c00lguy

Hello all. I want to get into 1/8 monster trucks.

I want a monster truck that is strong and durable. What do you guys recommend and why? Electric or nitro I am fine with. I have all 4s for my electric; is there a monster truck that can run on just one 4s battery? I see that most electric monster truck run on two 2s batteries. Thanks

werner sline

http://www.thundertiger.com/products-category.php?id=45

thunder tiger monster are bashable, but let's try to find them is store first !

ausprime

It's hard to recommend 1 truck, because there are so many things that are personal preference. Sure there are some that can handle more abuse then others. But what if you don't want to abuse your truck! It doesn't mater what truck you buy. Because some day, they will break. So i would go with a brand that has plenty of spare parts, and good service.
"HPI, CEN, LOSI, Traxxas and Thunder Tiger" seem to have a good reputation.

I went for the Traxxas Emaxx Brushless.
It's advertised as 1/10 But that's mainly because of the 1/10 diffs they use. Its the same size as most 1/8 monster trucks.
They are not worth the price tag. You need to build one from scratch, or buy one that's already upgraded. Don't buy any Integy parts for it though.
I sold this for $800 RTR. So i could build another Emaxx that's different to the last one i built.


I also have a Traxxas Revo 3.3 And it very durable out of the box. And a lot of fun with that Nitro sound, smell and smoke. Not that many upgrades for it. But that's because it's good as it is.

I'm sure others will chime in and tell you what they think. But if your set on a particular truck. I would say, Go for it! As long as your happy. Because your the one that will own it.

Here's a few more pics of my builds.

+ YouTube Video

JmsSpeedShop187

I been building and bashing over 20 years and i would have to say the by far my favorite 1/8 monster truck is the Kyosho Mad Force NITRO. Its Fast, Solid Axle, Wheelie Machine, its a blast to drive and i have 10 times more enjoyment running my mad forces over my tmaxxs and savages.

I have owned hundreds of RCs throughout the years. I equally like electric and nitro the same BUT when it comes to monster trucks, I always go Nitro (unless i live in area that complains about noise). Nitro gives much more characteristic and excitement to the trucks VS electric. But thats only my opinion.

werner sline

solid axles do move differently and are a blast ! they even don't need much power !
i run lipo for less noise, but I understand the excitement of the screaming motor !

did you break the solid axles of the madforce ?

WTs Pauly

iTrader: (1)

Out of all my MT's I like my TT MT4 G3's the best as far as RTR goes. I have 2 of them and they rarely break with a few mods. When they do they're really easy to work on for the most part. They're basically a truggy with MT wheels & tires so they handle well and jump great. HRP has about 30 of them in stock according to their site.

Arrma Kraton would also be a contender IMO for pretty much the same reasons.

c00lguy

Thanks for the reply guys. Where can I find the thunder tiger? I donlt see them anywhere? Will the thunder take just one 4s battery?

Thanks!

c00lguy

Wow! the mad force looks pretty solid! Ive never seen an RC platform with axles like that. How durable are these monster trucks? I owner a kyosho gt2 and it broke on its first bash session. Is the mad force durable? How is parts support? Is it easy to find parts? Thanks

JmsSpeedShop187

My older mad force kits have lost diffs and broken every possible part. but i just pick up a new Kyosho mad force kruiser w/ ke25. Not the brand new mad kruiser 2.0. I have been beating on it the last week (snow finally melted) and have run about 2 quarts and the only problem i came across is the grub screw on the center diff outdrive backed out. I put some lock thread on it and hasnt backed out since. other then that, its been surprisingly durable and has taken quite a beating. Seems much more durable then my older kits. i have the older mad forces and Mad Armours with the larger USA-1 Nitro Crusher tires, shorter wheelbase chassis and narrower axles as well.

I'll let you know if i blow something up.. i plan on running a few tanks tomorrow.

oh yeah and i have heard the mad force VE electric runs into a lot of broken axles. Maybe to much power? maybe to heavy? to much tension on the slipper clutch? no one really compare both nitro and electric madforces. I can tell you my nitro with a full tank of fuel is incredible light compared to my savages and tmaxxs. and the mad force is noticeably bigger then both.

JmsSpeedShop187

parts for the mad force are easy to get online. ebay, amazon, various online hobby shops like amain and rcplant, etc..

Always look up by part numbers or you will have a hard time finding parts.

Surprising to hear you broke a kyosho gt2 on a first run.. they are pretty good cars. how did it break?

Herrsavage

MT4 G3 for electric, LST2/XXL for nitro. Neither all that easy to come by unfortunately...

werner sline

when I choose a RC car, I look at the price of the car, price of the parts, possibilities of evolutions, threads about a specific model I'm aiming

now I even check at the ball bearings size

for example, I studied the tekno buggy EB48 and truggy ET48. I'm glad to see that they put bigger ball bearings on the rear gearbox ( lot of torque ) than the previous version

because I discovered that some electric are just a conversion of the nitro version. Nitro version don't have to handle such big torque as electric ones ( ever seen a standing backflip with a nitro car ? )

so many détails to check and study. That's part of the fun ! ask questions on thread ! Google-image the car you search, after this http://www.rcheliresource.com/sex-sells/

WTs Pauly

iTrader: (1)

http://www.hobbyrecreationproducts.c...ory-s/2184.htm

Yes it will take a single 4s

doctorfeelgood5

iTrader: (19)

I love my Revo 3.3!

mrgrimm

iTrader: (46)

Easy to come by - but a bit overpriced brand new. Savage Flux HP is my truck of choice.

The clamp style motor mount can take massive abuse with no motor movement (no damaged motor faceplates/cans, no stripped spur gears)

The TVP design of the chassis is designed to withstand huge air hard landings

Aftermarket and factory upgrade support more so than just about any RC on the market.

Been around a long time - tons of info in forums and small issues been tweaked and worked out through the years.

Easy to change wheelbase and width.

Easy to work on once you accept the idea that taking 5 extra minutes to take off the whole side TVP is the best way. Really, the truck breaks down into 3 main parts quickly.

big (especially XL conversions), tough, heavy - means other RC's WILL get ran over/crushed if in the way.