Newbie to RC

[Bhudia]

Hi RC Gurus,
AS the the title states, i am new to the RC scene and have been excited to get started on offroad rigs.

So for starters, i am an automotive engineer by profession, a petrolhead and a grease monkey.

To set the ball rolling, i have just ordered a HPI Venture SBK with a Proline Hilux body, wheels and tyres, a Hobbywing ESC and 540 brushless motor, Sanwa 3ch Tx and Rx, Lipo 3s system and some basic tools and accessories to go with the build. This is because i just wanted my first kit to be a build kit and not an RTR.

I am already thinking of my next rig with a bit of speed and bashing in mind, but i am stuck between 2 contenders that sort of fit within my budget. What you your recommendations be between:

1. Traxxas UDR with the open diff mod, no hop ups for now running on Lipo 3s

OR

2. Losi Baja Rey 1/10th (not Super Baja Rey) I know its a different scale..
with the following hop ups having read reviews and pros and cons
Alum Steering Bell Crank
Alum servo mount
Alum Servo arm
Steel steering Turn buckles
Alum Front Spindles
RPM Front upper and lower arms
Upgraded servo
Alum Front Shock tower
Rear Alum lower trailing arms
Rear Alum upper trailing arms
Rear Alum Diff trailing arm bracket
Rear Alum Upper and Lower bulkhead Trailing arm brackets
10T pinion gear

running on Lipo 3s

Both these options are working out at the same cost.

What are your opinions and views?

I am leaning more towards the Losi Baja Rey, because its still in the 1/10th scale class which i'm starting with and it seems to be pocket friendly including all the above upgrades which should make it more stronger than in its stock form, not to mention the enjoyment of wrenching on it from day 1.

 

[Timmahh]

Welcome to the Addiction, err Hobby.

Don't be stingy buy them both. lmao

Been looking at the Rock Rey myself but the Super. The UDR seems pretty good from all accounts. I like Traxxas stuff, just not their electronics. The brushless stuff (esc/motors) are decent. but the servos are blah. If you go this route, find a good servo to put in them (pretty much any Traxxas you get needs new servo out of the gate) Other than that, the radios are ok, not the best, not total crap.

Losi uses the Spectrum stuff, and they are not what they used to be when it comes to their lower priced radios, but still decent, just getting a bit cheapy it appears in that category. Not sure on Spectrum Servos myself.

Between the Rock Ray and the Slash (both 10th scale, and the UDR being a SCOOR type truck like the Slash is) they are very different uses.

the Rock Rey will be Great on the trails, hills rock beds etc. The UDR will be great on teh Beaches, parks, race tracks etc.
Both will be great rigs, for their intended use.

Which is why I said get both, if your wallet can deal.



I don't have either, I do have a Slash now again. So take that for what its worth.

 

[QuesoDelDiablo]

G'day new guy and welcome to the best hobby in the world!

Right off the hop, you've done well for yourself by going with a kit build to start with, that (that, and your real life skills/experience) will put you light years ahead of many others when it comes to diagnosing any breakdowns. But you already know that..

As far as the go fast/basher stuff the only thing I could thing to throw into the discussion is that the bigger a truck is, the more space you need to play. The UDR is pretty cool, but I think it would need a fair bit of real-estate to really open up it's potential. For that reason, I'd go with a 1/10 rig. But maybe you have more space and a UDR would be a good fit for you. I'd let let my local geography guide me into which size to get. Don't forget to consider parts availability too, I'm not too familiar with the Rock Rey's so I just plain don't know how the parts supply is; but Traxxas is Traxxas, they're everywhere and parts are rarely an issue.

I've built a few Venture SBK's now so if you ever have any questions, feel free to reach out to me anytime. You'll probably be fine - it's an easy build and the instructions are good.

I designed a 3D printable battery relocation tray for the Venture, I'd be happy to share the files with you if you want.



*****I don't remember if the SBK's come with the servo-saver as a servo horn or not. If it does, don't use it! It's garbage! This will mean you have to space the servo down about 5mm to maintain the push-rod geometry but that's easy enough.

 

[Rinanode]

Welcome to the forum

 

[Bhudia]

Hi Timmahh, Diablo and Rinanode,

Thanks for your input.

However, just to clarify, i am comparing a Losi Baja Rey to a Traxxas UDR, and not a Rock Rey.

I would like to stress that i am in the middle of nowhere, Kenya, East Africa isn't really a hobbyists paradise. Nothing is available locally and import taxes are ridiculous, so i have to source everything from UK (working out cheaper in freight compared to US) and i need to have a small stock of breakable parts. So be it HPI, Losi or Traxxas, i'm far away from any replacement part.
So i need something that is robust, that will not die on me very quickly. Obviously being a newbie i will take easy for a while until i find my comfort zone.

So point noted on the UDR requiring more space, which should not be a problem.
But buying both is definitely not an option at this point.
The big question is reliability for both options. Either Traxxas out of the box, with a servo upgrade as advised, or the Losi with the hop ups. If i go for the Losi i also plan to run it stock until i gain confidence and start changing stuff along the way, hoping if i break something i have an upgrade replacement with minimal downtime.

So the more reason to lean towards the Losi, as i have back up parts within budget, not the case with the UDR, which comes with a hefty buying price.

I have extensively researched that both a very robust, but rookie mistakes can be expensive at times.

