Integy Alloy Shock Set

A couple of months ago, I decided to give the newest version of the Integy alloy shock set (Part # C23033 [URL: http://integy.com/st_prod.html?p_prodid=6954&p_catid=114]) a try.  The set was ordered, and it arrived a couple of days later.  After using them for several weeks, I have the following to report:

The Order and Istallation
At the same time I ordered the shocks, I was also sent some Integy high clearance lower links (Part # C23023).  I must admit that while looking through the products and attempting to decide what to review, I had very little help from Integy's website; they had great pictures of the products, but absolutely no other information was available.  For a seasoned rock crawler, this would probably not be too much of an issue.  However, for newbies, it makes the decision making process not much more than a mere guessing game (you probably could make just as an informed decision by flipping a coin).  Integy would do well to have their webmaster put in some descriptions of the product.

Because of the lack of information from Integy, I had no idea that the high clearance links were NOT compatible with the alloy shock set on my Axial AX10 (even though Integy's website lists them both as Axial AX10 parts).  I found out that they were not compatible when I was installing the shocks.  I found that the links interfered with the shocks in such a way that the axles of my crawler could not articulate.  In fact, when I attempted to articulate the axles, one of the shocks broke right where the metal shaft goes into the plastic eyelet.  I hadn't even put much pressure on the shock, and "SNAP!" 

I immediately contacted Integy.  By the way, did I mention that I do not like the fact that I cannot call Integy's customer service?  All customer service inquiries have to be done via email, which sometimes took several days to get a response (I contacted them several times).  This made the process long and frustrating.  Once I did get in touch with someone about my broken piece, it was then I was informed that the links and the shocks were only intended for a "custom made Axial."  That would be some nice information to have BEFORE I made the purchase.

One redeeming aspect about Integy's customer service, was that they replaced my broken shock - no questions asked.  Also, once I did get it mailed in, the turn-around time was quicker than Wyatt Earp (they had a new one back to me in a couple of days).

Because I could not use the Integy high-clearance lower links, I stayed with my Axial high-clearance lower links. They too interfered with my shocks a little bit, but I could live with it; my axles still had plenty of room to articulate.

The Shocks

First of all, I absolutely love the look of the shocks!  It makes my crawler look like a mean climbing machine.  I also like that the springs are internal.  This not only looks better (in my opinion), but it also keeps the springs on the shocks.  Before, the springs would pop off once in a while because of the high-clearance links would push the bottom bracket up onto the shaft, thus allowing it to come off.

The Shocks come with 3 sets of springs (12 springs total) of varying stiffness. Because of the weight of my Proline tuber chassis, I had to use the stiffest springs that came with the shocks...and they are almost not enough.

I performed a battery of tests and drove my crawler over anything and everything in sight. I climbed on steep and level terrain, large and small rocks, wood, dirt, and I even bounced it down several flights of stairs. The shocks not only held up (even though other parts of my crawler did not), but they worked very well. They were smooth and their recoil was nigh unto perfect. The shocks took every hit, and were able to quickly rebound without bouncing my crawler around. My crawler also seemed to be more precisely; it just climbed much better.

I must admit that I didn't expect to see much of a performance change with a change in shocks, but I was wrong. I found myself climbing things that I was not able to climb before, and I attribute that to the shocks. Great Job Integy! These shocks are definitely something I could constantly run on my crawler.

My first Comp. and how my Crawler perfromed

I finally attended my first competition and I have to say it was an absolute blast. I was nervous going into it and had "psyched" myself out in the days and weeks prior to the comp. but it was an entire different story when I showed up and started to introduce myself to some of the other competitors. There were 3 (that I know of) team drivers in attendance and several other really good guys. Overall I think everyone there did an outstanding job. Everyone was really nice, and willing to help with any question we had. I saw some really awesome "rigs" and was blown away at the excellent job everyone had done to prepare for the competition. In attendance were two "Berg" team drivers One "Rein RC" team driver and several really outstanding people!

