Traxxas Land Rover TRX 4, should I?

[bmt216a]

Hi,

Been saving some amazon vouchers from birthday and Christmas presents in the mind to get a TRX but I'm really not sure as it's an expensive toy that might spend most of its time on the shelf. There's a guy on Facebook that makes the Range Rover classic body shell, I want an replicate my car. Has anyone bought one, that would recommended/ wouldn't recommend buying one?

Thanks
Ian

[sgrimshaw]

Don't have that model but do have a couple of Traxass Maxx trucks.

Build quality on the Traxass kit is pretty good, my trucks have taken some serious punishment over their lives.

The TRX-4 Defender is a lot of model for the money - have you watched any of the videos?

[sausage76]

You could get a second hand / new Axial SCX10 and then get a body to replica your car.

The SCX10 is a great chassis and takes alot of abuse.

[bmt216a]

Yeah I've watched the YouTube clips. It does look like a well built model with metal components. I've got an early traxxas nitro buggy, but it's all built from plastic and did break a lot.

Wanted to get a new one as it was going to be more of a show piece than abused through a muddy field.

[The_Jackal]

If it's a showpiece, then the only issue is whether you can afford it.
If money is an issue buy a shell and put it on a cheap 2nd hand chassis.

[EdR]

For what it is worth, we’ve actually got 2 TRX4s in the house - my teenage son got the orange Defender version for his birthday last year, and then I got the Tactical Unit version for Christmas! His Defender looks much nicer than the Tactical Unit (I picked it up as a bit of a bargain, so was happy to pay less, and also let him have the ‘better’ one), plus he has recently added the light kit and a winch, both of which enhance it quite nicely.

We rate them very highly, although are very amateurish in how we use them - we’ve had a selection of other Traxxas models in the house (Stampede and Tellurides), and my son fancied something more ‘serious’ that he could try some crawling with. We both find them more fun than our previous bashing about that we tended to do. Being able to change between low and high range gearboxes, as well as locking out the differentials, all from the remote adds to the enjoyment.

[Stiggolas]

Hi, I'm down to 1 TRX 4 at the moment, had 2 up to Christmas but sold one. They are a great tool and it's almost cheating sometimes. A couple of things to watch if you get one. Order an upgraded servo and horn when you order the truck, they are well known to fail fairly quickly. Savox or Power HD are a couple to look at. Don't use 3s batteries with the standard ESC, 2s is great for crawling. Traxxas say it will be fine with 3s but I've only known ESC problems with 3s. If it does die, fit a Hobbywing 1080 and use 3s all day The Defender is a little top heavy so get some brass portal weights to lower the C of G. The tyres are great but if you're going through water, block the breather holes up in the wheels or the foams will disintegrate. Some have issues with the micro servos. Personally I've had mine a year and no issues. Oh and keep things lubricated.
Have fun

[The_Jackal]

With regards to the top heavy issue.
A tip from the RC crawling world is to wrap thin rolls of lead weight around hubs of the wheels, then put the tyres on.
Evenly distributed the weight and keeps it low down for optimal CofG. Makes crawling up steep things ten times easier.

[Stiggolas]

Weighting the wheels is great BUT not so easy with the TRX4. The tyres are glued on. If you can get the tyres off (by boiling or in an oven) you could fit them to new beadlock wheels. Not worth the hassle IMO, just buy new wheels and tyres if that's what you want.

[dr_gn]

Are they available in kit form, or only built? I've been considering building a Tamiya Unimog with a load of extras, but I think I'd end up with something that's not quite what I want. The Land Rover looks spot-on and has all the features (and more) that I'm after, but I do like building these things as much as running them.

[sausage76]

dr_gn said:

Are they available in kit form, or only built? I've been considering building a Tamiya Unimog with a load of extras, but I think I'd end up with something that's not quite what I want. The Land Rover looks spot-on and has all the features (and more) that I'm after, but I do like building these things as much as running them.

The Traxxas comes built. But easy enough to take apart and add upgrades to.

[Stiggolas]

They do make a kit TRX4 but it's not the Land Rover, it's the Bronco. Basically the same but the wheelbase is shorter (313mm vs 324mm) You can get conversion kits, but you still have to buy the expensive Defender shell. Best to buy RTR if you want one. My first was the unloved Tactical unit, the cheapest of the bunch. I liked it once I'd done a pickup conversion and latterly a tray back setup. Bought the second cheap as spares as the electronics were iffy. Replaced the speed controller and it was in better nick than my first so I sold the Tactical job. I'm not a huge fan of the Defender shell (everyone's got one) so I sold that to get some money back and fitted my Jeep shell to it. Love it.

[The_Jackal]

People worried about buying a ready to run model needn't worry.
These are hobby grade and maintenance and upgrades will give you lots of opportunities and need to take it apart and rebuild. So you still get your kit building experience.

[Jader1973]

It is a slippery slope though! There is so much aftermarket stuff available, from simple dress up bits to full 3D printed bodies.

I bought a RTR Axial Deadbolt. And then a D90 hard body (actually 2 D90 bodies), and then a set of wheels because the stock ones were too big, and then a front and rear bumper. Then I shortened the wheelbase to fit the D90 bodies and did a 4 link conversion at the same time + aluminium steering linkages.

I might finish it eventually - I only ran it once just after I got it to check it worked!

[Hard-Drive]

How do these compare to the Gelande? I really fancy either a TRX4 or a Gelande D110 for me and my son, and add to our current fleet (mine on the left, his on the right, built from scratch). It would need to be fairly sturdy...does the TRX4 beat the Gelande in this area?

[bmt216a]

Hard-Drive said:

How do these compare to the Gelande? I really fancy either a TRX4 or a Gelande D110 for me and my son, and add to our current fleet (mine on the left, his on the right, built from scratch). It would need to be fairly sturdy...does the TRX4 beat the Gelande in this area?

Love the Toylander. I also built one for my kids. I run it on the 24v toylander set up.

I can confirm I bought a TRX4 Landy and it’s brilliant. I live on a farm so it’s ideal wading through the brook and climbing steep rocks. Am amazed how well it does and the diff locks are brilliant. Well impressed!!

[vrsmxtb]

I'm so tempted by one of these, it's basically the perfect RC Land Rover which I've wanted! I'd really like the full self assembly build kit but I can't see that Traxxas sell the Land Rover shell with all the scale details in the UK. Only the clear or painted body shell?

[sausage76]

vrsmxtb said:

I'm so tempted by one of these, it's basically the perfect RC Land Rover which I've wanted! I'd really like the full self assembly build kit but I can't see that Traxxas sell the Land Rover shell with all the scale details in the UK. Only the clear or painted body shell?

This ?

https://www.modelsport.co.uk/traxxas-trx-4-land-ro...

You can by accessories from somewhere like rcbitz.com

[vrsmxtb]

sausage76 said:

This ?

https://www.modelsport.co.uk/traxxas-trx-4-land-ro...

You can by accessories from somewhere like rcbitz.com

Yeah that's the prebuilt one I think. I'd really like that body with a self assembly chassis kit but can't see that combo anywhere.

[sausage76]

vrsmxtb said:

Yeah that's the prebuilt one I think. I'd really like that body with a self assembly chassis kit but can't see that combo anywhere.

Because its not available. You can always take it apart and put it back together.