SCX10 2 RTR Upgrades

[XJIrish4x4]

Good afternoon everyone!! I'm new here as you probably already know and very new to RC cars other than your basic $25 specials at your local retail stores. Once those broke we would just until we would just find another or wait on our parents to afford something else. I never took the interest in the more advanced level RC cars. Growing up in High School I had a good friend who was very into the indoor tracks with the high speed RC racers. Swapping motors, wheels, batteries, etc all looked cool but I took my interests elsewhere.

Recently though I have been building up my 1989 Cherokee XJ Pioneer to off road in the bigger scale of things. While doing so some how I stumbled across these great Axial SCX10 rigs and too my discovery came the Cherokee. I'm new to this stuff again, so I will first say that I did not buy the kit becuase #1 it was more expensive in the long run to get up and running and #2 I can't build them well I wouldn't say I can't build them I just never have and figured I would start with a built one first.

I just purchased the RTR SCX10 2 Cherokee rig yesterday and immediatly wanted to upgrade things for purpose as well as cosmetics. One being the transmission and not because I have any problems with mine but because I figured why not. I know before you flame me and say it cost too much and all that "BS" I should have bought the kit "BS" I will agree but at the same time I won't. Reason is I didn't buy my XJ in real life already built but I did buy it RTR and then I have to build it how I like it as I go along. Why? Because I wanted to drive it now and not have to wait and then figured I would just upgrade as I go. So that is my thinking processs with this toy/hobby truck too!

So my question after all that intro is: What would I need to upgrade my transmission and could someone give me the break down of the parts I will need and where from? Someone mentioned it could run me $150 for a complete rebuild of a better transmission so if that is the case then I'm willing to do it as long as it's supposedly better than this one. Again, I'm not having problems yet but I have wanted to upgrade other parts too and most the upgrades I find say they are for the kit only due to transmision.

Flame me if you want but I'm looking for some solid advice please even if you want to tell me it is not worth it you should have bought the kit instead then go for it. Who ever said custom or modifying is cheap?

While I'm at it a few other updates I would like to do:

Frame braces front and rear aluminim?

Shock towers aluminum?

Shocks?

Rock crawling tires besides the KO2's on the rig stock which are nice but I find them slippery at best up here in the wet PNW when playing around on the rocks.

Servo which I think the good one is the SAVOX SA1230SG for $69 not bad but does that require any modification or just a drop in?

Servo Horn I just need to figure out which tooth is mine think it is a 25T but I will have to check before I order. Some went with the gold color one seems to be popular but required some modification with the steering I think.

Lastly for now I will just add that I would like to replace everything that is basically plastic for aluminum. I have priced out a bunch of that stuff already and it is going to run me nearly $300 all from STRC.

No, I'm not going to buy this all tomorrow I don't have that kind of cash flow extra floating around but tax return is around the corner and I do have a budget each week maybe $40-50 to spend so I will piece it together little by little.

Once I'm done I will pass it over to my 13 year old son who is in love already so as I. I will then grab a kit and build one since I know that is going to a be a challenge I'm up for and want to do. Plus I will have learned a lot from this one to make it some what easier.

 

[NitroDarwin]

I would slow down a bit, take some time to read what others are upgrading. Servo is a good one to upgrade, one you mentioned is a common choice. On the servo horn you will want to watch the thickness of the horn as the panhard gets close durring flex. RTR tires are a firmer compound than kit ones, both RTR and kit are glue on rims, so with new tires I'd say get some beadlock rims to go with.

 

[Sneetches]

The 10.2 RTR is a perfectly fine starter rig. That being said, you have the usual list of parts ideas, but I'd interject and say to not get too aluminum crazy, and outside of shocks and tires you can just replace stuff as it may break if your budget is tight. For shocks you can look for some TRX-4 take off shocks via Ebay, since they're cheap and will actually hold oil. Your tires are glue-on so unless you switch to beadlock wheels, you'd have to either use one of the various "ungluing" methods or just get new 1.9 wheels. Tire wise there are dozens of choices but most will recommend the 1.9 Pro-Line Hyrax or Super Swampers if you prefer the scale look.