The competition had 4 different stations or courses. As I got there and looked at the setup I thought "this is going to be embarrassing, this stuff is impossible for me to run with my crawler" as time went on it started to rain and the already impossible rocks became slippery. I thought "what the heck" I am here and these guys are really good guys, if anything I will get some constructive criticism.

As the competition started and went on I ended up getting more and more comfortable with the rules and with my driving. I ended up doing really well in the competition and I am looking forward to the next one!!

My crawler performed great, especially compared to some of the others that were there. I ended up with some more broken body parts, a fried servo, and a broken driveline. Hopefully I can get it fixed up before the next competition. The tires I was running that day worked great and handled the rain very well. I was very impressed with my ESC, radio, suspension and really everything.

Proline Tuber Chassis

Although the Proline Tuber Chassis (PTC) was somewhat of a pain in the rear-end to get set up, I must say that I have been thoroughly impressed with it. I have now used it for over a month and have the following to report:

The PTC is made of a durable black plastic, which can be painted to the color you desire. It is nothing more than a roll cage style body, but can be fitted with plastic add-ons to make it more suited to your style. Personally, I like the roll cage look and therefore left it as it came out of the box. However, I am sure that I will eventually add on the accessories to make it look more like an actual crawler.

The PTC was a lot heavier than the standard plastic shell that came with my Axial AX10 Scorpion. This was not too big of a deal, but initially I had to deal with tremendous twisting resulting from motor torque. This was an easy fix. I simply put stiffer springs on my shocks. It may sound strange to some people, but I found that putting a super firm spring on the rear driver’s side shock and leaving the rest of the shocks with super soft springs worked really well for me.

While crawling, my Axial took numerous rolls and falls. Although the PTC suffered some scratching, I am happy to say that it did not break. I am also pleased to report that my battery pack, my electronic speed control (ESC), and my receiver all stayed firmly in place, I never did have to readjust them after a tumble. Also, the scratches that the PTC sustained were hardly noticeable since the black plastic is the same color all the way through.

The only drawback that I have found with the PTC was having to take it off when I switched out my Axial ESC and Axial 27-Turn electric motor with the Tekin FXR ESC, and the Tekin 55-Turn motor. When I took the PTC off of the Axial chassis, I had to undo screws, remove my battery pack, undo and remove my ESC and unplug my steering servo from my receiver.

In short, I am very pleased with the PTC. I believe that it is a great body for those weekend warriors who don’t do much with their crawler other than drive it. It is also great for those who are looking for a durable body that can take a brutal beating and keep on looking good. However, for those who are competing and may need to make frequent or quick repairs, or for those who constantly enjoy tweaking their crawlers, I would go with something a bit less permanent, i.e. something that allows easy access to the crawler’s other parts.

Juice

Upcoming Reviews

I have had the Proline tuber chassis for a few weeks now, and I have taken it through some rigorous testing. The results finally in, and I must say that I am impressed. In one of my upcoming blogs, I will post the results.

Also, I must once again give kudos to the Tekin customer service team. I have been working with them (I use the term "working" loosely since it isn't like work at all with them), and will soon be reviewing the Tekin FXR and the Tekin 55T motor.

I will also be reviewing Hitech, Panther, Integy, and more.

There are a lot of reviews coming in the near future, and I should have them all up before Christmas so that you know what to ask from Santa this year.

Rock (crawl) On!

Juice

Proline Tuber Chassis

I just purchased the Proline Tuber chassis from tcscrawler.com. First, let me begin by saying that I was thoroughly impressed with TCS. Not only were they the least expensive, but they also delivered the chassis too me freaky fast (they make the Jimmie John's drivers look slow). As far as the chassis goes, I have the following to report:

The chassis is a bolt-on style body, which means that you cannot remove it by merely pulling some cotter pins. This could be good or bad. If you want to make adjustments to you motor, transmission, drive shafts, and/or shocks, the body is in the way. Most likely, you will have to unbolt the entire body in order to get to these areas to upgrade or work on them. However, if you don't make adjustments, repairs, or upgrades very often, this is a great body as it remains secure to the stock Axial chassis.

