New Free rc

[hmmwv15]

A buddy of mine came through and gave me his old radio shack H2. The body is trashed, but the chassis is in okay shape. Has one motor on it, and it's 4x4. Only bad thing is that it ins't locked front or rear, and I don't have a battery for it.

From what I can remember, this thing had a fairly decent range and top speed. I may have to take it to a hobby shop tomorrow and see what they have to offer in means of upgrades if any. Here's some pictures of it, and I know some of you xmod crawler guys will want my tires. :D

http://i173.photobucket.com/albums/w64/hmmwv15/P1012799.jpg

http://i173.photobucket.com/albums/w64/hmmwv15/P1012800.jpg

http://i173.photobucket.com/albums/w64/hmmwv15/P1012801.jpg

I plan on modifying this thing to go a bit faster, and make it more of a baja rc than a crawler like I wanted to. Enjoy!

[amorton94]

im certain there are no upgrades for it. so the only upgrades are going to have to be custom upgrades that you make.

[hmmwv15]

So I couldn't get a new motor or "higher powered" battery for it?

[Tmaxxn3]

dude i have one of those ther awsome
it the mattracks hummer from radioshack..
but what i did is took the diffurentals out and super glued them together to lock them turning sucks but itll climb over most anything..

[snowboi1289]

Yes, you can find a motor that fits it, and re-solder the motor wires to the new motor. I would recommend a high torque motor.

I think I might have a 7.2v battery that will fit that. I might be able to sell them, if you want to buy 1. A charger may be included too.

[amorton94]

if you do like tmaxxn3 said, don't lock the front diff. your turning will suck giant eggs! lol

[Stampedekid]

No parts will be available for that and the guys at your LHS will laugh at you because that's no hobby-class machine. Its a toy. A better motor will fry the board so you are better off dropping in Hobby-grade electrics. What scale is it, do you know?

[bosco72]

i would take it to the hobby store.Match up some nice oil filled shocks and a good battery pack.If you can't get one there go to cheapbatterypacks.com and pick the one you need and they will build it.The better battery will make it go faster then the cheap one they give you at radioshack.It looks like it has some nice aarm set up.

[XMDrifter]

get a whole new radio system. the toy electronics just don't do the chassis justice.
hobby grade esc like a Novak or maybe even brushless like the castle-creations Mamba+futaba 2PL system+lithium
that would be sweet

[hmmwv15]

I didn't get a chance to go to the hobby shop today, was too busy working on my real trucks, and also went to work on a rock crawler of my buddies.

I think I'll keep the motor stock, and just wait till it craps out to get a new one.

If I fry the board with the better battery, I guess I'll just be out some money.

I do need a longer lasting battery if possible, the run time was crappy from what I remember, somewhere between 5 and 10 minutes.

Snowboi you've got a pm.

[Stampedekid]

Brushless would shred it to pieces. So Mamba or Novak BL wouldn't do too good XMDrifter. If BL Shredded my Micro DT's tranny, it would tear one of these to bits.

[mustanglover]

Brushless would shred it to pieces. So Mamba or Novak BL wouldn't do too good XMDrifter. If BL Shredded my Micro DT's tranny, it would tear one of these to bits.

do you know what it looks like... no...

[Stampedekid]

do you know what it looks like... no...

Do I know what what looks like?

[mustanglover]

Nvm...

[Stampedekid]

What. There was obviously something that you said I just didn't understand.

[hmmwv15]

I just scored a battery and charger on sale at radioshack for $15.00.

I'm not sure if it is better than what was in it, but it's better than nothing. I'm not planning on seriously upgrading this thing unless it fries, so a new radio system will not be in the works. I have no idea what the hell any of you are talking about when you use all those abbreviations, I'm a super newb to rc vehicles and upgrades. :D

I'm about to tear it apart and lock the rear, wish me luck. :salut:

[Stampedekid]

I just scored a battery and charger on sale at radioshack for $15.00.

I'm not sure if it is better than what was in it, but it's better than nothing. I'm not planning on seriously upgrading this thing unless it fries, so a new radio system will not be in the works. I have no idea what the hell any of you are talking about when you use all those abbreviations, I'm a super newb to rc vehicles and upgrades. :D

I'm about to tear it apart and lock the rear, wish me luck. :salut:

Good luck :salut:! Personally I think you would be better off getting a better RC but that's just me.

[hmmwv15]

Nah. I'm not looking to get seriously involved in this thing, Just something to keep me occupied when I can't wheel my 4runner.

