Hi everyone,
Apologies for another "help me choose" thread but after some researching, I still have some questions unanswered around the differences between the two rigs and would be grateful to get some help/opinions if anyone has first hand experience with the trucks.
I've been lurking on the forum for a while looking at SCX24 stuff which I got my kid a while back. Unexpectly, I got a little hooked on RC crawlers now and so looking to get a 1:10 myself. I do some light off roading with a 1:1 Defender myself but haven't really had time to work on it for quite some time. RC Crawlers seems to really fill that void given it's much quicker and easier to work with than a 1:1! i.e. engine/tranny/chassis swaps in hours rather than days and in the comfort of central heating...
What I wanted is a 1:10 mainly for casual non-comp rig for 50:50 Trail:Crawling, so a bit of everything. I am only interested in a scale-ish build that resembles an actual truck, so ruling out crazy looking LCG builds but I do want to get some good crawling performance out of it, a more hardcore rock crawler machine which would be too much for a 1:1 rig. (Thinking FJ45 truggy).
My shortlist is now down to SSD Trail King and VS4-10 after eliminating TRX4, SCX10 1-3, Element Enduro etc since I really want something that is top-ish quality. For me, these two also have the added bonus of being mainly UK/US manufactured and not China (I should clarify that I refrain from Chinese goods for ethical/human rights reasons rather than quality).
Anyway, from what I can gather, these are the main differences:
Axle - VS4 has one piece cnc alu axles whereas the TK has 3 piece plastic Pro44 axles. There are SSD CNC alu tubes and metal pumkin covers available but that's an additional cost. Whilst I don't doubt the performance of the plastic, I do like the quality look and feel of metal, so VS4 wins this one for me. On internals, I believe they are both 6 bolts hardened steel and so would you say it's more like a tie?
Gear box - VFD seems to have the engine sitting lower and there is more metal bracing in the tranny structure whilst the SSD is plastic with metal engine mount/bearings? I thnk VS4 has the edge on this one but would like to know your opinion of the two gearboxes and also if the engine position is much different in terms of height.
Chassis flex - both designs are steel c channels with plastic cross members but it looks like VS4 has much more plastic cross members and is more rigid than the TK? Is that true?
Chassis CG - both seems to be a lower cg design but again, hard to tell from the internet. Would you say one has lower cg than the other?
Weight - Given the use of plastic and Ti bits, it appears SSD is going for a more lightweight setup vs a heavier VS4 setup. Would that be fair to say?
Body and wheels - SSD doesn't have them but I originally wanted to build a FJ40/FJ45, so not having a body is actually a plus. The VS4 body is too nice to be chucked away.
Cost - SSD is a lot cheaper, so for the difference, I can get the metal axles tubes with quite a bit of spare change!
Much appreciated if I can get some opinions on the above as well as if actually should be bothered by any of these points!
Thanks
Apologies for another "help me choose" thread but after some researching, I still have some questions unanswered around the differences between the two rigs and would be grateful to get some help/opinions if anyone has first hand experience with the trucks.
I've been lurking on the forum for a while looking at SCX24 stuff which I got my kid a while back. Unexpectly, I got a little hooked on RC crawlers now and so looking to get a 1:10 myself. I do some light off roading with a 1:1 Defender myself but haven't really had time to work on it for quite some time. RC Crawlers seems to really fill that void given it's much quicker and easier to work with than a 1:1! i.e. engine/tranny/chassis swaps in hours rather than days and in the comfort of central heating...
What I wanted is a 1:10 mainly for casual non-comp rig for 50:50 Trail:Crawling, so a bit of everything. I am only interested in a scale-ish build that resembles an actual truck, so ruling out crazy looking LCG builds but I do want to get some good crawling performance out of it, a more hardcore rock crawler machine which would be too much for a 1:1 rig. (Thinking FJ45 truggy).
My shortlist is now down to SSD Trail King and VS4-10 after eliminating TRX4, SCX10 1-3, Element Enduro etc since I really want something that is top-ish quality. For me, these two also have the added bonus of being mainly UK/US manufactured and not China (I should clarify that I refrain from Chinese goods for ethical/human rights reasons rather than quality).
Anyway, from what I can gather, these are the main differences:
Axle - VS4 has one piece cnc alu axles whereas the TK has 3 piece plastic Pro44 axles. There are SSD CNC alu tubes and metal pumkin covers available but that's an additional cost. Whilst I don't doubt the performance of the plastic, I do like the quality look and feel of metal, so VS4 wins this one for me. On internals, I believe they are both 6 bolts hardened steel and so would you say it's more like a tie?
Gear box - VFD seems to have the engine sitting lower and there is more metal bracing in the tranny structure whilst the SSD is plastic with metal engine mount/bearings? I thnk VS4 has the edge on this one but would like to know your opinion of the two gearboxes and also if the engine position is much different in terms of height.
Chassis flex - both designs are steel c channels with plastic cross members but it looks like VS4 has much more plastic cross members and is more rigid than the TK? Is that true?
Chassis CG - both seems to be a lower cg design but again, hard to tell from the internet. Would you say one has lower cg than the other?
Weight - Given the use of plastic and Ti bits, it appears SSD is going for a more lightweight setup vs a heavier VS4 setup. Would that be fair to say?
Body and wheels - SSD doesn't have them but I originally wanted to build a FJ40/FJ45, so not having a body is actually a plus. The VS4 body is too nice to be chucked away.
Cost - SSD is a lot cheaper, so for the difference, I can get the metal axles tubes with quite a bit of spare change!
Much appreciated if I can get some opinions on the above as well as if actually should be bothered by any of these points!
Thanks