Putting the tuber onto the Axial chassis was not too difficult. The instructions were not the clearest that I have seen (they could have done a much better job), but I was able to figure it out on my own - 4 small screws screw through the tuber and into the top holes on the Axial chassis (the holes near where the shocks screw in).

Trying to find out how to put the electronics in was a pain in the rear end. First of all, the battery cover was just big enough to fit my Duratrax 6-pack battery bar; there was no additional room for any wires. I guess this is good because it does not allow the battery pack to move around during crawling. However, I think I would have rather had a Velcro strap secure the battery pack and have a little more room under the cover. There are 2 wells under the cover. I assume that these are for the electronic speed control (ESC) and the radio receiver. The problem was that the front well was not large enough for both the ESC and the receiver, and the rear well was too far away from the steering servo. In fact, if you want to use the rear well, you will have to get (or make) some sort of extension for the wires.

After some frustration, and multiple attempts, I was finally able to use the font well for my ESC and a side trough (a low point on both sides of the battery compartment) to hold my receiver (I used a piece of 2-sided tape to keep it attached). I then used the other trough, and another piece of 2-sided tape to mount my on/off switch.

As for the drive, so far I am impressed. I have not had any more issues with my tires rubbing on my crawler's body during articulation (like they did not my stock Axial body). I also really enjoy the look of the tuber, and one additional perk--it comes with two styles of front bumpers, which can be switched out by simply removing two cotter pins.

The only issue I have had with the tuber (other than the setup) is that it is too heavy for the super soft Axial springs (red) that I have on my shocks. Because of its weight, and because of torque twist, the tuber always leans to the left.

As I have more time to run the tuber, I will be able to report on its durability later.

Juice

Front Axle Battery Pack

One of the other changes that I recently made is moving my battery from the center of my crawler to the front axle. This is one of those "hard" decisions to make and to stick with. As you all know weight to the front end is a MUST for climbing rocks that are at a significant slope. When you are operating on a track or a flatter drive terrain, the weight in the front is not as important.

I pondered over this decision for a long time. I did not mind the battery in the center at all, however when I started getting ready for some local competition I found it necessary to lighten up the center and add some more weight to the front end. I had maxed out the amount of weight I could but in my front tires and on my front wheels and still needed more weight in the front. This is why I decided to go with the front axle battery mount.

By doing this I cut down my runtime drastically and even lost a little "torque" power. I am currently troubleshooting why I lost some torque as I should not have lost any. I think I have it narrowed down to some of the wire I used for the battery setup. Because my Tekin ESC is in the rear of my Proline tuber chassis and the battery is on the front axle it was necessary for me to "rig" an extension. The extension that I made so that the ESC connection would reach the battery connection is using a smaller gauge wire (its all I had on a Sunday). I think the power distribution is being "cut" down because of this. *shrug* who knows... Any Ideas? If this does not work I will go through and check all my solder points. I put Dean Plug’s ends on all the way through, so I had done a lot of soldering that day:(

The downfall to switching - I lost a tremendous amount of runtime. The front axle mount is made for competition, However if you can get two battery back the charge time is faster then the end of the "run" time so you will always have a battery ready. But who like to go out playing and have to babysit a battery all day? To resolve this I made a simple connection that I can use to run my regular "bar" style battery. It was as simple as making a connection that went from Dean (esc connection type) to the stock battery type connection (I think this is called Tamaya or something).

The good thing - This added the weight I needed to the front end and took the weight I needed away from the center (top, side, etc). This allows me now to stand straighter up while crawling, allows me to make full use of my front tires while at an angle (very beneficial), keeps from rolling sideways and end for end as easy.

My opinion sums up to - setup for both type batteries as I did. Or:

Competition - front axle mounted battery
Play time only - Anywhere you can fit a good long lasting "bar" style battery.

Thanks,
Bish

Axle Widening

Recently I have changed a few more things on my crawler. One of them was widening the axle. As a lot of things this has its "pros and con's" but for the most part I am very happy with what the end results are. I am not sure if there is a company that makes axle widening kits and if so who it would be. This set was machined and was very simple and very cheap to do. The kit widens both axles by approx 3 inches (1.5) per tire. I decided to widen my axles for the days that we would be on bigger boulders instead of small rocks, such as Little Moab or Moab. The wider axles help TONS on rocks like this and also works well on bigger rounder rocks, however when it comes to small rocks or sharp pointy rocks the axle's being wider really hurts the overall operation of my Crawler because the ground clearance is much less.

