Redcat Gen7 Pro - X-Mas present for 6yo daughter

[AK KRAWLER]

Well, I may as well get this party started... :ror:

I first tried, twice, to get an RGT Rock Cruiser as a first rig for my youngest daughter. Both times, I paid and waited and waited, pretty much to find out they were refusing to ship to me. Such is life, we get that up here all the time.

I debated on which rig to get and I know there are better rigs out there, but not knowing if she would even be much into it, I wanted to keep it in the $200-$250 range (including shipping). Well, there is not really much out there in that range, so I stretched it a little and I think I did okay.

In talking with my daughter in "random" conversation, I found out that she really did not like the color green much (this week :lmao. Well, not the darker green like he grandpa's truck, which is a dark metallic green. So, for my choice of truck, the Gen7 Pro, that really narrowed up the choices... Black it is.

After I had it on order, we talked a little more and she really likes some metallic blue paint I have in the garage. One of my favorite colors "thumbsup"

Once it gets here, I figure I will do some of the stuff below before it is wrapped:
- Charge the battery up.
- Paint some blue accents on the outside of the body.
- Remove all the accessories from the roof rack, as I am sure her stuffie will need a seat.
- Test drive it :twisted: If I think it is too fast, I'll drop a smaller pinion in it.

Likely soon after she opens it and drives it, we will dive in to some steering mods and she will get to see the difference of the before and after.

Other than that, if it is too heavily sprung, we might throw on some softer springs.

I am excited to get it all set up, wrapped and see her when she opens it

One thing I did notice, is that there is really not much support for brass pieces. Not that I am really that worried about it.

There will be pics to come once it is here and I dig into it.

 

[AK KRAWLER]

I think with a little nip and tuck and and some luck, it’ll be an okay rig.

 

[davez26]

I have a green Gen 7 Pro coming for the boy in me, who has been very good this year.
Should be interesting. I have a background in 4x4 vehicles and it's been interesting digging into these, and so many familiar suspension/drivetrain issues. It's a mind bender, the $ difference in an upgrade compared what I am used to.

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[AK KRAWLER]

I have a green Gen 7 Pro coming for the boy in me, who has been very good this year.
Should be interesting. I have a background in 4x4 vehicles and it's been interesting digging into these, and so many familiar suspension/drivetrain issues. It's a mind bender, the $ difference in an upgrade compared what I am used to.

Congrats man, looks like we’ll go through the growing pains together "thumbsup"

 

[ferp420]

the gen7 is basicly a og axial scx10 clone so they do pretty good
there steering leaves alot to be desired even the axial parts dont help much with that however you can upgrade to axial wraith parts and do the narrow xr mod you will have bomb steering after that and you wont break that set up
or better yet go full scx10ii axles you just need to do both axles at the same time lol
other than the steering in thoses axles the gen7 is pretty good rig just dont over power them and enjoy

i have a redcat axle from my e10 same axles as the gen7 that i ran for 5 years with waights on the axle and waighted 2.2 wheels and never opened it up after i did a axle swap i put that axle on another rig then robed parts off of it to fix someone elses rig and the insides still looked new so i say for a stock redcat axle on stock motor it held up alot longer than i exspected

 

[AK KRAWLER]

the gen7 is basicly a og axial scx10 clone so they do pretty good
there steering leaves alot to be desired even the axial parts dont help much with that however you can upgrade to axial wraith parts and do the narrow xr mod you will have bomb steering after that and you wont break that set up
or better yet go full scx10ii axles you just need to do both axles at the same time lol
other than the steering in thoses axles the gen7 is pretty good rig just dont over power them and enjoy

i have a redcat axle from my e10 same axles as the gen7 that i ran for 5 years with waights on the axle and waighted 2.2 wheels and never opened it up after i did a axle swap i put that axle on another rig then robed parts off of it to fix someone elses rig and the insides still looked new so i say for a stock redcat axle on stock motor it held up alot longer than i exspected

Great info, thanks ferp! "thumbsup"
It will stay on either stock power, or close to stock'ish HH Motor if the stock one fails. For a while, I will also keep her on the NIMH Batteries. Her and I will tweak and mod as needed as she gets better with control.