Almost into the rear "diff" and gearbox. Can't be too much more difficult than rebuilding a craburetor right? :lol: ....right? :uhoh: :D


My current status:

http://i173.photobucket.com/albums/w64/hmmwv15/P1012804.jpg

[Stampedekid]

Wow it actually looks built well for a Radio Shack RC.

[hmmwv15]

Well, truck is back together and waiting on the battery to charge. I glued the tiny little spider gears together, I never would have known that they had spider gears. :lol:

I'm anxious to see how well it does. I'll have to wait till tomorrow. I may even post a vid of this thing.

I know it's not nearly as good as the ones yall have, but hey, it was free not including the $15 battery. If I do spend any kind of money on anything, I'll get one of the two shown here: http://www.trail-gear.com/rc/kits.html

[hmmwv15]

I hate getting caught up in a new hobby. :roll:

I just need more out it. Now is when I'm going to drop a lot of money into somthing. I think I'll start saving for the traxxas summit, I just saw a promo video of it in action, and I'm impressed. That things probably gonna be expensive though.....

[amorton94]

i say bash the crud out of that free rc, and invest money in a good rc. i myself am jumping into hobby grade headfirst :lol: ill be getting 2 losi's a traxxas slash and a axial ax10 scorpion rtr and $100 of upgrades to make it better than the artr.

[hmmwv15]

sweet. It looks like the summit is going to be $500, way more than I want to spend. I'll probably stick with the axial. I've been busy chopping up the trashed body trying to make it look kinda like a crawler. We shall see how it turns out....Pics tomorrow hopefully.

I have taken the bumpers off in hopes of better approach and departure angles, maybe this will help. I have "dovetailed" the front of it, just cause I felt like it. :D I may do a little more on the front, and then if I haven't gotten my fix I'll do the rear, but that seems like it would be a nightmare. Anywho keep watch for pics.

[hmmwv15]

Well, I'm a day late, but here's what I've been up to. I'm trying to squeeze the capability out of this thing. :D

http://i173.photobucket.com/albums/w64/hmmwv15/DSCF1456.jpg
Did the driver side first, and didn't turn out too bad. If I ever get anything besides gorilla glue to work with I'll fix it to look from factory, but it works for now.

http://i173.photobucket.com/albums/w64/hmmwv15/DSCF1458.jpg
Did the passenger side next, and got a little too happy with the lighter and warped the fender and hood a bit.

http://i173.photobucket.com/albums/w64/hmmwv15/DSCF1462.jpg
Completely did away with the rear bumper (even the one on the body) to gain some hill climbing ability. I didn't do the front until I wheeled it the first time and kept getting hung up, so I trimmed it up. (shown in above pics)
I was trying to do away with the front bumper as well but the steering servo is right there. I can't really trim the front because of the servo, unless I can figure out another location for it. I'll have to deal with it. I'm probably going to burn up the motor pretty soon anyway, it was hot enough to smell the motor working hard when I put it up to cool after the first run. Action shots:

http://i173.photobucket.com/albums/w64/hmmwv15/DSCF1460.jpg

http://i173.photobucket.com/albums/w64/hmmwv15/DSCF1461.jpg

[amorton94]

how are those "action" shots if there is no battery, look in the 4th pic, you can see the battery clip lol :lol:

[bigluelok]

nice pics and keep up the good work. and lol at the battery comment

[hmmwv15]

Thanks.

The spider gears finally broke loose of the gorilla glue's hold, so I have taken it apart again and will be JB welding it. We'll see how that works. :D

[FloydfanYodaman]

that looks like a fun project...hasthat military feel to it, maybe you could find some ol skool army stars decals for it...maybe a roofrack with some wheelin supplies?...anyways stay muddy...

[hmmwv15]

Yeah I guess I could, never thought of that!

I actually thought about getting some small conduit and making an exo for it. Brake line would even work.

Yodaman huh? Nice to know there's someone other than myself who's got a yota on here! I've got an 85 4runner if you haven't seen the pic yet.

EDIT: lol just saw your other post. :D

[Stampedekid]

i say bash the crud out of that free rc, and invest money in a good rc. i myself am jumping into hobby grade headfirst :lol: ill be getting 2 losi's a traxxas slash and a axial ax10 scorpion rtr and $100 of upgrades to make it better than the artr.

You may not wanna get that much to start trust me. Not as easy as they look and they do break(even tho Slash only broke once but that is because I has experience) As for you...(not you amorton94)the AX10 ARTR has no electronics whatsoever and is built more for comp crawlers with experience. The hobby is expensive and may get frustrating at times but is well worth it. The hummer looks great and I don't like Hummers! The Summit is more of a trail crawler and wouldn't hold its own against a Venom Creeper, AX10, or other crawler.

