RC cars, trucks, and buggies

[Former Member]

Do you find that flying your Mavic causes a heavy "pucker factor?" Do you thank heaven every time your Mavic returns home safely? Do you just need to unwind sometimes without worrying about NFZ's, flying over people, or a rainy day? If you feel the need to have a controller in your hand, but dont feel like flying, I highly recommend owning an RC car, truck, or buggy. It will relieve all that anxiety, and is actually fun to do without the associated worry.

The best part for me of owning a dozen different RC cars, trucks, buggies, and rock crawlers is that I can smash them at full speed and it might only cost me $10 or $20 to repair, plus time, of course. It feels good to jump them, get them dirty, go full throttle, as well as race with others. Sometimes onroad or offroad tracks are hard to find, but you can just buy something like an Associated T4.2 or a Traxxas Tmaxx or Emaxx and go bashing away in your backyard. I like to race, but I keep one in my car every so often and if I see a nice building site, I go out and get dirty. The Tmaxx, Emaxx and Xmaxx are pretty much waterproof and are very reliable. They come RTR with radio, battery and vehicle.

You can get a brand new low end basher for around $250, but an Emaxx or Tmaxx will be a bit higher, maybe $400, and my more high end, race vehicles run around $800-$900 each all in with radio.

I have pretty much given up on RC airplanes because the flying fields keep moving further and further away, so RC cars and trucks have been my go-to when Im not flying my DJI drones.

 

[Bunny Too]

Do you find that flying your Mavic causes a heavy "pucker factor?" Do you thank heaven every time your Mavic returns home safely? Do you just need to unwind sometimes without worrying about NFZ's, flying over people, or a rainy day? If you feel the need to have a controller in your hand, but dont feel like flying, I highly recommend owning an RC car, truck, or buggy. It will relieve all that anxiety, and is actually fun to do without the associated worry.

The best part for me of owning a dozen different RC cars, trucks, buggies, and rock crawlers is that I can smash them at full speed and it might only cost me $10 or $20 to repair, plus time, of course. It feels good to jump them, get them dirty, go full throttle, as well as race with others. Sometimes onroad or offroad tracks are hard to find, but you can just buy something like an Associated T4.2 or a Traxxas Tmaxx or Emaxx and go bashing away in your backyard. I like to race, but I keep one in my car every so often and if I see a nice building site, I go out and get dirty. The Tmaxx, Emaxx and Xmaxx are pretty much waterproof and are very reliable. They come RTR with radio, battery and vehicle.

You can get a brand new low end basher for around $250, but an Emaxx or Tmaxx will be a bit higher, maybe $400, and my more high end, race vehicles run around $800-$900 each all in with radio.

I have pretty much given up on RC airplanes because the flying fields keep moving further and further away, so RC cars and trucks have been my go-to when Im not flying my DJI drones.

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I am trying to find a decent reliable rc boat for the lakes out here in Wyoming, I have a portable WiFi fish finder (deeper pro +) that I can cast with a fishing rod to map my spots but if I could hook it to the back of a RC boat that would be sweet. I do not know much about boats (RC) but the ones I have seen look kind of cheep (or couple thousand dollar RC sailboats.)
The Traxxas look pretty cool and the power they kick out is awe inspiring.

 

[Former Member]

I am trying to find a decent reliable rc boat for the lakes out here in Wyoming, I have a portable WiFi fish finder (deeper pro +) that I can cast with a fishing rod to map my spots but if I could hook it to the back of a RC boat that would be sweet. I do not know much about boats (RC) but the ones I have seen look kind of cheep (or couple thousand dollar RC sailboats.)
The Traxxas look pretty cool and the power they kick out is awe inspiring.

@Bunny Too Im glad you mentioned boats! They are more relaxing than RC cars and trucks. Traxxas makes some nice boats now, price range from $149 up to almost $500 RTR.

Best RC Cars | RC Models | Traxxas

RC boating is alot of fun and very relaxing. I had a 55" V hull with Hanson modified G23 gas motor in it, and that thing flew. For you, I would probably recommend an electric boat, just charge it and go. Depending on the height of the waves on your lake, the higher the waves, the bigger the boat you will need. If you just get 1-2 foot waves, any of the Traxxas boats would do just fine. Just make sure you get back to your launch point before you run out of battery. Then you will need to either start your big boat to go get it or take a nice swim.

