ASK Cubby – A Weekly Q & A Session

“RTR Scale Crawler

Hey Cubby,

What’s the best bang for the buck scale crawler? I want to buy a new rig but don’t have a lot of cheddar if you know what I mean. What about upgrade tires? What tires do you run?

Dominic B.”

Cubby- Wazzup Dom? Thanks for writing in to ASK Cubby. As always a snail mail will get ya a sticker pack.

So, like a whole lot of people now days, you are looking for an affordable RTR scale rock crawler. Ya know, we did a shootout a couple years ago, but since then there have been a slew of new trucks hit the market. Man, we really need to do another one of those. Brian (owner at BSRC), get on the phone!!!

So, I have no idea how much cash you have, but it sounds like you are trying to keep costs low. In that case, if I had $299 bucks burning a hole in my pocket, I would plop it down on a new Vaterra 1972 Chevy Suburban Ascender-S RTR. Why the Vaterra? It comes in at a sweet $279 price point, plus I’ve always been a huge fan of the Ascender platform. Oh and, it is highly capable right out of the box and IMO it just looks kick ass.

As far as tires go, I almost always run Pro-Line Hyrax right now (which totally crush-it out on the trail), but when I am looking for more of a scale appearance I run Predator compound Pro-Line BFGoodrich Mud-Terrain T/A KM3s. Both of those tires are high-end traction grabbers that will give you a significant improvement in traction over stock tires.

Let me know what ya end up buying, and don’t forget some pics!

“Upgrades

Long time reader Cubby. I am looking to upgrade my first rc car, a SCX10 II. What are the most common upgrades? Where do I even start? Help?

Franklin C.”

Cubby- Well hola there Franky, thanks for taking the time to write in.

So where do you start with upgrades? Anywhere that YOU want! Do you like the way your truck looks stock? Do you like how it drives? If you answered “yes” to both questions, just drive it! Even a stock SCX10 II can do an amazing job on the trail, and for many people, stock is more than good enough.

However, many people like to modify their rigs. In that case, what do you want your truck to look like? Maybe you would like to do a custom body with aftermarket wheels and tires to emulate a full sized build that you’ve seen. Maybe you want to be able to get over tough rock sections easier, so look at upgrading the tires, suspension, and steering servo. Maybe you like bling-bling. If so, you could bolt on all sorts of aluminum goodies.

Upgrading is easy, but it is highly personalized. Some people may do a build just to bolt on the latest cool upgrades, but most simply do it to either improve on-trail performance, or to customize their truck’s look. Use your imagination! Coming up with a dream build can be all sorts of fun, but you’ve got to do a bit of thinking about exactly what YOU like/want first! Don’t worry about what others are doing with their trucks, truly make your truck YOURS!

Do you have some sort of crazy question? Need a certified crazy answer? Have a burning rant that you must spill? Email me- thecubreportrc at gmail dot com.