The nice thing about the design of the kit is that it is VERY simple to take off and go back to normal. Take off the tires, take off the spacer, unscrew the axle thread extenders and put your tires back on. Takes about 5 minutes and you are back and ready to run smaller rocks!!

If anyone would like to get a set of these let me know and I can give you some contact information for the guy who makes them.

I will take some pictures of the install and finished product and I will post them soon


.

In an attempt to keep up with the reviews and to get a second opinion, I have invited Bish to become an RC rock crawler reviewer. Bish has been crawling for some time now and will bring valuable insights to this blog. Welcome Bish.

Tekin Customer Service

Because of the problems I have had with my Axial AE-1 speed control, I have begun looking for an upgrade. I began by asking my friends in Utah what they suggested. They unanimously told me to go for the Tekin FX-R. I then began looking at competition drivers and noticed that, for the most part, they used the Castle Creations Mamba. Finally, I went to my local hobby shops and they suggested the Novak Rooster. In the end, I was still unsure which ESC (electronic speed control) would be best for my crawler, but it seemed that all of them had their advantages and disadvantages and all of them would probably do the job.

Since I was still unsure which ESC to purchase, I finally decided to put the manufacturers to the ultimate test - customer relations. I sent an identical email to several different manufactures requesting specific information on their ESC's. I also asked them why they believed I should choose their product over their competitor's product. Although all manufacturers responded to my email, I must say that the Tekin customer service stood head and shoulders above the others.

Two hours after I sent my email, the vice president of Tekin, Sherri Campbell, responded to my inquiry. In her email, Sherri advised me that she felt that another person (Ty) could answer my question better than she could because he was the "crawler man." However, he was out of the office working on their new dirt track and would be unable to respond to me until the following day. She then assured me that she would make sure he got back with me upon his return. She also listed 4 links to various websites, which gave helpful information on the Tekin ESC.

Sherri did not have to respond to my email; she could have mereley forwarded it to Ty and let him get back with me when he returned. She could have also told me what she did know about the ESC and left it at that. However, she took the time to make sure I had the quickest most accurate response possible. She knew that I was only going to be purchasing one ESC, but she treated me as if I were going to be Tekin's most valuable customer.

The following day (I still had not received an email from the other manufacturers), the service manager, Ty Campbell, sent me a detailed email on why he believed the Tekin ESC is the best ESC on the market. He gave me some valuable information about the product and also listed various URL's of where I could go for more information.

Both Sherri and Ty provided me with telephone numbers in case I had any more questions. However, because they were so particular in their responses, I was left satisfied and didn't have any follow-up questions.

A couple of days after Ty's email, I received another email from Sherri. It was a follow-up email. She wanted to make sure that Ty had responded to my email and to make sure all my questions were answered. In my opinion, she went above and beyond what the vice president of a company should do. Thank you Tekin Inc. for the esceptional customer service! You have certainly gained a loyal customer.

Juice

Axial Aluminum Upgrade Kit

Due to the bending issues I had with the lower rear plastic links on my Axial AX10 Scorpion, I upgraded to aluminum. I decided to purchase the entire aluminum upgrade/conversion kit for the Axial AX10. After using them for several weeks on a wide variety of terrain, I have the following to report:

Axial offers the upgrade kit in several different colors (black, grey, silver, orange, green, blue and red). This is a nice touch as it allows you to make your crawler a little more custom. The kit comes with everything needed to upgrade both the front and rear upper and lower links (the bars that connect the axles to the chassis), and to upgrade the steering link (a larger bar that connects the front two tires together and the smaller bar that connects the larger bar to the steering servo arm). The kit also comes with two aluminum bars that connect to the chassis in-between where the shocks mount on the chassis (I'm really not sure what these are for, but I assume it is to help strengthen the chassis). After researching websites, which include, but are not limited to, ckrccrawlers.com, axialracing.com, tcscrawlers.com, rcplanet.com, eBay, craigslist, and more, and after looking at my local hobby shops, I discovered that you can pick one of these upgrade kits up for about $40-$50.