[hmmwv15]

Great advice. I know they can break, I've got a few friends that have broken things on rc vehicles before. I haven't heard of the venom creeper, but either the axial or the creeper would be in my price range (I can't justify $500 for an rc when I could do serious mods on my 4runner with that, you know?). I also Like the fact that the creeper has optional remote locking differential, it would be nice to unlock the front when you need to make a tight turn, then re lock for the crawling. I'm going to keep an eye out on craigslist for them too. Before I start saving for one of these I have to pay off my tube doors and sliders that I'm getting for the 4runner though, so it will probably be the middle of next year before I have anything decent.

I bet with my knowledge on crawling in my real vehicle, I could enter the rc scale at above an amature level. I'm burning up the motor in the hummer trying to crawl it. :D I sure do wish I had a body other than a friggin H2, but at least I'm not afraid to cut into it and bash it up. :D

[youngxmodder]

nice hummer i really like the color but i don't feel the dovetailed front fenders but whatever floats your boat. i own an axial ax10 there great but i would get the kit instead of and ARTR. you may be thinking it would take to long to build but i would get the kit so you know your vehicle inside and out. but if you plan on getting one mid next year, axial is releasing the new scx10 in jan. sometime, i hope so but that one is probably a kit to, but comes with a chassis like the tcs x-trail chassis. but hobby grade crawlers aren't cheap and cost alot and when your in the r/c crawler scene you will want to upgrade to stay ahead of the comp. but there is the losi mini rock crawler it might not be the same scale as an axial but is rtr and cheap for a rock crawler. i'm kind of getting off topic, but i like the hummer does it just articulate with just shocks?

[hmmwv15]

My buddy just got a Losi mini crawler and it was about the same price as an axial, about $230.

And the Hummer doesn't articulate. It would need softer springs for that. :D

As far as me wanting to upgrade, I don't plan on doing anything but crawling around the backyard. No competitions or anything, I just need something to do in the down time when I don't have my 4runner driveable. Of course I'll upgrade it to my likings, but thats beside the point.

I was browsing through some crawlers and it looks like I'll have to buy a remote control for them, and a few other things. Is this true for all of them? (assuming rtr is ready to run) I thought the purpose of RTR was that you can take it out of the box, buy a battery for it and you are set. If I've got to buy a $100+ controller for it on top of paying for the car, I might as well spend the 3 or 4 hundred bucks on my 4runner.

[hmmwv15]

The JB weld held up perfect the first run. If anyone has one of these rc's laying in their junk pile I could use another front diff. After I locked the rear the thing turns like crap, (no surprise really) and I figure how much crappier can it get if I lock the front? I don't think it could get any worse, so I'm probably going to tear the front apart to get at those spider gears and lock 'em up. This thing climbs like a champ now. If only the full charged power would last longer. Or if I had a crawler motor or something. This thing has come a long way since I've gotten hold of it! :D

[hmmwv15]

...how much crappier can it get if I lock the front?

A lot crappier. lol but as long as I can get one of the front tires onto something it is unstoppable. I flipped it on it's side and was able to use a bank to flip it's self back over. I may get a video of it if it's worth anything.

[amorton94]

videos of rc's playing around are always welcome! :thumleft:

[kungpow420]

My buddy just got a Losi mini crawler and it was about the same price as an axial, about $230.

I was browsing through some crawlers and it looks like I'll have to buy a remote control for them, and a few other things. Is this true for all of them? (assuming rtr is ready to run) I thought the purpose of RTR was that you can take it out of the box, buy a battery for it and you are set. If I've got to buy a $100+ controller for it on top of paying for the car, I might as well spend the 3 or 4 hundred bucks on my 4runner.

the rtr does not need anything but a battery and charger the kit and artr need radio, esc, motor, servo, battery, and charger.
losi mrc needs nothing it has everything.

[hmmwv15]

10-4. Looks like I'll be getting a rtr kit then.

[amorton94]

on your hummer, i say chop the back and make into a sut.

