Hi all. Been lurking an reading for a while. I'm deciding to get back into the 4WD buggy game after a near 20-year hiatus since my old Schumacher Bosscat. The local track runs a 13.5 blinky class that looks like fun to dip my toes into.

I have a B64 chassis on its way to me courtesy of another member on here. I could use a bit of an education on the electronics side of things to get me up to speed.

1) My LHS was keen to push a Tekin ESC and motor combo, but at ~$400 CAD I suspect something far lower in price is going to work fine for me. Currently looking at a XR10 Justock and Trinity MonsterMax 13.5. Any obvious pitfalls here?

2) Radios. I last used an Acoms stick transmitter and plug-in 40MHz crystals. Anything I'm going to be immediately unhappy about with a Futaba 3PRA? I can't quite figure out why all the higher end radios have so many channels? Even the fast guys only need a throttle and steering, surely?

3) Charging. I see people in here building setups capable of huge output powers. My budget/other hobbies/girlfriend will not allow me to ever get into anything that requires more than a 2s battery, so as far as I can tell, even a basic dual channel 100W output system will allow me to charge two 2s lipos of ~ 5000mAh capacity in ~45 minutes, correct?

Any help and input greatly appreciated!

1) I'd go with the Justock option myself. Would also recommend a Shurrspeed, r1, Motive or other specialty brand motor. Once Trinity started selling "certified" motors they've basically admitted their other motors are thusly "certified" to not be the better ones and I can't ever, in good faith, advise someone to spend what they charge for the " better" ones while having seen some of the base model ones run like real (tired) dogs. The Justock itself is one of the greatest and last bargains in rc today.
2) Go to the Futaba 3pv, pay a little more to get digital trims.
3) People are pushing the boundaries of lipo saftey for a little more power and a lot less pack life. My 13.5 4w buggy takes less than 1900mah to recharge after a 5min race run, something that takes 15mins tops at a safe and reasonable rate.

Yeah, Tekin is a good choice mostly for those with bottomless wallets What you listed should work just fine, although I don't have personal experience with those exact products and personally I tend to go a bit higher on amps on ESCs for offroad just to be safe. But for 13.5, I suppose it should be enough.

For radios... I guess you mean 3PRKA? Well, I find digital setup systems are nicer than knobs in that you don't accidentally change the settings. That transmitter does have a cover for the knobs for when you're not changing anything, but even so, digital tends to be easier to get just right. And if you end up having more than one car, a transmitter that can store settings for multiple cars is of course nice. Futaba-wise, I believe 3PV is a common budget option. But even the 3PRKA will definitely get you started with a single car. And as for the channels, I believe the extra channels are mostly for things like telemetry. On the receiver the third channel as found in most receivers is of course mostly used for powering the transponder.

For charging I see a lot of overkill. Me, I have just two 6A chargers which is plenty enough to keep me going on a race day racing two classes with two batteries for each class. It comes down to how fast you want to be able to charge. Superfast charging can have poor effects on battery longevity as well as safety. Dual channel 100W would be quite fine in my books, and I was planning on that myself until I got the second charger for very cheap.

Big Ted where are you racing in Canada? Do they run carpet all year? If not what do they run in the summer? Where I'm located we don't run 13.5t class in the summer It's all mod. That Justock won't handle below 11.5t and depending upon the track that might not be very fast.

Excellent esc/motor combo here: RF-170-2SMPB

Sanwa mt44 is a great Radio for a good price and will be all the Radio you will ever need.

I like the combo of the SMC also the big issue is that you have to deal with FedEx. Their brokerage fees are a ripoff. If you happen to have a US postal box that's a really good option.

I'm in Vancouver. I plan on getting out to meet and chat to the Outlaw RC guys when I have the chance. Looks like the nearby Coquitlam group just run open classes for 2WD and 4WD buggy, so you might have a point. Plus, I kind of like to tinker. Having something that I can play with dynamic timing on, even for non-race days, sounds kind of fun...

Looked up the Sawa MT44. No way I can justify that kind of money.

Welcome back,

Where in Canada are you racing? I’m out of Edmonton, and honestly sounds like my track :P

1) I would steer clear from Tekin. There is absolutely nothing wrong with them, but they are on/off switches as far as throttle input goes and I personally hate that. I recommend trying to find a used Orca Vx3, Vx2, anything really. They’re insanely smooth, but you can tune them to be punchy also. Hobbywing Justock will do you great too, however look into SMC esc’s from Bego Racing, they can handle everything you want to throw at them, and they’re relatively inexpensive.

2) Nothing wrong with the 3pkra, however I would go with the 3pv (under 150 I believe). It will give you a bit more ease of use. The higher end radios having more channels is somewhat of a moot point, the reason we buy high end radios is the speed of the radio, it helps you feel connected to your car.

