ASK Cub Reporter- 05.05.2011- You Shoot Us Questions, I Consult A Crazy 8 Ball for Answers

Dear Cubby,
Who makes the body lowering kit for the Traxxas Stampede 4×4 and where can I buy one?
Your truly,
Billy D.

Cubby– Funny you should ask that question the same week that Brian posted his Pede 4×4 review. I trust you are loving your truck except for its overly lifted body. If it came murdered out in flat black paint you’d think the truck came straight outta the 909.

Who makes the lowering kit? Jason Ruona and his crew over at JConcepts do. The part number is #2083- the new mounts are black anodized aluminum, and they instantly make a Pede look much more realistic.

Where can you buy these at? You should be able to get them from any LHS that buys from Great Planes, or if that isn’t an option Tower Hobbies has’em in stock for $18.

Cheers, and go fast/turn right.

Hey Cubby,
I am in the market for a new 2wd short course truck. I am looking for one that is good for bashing but also has a lot extra parts that I can get for it. What is your opinion?
Aaron D

Cubby– Wow… for such a short lil’ question, there could be a very long answer. So let me attempt to be brief.

To boil it down, your criteria are-
1. 2wd SC truck
2. Good for bashing
3. Lots of after-market parts

So what’s the “best” 2wd SC truck? IMO it’s the HPI Blitz. It doesn’t turn as sharp as a Venom Gambler or SC10, but its overall handling is perhaps the best of the bunch. But, all the trucks have their merits, wish we had more time to shoot’em out.

What’s the best “basher” in the class? The Blitz is super tough, IMO even more so than the Slash, but… the Slash has greater ground clearance than anything else in its class. If you are gonna bash, the extra ground clearance of the Slash is going to come in mighty handy for grass, curbs, etc. So I gotta give the overall “bash” title to the Slash.

Which 2wd SC has the best after-market support? That’s easy- the Traxxas Slash. You can get upgrades for nearly (or perhaps all of them!) every part on the Slash. None of the others in the class come close. And, if you are looking for just stock replacement parts, the Slash again wins hands down, as far more LHS’s stock Traxxas parts than AE, Venom, Losi or Kyosho.

So taking your criteria into consideration- the truck I recommend to you is- the Traxxas Slash. Buy one, trick it out, and enjoy!

Hey Cubby,
I remember reading several months ago that you had hoped the industry would have gone more scale in 2010. Well, so far 2011 is off to a good start with the release of the Axial Wraith and the Losi SCB. Sure, a few more brands released their short course trucks but it’s nice to see something new and different AND scale. Personally, I would like to see more touring and drift cars from all the major brands. I’m hoping the drift cars will bring back on-road rc back to the masses since (I may be wrong here) you really don’t need a high-tech, super expensive, uber engineered chassis to get sideways and have some fun in the parking lot plus their relatively cheap and have the cool scale look. So I guess we’ll just have to wait and see what’s in store for 2011….
keep up the good work,
Joe C

Cubby– I know there will be some that would argue with me, but on-road is D-E-A-D. There are many contributing factors to what killed it- but if I had to boil it down, it died simply because it was too hardcore. Everything goes is cycles, it will come back, but what is it going to take?

I certainly don’t have the answer to that one, if I did I’d be making a lot of money off of it. Realism isn’t nearly as big of a problem on road as it is off road. The current on road cars drive well and most are quite durable. Maybe the answer to getting on road to blow up again will be scale realism under the body- chassis designs that mimic full scale rides. But who knows? All I do know is that on road and even nitro will be huge again, it’s just a matter of time.

Lastly, you mention the Losi SCB… Horizon thinks I’m the anti-Christ so I’m gonna have to buy mine, but I’ll eagerly do so. I know some of the other staffers here don’t dig it as much as I do, but I can’t wait to get my hands on one. I haven’t “wanted” a new rc car so much since back in the day of the Associated B2. Let’s hope the XXX based SCB works as good as it looks. Oh and, I’ve already got plans to velcro the head of my Losi SCB driver on, so when I get hacked hard my drivers head goes rolling across the track. 🙂

That’s it for this week ya bunch of rc freaks. Shoot me your questions, doubts, lies, hate-mail, comments, and Ken Onion knives to- Cubby at BigSquidRC dot com!

YOUR Cub Reporter