Buying a monster truck - advice

syl77

Hi,
A mate of mine is thinking of getting a monster truck and like every one else that starts out he is stuck on what to get.
He has been looking at the following models.
T-max, Revo, kyosho's giga crusher and the Genesis truck from CEN.
Have told him that the REVO is probable a better truck than the T-max and that it costs a little more. How ever, I have no knowledge what so ever about the later two. looking them up I see that the giga crusher comes with a whooping 4.6cc engine and is a 1/10 scale. but what is the after sales like for both crusher and genesis.

Appreciate any advice I can pass on to him. Looking forward to having a go with it also.....

coolwings

I would be inclined to measure the distance to a seller of backup parts for each make, and rate them in the order of nearest comes first and so on..

They are all good makes, until you break or wearout a part. Then proximity usually = speed of getting up and running again.

Plug

syl77 wrote:

Hi,
A mate of mine is thinking of getting a monster truck and like every one else that starts out he is stuck on what to get.
He has been looking at the following models.
T-max, Revo, kyosho's giga crusher and the Genesis truck from CEN.
Have told him that the REVO is probable a better truck than the T-max and that it costs a little more. How ever, I have no knowledge what so ever about the later two. looking them up I see that the giga crusher comes with a whooping 4.6cc engine and is a 1/10 scale. but what is the after sales like for both crusher and genesis.

Appreciate any advice I can pass on to him. Looking forward to having a go with it also.....

The kyosho is too old but good, parts are a bastard to get for kyosho, i don't think theres any kyosho dealer in ireland.
The parts for cen are cheap and handy to get your hands on but I had a cen and my friend had one and there simply not good as everyone makes out to be IMO, there not a great seller in the USA either, on that point the owner of cen changed the website and started abusing americans because they wouldn't buy they're products. That and the fact that a 7.7cc engine is NOT recommended for beginners.
The traxxas manual is very user friendly, parts can be got from waterford, towerhobbies or MSUK, the Revo is the best option to go for.

coolwings

From the point of view of using it in Ireland - that comment about Kyosho being hard to get parts for is a good one.

As far as CEN goes Green Hobby in Dublin -whuich supports 2 brands - used to do CEN as the main brand, but relegated it to no 2, 2 years ago, due to decreasing faith in CENs newer engines, and their overheating or running hot tendency, depending on how you view it.
Now Carson is preferred there both performance and reliability . So Carson occupies their no 1 brand position with the no 2 being re-evaluated at the moment. Possibly Traxxas, or HPI.The Carson 1:8 truck would be RAPTOR. It's recently developed and looking good.
There is a new truck coming out, smaller than many, and based on the (successful) Stormracer II chassis. Under €400, called Twistracer, they arrive in Ireland this month.

One other development. 1:5th rally. In Europe brushless electric 1:5th cars are achieving very high performance levels. Power that could only be dreamed of a couple of years ago.
Gasoline 1:5th engines are going to be prized in the future for duration, but not for power - that honour is passing over to the high quality brushless electrics at the present. They are very impressive power-wise with perfect throttling, but less duration than gasoline.

dts

So I have a CEN CT4, very fast but breaks every time I take it out. Wouldnt recomend CEN.
I have a Thunder Tiger TSN4, great make to start out with, they are buit to be abused and can easly be fixed. Parts are eay to get hold of from many places in the UK. They do a couple of trucks but the SSK is a great 1:10 beginers truck.
I have just bought a Traxxas Revo (wow), if you have the cash then this is the best of the best but first looks over it I wouldnt recomend it for a beginer.
Best bet would be to get a second hand Thunder tiger, learn how to set it up and fix it. Later spend the cash on a TMAX or Revo.

dts

If you do decide to go straight for a Traxxas then I can recomend this guy.
http://cgi.ebay.ie/Traxxas-Revo-3-3-RTR-Monster-Truck-BRAND-NEW_W0QQitemZ280042844977QQihZ018QQcategoryZ19168QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
I got mine for £310 and got it shipped to Ireland for £20. He also has the 3.3 Tmaxx for £300

Ratsathome

Have you thought about the HPI Range.I bought a month ago a Savage X.Good body,easy to work on and you will get parts/advice at your local Nitro Club(everybody got a HPI:p )

Plug

Not half as a good as a revo:p

tallus

the savage kicks ass

SLIM19198

The savage is just as good as the revo if not better (going by online reviews) but for beginners, the revo wins hands down because of the ezstart system, a lot less for the beginner to worry about (glow start, priming, pull start)

At least it is that way for me!!!

Plug

The revo is the better racer though!
It won the first ROAR monster truck championship:)

tallus

The savage is the only truck I have that I have yet to damage, despite hitting a tree at full speed. It was one of those small trees mind, but it's still leaning over more than the leaning tower of Piza. I have had other spills with it but it always came out on top with no damage. To date i have damaged every other truck or buggy 'cept for the Menace21 due to lack of use.
/me waits for the bad driving jibes to start !

Plug

Do you drive fast?

vectra

Plug wrote:

Do you drive fast?

Or
should that be
"Do you drive fast enough"?

tallus

usually as fast as I can Plug

SLIM19198

No matter what truck you buy, If you hit a tree at full speed, 9999999 times out of 10000000 something (and usually more than 1 something) will break!