3) Charger wise, look into a Hitec X2, or Hitec X2 Pro, the X2 does 10amps, per channel. More than enough juice to get a battery charged, and the X2 Pro does 20A on channel A, 10A on channel B. And, it’s got a built in soldering iron. The X2 Pro is what I use and I can’t complain about it what so ever.

Thanks for the responses. Checked out the Sanwa MT44. Nice, but no way I can justify that kind of money.

I'm in Vancouver. I plan on checking out the Outlaw RC track in the next couple of weeks. I know the nearby Coquitlam group runs outdoors in the Summer, and you're right, looks like they just run open buggy classes for 2WD and 4WD, so you make a good point.

Is the SMC stuff good? Seems it gets talked about far less on here, and the price seems too good to be true. Same for their batteries. I'd be looking at the 'premium' option rather than the 'extreme' as I'd want some longevity.

With radios, you really do get what you pay for. With the bottom of the line radio, you're just getting something that works. The more expensive radios have better ergonomics, are easier to navigate menus, and more features.

Even if a cheap radio has good features, it's a pain to figure out how to adjust them. Like the traxxas radio actually has some good features, but there is no screen, just blinking LEDs.

Having a good user interface on the radio is important. Features that are difficult to access aren't really features in my opinion.

I picked up a used 4PK on Ebay with 3 receivers, and I think you'd be much happier with something like that than than a new lower end radio.



For chargers, I recommend an AC charger, because it's an all in one deal. Buying a DC only charger requires you to buy a power supply in addition. With reasonable charge rates, there is no benefit in buying separate charger and power supply.

Also I'd recommend a 2 channel charger with 100W per channel or more. (I wouldn't go under 200W per channel myself, but I'm running 1/8 scale.) Normal charging of a 2S pack uses like 40 watts, but there will be times when you want to charge faster.

Having 2 channels available is invaluable. If you have 3 batteries and have a 2 channel charger, you can run a car pretty much all day without the downtime of waiting for packs to charge.

Thanks for the responses. Checked out the Sanwa MT44. Nice, but no way I can justify that kind of money.

I'm in Vancouver. I plan on checking out the Outlaw RC track in the next couple of weeks. I know the nearby Coquitlam group runs outdoors in the Summer, and you're right, looks like they just run open buggy classes for 2WD and 4WD, so you make a good point.

Is the SMC stuff good? Seems it gets talked about far less on here, and the price seems too good to be true. Same for their batteries. I'd be looking at the 'premium' option rather than the 'extreme' as I'd want some longevity.

For some reason I'm having a lot of problems responding. Seems my posts get put in a queue to be moderated, and then get lost in the ether...

Thanks for the responses everyone. I'll look around and see what's available in terms of used transmitters. I looked at the Sanwa mt44 and no way I can justify that kind of money.

Is the SMC stuff any good? Seems it gets talked about less on here, and the prices seem almost too good to be true. The batteries in particular seem like a killer deal. I'd go the "premium" route rather than the "extreme" option as I'd want something that lasts over many charge cycles.

I'm in Vancouver. I'm going to try and get out and check out the Outlaw RC guys later this week. The local Summer outdoor venue is in nearby Coquitlam. Looks like you're right in that they just run open buggy classes for 2WD and 4WD, so you make a good point. Plus, I like the idea of being able to play around with timing, even if only on non-race days.

For some reason I'm having a lot of problems responding. Seems my posts get put in a queue to be moderated, and then get lost in the ether...

Thanks for the responses everyone. I'll look around and see what's available in terms of used transmitters. I looked at the Sanwa mt44 and no way I can justify that kind of money.

Is the SMC stuff any good? Seems it gets talked about less on here, and the prices seem almost too good to be true. The batteries in particular seem like a killer deal. I'd go the "premium" route rather than the "extreme" option as I'd want something that lasts over many charge cycles.

I'm in Vancouver. I'm going to try and get out and check out the Outlaw RC guys later this week. The local Summer outdoor venue is in nearby Coquitlam. Looks like you're right in that they just run open buggy classes for 2WD and 4WD, so you make a good point. Plus, I like the idea of being able to play around with timing, even if only on non-race days.

SMC batteries are known to be reliable, and I like how they have the "True spec" rating, because it is a meaningful performance metric.


The trouble with Lipo batteries is that you never really know what you're getting between brands. We don't know which factory makes the cells that go into which brand's packs, but we do know there are far more brands of LiPos than there are factories. To a large extent we're picking between the same batteries with different brand stickers on them.

SMC isn't any different...he buys packs from China and puts his sticker on them. The difference to me is that he is trying to help us out by telling us what we're getting.

I believe that he maintains a higher than average quality, and the price is good.

this .... but I recommend a Lipo HV 5000 and higher.... like a Protek or the ProMatch Battery. ... and of course a charger that can at least charge at 20A so you don't have to wait for a million years to run another pack.