ASK Cubby – Your Weekly Questions, My Weakly Answers

“Small

Hey Cubby,

What’s up man? I am ready to buy my first real rc car and I want a monster truck. The problem is that I don’t have much space, like less than 20 foot by 20 foot in my backyard. Can you recommend a good monster truck that isn’t too expensive that is still fun in smaller spaces?

Beckford J.”

Cubby- Well hola there Beckford, how’s life? Thanks for writing in, a snail mail for a sticker pack is the drill.

So, you have a small area to bash in, but want to do some serious monster trucking. Actually, that is a pretty easy one to answer as there are a number of smaller/slower monster trucks on the market.

Personally, in a 20′ x 20′ area, my first pick would probably be the ECX Barrage Doomsday, or something of the like. The Doomsday is a great little monster truck, that with a little boost in gearing, would make a perfect MT for a small area. Then there are other 1/10 scale type monster trucks like the Axial Racing SMT10, etc, that aren’t geared for crazy speed, but would be a blast to drive in your yard after a bit of gearing up. Btw, the Doomsday should be quite affordable (like sub 200) and the SMT10s are going for well under tree-fifty.

Have fun, bash hard, shoot me pics of what you end up buying.

“New Vaterra

I just bought my first Vaterra, one of their 1968 F-100 on-road trucks. What would you recommend as the first mods for this thing? Out of the box it seems good, but what do YOU recommend as the first mods?

Quinton M.”

Cubby- Wazzzzzzuuupppp Q-man? Thanks for the email, shoot me your snail mail for a sticker pack.

Hummmmmmm, like you say pretty much all the Vaterra on-road cars/trucks are on-point right out of the box. They aren’t bad for power, they handle quite well, and are as durable as you will ever find an on-road car.

However, I typically make a couple changes right out of the box. The stock servo doesn’t work poorly, but a true high performance servo does wonders for handling. So, the first thing I’ve done to all the Vaterra V-100 based on-road cars that I’ve owned is bolting in a high performance Hitec servo. I find that especially a good idea when running copious amounts of AVC for stability control. The stock servo is a bit slow, a faster/stronger Hitec unit even makes the AVC work better.

Next up is tires. The stock tires look and work quite well, but because they use a fairly soft rubber, they don’t last all that long. I typically switch over to some race style on-road tires for more grip, with the type of tire depending on what type of surface I will be driving on the most.

Other than that, if the stock brushed power system isn’t quite enough for you, absolutely bolt in an aftermarket brushless system. Bolting in brushless will turn a brushed V100 into a completely different kind of beast, one that absolutely loves to rip up and down the street at full-scale illegal speeds.

Have a desperate question? Need a wrong answer? Have a dire rant that you just HAVE to get off your chest? Email me- thecubreportrc at gmail dot com.