new member/ new to rc/ suggestions for new truck
05-19-2014, 02:20 PM
#1
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new member/ new to rc/ suggestions for new truck
start off by saying hey to all the great informative members on this site. the site has taught me a ton already but I need some more specific opinions. im pretty much new to the rc world with the exception of driving a buddy's hpi truggy and a few other cars. I live on a ranch type area so I will be 95% off road on rough cow trail type hills and loose rock. I like the buggies but I feel a buggy wont fair to well with how rough it is and all the tall grass.
im looking for an electric truck or truggy that will handle a bashing and still be fast enough to keep me entertained all day. I like the bigger trucks so maybe something like a 1/8 or 1/10 scale. would like a popular name like traxxas or something so parts and info are not a problem to find. i think i would benefit from a 4wd? should i go brushless motor and lipos? if not whats better? im lookin to spend about 500-700 on everything i need to set it up and get it running, including a controller. that being said what are your suggestions for the best truck for my application????
also know nothing about controllers? input? i appreciate any reply's and other info you feel like throwing in. optional parts, upgrades, good controllers, tips.... thanks! cant wait to pick up my new truck or truggy!
im looking for an electric truck or truggy that will handle a bashing and still be fast enough to keep me entertained all day. I like the bigger trucks so maybe something like a 1/8 or 1/10 scale. would like a popular name like traxxas or something so parts and info are not a problem to find. i think i would benefit from a 4wd? should i go brushless motor and lipos? if not whats better? im lookin to spend about 500-700 on everything i need to set it up and get it running, including a controller. that being said what are your suggestions for the best truck for my application????
also know nothing about controllers? input? i appreciate any reply's and other info you feel like throwing in. optional parts, upgrades, good controllers, tips.... thanks! cant wait to pick up my new truck or truggy!
05-20-2014, 10:31 AM
#3
With your environment, you would indeed benefit from a 1/8th scale car/truck. Glad to hear you have a decent budget. Look at the Thunder Tiger ST4 G3. It's big, beefy, and on 4S fast as hell. It comes with a brushless motor system. So you'll just need to buy a good charger and some lipo packs. 8th-scale trucks usually use two 2S lipo packs, or one 4S pack. So there, you have to make a decision: do you buy 2S packs, or 4S packs? This will likely be your only vehicle for a while anyway, so getting 4S packs will allow you to buy a charger that charges one pack at a time, and that means less money spent on the charger. If, however, you think you may get other cars in the future (and smaller ones) that will use 2S packs.....well, then you might wanna get 2S packs, in pairs, as you want to use identical packs in a car that uses two of them. But that means that you will probably need either a charger with TWO charging ports, or you buy two chargers. You'll have to figger that one out for yerself. Most of the plug-in-the-wall two-port designs I've seen are pretty darn pricey, since the built-in power supply has to do double duty. So IMO, I'd rather buy two $60 chargers than one dual port charger that will probably run you at least $200. (NOTE that these dual-port chargers SPLIT the charging power between the two outputs, where, if you buy two chargers, each will utilize their full power. The Real Serious guys will buy chargers that require a separate DC power supply with tens of Amps and hundreds of Watts, so that they can run two or more DC-only chargers at higher wattages for charging large packs (4S & 6S)). But for the most part, a good $60 AC/DC charger like this http://www.hobbypartz.com/73p-ac680-accharger.html will do you just fine. And they're cheap enough to buy two if you need them for charging dual packs. This Thunder charger has 80Watts at 6 Amps and will charge a 5000mah 2S pack in less than an hour.
A word about lipos: They require some intelligence to use safely and to get the best life. DO NOT leave your lipo packs fully charged,or discharged, as this will shorten their life significantly. So use the Storage Mode on the charger you buy. It will charge, or drain, the pack to about 3.80V/cell, a lipo's "resting voltage". This is where Lipo chemistry "likes to be". And DO NOT drain a Lipo below 3.0V/cell, as that will damage the pack. So always use the ESC's built-in LVC (Low-Voltage Cutoff) to protect the battery from draining below that point. Also, spend a few more dollars to get a pack with at least a 40C rating, as opposed to the slightly cheaper 20C packs. A 40C or higher pack will perform better, run cooler, and last longer than a 20C pack, so it's well worth the few extra dollars. LiPo batteries store a tremendous amount of energy, so treat them with respect. If they become damaged they can become serious fire starters. Don't burn yer house down. And ALWAYS use high-quality high-current connectors, like bullets, Deans, or Traxxas. NEVER EVER use Tamiya-style Molex connectors!
