, but I may want to change out the bodies to make them look a little more professional. Possibly retrofit some lexan truck bodies on them. I'm going to pick some up today and run some quick tests to see how they preform.

I am not allowed to attach pictures to this thread. If there is another section I can do this, I would be happy to share a few previously built tracks. I can also post the completed crawler display when finished.

Thanks for the help.

 

[badger]

I'm going to pick some up today and run some quick tests to see how they preform.

I am not allowed to attach pictures to this thread. If there is another section I can do this, I would be happy to share a few previously built tracks. I can also post the completed crawler display when finish.

Thanks for the help.

If you are picking up the Nylint crawlers be sure to get a 1:6 crawler. I think that a 1:6 Nylint crawler might be just want your looking for.

If you want to email me the pics of your tracks I can post them for you.

John@rccrawler.com

 

[JakeTheAlligatorMan]

I think the bottom line is "How much time?" and "How much money?" do you want to put into each crawler. What's the bottom line?

 

[gotmuddy]

My guess is what is the bottom dollar.

 

[TwistedXT]

The 1/6th scale nylint rigs would do great but the 1:18th would do better for what you are looking to do.

The 1/18th will provide you with about 20-40 min of runtime where as the 1:6th will provide over 3-4 hours of runtime. If you go with the 1:18th, I have used my venom peak charger and it charges the battery in full in @ 10-15 min. the 1/18 th can be locked into low range which is a pretty decent crawling speed and becasue of their size, you can build alot more obsticales on you track, heck you could probubly even build a trail for the trucks to travers. I love my 1:18th nylint.. they are tough, and cheap and a blast to drive. I think that when dealing with the general public, they will love em, heck, some of them might even run over to wally world to pick some up. The 1:6th would be awsome,that thing does awsome for an out of the box crawler, but it is really heavy... almost 20lbs, if you have 4 of them going at once, thats @80 lbs jumping around on you track. For the sake of saving your sanity and the bank, pick up a couple of 1:18th nylints, both scorpions and jeeps, paint to liking and have fun building your display. A bunch of us would love to see some pics once you are done! I've been throughing around the idead of a coarse that would somewhat resemble some of those scale railroad setups with faux rocks and stuff... anyway happy building and i hope all goes well....

 

[gotmuddy]

If you dont wanna spend alot of time modding one, you could just throw some bb's in the tires of the nylint. It made a huge difference on mine.

 

[Rockpiledriver]

I couldn't find the 1/18 scale nylints at our local Wal-Mart or Target, but I found a similar truck at target made by New Bright. Check out link below.
http://www.new bright.com/nb-consumer/

I am still not sold on using toy grade trucks. One issue I need to look into is how easy it would be to retrofit the toy grade trucks to accept hobby grade battery packs, so I can charge them with standard hobby chargers. I would then need to retrofit the batteries in the trucks. From my experience toy grade trucks aren't easily made to open up like hobby grade. The batteries that come with these trucks only have a 15 min run time and take 4 hours to charge using the supplied charger.

Are the Nylints easy to retrofit hobby grade battery packs?

My other option is to purchase something like a Duratrax Mini Quake and somehow retrofit the throttle so lower speeds can be obtained for the inexperienced who don't have hand coordination with the variable speed triggers. Or possibly another 1/18 scale truck, not necessarily a rock crawler, but something that can climb relatively mild terrain.

Thanks for your help.

 

[rerock]

It's not hard to retro fit anything on to the Nylint's. Four phillips screws and the body is off. If you put a lexan body on there, you'll have plenty of room for a hobby grade battery. Also, I bet that depending on where your display is, you might be able to recruit some drivers from here to come and "play" on the course you build. Where is it going to be and when?