Can't find info about this HB RacingRally Defender HB-ZP1002 crawler, maybe its new. There no photo about internal chassis to validate if this truely a traxxas clone yet so i can't comment about it.

Stand alone circuit for FPV system not going to provide excellent because out of box they still sub par (stock antenna and shielded wires) performance which is why many long range successful ground 4x4 FPV builder sought DIY build. It also need OSD module and BEC management to make ground FPV more robust function. My build have zero motor noise and as posted from lots of video of our FPV adventures i can go about 1.2km behind trees and bushes. You can watch the video again at my youtube channel here: http://www.youtube.com/user/3dxl/videos

More likely with that budget you'll get HSP brand 4WD with brushless. At least HSP have common spare parts widely available in any local R/C store. But if you can get budget higher than RM$1,500 you can get more branded and tougher build brushless model with strong drivetrain from KYOSHO VE series or TRAXXAS.

HSP eh. Thanks for the pointer. I've seen the Pangolin and several other similar crawlers from HSP go for about RM500-RM600, which is interesting but I don't know what to make of them. Is the drivetrain (spur, diffs etc) metal? Which shop do you recommend for upgrade parts?

How about the RGT 18000...?

I can't spend RM1500 on this hobby - I'd have to sell my children before that can happen.

I have HSP pangolin too but not so much fun to crawl and to keep about with 4x4 crawling club because of its non-scaler chassis...hard to "scale modder". I would go for RGT 18000 than with Pangolin because its a rock racer..can like crawler, have a bit climbing speed and plus for styling. When it comes to R/C shop for parts i usually buy stuff online between www.banggood.com or www.rcmart.com

If you concern more about metal drivetrain best go branded such as Traxxas, Vaterra, Hong Nor, HPI or branded models because their spare parts always have optional metal upgrade full on drive train that can handle brushless power even on crawler setup. Cheaper HSP brand model have mix of plastic and metal but they do have metal drivetrain as after market optional upgrade but will fall apart on brushless power after few runs.

Based on my experience if you spent a model start up at RM600 you'll end up extra additional +rm$500 because of charger, suspension parts, ESC, radio, wheelsets to match with desirable performance especially if the models equipped with brushless motor because fast wear an tear on metal gears. First you need to check which category you wanted go down the path? Crawler? Throphy truck off-road racing? Rock racing, buggy bash? scaler/trial 4x4? or others? ...that will determine where your budget will be.

For 1/10 HSP even the entry level (entry level is brushed while top/pro is brushless) have metal diff, metal drive shaft & metal axle/dogbone. The spur is plastic. However I don't know whether pangolin have metal drive shaft or not though. I only have multiple times bent the dogbone. The drive shaft & diff so far have no problem.

The RGT 18000 look like build way better than pangolin. I would go for that. For traxxas, you would need budget around RM1k to 2k & usually it is brushed setup. Brushless usually go above 2k. But again, for crawler, brushed motor is better. Other branded brands also above 1k unfortunately.

This post has been edited by kizwan: Jan 7 2019, 02:05 PM

Just slow & easy rock crawling for me at this point as I'm not much of a speed junkie to go blasting and breaking components. I crash enough with drones & airplanes lol.

I already have a stack of 3S lipos, 2-channel charger and other RC battery knickknacks. I intend to run the car stock with the stock TX for the near future, before throwing RM170 on a Flysky GT3C or a Radiolink RC4GS maybe. I'll think about tyres, upgrading motor & ESC and upgrading other parts much later after I learn more about rock crawling - there's no hurry.

As with any other type of RC hobby, RC rock crawling will turn into a bottomless money pit... sooner rather than later if I'm not careful.

Awesome. But I'm curious - why are brushed motors better for crawlers?

That's somewhat counter-intuitive for RC pilots - we were so eager to dump brushed motors for brushless ones. Everyone had to put up with brushed motors when micro drones first arrived on the scene, but two years later when the teenie brushless motors came out we all dropped brushed motors like a bad habit, and nobody looked back after that.

Brushless motors are far more efficient and need little maintenance, they're pretty cheap and abundant nowadays too.

For crawling you want smooth control at the lower-end of the throttle which brushed motor do offer.