Installing the links was a piece of cake. The owner's manual that came with the Axial RTR showed how to install these links, and it could be done by merely looking at the pictures. Plastic eyelets screwed onto the end of the aluminum bars and plastic bushings snapped inside the eyelets. The only problem I had with installing the links was that the rear links (the bent high-clearance rear lower links) could not be installed without rubbing significantly on the lower part of the rear shocks. I even went to my local hobby shop and looked at a pre-assembled Axial AX10 ARTR (almost ready to run) that already had the links installed and observed that those rear high-clearance links also rubbed against the shocks.

Driving my crawler after the installation was complete was great! My tires were turning better, my rear axle was not turning (due to the stock plastic lower links bending) and my crawler seemed to be a lot more precise. The only problem I had with my links was with the rear high-clearance links that were rubbing on the rear shocks. This would cause the links to twist so that the 30-degree bend went horizontally instead of vertically; the plastic eyelets were not strong enough to withstand the force of the shocks. This defeated the purpose of having high-clearance links. I am considering gluing the eyelets to the end of the links so that they cannot twist, thus keeping the 30-degree bend in the correct position.

One other problem I had was with the plastic steering servo arm, which comes in the spare parts when you purchase an Axial AX10 Scorpion RTR. After 10 minutes of driving, the arm stripped out. It had not stripped out when it had the plastic steering link because the link took some of the force when it bent. With an aluminum steering link, however, the servo arm takes all the force as the link does not bend. I had to run to the hobby shop and purchase a metal servo arm. One I had arm installed, there were no more problems.

Despite the problems with the high-clearance links and the plastic steering servo arm, I would recommend the Axial aluminum upgrade/conversion kit as one of the first upgrades for every crawler (be-it the weekend warrior or the serious competition crawler). It will make your crawling experience much more enjoyable.

Axial AX10 Scorpion

Okay, after weeks of trying to find out what I wanted to purchase as my first crawler, I decided to go with the Axial AX10 Scorpion RTR (Ready To Race). I have now been using it for nearly a month on an almost daily basis. I have tried to climb just about everything in site, including landscape stones, rocks, logs, wood, concrete, asphalt, bicycles, toys, stairs, tables, and much more; if it was in site, I tried to climb it. However, I have set up a nice rock track near my home (see the photos) and for the most part, this is where I have done most of my climbing. After extensive (sometimes brutal) climbing, this is my report:

The purchase:
I purchased my crawler from a local hobby shop. For the most part, those who helped me had a broad general knowledge of RC, but nobody (who was there at the time) had a specific knowledge of crawlers. This didn't help much as they were unable to answer specific questions regarding rock crawlers (most of my questions got answered by pestering those in Utah who introduced me to the sport). The Axial is packaged well. It comes in a nice looking green box with a large clear cellophane window to make viewing the crawler easy. The crawler, radio, owner’s manual, and spare parts all come securely packaged inside the box. It was nice not to have parts floating around inside the box. Although it is called an RTR, I still had to purchase a battery pack and a battery charger. I also had to supply 8 AA batteries for the radio. As I knew practically nothing about battery packs and chargers, I asked the hobby shop sales rep to hook me up with what he thought was best. I did tell him that I wanted to eventually purchase a Lipo battery pack and therefore needed a charger that would charge it (I still know very little about Lipo's, but someone in Utah told me that is what I eventually wanted to get). I ended up purchasing a Duratrax 7.2V DTX 3800 6-pack battery pack, which was much cheaper than a Lipo, and an Onyx 230 battery charger. I ended up spending approximately $295.00 for the crawler, $80.00 for the charger, $28.00 for the battery pack and $16.00 for the 8 AA Duracell batteries.

I walked out of the store excited and ready to start crawling. Of course I had to first explain to my wife that I had taken up another new sport and just spent over $400.00 on it; that was not going to be easy.