While you're looking at the servos, just be aware that you essentially need a BEC so that the new high torque servo doesn't kill the ESC when it gets bound up. If you pick up a Hobbywing 1080 ESC you'll eliminate the need to buy a seperate Castle 10A BEC so this will free up some wiring and will have a bunch of tuning options over the stock AE-5 esc, which is super basic. Soldering is involved in either of these steps so you need a soldering iron to either solder the new esc to the motor or solder in a Castle BEC to your RTR electronics.

 

[tuanies]

Drive it, break it, replace parts. You don't need aluminum everything. Sometimes you want the flex that plastic provides. Also I see you're in the PNW, we have an excellent community on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/groups/445165548927586/

 

[GA Dawg]

I would start off by just driving it as is. Upgrade the things that break. When nothing else breaks, upgrade anything that you think is holding you back.

 

[XJIrish4x4]

Okay everyone perhaps maybe I jumped at the first thought in my head and over thinking it. You are all right as I value your experience a lot so I'll run it and upgrade as necessary.

If the need arises that is, is the transmission upgradable? Maybe I'm fine without it and all but just wanted to make sure I can. I'm sure I can tear into it if I need to and replace the gears.

What's everyone's thoughts on the aluminium motor plates? Recommended or one of those preference things?

If I upgrade the tires I'll make sure to upgrade them with beadlock wheels as well.

I didn't mean to come off convince only my way and not willing to get help and accept the advice if I did I'm sorry.

Seems like the general consensus is the kit is more preferred because it came with better transmission and few other items. Again, my use of this so far has been great and aside from some slipping on wet surfaces it has been flawless what I have thrown at it. I do want some upgrades but I'll take it step by step and piece by piece if needed.

Is the motor in these good for now or something I should upgrade if I'm in water areas, mud, etc?

Drive it, break it, replace parts. You don't need aluminum everything. Sometimes you want the flex that plastic provides. Also I see you're in the PNW, we have an excellent community on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/groups/445165548927586/

Thanks I'll check that Facebook page out

Drive it, break it, replace parts. You don't need aluminum everything. Sometimes you want the flex that plastic provides. Also I see you're in the PNW, we have an excellent community on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/groups/445165548927586/

Clicked the link but when Facebook opened it said can't be found. What's the name of the group exactly?

 

[tdc]

there's nothing wrong with the older scx10 first gen transmission that comes in the rtr 10 ii, in fact some prefer it to the newer kit transmission as the new boy takes up a ton more space than the old one, making fitting an interior more of a challenge. you'll need the new version skid, all associated transmission parts, and driveshafts to make the swap. really, it's only worth the trouble if you're set on buying the extra parts to make it a 2 speed, imo.

i bought the kit so i can't really speak to the rtr version as far as the electronics go, but for the kind of wet and slippery driving i do (also in the pnw), i can say adding weight to the axles helps a lot with keeping the truck planted, but that really applies to any kind of crawler/trail driving, so you can't really go wrong starting there if you feel the need to upgrade.

 

[XJIrish4x4]

there's nothing wrong with the older scx10 first gen transmission that comes in the rtr 10 ii, in fact some prefer it to the newer kit transmission as the new boy takes up a ton more space than the old one, making fitting an interior more of a challenge. you'll need the new version skid, all associated transmission parts, and driveshafts to make the swap. really, it's only worth the trouble if you're set on buying the extra parts to make it a 2 speed, imo.

i bought the kit so i can't really speak to the rtr version as far as the electronics go, but for the kind of wet and slippery driving i do (also in the pnw), i can say adding weight to the axles helps a lot with keeping the truck planted, but that really applies to any kind of crawler/trail driving, so you can't really go wrong starting there if you feel the need to upgrade.

Okay so the new RTR SCX10.2 comes with older SCX10 transmission? Got it.

Adding weight to axles is done by changing out knuckles, shafts, etc with metal parts? Or do they sell specific weights addons for the axles?

Kind of answered my own question not long after I asked about axle weights I had found some.

What seems to be the better axle housing out there? Not upgrading mine yet but just wanted to keep my eye out for any at decent prices?

There is an axle guide for the scx10II on the forums, if you take some time to find it will give you most of your options for axles, knuckes and internals.

Thank you!

 

[NitroDarwin]

There is an axle guide for the scx10II on the forums, if you take some time to find it will give you most of your options for axles, knuckes and internals.