Hey I purchased this for my son his first real RC he love the Digger . What is needed to get this thing ready for bashing, I'am positive its going to be a lot of recking going on we are both new comers to the RC world ?
Question about Traxxas 1/10 scale Grave Digger
- Thread starter BigWill90
- Start date
As you break shit just buy replacements. Youll find out soon enough what youre going to be breaking more often. IIRC I had to replace 2 spur gears and a few knuckles but I was never that hard on it.
This. Gonna become a master tinkerer on these things really fast, but be ready to spend money as the parts nickel and dime you real quick.
THIS ^^^ I'm currently on my second Stampede 4X4 VXL, has a Lipo and some other doo-dads on it.. Friggen sweet to bash with!
When things break dont go to aluminum as they tend to bend, rather than break making them even more useless when they look like a banana.
The 2wd stampede monster jam models have brass bushings in the wheels hubs, replace them with proper bearings for more speed. If you want to go bigger, grab the RPM front knuckles and rear hubs with the 5x11 bearings for less maintenance than the original 5x8 size bushings. You can still run 5x8 bearings but they are quite small for a 1/10 scale monster truck and i have seen a few come apart, hence why everyone is going to the 5x11 setup. The later VXL Stampede trucks have the factory 5x11 carriers you can grab off ebay for $10 or so instead of the more expensive RPM setup.
One other thing that is really annoying with the stampede 2wd trucks is inside the magnum 272 transmission is a hollow roll pin. This is located on the slipper shaft, inside the transmission, and it holds the top gear in place. Since they are hollow they will tend to break off or shear off to protect the transmission. The major problem is that you need to completely remove and open up the trans case. When i take them apart i always replace the hollow pin with a solid pin from Team Associated. The solid pin will work much better and allow the slipper assembly to do it job over shearing the pin off inside the transmission.
Only thing you really need to upgrade over factory is the shocks, specifically the shock caps and oil. The stock shock caps will distort on hard landings and leak. Replace with aluminum upgrade Traxxas caps and fill with a thicker fluid than stock(35wt is stock). I normally run 40-47.5 in lighter vehicles and start at 50+ with heavier vehicles. My personal Stampede has 50wt with stock linear rate rustler springs. This works great for this truck and it does not body roll like the factory truck.
If you have any other questions please let me know. Been racing r/c vehicles for over 10 years in both short course truck and stadium truck classes and have dabbled into the touring car market back in the late 90's. I currently race short course trucks and own about 15 r/c vehicles from tamiya, kyosho, traxxas, abc hobby, dromida, hpi racing and team associated.
The 2wd stampede monster jam models have brass bushings in the wheels hubs, replace them with proper bearings for more speed. If you want to go bigger, grab the RPM front knuckles and rear hubs with the 5x11 bearings for less maintenance than the original 5x8 size bushings. You can still run 5x8 bearings but they are quite small for a 1/10 scale monster truck and i have seen a few come apart, hence why everyone is going to the 5x11 setup. The later VXL Stampede trucks have the factory 5x11 carriers you can grab off ebay for $10 or so instead of the more expensive RPM setup.
One other thing that is really annoying with the stampede 2wd trucks is inside the magnum 272 transmission is a hollow roll pin. This is located on the slipper shaft, inside the transmission, and it holds the top gear in place. Since they are hollow they will tend to break off or shear off to protect the transmission. The major problem is that you need to completely remove and open up the trans case. When i take them apart i always replace the hollow pin with a solid pin from Team Associated. The solid pin will work much better and allow the slipper assembly to do it job over shearing the pin off inside the transmission.
Only thing you really need to upgrade over factory is the shocks, specifically the shock caps and oil. The stock shock caps will distort on hard landings and leak. Replace with aluminum upgrade Traxxas caps and fill with a thicker fluid than stock(35wt is stock). I normally run 40-47.5 in lighter vehicles and start at 50+ with heavier vehicles. My personal Stampede has 50wt with stock linear rate rustler springs. This works great for this truck and it does not body roll like the factory truck.
If you have any other questions please let me know. Been racing r/c vehicles for over 10 years in both short course truck and stadium truck classes and have dabbled into the touring car market back in the late 90's. I currently race short course trucks and own about 15 r/c vehicles from tamiya, kyosho, traxxas, abc hobby, dromida, hpi racing and team associated.
My 15YO wants a Rustler. Anyone had one? The one that does like 70mph.
I work part time at a hobby shop. I have a twenty-year-old Rustler that's still going strong. I'd say your best bet on these is to replace parts with RPM parts as they break, and buy their front bumper right from the get-go, as it'll save you from a lot of day-enders. Also, aluminum shock caps are a must. This website has a lot of good advice: http://www.ultimatetraxxas.com/
I did the Nitro Rustler wide mod for the front of mine, and it handles waaaaaay better now.
I can envision the broken bones and vehicle damage as I type, lol.
I have found that the new build quality on these RC's has really declined.
I had an original Tamiya Hornet, and we would jump that thing off cliffs, and smash into curbs at over 50km/h (12 turn double motor) and it never broke.