Getting it Home:
When I first got it home, I immediately placed the box on the living room floor and began to open it. My children gathered around and began ooing and ahhing over the pretty green truck.

I pulled the crawler out of the box, and removed the already painted green plastic body by pulling out 4 small cotter pins. I noticed that all of the wires on the crawler were neatly organized and zip-tied together. The antenna was also neatly wrapped and zip-tied. The steering servo, an Axial AS-2, was mounted on the front axle with plastic mounting brackets. The ESC (electronic speed control) was an Axial AE-1. It was dangling from its wires in the chassis just below the battery plate, which was mounted on top of the Axial chassis. I soon realized that it had come off the double sided tape located under the battery plate. I was able to re-stick the ESC to the tape, and I have not had any problems with it falling off. The receiver was an Axial AR-1 2 channel receiver. It too was mounted with two-sided tape on the bottom of the battery plate. The motor was an Axial 27T (27 turn) electric motor. The on/off switch was hanging in the middle of the chassis by its wires. I merely took a small piece of 2-sided foam tape (not included) and stuck it to the inside of the chassis.




One of the best parts of the Axial AX10 Scorpion, was the owner's manual. Because I am not only new to RC rock crawling, but also new to RC all together, I was somewhat nervous when it came to working on my crawler. However, I have never before seen such an amazingly detailed, yet easy, manual to follow. Each part had its own page, and each page showed an expanded view (a view of the part taken completely apart) of the part. This made it extremely easy for me to familiarize myself with not only the nomenclature of the crawler, but also with how the crawler was put together.




Before I even charged the battery, I did as the hobby shop sales rep suggested and changed the Axial differential gear set out with the Axial heavy duty differential locker (this metal locker came included in the spare parts). I also changed out the Axial pinion 48DP 20T for the Axial pinion 48DP 14T (this too came included in the spare parts). I was definitely not impressed going from a metal pinion (the 20T) to a plastic pinion (the 14T). However, I was impressed by how easy it was to make the changes.



The Drive:


Okay, now to the nitty-gritty. . . As mentioned before, in a month's period of time, I have driven the crawler on an almost daily basis. During that time, I have put the Axial RTR to the test by climbing terrain that went from easy to downright brutal. The test results are now in, and although the Axial AX10 Scorpion RTR did not receive a failing grade, I was not impressed with the results. Of course, I did not expect to get a competition crawler for a measly $400, but I certainly expected more than I got.



The first thing I noticed was how rigid the suspension was. Everyone knows that a large degree of articulation (the crawler's ability to twist) is what crawlers are known for; this is one of the most fascinating aspects of the crawler. However, even over the simplest of obstacles, I found the articulation on the Axial RTR sub-par, and my crawler was constantly rolling over. I later discovered that Axial had put the super firm springs on all 4 shocks. I also noticed that with a medium amount of articulation, the tires (both front and rear) rubbed against the crawler's body. This not only made a terrible sound, but also caused the body to get stuck in the tires' tread and made it difficult for it to climb (this is why you see in the photos that I am climbing without the body).


After about 3 weeks of crawling with the super firm springs, I switched to the Axial super soft springs. This made a huge difference. I did want to put the super soft springs on the front shocks and the medium springs on the rear, but the local hobby shop only carried super soft springs. In the photo above you can see that once the springs were switched, the Axial AX10 actually has absolutely amazing articulation.





The tires (Axial Rock Lizards) were also way too firm. This caused less-than-desirable traction on the rocks. I did, however, like the look of the tires and wheels. The tires have large tread and the wheels have a chrome appearance. I also liked the beadlock feature. I was able to easily remove the tires in order to place lead weights on the inside. I later removed the foam from the tires. This seemed to help a little with the traction, but still the tires did not seem "sticky" enough.



The battery pack was positioned at this highest point possible (the top of the chassis). So now I have the heaviest part of the crawler at the highest point...hmmm, not so well for obvious CG (center of gravity) issues. Granted, I am not sure where else you could put a 6-pack battery pack.