Like kizwan said brushed motor offer smooth lower end throttle. For drone or rc flight used brushe motor is not ideal because high rpm will worn out the motor extremely fast and extremely over heating, but brushed motor on r/c car doesn't need high rpm to rotate all wheels thanks to gear box. I used to have lot of r/c car 100% on brushless motor back between year 2005~2009, but now almost all my car, trucks, crawler, 2wd and 4wd 95% return back to stock brushed motor because the have good throttle management, cheaper, less stress on drivetrains, and more fun drive-able models yet as powerfull as brushless on li-po battery. Brushless on 4 wheels are over hyped culture by today standard because brushed motor + li-po already powerful enough to deliver punchy power. Before 2009 brushless motor is the only was to go because weak NIMH battery cannot deliver much power. I haven't do maintenance on brushed motor after running my models over 5 year...they are still very mint because i tune nicely with proper gear ratio to avoid over heating. Lots of today r/c modeler return back going stock brushed for more scaled driving.

Below are my video of car models on stock original brushed motor + lipo:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KwXOlmiud1I



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tk1TRUOc61g



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DafvjE407pE


This post has been edited by SupermotoXL: Jan 8 2019, 07:45 AM

If you intend to use back those 3s lipo you'll need to upgrade the ESC that support 3S because all stock R/C car/truck/crawler models only accept 2S lipo. So definitely you'll need to cough up at least RM$120 to change to Hobbywing Quicrun 1060 A type brushed ESC (http://www.hobbywing.com/goods.php?id=358). For rock crawling any stock cheap radio will do the job because you're not into racing and its all about driving skills steering the crawler to right path.

For crawler hobby it will go to bottomless money pit for sure if you're decided to go to "scaler" fashion and join the trail driving club like what SG crawler (singapore crawler) people does, also time and commitment needed to go outside to make full potential driving a 1/10 scale.

My 1/10 scale crawler community at local area started to slow down due to family commitment and not time to play outside, so most of us start to go for smaller size so we could enjoy more playtime indoor. 1:35 scale ORLANDOO micro crawler is a good hobby grade models for if wanted to stay within budget range without loosing quality and still grow with abundant option parts.

My Orlandoo micro crawler:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JIpeysJTML4


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Nv2hPf7Tdg


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ckQYbeZXBLM

Yeah, I have been looking at smaller scale now too. I can easily setup indoor track. The wltoys k989 1:28 scale looks really great imo. It's not a crawler because I'm more interested in racing.

Thanks bro reply. Over weekdend I did ask some fren he said that model is more like clone trx4 defender with mostly plastic parts like chasis etc instead of metal. Wonder how durable it is...

Btw im noob on this, just interested with rc cars n happen to see this thread.

As starters, issit ok if buy cheaper HSP pangolin truck n put new body like Hilux or LC70 killerbody? I like old skool type monster truck but sitting on top of any big tyres crawler.

Wltoys K989 1:28 is a good popular micro to race around indoor track, easily fit nice scale kyosho mini-z bodyshell. Very powerfull too with solid chassis. Highly recomended. I have the 1:24 version.

If you're looking forward to but nice bodyshell like Hilux, killerbody brands of scaler bodies, Defender plastic shell. PROLINE or other alternative then stay away from HSP pANGOLIN because its based on old comp style crawler chassis or classic AX-10 crawler which is not a scaler type chassis because it was build not for 4x4 trail style but for serious competition crawling due to odd suspension setup to maximized climbing bigger rocks. AX-10/Pangolin have bulky wall type chassis which makes it hard to fit any scaler bodyshell and unrealistic suspension wheel base and structure. Below are photo of my Pangolin. If you want to get proper 'scaler' crawler build to create life realistic 4x4 within $500~$900 budget range in Malaysia shop get the RGT models or at least second hand AXIAL SCX-10 that have more realistic rail type chassis like actual 4x4 trucks. Those are your realistic minimum choice.

My HSP pangolin (not ideal for scaler bodies)..out of proportional body styling:








This post has been edited by SupermotoXL: Jan 8 2019, 01:34 PM

Thanks buddy.

Looks like no one have k989 in stock locally. Btw, I'm thinking converting my HSP brontosaurus monster truck to drift car. Do I need to change the diff to one-way diff? Both?

If you want cheap and safe alternative for drift differential you can use hot glue to lock the diff temporary. I use these method a lot for drift setup. You can learn about it here: http://www.rcmojo.com/620/how-tos/how-to-t...k-for-drifting/

I was considering locking the diff but I read (mentioned a lot in the articles that I read for drift) that one-way diff works differently. That's why I asked. Thanks, now I know locking the diff should works as well.

Got my RGT 18000 Rock Hammer last weekend. This thing weighs almost 3kg stock and will climb like a champ straight out of the box. The star of the show is definitely the beefy 6-pc vertical plates chassis that has so many mounting holes it begs to be modded.

It looks like SCX10 tranny & axles might fit, who knows?

My biggest gripe is that it turns like a barge and the stock TX could be better. Removing the front axle screws gains 2mm extra travel for the steering linkage, which helps but isn't a practical long term bodge.