I then bought a Tamiya re-release of the Hornet and the chassis snapped in two from hitting my friends shoe on its maiden run. :nonono:
I had an original Tamiya Hornet, and we would jump that thing off cliffs, and smash into curbs at over 50km/h (12 turn double motor) and it never broke.
I then bought a Tamiya re-release of the Hornet and the chassis snapped in two from hitting my friends shoe on its maiden run. :nonono:
Man, I remember the Hornet. I had a grasshopper as my first real RC car. But I disagree about the quality going down. I have a Losi 10 SCTE and that thing is a monster. I've bent some stuff on it but that's racing it and hitting stuff at 30 MPH is going to cause damage. IMO it's a really well built and engineered truck.
I also have a bunch of old school stuff that I race or tinker with. A Losi XXT-CR and Schumacher Cat 2000 that I run at the track. But my favorite is my Tamiya Mountaineer. My dad bought me it for xmas in 94 maybe. Thing is awesome, steel ladder frame, solid axles, leaf springs and a remote shifting 3 speed trans.
Had about 10 Rustlers over the years. The 60+mph claim is bullshit. Perfect conditions with a headwind on a 5000mah 3s Lipo with the "speed" gearing will barely get there. I have had a few over 70mph but they needed more than the stock VXL system.
the cars now are 10x faster than the older models. brushless motor technology and lithium polymer batteries have taken them into the performance stratosphere compared to old brushed systems on nickel cadmium batteries. 70mph was unheard of in the early 90's, now its almost common place for people to shoot for 60-70mph in ready to run cars and trucks.
Man, I remember the Hornet. I had a grasshopper as my first real RC car. But I disagree about the quality going down. I have a Losi 10 SCTE and that thing is a monster. I've bent some stuff on it but that's racing it and hitting stuff at 30 MPH is going to cause damage. IMO it's a really well built and engineered truck.
I also have a bunch of old school stuff that I race or tinker with. A Losi XXT-CR and Schumacher Cat 2000 that I run at the track. But my favorite is my Tamiya Mountaineer. My dad bought me it for xmas in 94 maybe. Thing is awesome, steel ladder frame, solid axles, leaf springs and a remote shifting 3 speed trans.
Man I remember when the Schumacher Menace came out maybe 10 years ago or so. I became so obsessed with getting one. Never did. Now I want it again haha!
I have a newer rustler with the vxl system. It is insanely fast with a 3s lipo battery. The downfall is: its too fast with a 3s battery to control, and it snaps the stock halfshafts with ease. I still have it, but it stays on the shelf. I picked up a slash 4x4 and it was well worth the price. It, too, is very fast (not as much straight line speed as the rustler, but still ridiculous fast) but it is controllable. The rustler was pretty fragile, but not the slash. I upgraded the axles and a-arms and have not replaced a part since (expect for one). The slash has been launched of dirt jumps 20' in the air--no problem. I've smashed it into trees and posts at top speed--no problem. The only time I really had a problem with the slash is when driving it in the snow--the plastic becomes pretty brittle in really cold weather.
Being the owner of one (and many many other cars/wasted money in the hobby) I absolutely believe the rustler hits 60+ with a 3s battery. It is worthless though, because it's near impossible to get to that speed because the truck is uncontrollable well before the top speed.
I also owned a Parma Hemi Vette with a Maxtec 12 turn double.
It was incredibly fast, but so light that it would literally take flight at higher speeds. :lol1:
I bought a traxxas telluride a while ago . Rtr out of the box with a training mode that cuts the power in half so it's great for the kids and it takes a licking . The kids don't have the turning thing down yethttps://vimeo.com/113772453
Last edited:
Hey I was looking at getting a large scale monster truck for myself so I can enjoy the hobby along side my son . I was thinking with starting out with a roller maybe E-Maxx any suggestion ?
Last edited:
Go out and clock it. Will not get anywhere close. You can get there by installing bigger motors and bigger batteries than the 60+mph recipe that traxxas gives you. Traxxas has been known to fudge their numbers a bit when it comes to the speed rating of the trucks/buggies. They give you a 60+mph rating with gearing that is so far out that one run and you need to cool the motor off. The stock tires are crap after 45mph and will blow apart or the foams will disintegrate before you get to 60. Bearings will crap out or the hollow roll pin on the slipper shaft will break. Im not saying you wont reach it but other things are going to fail(tires, shafts, roll pin) or the truck will hit mid 50's before you run out of room.
Most people think a 45mph r/c car is a 60+mph r/c car. It took a 2400kv 1415 Castle Creations 1/8 scale motor and a 3s geared to the moon to get 75mph in a Stampede. This was on Jaco foams as the stock tires would rip apart at anything over 3/4 throttle and or 50mph.
I was a huge Tamiya guy back in the day. Had the original Blackfoot, Hotshot II, Lunchbox and Big Wig with the Technigold motor. I remember spending my allowance on parts every month.
I wanted to buy my 5yr old son this rig last year but realized it was a bit much for him. Still might do it this year for Christmas.
I wanted to buy my 5yr old son this rig last year but realized it was a bit much for him. Still might do it this year for Christmas.
Last edited:
Users who are viewing this thread