My favorite thing about recreational (not racing) RC boating is that I can do nothing for 5-10 minutes and just watch it go in big, fast circles. I have a big lake that I use, and I just set the rudder trim to the right a few clicks, click up the throttle trim to mid range, and watch it do its' thing. No operator input required, just sit in my comfy chair and watch the boat.

 

[Bunny Too]

Excellent information, I will check out one of the Traxxas boats, the waves here rarely get to a foot if that.

 

[Former Member]

Excellent information, I will check out one of the Traxxas boats, the waves here rarely get to a foot if that.

If you do decide to get one, the V hulls, like the Blast or Spartan are more stable in rougher water and at higher speeds. The catamarans are more likely to flip over at higher speeds.

 

[jaybyrd2k]

I’ve been into off road RC for years, nitro, etc., now my newest toy is 1/5th scale Losi “5ive” gasoline powered. 4wd, hauls! Jumps, handles great, looks great, fun and easy to work on. No more glow plugs, $30 gallon fuel, etc. Mine is all stock except for an aftermarket exhaust and a GoPro mount inside!

 

[Former Member]

my newest toy is 1/5th scale Losi “5ive” gasoline powered.

That must be a beast! Any pictures? Losi makes a great product.

 

[Bunny Too]

I’ve been into off road RC for years, nitro, etc., now my newest toy is 1/5th scale Losi “5ive” gasoline powered. 4wd, hauls! Jumps, handles great, looks great, fun and easy to work on. No more glow plugs, $30 gallon fuel, etc. Mine is all stock except for an aftermarket exhaust and a GoPro mount inside!

That thing looks like a beast and has almost the same size engine as my first vw bug (I exaggerate, but still.)

 

[Former Member]

That thing looks like a beast and has almost the same size engine as my first vw bug (I exaggerate, but still.)

Might be nearly the same HP too

 

[01s0uljah]

I used to be into off road RC (Nitro and Gas). Had a couple HPI Savages and then the HPI Baja buggy. Had my fun times with them but definately droning is on a next level.

 

[Former Member]

I used to be into off road RC (Nitro and Gas). Had a couple HPI Savages and then the HPI Baja buggy. Had my fun times with them but definately droning is on a next level.

That's for sure. And cleaning up your Mavic takes alot less time

 

[01s0uljah]

That's for sure. And cleaning up your Mavic takes alot less time

The cleaning part i dont miss at all. But tuning that engine, revving the crap out of it, and repairing it after crashes was the best part. Sad to see that industry dying off, at least in my neck of the woods.

 

[Former Member]

The cleaning part i dont miss at all. But tuning that engine, revving the crap out of it, and repairing it after crashes was the best part. Sad to see that industry dying off, at least in my neck of the woods.

I think RC on and offroad racing is dying in every neck of the woods. 15 years ago, every weekend, we had at least 20 people show up and race. Then classes changed, and turnout declined because not everyone wanted to sell everything for 1/8 scale and buy 1/10. Then offroad died and onroad 1/10 picked up. Tracks were built, lots of turnout. Now, the nearest track on or offroad to me is 90 minutes away, and it's a pain on race day to pack everything up, show up for practice at 7am, wait all day for your class, then the long drive home.

I had a good number of buggy engines, and my most reliable but not fastest was the OS. Aways tuned in a minute, and ran consistently every time. My fastest buggy engine was an RB World, and that had 2 speeds, off and full throttle, wouldnt idle worth a crap, but was the fastest one I ever had.

 

[Former Member]

This is a rig I custom built from a Traxxas Summit and turned it into an RC wrecker to flip my cars/trucks back over when I was too lazy to get off the drivers stand. The project cost me around $1500 and 3 months to build from various robotics kits, and as Murphy's law would have it, the track closed a month later.

 

[Bunny Too]

This is a rig I custom built from a Traxxas Summit and turned it into an RC wrecker to flip my cars/trucks back over when I was too lazy to get off the drivers stand. The project cost me around $1500 and 3 months to build from various robotics kits, and as Murphy's law would have it, the track closed a month later.

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That is so tough looking man!

 

[Former Member]

That is so tough looking man!

Yes it's tough and can lift or turn over around 25 pounds depending on how far out the boom is. I got the idea from Jamie Davis' Towing "Rotator" on the show Highway Thru Hell. I had to make it lift up to at least 25 pounds and extend out at least 18", and also has outriggers like Jamies truck to keep it stable while the boom is extended.