I will still wait it out a bit before making the move since i am expecting the HPI to arrive next week. Diablo, it does come with a servo saver as servo horn in the kit, which i'll use for now. Again the reason for choosing the HPI was it had the most option parts in the kit.

Thanks for the input guys..

 

[high plains drifter]

I'll chime in although I have neither a Rock Rey nor a UDR. But if it were me between the two, I'd choose the Rock Rey. Main reasons being that I think that you'll simply have more fun with it over the UDR. The UDR is longer and has smaller tires... certainly not bad for a desert racer but with a shorter overall length and larger tires, the Rock Rey I believe is a little more versatile and capable on more rocky/ gnarly terrain. Both are fast and capable of jumping, speed runs, etc but at least for me personally, vehicles like the UDR ( comparing it to my Slash) get a little boring due to it being oriented for speed. I would trade a bit of that speed for the larger tires and shorter overall length of the Rock Rey. It's going to go more places than the UDR and that's a better bang for the buck imo.

 

[Ragenwraith]

Welcome to the world of scale RC. Looks like you are off to a good start with the vehicles you picked out. Question for you, because of your location are Axial products too expensive? They have some great kits as well as RTRs and the aftermarket is loaded with parts for them.

You did say you are going to run 3s batteries. Here is a great charger that is dual powered AC/DC so it's portable and can charge 2 batteries at a time with cell monitoring.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0wT1ZjH-Qpw

I think it has a lot going for it for the price. Also you will need a LIPO charging/storage bag. Safety first. If you haven't already, google how to use LIPO batteries, You Tube has some good videos too. I charge them in a bag and for even more safe storage I keep them in a metal ammo can. LIPO batteries can last for a long time (years) if you follow the rules of charging and storing. I run 2s and have several batteries that are 4 years old and still going strong.

Take a look at some of the Steering servos available. Order a couple of them to have on hand as that may be one of the first things to go bad. Some other items that come to mind are shock oil, gear grease, bearings, paint for Lexan body, alloy wheels, tires and foam inserts, front and rear bumpers and some scale accessories to add to your build. Light Kit. Add some LEDs to your truck nothing like doing some night time running.

Hopefully you have a friend or two that you can get them into the sport as well. It's always better to have someone to go out crawling or bashing with. Who knows what you might start where you live.

Here's another link to check out : https://www.rcmap.io/?fbclid=IwAR2bC0zJPn05Ot-8NpzqxBCb-8Z7WDZtR7vw1OFSWGt55IPyHzTZd6_zRN0. You might want to add your location to the map.
Check this guy out : https://harleydesigns.com/ He builds some cool rigs and shares tips and tricks to upgrade your rig. He is on You Tube every week.

Main thing is to have fun!

 

[Inspector86]

Welcome to RCC and the RC hobby!

Last year I would have suggested the Traxxas UDR but today I would recommend the Traxxas Slash 2wd VXL Stadium Truck. The reason being is that the 2wd Slash chassis can be modified into a large number of other configurations to allow for a lot of different applications such as the current rage of no prep drag racing.

 

[ScaleLifeNewbie]

I personally have been looking at the Traxxas Slash 4x4 Brushless Fox Edition, mainly because the body looks sweet I also miss having a fast basher that I can rip it in a skatepark(I have a TRX4 now, and miss the speed:lmao

Personally, I’d go the cheaper route and get a Slash 4x4

Just my 2 cents.

 

[Timmahh]

My Bad. I thought you said Rock Rey. Not Baja Rey.

In the situation you outlined, if I were there in your shoes, I would go with the Traxxas Rig. Get new quality servo for the steering. The ESC/Motor will probably be good as will the Radio and Receiver. Their servos are the worst and fail often. So putting in a 'high quality servo' is the way to go for durability and longevity.
You may need to do a bit of study to ensure the servo you pick up will fit in the UDR location. Traxxas may not use a Standard or Largescale servo like they do in teh Xmaxx. Its not a normal sized servo, nor it is a Large Scale Servo (1/4 scale) So you may need to see if you need an adapter (Traxxas number 7749) to mount a standard sized servo there.

If they use a full 1/4 scale large scale servo in the UDR great, but I suspect they have the same on they use in the Xmaxx. FYI.

As far as durability Traxxas Parts are pretty stout. Losi parts are good as well. However out of the 2, I would go with the Traxxas considering your location and cost of parts import. The Losi would also be a great option, they are solid pieces, but for out of the box longevity of the standard build/parts, Its hard to beat Traxxas.

I would get some spare a arms, a set of shock shafts (incase you bend one on a hard crash) Upgrade the Steering servo (Run it stock until the servo fries or stops which is likely, then drop in your upgrade and adapter if needed )
Maybe a set of tires and foams.
These parts should keep you bashing for a good while barring a hard crash into something.

One thing to keep in mind. These move fast, and when you're running, you're focused on the Rig, but don't forget its headed towards something you have yet to look at find. lol Trees, poles, other Hard THiNGS come up fast as you turn your head and they come into view, and 45mph. lol

Situational Awareness is a great skill to improve when Rcing fast rigs. lol


There is some good points on maybe grabbing the 1/10th Slash. Its a very durable unit (baring that steering servo) and parts are plenty and inexpensive. You could get plenty of parts and a really good steering servo (no adapter needed as any standard sized servo will fit in a Slash for steering) for what the UDR would run.