[hmmwv15]

nah, I think I'm done chopping on it. Now all I have to do is beat the crap out of it so I have an excuse to get a crawler. :D

[amorton94]

the way i'd beat the crap out of it is i'd make it go like 30mph, and well, i'd have fun with it :lol: going off the biggest jumps i could find and just bash the crud out of it overall :lol: and really you already have an excuse for a crawler, thats not a crawler :lol: :bigwink:

[hmmwv15]

I'll gladly take donations to make it go 30 mph. :D

It's a crawler wanna be. :lol:

[hmmwv15]

Bear with me, your about to read a novel. :D

Well it's been a while since I have gotten on here but I have been really busy with my (real) trail rig, took it wheeling last saturday. Got my daily driver almost buttoned up maintenance wise, and don't plan on doing anything else to the trail rig. I have been crewing for a friend of mine in the W.E. rock competitions (world extreme rockcrawling comps) Basically I run around for tools, parts, food and drink, and help fix the buggy when needed. I was also jewed into being photographer/videographer. I know a lot more about wheeling than I used to and have had an amazing time at the competitions. One name you may notice if your into the offroad racing scene is Shannon Campbell. He is at every event competing, and it's awesome to see the top dog of the off road world wheel his machines. That being said I have been playing around with this junker of an rc hummer a few times, and it no longer satisfies my rc wheeling "needs".

I have been keeping watch out for some kind of crawler on craigslist, have saved some money to fix up my daily driver and trail rig and may have some left over cash to spend on some kind of crawler. My goal is to find something under $200, that's just way too much to spend for a used rc. After being amongst the pro rockcrawling scene, I have plans for the future rc. I know the venom creeper has remote locking differential capability, so I want that over anything else. I want dig capability and rear steer as well. After research it seems like I would have to find a remote with channels out the wazoo to have all the capabilities I want. What I'm thinking:

I probably won't find a creeper for a decent price with remote locking diffs.
-thats out

The axial has a rear steer kit and I believe I can get a transmission with dig capability -toss up

With rear steer I would be able to crab walk on rocks/ With dig I would have an amazing turn radius. I'm curious to know if dig uses up a channel on the remote, if not, I could do both rear steer and dig. If it does use up a channel I'm undecided. I'm trying to figure out which one I want to spend my money on when I get something.

I will also explore the bent lower links, I may try and play with the stock ones first.

All in all it's looking like my best bet is to try and find an axial no?

Whatcha think??

[4G63punk]

those tires dont look so good with that body. lol get some deep-dish beaded rims.

[bestdragon2001]

I hear that the cheapest way to get into crawling is to get a HPI Wheely king and convert it to a crawler.
Heres the conversionhttp://www.hpiracing.com/products/en/87633/
Heres the truckhttp://www.hpiracing.com/kitinfo/10830/

It even has the battery!

[hmmwv15]

At a little over $200 for the truck and another 80 for the crawler kit, it would be cheaper just to get an rtr axial scorpion. But unless I can find something used at a good price I'm not getting anything.

[Stampedekid]

What you might want to try is the Duratrax Cliff Climber, a friend from another forum I convinced him into getting one and now he's hooked on crawling. Uses Clod-Like axles as there are no shafts just a motor on each axle and theres no differential but instead a solid spool. Off towerhobbies.com it is about $120 but then you still need 2 batteries and if you don't already have one, a nice charger. Heres the links to all the stuff. It also has 4WS(4 wheel steer)but after a while my friend locked it out. Also the tires are not beadlocks but they are 2.2 sized with a 12 mm hex.
http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXURC1**&P=ML
And then you would need 2 of these:
http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXVTE6&P=ML
And here are some choices of good but "cheap" chargers(by cheap I mean in price, may seem like alot on some but they're all good chargers:
Probably the easiest ones of the onyx line to use, just plug and charge(would i recommend them no i'd recommend getting a better one):
http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXWTD9&P=ML
http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&P=SM&I=LXTCJ8
Next, a step up:
http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXTCJ9&P=ML
An even bigger step up:
http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXTCJ9&P=ML
This one below is the one I use, charges NiMH, NiCd, Li-Ion, LiPo, LiFe(A123) and has a 10 battery memory! Great charger for the price and the features
http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXTCK1&P=ML
And lastly, this one will only do NiMH and NiCd as all the others besides the 230, this one although charges 2 battery packs at a time instead of just one:
http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXTCK2&P=ML
Anyway I hope all this helps you because the RTR Scorpion is just too high of a price for what it really is out of the box, plus this one is not too big, not too small but its a great crawler out of the box

[Donziikid]

Just remember you get what you pay for. You skimp out you'll be working with junky stuff. ;)

With rear steer I would be able to crab walk on rocks/ With dig I would have an amazing turn radius. I'm curious to know if dig uses up a channel on the remote, if not, I could do both rear steer and dig. If it does use up a channel I'm undecided. I'm trying to figure out which one I want to spend my money on when I get something.