 

[ferp420]

Great info, thanks ferp! "thumbsup"
It will stay on either stock power, or close to stock'ish HH Motor if the stock one fails. For a while, I will also keep her on the NIMH Batteries. Her and I will tweak and mod as needed as she gets better with control.

in my opinion that nimh battery and charger should be baged up and droped off at a thrift store absolutly worthless pick up a small 2s lipo and enjoy longer runtimes and less tiping over

personaly i run 4 18650 li-ion cells in 2s mounted to the upper front links on my e10 the pack is ultra light and has long run times

 

[AK KRAWLER]

in my opinion that nimh battery and charger should be baged up and droped off at a thrift store absolutly worthless pick up a small 2s lipo and enjoy longer runtimes and less tiping over

personaly i run 4 18650 li-ion cells in 2s mounted to the upper front links on my e10 the pack is ultra light and has long run times

I get it, understand and agree, but... she will start out just as all my other children have. Slow, underpowered and with the same short run times that I had to. For me, it is all part of the learning process and appreciating upgrades later on, as they get to use the old technology.

I have 2s here and ready to use when she gets to that point.

 

[davez26]

So far so...good
I received mine last night, ran it for 10 minutes, pretty cool.
Faster than I expected, I have to get used to the throttle, and the steering radius is a little wide.with my only other experience Walmart RC, I was impressed!
Ran it this afternoon, I had it in a flower bed and had an issue.
Geez! Did I break it already?!
No, QC guy missed putting screw #85845 in the knuckles.
Same screw is used on the fender flares, so I will scavenge 4, turn in a claim for replacements.
I think I will spend a little time checking things over as well.
That's not cool, and I am still excited.

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[AK KRAWLER]

Looks great Dave. My daughters showed up yesterday. Today, I took the body off to do some paint work. Instead of painting directly on the body, I put the white stickers on it, taped everything off and am now painting it. If she wants to change it later, we can just remove the stickers and likely a little bit of paint.

The only loose screws I found so far was the rear bumper/body hinge. Which didn’t really matter, because I was removing it anyway.

Yes, I agree with you, definitely a bit too fast. I will definitely be installing a smaller pinion gear.

Unboxed


White Stickers applied


Prepped for paint

 

[AK KRAWLER]

Okay, a bunch of little tweaks here and there (and a bunch of beer) here we are.

The strip is done, body trimmed a bit and bumpers tucked as much as I can for now. I know with a little trimming, they can go in a little further, but that will likely be when she is helping me after Christmas

 

[davez26]

Okay, a bunch of little tweaks here and there

Tweaks like what?
I get the body stuff, but if we are talking suspension/drivetrain, I am a newb, so any details will build my breadth of knowledge.
Edit: I will likely remove some of the roof stuff, isn't doing much for COG, and as a off-road person, a huge tire on the roof is just not practical. (It's the OCD in me).

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[AK KRAWLER]

Tweaks like what?
I get the body stuff, but if we are talking suspension/drivetrain, I am a newb, so any details will build my breadth of knowledge.

There is some YouTube videos on how to fix the steering, we’ll, at least gain some steering angle. We will likely put some lighter shock springs in as well.

*EDIT* Redcat also sells a high clearance steering kit for these trucks, but I think I can achieve close to the same results with parts I have sitting around here.

 

[AK KRAWLER]

Here is a shot of her rig and one of the Gen7 Pro and Gen8 AXE side by side.





Other than swapping out for a smaller pinion, when it gets here, I think it’s ready for Christmas morning.

 

[davez26]

I played with the suspension a bit, ran it, killed the steering link.
I have a lot to learn.

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[AK KRAWLER]

One part of the fix is to put an aluminum servo horn. Super cheap fix and needed anyway.

 

[davez26]

Yeah, I didn't think of it, but plastic steering components no bueno...
My local hobby store should have what I need.
It's all on me, I was banging it pretty hard, still learning the throttle and controls. I should have known better.
Once I get a hang of it, I can head over to the rocks and start to really drive.

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[AK KRAWLER]

Been there done that… you’ll get the hang of it. It is super fun and to me, a bit zen like. I tune out the world and crawl…

 

[davez26]

So, while I am thinking about it, anything else I should be look out for that I might break right off?

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[AK KRAWLER]

Honestly, not sure, as I have not run it yet.
I would research te internet, or at lease this site and see if anything pops up.