I did notice that the Axial body could take a tremendous beating. Because of the rigid suspension, high CG, and other issues, I was constantly rolling the crawler (of course I also partially attribute the roll-overs to my inexperience as an RC driver). However, other than a few scratches here and there, the body held up very well. I was quite suprised after a few tumbles that it didn't crack, tear or break.

The steering servo is exceptionally weak (maybe it is so it doesn't strip out the plastic servo arm). I was unable to get a full turn on my wheels on flat smooth ground let alone on the rocks. Not only was the servo not able to turn my wheels completely, but it was also unable to re-center the wheels completely when I let go of the steering wheel on the radio. This caused a constant annoying humming sound. Of course the thin plasic steering link didn't help matters any since it would just bend instead of turning the tires. The one redeeming value is that both the servo arm and sterring link took a beating and never broke.

As far as the 4 plastic links go (the four bars that connect the axles to the chassis), well I had to change those out almost immediately. Every time I took my crawler out to the rocks and tried to climb a steep incline, one of the rear links would bend. This caused my rear axle to turn and either take my crawler off the side of the rock or caused my crawler to roll.



The motor not only had a really cool design pained on it, but also seemed to perform very well. I always had plenty of power and produced enough torque to crawl.



The Axial AX10 locked transmission was also amazing. When purchasing my first crawler, I almost went with the Losi Comp crawler because it boasted worm gear (gears that produce more torque). However, I am not sure why I would need any more torque than what I have with the Axial. The Axial transmission is able to produce plenty of torque. It also sits very low in the chassis, which really helps with CG issues.


One of the best parts of the Axial RTR is the Axial slipper clutch. Axial includes this with the RTR (it is usually an upgrade). This clutch keeps the motor's and transmission's torque in check so that it doesn't ruin the crawler's drivetrain. Right out of the box, the clutch has worked flawlessly. I have not had to make any adjustments and it has always given me the perfect amount of torque.

The most frustrating part of the Axial RTR is the speed control. If there were a prize for the worst speed control on the face of the planet, this one would most certainly be in the running. It is absolutely unpredictable, which makes it terrible for rock crawling. I can be crawling along, when all of a sudden my crawler will lunge forward, or it will go, then stop, then go, then stop as if it is having some sort of seizure. At other times, I can be pushing the throttle on my radio, and receive no response from my crawler (the crawler will not go). I have changed and tested batteries, I have had other's try to crawl with it, and it is always the same. In other words, it is not a battery issue and it is not due to operator error.

Welcome to RC Rock Crawler Reviews

While on vacation in Utah in May 2009, I was introduced to the sport of RC rock crawling. Since that time I have been determined to not only purchase my own rock crawler, but also to crawl on a competitive level.

When I returned home, I immediately went to work researching rock crawlers and their various components. During my research, to my surprise, I located very few (if any) reviews on rock crawlers and their components. In fact, the only reviews I found were those located on the product's webpage, which of course is going to be bias and only post those reviews beneficial to the sale of that product. Because the reviews were slanted, they were not entirely beneficial in my quest to find a competitive crawler at a price I could afford (let's face it, everyone wants the best product at the cheapest price; that's the nature of competitive business). I still felt "lost" as to what I should buy; I had no idea what components I should put together in order to give me what I was looking for.

Because I am a "newbie" to the sport of rock crawling, I carry neither loyalties nor biases with any manufacturer or vendor. I also do not work for any hobby shop and therefore carry no affiliations that would predispose me to favor one product over another. In fact, my full time job is as a detective with a local police department, and I am trained in reporting things in an honest, fair, objective manner. That is what I will do on this blog-report honestly, fairly and objectively. I do this for several reasons: 1) I hope to get manufacturers and vendors to send me free stuff to review (I told you that I would be honest), 2) I enjoy writing, 3) I want to allow manufacturers and vendors to put their products to the test (if their product receives a good review from me, they can rest assured that they carry a good product), and 4) to give people a single location to find honest reviews in order to assist in their purchasing decisions. With that said, let's begin the reviews (please remember that the views on this site are nothing more than my opinon):