Yupp.
Yupp.
Dig uses a channel. Digs are activated by a servo to lock the rear differential. You can either built this yourself or you can buy a dig unit (~$100). Not sure how much building your own will cost, never done it myself.

Axial's the way to go, but stay away from RTC and RTR. They're full of flexible plastic garbage. Buy a kit.

Crawling is probably one of the most expensive RC I have seen besides flying, just a forewarning. Nothing's cheap. New shoes will even cost you $50. :eyecraz:

Cheers,
Kyle.

[Stampedekid]

Just remember you get what you pay for. You skimp out you'll be working with junky stuff. ;)



Yupp.
Yupp.
Dig uses a channel. Digs are activated by a servo to lock the rear differential. You can either built this yourself or you can buy a dig unit (~$100). Not sure how much building your own will cost, never done it myself.

Axial's the way to go, but stay away from RTC and RTR. They're full of flexible plastic garbage. Buy a kit.

Crawling is probably one of the most expensive RC I have seen besides flying, just a forewarning. Nothing's cheap. New shoes will even cost you $50. :eyecraz:

Cheers,
Kyle.

Well Kyle, from what most people who got the CC said, its a great crawler for fun but not really for comp crawling. Now with some grippier tires and lowering of the CG it can crawl good, but I believe it crawls in the mini class

[hmmwv15]

Well, one thing I like about the duratrax one is it's got rear steer from factory. I also really like that it has a motor for each axle. I just don't think it has that good of flexing capability. By the time I got batteries and a charger, I'd be at about $200 not including the shipping. If I were to buy one new, it would probably be this one though.

What I plan on doing is finding a used axial that someone is just getting rid of, to save some money and get a good one to start with. I just can't justify spending over $200 on an rc crawler when I have a real one sitting in my driveway I could be using, know what I mean?
As far as an rtr kit is concerned, I'm not real worried about breaking plastic links, (maybe the driveshaft since I hear they are the weak links) because I won't be bashing the thing around. The most it will see is a 2-3 foot drop off of a rockpile or something. I haven't managed to tear up this crappy hummer yet, except I think I have burnt up the motor a bit trying to crawl the thing, it's just not designed for that kind of stress.

I appreciate all the suggestions, it's always best to hear about things from people who deal with them the most.

[Tmaxxn3]

new pics or anything?

[hmmwv15]

Of the hummer? I can get some if you really want to see them. I have chopped the back and dovetailed it as well. Did a hack job but it looks okay I guess. I also added as many metal bb's I could in the front tires. Now the steering servo is definitely not strong enough to turn the wheels. :lol:

[hmmwv15]

Well, I'm getting a losi mini crawler. Won it on ebay today. spent under my $200 budget, and If I had gone to the hobby shop like I had planned on, I would have spent about $300 on an rtc axial. But instead I built a shed and watched ebay. Can't wait till it gets here!

[amorton94]

Sweet! I also have a MRC, it's very fun. I haven't spent really anything on it. All I have done are the cheap and free mods and it crawls alot better than stock. And you can make it have 4ws. All you do is buy all the stock steering parts. And install them on the rear. You will need a 3channel radio, but not reciever. The stock reciever is 3 channel, but the radio isn't for some reason(Sorry, I forgot which one is rx and tx). A good place to get a 4ws radio and reciever for under $100 is RC4WD. Join rccrawler.com It's the best crawling forum out there. It has so much info on there, and the guys on there are great. But yah, just have fun with it. Oh and the first things you're gonna want to upgrade is definately the front and rear diff. lockers, the center locker, and tires. The stock wheels aren't beadlocks, but there is a mod on rccrawler on how to make them beadlocks, and only costs like $5. If you need any help with your MRC, just let me know. I should be able to help.

[hmmwv15]

Freakin sweet! Yeah I joined rccrawler and have been lurking around. funny you mentioned the 4ws, I have been trying to figure out how to do it and how much it would cost. I figure I will play around with the losi for a while and if I think it's too small I'll sell it and get an rtc AX-10. I'll just have to see. Awesome to know I've got a reference, if you have any cool or useful links to tips/upgrades/tricks, shoot them my way I'd love to see them. Thanks!

[hmmwv15]

I relocated batteries to top and cut out the battery tray. Gained 1" of ground clearance!

Figured out what was wrong with it, just have to re-solder the 9V lead back on. (I forgot which was + and - and put it on backwards. :lol:)