Get an infra-red thermometer. Use it to monitor your motor temps and ESC temps. The ESC should usually never get over 125F, and the motor should never get over 170F. Some say 180F on the motor, I like to have some more margin. IF the motor gets too hot, it can damage the magnets, melt wire insulation, and generally do bad things. As you said you plan to run in grass, this is most important to do. If the motor is getting too hot, change the pinion gear to one with less teeth to gear down, until you can run the car for a solid 15-20min without the motor getting over 150F. If after gearing down, the motor is still getting too hot, you may need to get a "fan-sink" for it to help keep it cool.
I, too, thought buggies looked cool. But having the shock towers just hanging right out there, especially the one up front, just looked like it's begging to get damaged. If you're a racer, on nice indoor tracks or well-groomed outdoor ones, that may be fine. But for general off-road bashing, they just looked too susceptible to damage. I went with a Truggy-style platform, so at least there's a lexan body covering the shock towers, something that will allow it to slide if it gets upside down.
Regarding controllers, depends on where you think you might go with the hobby. Good thing for you is, everything has gone "crystal-less" these days with 2.4ghz radio systems. If you get an RTR (Ready-to-Run) RC, which is likely, they already come with a radio set. True, it's a "basic" radio, but for the most part, that's all anyone needs, at least at first. ME? I got into this just before 2.4ghz became ubiquitous, so when I wanted to upgrade my radio, I went with FlySky because I could buy a Tx/Rx set for $20, when the nearest competition was $79 for a Tower Hobbies-branded unit, to well over $200 for a Futaba or Spektrum system. The basic radios have throttle and steering trims, maybe a steering rate knob, and channel reversing, that's about it. Most of what anyone needs. But more advanced radios add things like End Point adjustments, Exponential, even Anti-Lock Braking, as well as the ability to bind the radio with up to ten other vehicles and store each car's settings.
Have fun making your choices!
A word about lipos: They require some intelligence to use safely and to get the best life. DO NOT leave your lipo packs fully charged,or discharged, as this will shorten their life significantly. So use the Storage Mode on the charger you buy. It will charge, or drain, the pack to about 3.80V/cell, a lipo's "resting voltage". This is where Lipo chemistry "likes to be". And DO NOT drain a Lipo below 3.0V/cell, as that will damage the pack. So always use the ESC's built-in LVC (Low-Voltage Cutoff) to protect the battery from draining below that point. Also, spend a few more dollars to get a pack with at least a 40C rating, as opposed to the slightly cheaper 20C packs. A 40C or higher pack will perform better, run cooler, and last longer than a 20C pack, so it's well worth the few extra dollars. LiPo batteries store a tremendous amount of energy, so treat them with respect. If they become damaged they can become serious fire starters. Don't burn yer house down. And ALWAYS use high-quality high-current connectors, like bullets, Deans, or Traxxas. NEVER EVER use Tamiya-style Molex connectors!
Get an infra-red thermometer. Use it to monitor your motor temps and ESC temps. The ESC should usually never get over 125F, and the motor should never get over 170F. Some say 180F on the motor, I like to have some more margin. IF the motor gets too hot, it can damage the magnets, melt wire insulation, and generally do bad things. As you said you plan to run in grass, this is most important to do. If the motor is getting too hot, change the pinion gear to one with less teeth to gear down, until you can run the car for a solid 15-20min without the motor getting over 150F. If after gearing down, the motor is still getting too hot, you may need to get a "fan-sink" for it to help keep it cool.
I, too, thought buggies looked cool. But having the shock towers just hanging right out there, especially the one up front, just looked like it's begging to get damaged. If you're a racer, on nice indoor tracks or well-groomed outdoor ones, that may be fine. But for general off-road bashing, they just looked too susceptible to damage. I went with a Truggy-style platform, so at least there's a lexan body covering the shock towers, something that will allow it to slide if it gets upside down.
Regarding controllers, depends on where you think you might go with the hobby. Good thing for you is, everything has gone "crystal-less" these days with 2.4ghz radio systems. If you get an RTR (Ready-to-Run) RC, which is likely, they already come with a radio set. True, it's a "basic" radio, but for the most part, that's all anyone needs, at least at first. ME? I got into this just before 2.4ghz became ubiquitous, so when I wanted to upgrade my radio, I went with FlySky because I could buy a Tx/Rx set for $20, when the nearest competition was $79 for a Tower Hobbies-branded unit, to well over $200 for a Futaba or Spektrum system. The basic radios have throttle and steering trims, maybe a steering rate knob, and channel reversing, that's about it. Most of what anyone needs. But more advanced radios add things like End Point adjustments, Exponential, even Anti-Lock Braking, as well as the ability to bind the radio with up to ten other vehicles and store each car's settings.
Have fun making your choices!
Last edited by EXT2Rob; 05-20-2014 at 10:44 AM.
