Beasley1

Is this a good crawler?

I am going to be new to this so any advice on it would be great.

http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...&I=LXNXA4&P=FR

Thanks

K_B

Everyone has an opinion on this. My opinion is that if you are willing to put the work in, you can whip just about anything into shape. I have a higly modified Goliath and I love it. The big debate with these things are the gears. Many people (most of whom have never driven the truck) will tell you that the diff gears strip easy. However, in my experience, along with many others, if you shim the diffs properly, you won't have any issues. They will eventually wear out, but that's to be expected. Even on my TLT-based crawler I had to shim the gears to keep them from slipping, so the stripping issue is a non-point in my eyes. The other issue is gearing. These things don't have a transmission; just a big ol' spur gear in the middle of the chassis; a direct-drive setup. So a gearbox is in order. Most use the Great Planes GD-600. You could also use the RC4WD gearbox. PTI is going to release their own gearbox as well.

To summarize, if you plan on getting this truck, keep two things in mind:

1) Shim the diffs (you can use a TC3 shim kit since the diff gears are straight out of a TC3)
2) Get a gear reduction

_BEN_

They review the PTI in the July issue of Xtreme RC Cars.

If you would like to get a better look at it.

Beasley1

Thanks guys. Im not sure what im going to get yet. Is it the same/better/worse than a wheelie king.

K_B

The Wheely King is a good deal considering it's ready to run. But you'll end up ditching all of the electronics eventually anyway. But the axles are strong and it can be turned into a decent crawler for fairly cheap. I'm not sure how good the tranny is although I think it's only downfall is that it's tall. I believe many people make a custom motor mount to you can lay the tranny down or something like that.

Beasley1

I dotn mind that it is tall. Im not really going to take it to serious, basically just driving around at the house and by the lake. Give my nitro's a break for a while.

jmz6

I have a PTI Goliath that has undergone some serious mods, so for my $0.02 I think that is is a decent truck. Mine is more of a scale crawler rather than a comp rig, but it is a trouble free crawler that is fun2run.
I couldn't tell you if the Wheely King is better than the Goliath out of the box, but you are going to have to modify any of these anyway, so it comes down to your preference. A lot depends on how much you want to modify your crawler, the Goliath has a metal chassis, while the WK has a plastic chassis. If you are planning to ditch the stock chassis and use the axles, the WK may be the way to go. But if you plan to keep the chassis, then the Goliath may be the way to go. I don't have a WK (I will soon) so I can't really comment on the truck, it does look like it has potential though, and since the TLT has been discontinued the WK seems to be the crawler of choice for project builds.

Hope this helps.
Pics of my Goliath

Beasley1

That looks sweet. Now im not sure. I want something that can craw right out of the box. Im not trying to spend a lot of $$$ on it at first, but I will eventually. Thats what I do with all my vehicles.

Decisions, Decisions.[sm=72_72.gif]

Nasher

isn't most of the money you put into a PtI your electronics? When I was hunting around I had narrowed it to the WK and the PTI, I got the WK because it looked good and I didn't have the money for a goliath.

Beasley1

Isnt the WK 2 wheel drive also?

dezfan

You can get the WK in 2WD or 4WD.

Lumpmister

You have to get it in the 4WD version if you are going to crawl though

Beasley1

OK, I think ill go with the WK. Ill sleep on it. Does anyone have a link to where I can order the cheapest?

It does come with everything I need, Right? (controller and such) Maybe buy a battery and charger and im good to go?

wolfattak

it comes with everything but the stock batts should deffinatly be replaced [link=http://www.rcpcrawlers.com/truck_kits.html]CLICK HERE[/link]

Beasley1

Thanks alot for the help guys. Im pretty sure the wheelie king is the one. Next post will be for ?'s on upgrade. Probably about a week or 2.

Thanks again

losiracer753

My Feedback: (1)

lookin to buy either this or the wheely king.

wolfattak

get a wheely king. I got one and im lovin it... first upgrades lock the diffs, re-locate the battery or flip the chassis, extend wheel base, mount the servo on axle and replace stock motor and can crawl great. It sounds like more than it is... but it's real easy.