Don't know if anyone has seen this yet, but Duratrax has come out with a solid axle rockcrawler using axle-mounted 380 motors.

Available from TowerHobbies in June for $140. Not a bad price.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: mlnielsen,

Here's some additional information from RCCrawler.com.

Wow! That looks like a great platform for a scale build. Good price too.

Ya, I love the axles with integral motors like a NB and Clodbuster. Makes for an easier assembly than with a central motor, transmission, driveshafts, etc...

Here's an RCCrawler discussion.

is it rtr?

This crawler is very interesting .. and the price is very good ..

$140 ARTR from TowerHobbies less Tx, Rx, 2 servos, ESC, batteries, clear body

$240 RTR from TowerHobbies, less batteries, painted body, various channels

quote:

Originally posted by mlnielsen:
$140 ARTR from TowerHobbies less Tx, Rx, 2 servos, ESC, batteries, clear body

$240 RTR from TowerHobbies, less batteries, painted body, various channels

Its going to have to prove its self pretty darn good in that price range. not saying thats good or bad. Time will tell I guess.

Neat rig but too bad its so small. I think I`d rather spend a few dollars more(very few for the exrra rig that you get) and buy a Wheelie King or Axial AX-10 Scorpion or there new Scorpion RTR.

Here's a good listing of axle widths from RCCrawler

"I think there should be a one post that has all of the axles used for crawling and their width from hex to hex. If you think this is a good idea maybe it can get stickied. I need some help finding some of the widths. This is what I have so far

TLT: 7 1/4''
TXT: 9 3/4"
High Lift:
Clod: 9 3/4''
AX-10: 7 9/16"
Wheely King: 8 5/8''
PTI:
E-Maxx: flat 14 7/8"
X-Factor: 14''
Twin Force: Stock-12''/2 Long-13''/2 Short-10 1/2"

According to the TowerHobbies page above, it is 9" wide. I assume this is rubber to rubber. I'm not sure what the wheel offset is. I bet the axles are approximately as wide as a TLT, AX-10, and Wheely King.

An Axial Rock Racer RTR can be had for $239.
For the extra $100 your getting a more capable vehicle.

However Tower prices are not always the lowest,
Once it's out, I'd think that you could pick up the Cliff Climber for less than $140 with out looking too hard.

An RTR Crawler $100 or so, might be interesting?

I'd hope it could out climb my $29 NB FJ.

quote:

Originally posted by RhinoBuggy:
An Axial Rock Racer RTR can be had for $239.
For the extra $100 your getting a more capable vehicle.

However Tower prices are not always the lowest,
Once it's out, I'd think that you could pick up the Cliff Climber for less than $140 with out looking too hard.

An RTR Crawler $100 or so, might be interesting?

I'd hope it could out climb my $29 NB FJ.

Guess it will depend on what the person is looking for. It is more of a baby clod, So comparing it to an axial/wheely king, Might not matter to others. 100$ RTR I think is to much to ask for, hobby grade wise. Unless it is 100$ worth of junk parts.

Finally Duratrax has updated their website with the Cliff Climber release.

Duratrax Cliff Climber webpage

Looks like they've got lots of hop-ups and REPLACEMENT PARTS on a 1-year warranty.

On the website they have some nice photographs and an exploded view of the axle housing. That things got some nice wide gearsets and hardened steel axles. By my estimation and calculation from the exploded view, it has a ratio of 58:1. I definitely could be off a bit . I can't tell if the housing is adjustable for a lower pinion gear.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: mlnielsen,

THANK .. mlnielsen for this link ..

The total cost of my LAND ROVER is now $ 220.00 ..

For the price, Duratrax Cliff Climber crawler is a very interesting ..

It's great that they have come out with a crawler of that size.. My only hope is other companies will follow. Traxxas etc. companies with more structural knowledge (extra beefy) and keep the products/ parts out for years to come or upgraded still usable to older rigs down the line..


Wile the carbon fiber looks great. To me it is only bling bling factored into it. That size webbing/weave is to big. Only structural part is the epoxy they used. Over time, if that long at all it will become very brittle.

Looking at were the top links are mounted. Does
not look like a good idea either.

Not trying to knock their product but!! you can only go by what you see.

The Cliff Climber is available as ARTR, W/O a radio or ESC.

The ESC needs to be able to run two 7.2V batteries in series, or 14.4V.

Aside from brushless or an E-MAXX ESC, are there any other brushed ESCs that can handle that?

All of the brushless ESCs I looked at could only run one motor. Meaning, for a two-motor setup, two brushless ESCs are required.

I assume dropping the voltage will reduce torque and speed, which would be a major drawback.

Any other options come to mind?

Otherwise, maybe the RTR would be better.

quote:

Originally posted by mlnielsen:
The Cliff Climber is available as ARTR, W/O a radio or ESC.

The ESC needs to be able to run two 7.2V batteries in series, or 14.4V.

Aside from brushless or an E-MAXX ESC, are there any other brushed ESCs that can handle that?

All of the brushless ESCs I looked at could only run one motor. Meaning, for a two-motor setup, two brushless ESCs are required.

I assume dropping the voltage will reduce torque and speed, which would be a major drawback.

Any other options come to mind?

Otherwise, maybe the RTR would be better.

Seams with 2 motors 1 each axle,, you might be better off running 2 esc`s with dedicated Bats to each esc.

If it was a center trans a dual motor setup would work ok off one esc with 2 imputes for each motor.

Amazes me with the New small motors handling 7.2 volts these days.

Whats really crazy is My Micro D/T think it has a 150 motor and it handles 7.4volts

looks a cool crawler but i agree with wayne this carbon fiber is just bling and the weave is to big for the size of the chassie , you buy this carbon fiber sheet its self adasive its just for show the guys over here in the U.K use it to put on there dash boards of there cars ,........ http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=200233628300

Those are photos of the "optional parts", as some are labeled as "graphite pattern", and others as "graphite". There are many other photos on their webpage.

You both are probably correct, in that it is not truly made from carbon fiber prepreg, but most likely is only made to look so for cosmetics.

The flat parts are labeled "graphite", and the molded parts as "graphite pattern". I bet the flat parts are water-jet cut from flat sheet of carbon fiber sheet.

For a crawler, I don't think there is much of a weight savings.