Plug

Agreed, I hit a curb at full trottle:(

Plug

vectra wrote:

Or
should that be
"Do you drive fast enough"?

Thats the spirit!

vectra

Plug wrote:

Thats the spirit!

"Foot to the floor and Ar$e out"

SLIM19198

If it aint broke, I aint finished bashing it for the day

vectra

tallus wrote:

the savage kicks ass

Agreed ..
and it might kick my revos ass.... IF IT COULD KEEP UP...!!

tallus

That smacks of a challenge of some sort !

Spitfire666

I have the carson spectre, and although its a buggy not a truck, its still great. its simple to use and parts are handyto get through greenhobby plus they service it for free + cost of parts as i ought it from them. And the guys are nice guys too, even re-tuned my hpi car for free.

tallus

I'd love to see the spectre in action spitfire, my hyper is the same class of buggy, and it would be interesting to see how they compare alongside each other. I was out twice with coolwings with his spectre but outside influences conspired against us mainly time on both occasions.
It would be nice to arrange a bit of a meet.

Spitfire666

No problem, well only a samll one at least. need to drop it back into greenhobby for a check up. slight problem with the carb setting. Its shutting fully under braking and cutting out because of it. and servo needs looking at. dropping it in tomorrow hopefully.

tallus

sounds like it only needs a small adjustment on the carb but servo's might be a different matter. Best of luck with it you'll be leaving it in good hands anyways.

Plug

Spitfire666 wrote:

No problem, well only a samll one at least. need to drop it back into greenhobby for a check up. slight problem with the carb setting. Its shutting fully under braking and cutting out because of it. and servo needs looking at. dropping it in tomorrow hopefully.

To get that sorted heres step by step:
1)Turn the trottle trim fully so that the Carburetter slide is fully closed.
2)Get into the idle screw and turn(right) it so the carburetter slide opens about 1-2mm(no more than 2mm)
3)Now twist the trottle trim the oppisite way you did it first very slowly and gently till the carburetter is slightly opening.
4)Just twist it as much as posible leaveing the carb resting 1-2mm in the carbureeter.

No need to have the engine turned on.
Hope this helps:)

Spitfire666

well there is the servo problem aswell, its twitching a bit like its getting interfearence or the batts are low but thats not the problem. and its not responding one miniute then it is the next.

syl77

Thanks for info, Had forgotten about the Savage....
looks like the decission is between Revo, T-max and savage.

Plug

Spitfire666 wrote:

well there is the servo problem aswell, its twitching a bit like its getting interfearence or the batts are low but thats not the problem. and its not responding one miniute then it is the next.

Change all the batteries i bet you won't have a problem also check if the wires are ripped anywere and greese any "metal to metal" parts like gears etc;)

Spitfire666

I had just put in brand new batts at the time it started. i couldnt see any ripped wires but have a suspision it might be the problem.

vectra

syl77 wrote:

Thanks for info, Had forgotten about the Savage....
looks like the decission is between Revo, T-max and savage.

Revo

tallus

vectra wrote:

Revo

Savage
*edit*
Or you could go for the fastest monster truck out there and go for a schumacher Menace 21

Plug

syl77 wrote:

Thanks for info, Had forgotten about the Savage....
looks like the decission is between Revo, T-max and savage.

Revo...go on you know you want to:D

spitfire wrote:

I had just put in brand new batts at the time it started. i couldnt see any ripped wires but have a suspision it might be the problem.

I might be some electrical thing around your house causeing the interference, make sure the crystals are fully in.

tallus wrote:

Or you could go for the fastest monster truck out there and go for a schumacher Menace 21

Not anymore...the jato 3.3 is quicker!:eek:

tallus

Plug wrote:

Revo...go on you know you want to:D


I might be some electrical thing around your house causeing the interference, make sure the crystals are fully in.

Not anymore...the jato 3.3 is quicker!:eek:

The claimed top speed of the Jato is 65mph the Menace does 70 dude
Got to say tho, that Jato looks pretty hot, I love the wheels on it.

Plug

Are you sure thats the 3.3, maybe Im getting mixed up though:o
Have you not to but the optional 3 speed though on the menace?

tallus

Mine has the three speed but I assumed that was the way the model came originally because I bought it second hand.
Ok checked the Schumacher site, the Menace 21 comes with the three speed gearbox as standard.

Plug

Nice...:)

vectra

Yup,
Menace is faster.

But not stronger..

GET A REVO...!!!

Plug

...agreed!

tallus

vectra wrote:

Yup,
Menace is faster.

But not stronger..

GET A REVO...!!!

I think if any radio model crashes at that speed it's time for tubby bye byes

SLIM19198

more like bring out the NU NU to scoop up the parts

vectra

Send them the the "Great RC Graveyard in the sky"

Spitfire666

tallus wrote:

I'd love to see the spectre in action spitfire, my hyper is the same class of buggy, and it would be interesting to see how they compare alongside each other. I was out twice with coolwings with his spectre but outside influences conspired against us mainly time on both occasions.
It would be nice to arrange a bit of a meet.

I dropped the spectre into greenhobby last weekend so i should be able to pick it up tomorrow in working order so if you want to arrange a meet sometime no worries. be warned, must be planned in advanced because of work and sleep time.