Early Christmas buggy shopping from Tower, B4 kit

[flipwils11]

I've been wanting to get one of the RC10 B4 (not 4.1) buggies before they're out of stock and only the B4.1 is available. But I don't really NEED another buggy.

My son has loved his 2wd ready to run Slash but has been begging for a Buggy all summer after driving my B3 with brushless gear, so I was considering what to get him for Christmas. Everything now seems to be RTR vs when I had my gold pan in the 80's, you had to put it together. I preferred the kit and assembly project as a father son bonding thing, so the remaining B4 Factory Team kits seemed to fit the bill as the other B4 stuff is RTR.

http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXGZW7&P=ML

Got a $20 off coupon code from Tower in my inbox today so I pulled the trigger. $170 plus $10 shipping for a very nice buggy with bearings and racing goodies. Who cares if it isn't the B4.1, he's going to be thrilled when he opens it on the 25th of Dec. His birthday is in Feb so that will give us plenty of winter time to do the assembly and then for his birthday he can get the electronics.

[CamplinP]

That is cool. I really don't like the fading of the kits either. I had my son help build his T4 when he was 7. Now he is 9 and can drive almost as well as I can and when there is a problem he can usually get the problem fixed. I think when you have to build it you respect it more than RTR's which seem more like toys and when they break they are trashed. The manufacturers think it saves time but in reality it takes longer because how picky I am. I end up disassembling it and building it my way with all the correct details. Plus, the people starting out with RTR's have a harder time fixing these when there is a problem. I bet most people on here can build an RC10 blindfolded.

[RC104ever]

Totally agree. When I first put the kit together it seemed so overwhelming. Now, I probably could put it together almost blindfolded.

Question, what changes were made from B4 to B4.1?

[CamplinP]

Totally agree. When I first put the kit together it seemed so overwhelming. Now, I probably could put it together almost blindfolded.

Question, what changes were made from B4 to B4.1?

The slipper is new and from what I hear cheaper plastics. I hear that they get sloppy in the movable points much faster than the old ones.

[RC104ever]

Totally agree. When I first put the kit together it seemed so overwhelming. Now, I probably could put it together almost blindfolded.

Question, what changes were made from B4 to B4.1?

The slipper is new and from what I hear cheaper plastics. I hear that they get sloppy in the movable points much faster than the old ones.

Really? I thought all the subsequent versions of something were supposed to be better....can you fix it? Maybe I should order a B4 as well.

[THEYTOOKMYTHUMB]

Really? I thought all the subsequent versions of something were supposed to be better

Not necessarily. If marketing goes stale, a new version will appear. I can't speak for the B4, but more in general.

[soniccj5]

He will be very excited when he opens it.


I am a huge fan of building my kits, but I purchased a SC10 RTR to "save" money. Turns out the servo is junk, the speed controller is always being reset to factory defaults, and after a couple runs all the bolts needed to be tightened. I don't see myself buying another RTR to "save" money.

[Lonestar]

from b4 to b4.1: new slipper (small improvement), V2 shocks (BIG improvement), new UJ's, new (yummy but sloppy alloy) rear blocks, revised shock towers, new gear cover, new diff outdrives, slightly longer wb, plastic chassis (more forgiving than graphite, good thing, I had put the plastic chassis on my previous B4 FT), new body with higher pods for BL controllers, plus a couple of things I'm forgetting...

All in all, an improvement over the b4, but not a revolution, granted. Just like the b4, the thing is dialed out of the box.

A LOT of the plastic parts in the FT B4.1 were already non-graphite in the FT B4 iirc... starting with the arms

paul

[bearrickster]

He sould be very happy with that car. I love the 20 buck off tower deal, I orderd a new Tamiya Sand Rover for my self for Xmas. now just need the power to not dig into it before Christmas

[esaresky75]

I've been wanting to get one of the RC10 B4 (not 4.1) buggies before they're out of stock and only the B4.1 is available. But I don't really NEED another buggy.

My son has loved his 2wd ready to run Slash but has been begging for a Buggy all summer after driving my B3 with brushless gear, so I was considering what to get him for Christmas. Everything now seems to be RTR vs when I had my gold pan in the 80's, you had to put it together. I preferred the kit and assembly project as a father son bonding thing, so the remaining B4 Factory Team kits seemed to fit the bill as the other B4 stuff is RTR.

http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXGZW7&P=ML

Got a $20 off coupon code from Tower in my inbox today so I pulled the trigger. $170 plus $10 shipping for a very nice buggy with bearings and racing goodies. Who cares if it isn't the B4.1, he's going to be thrilled when he opens it on the 25th of Dec. His birthday is in Feb so that will give us plenty of winter time to do the assembly and then for his birthday he can get the electronics.

Your post inspired me! I purchased a B4 also. I can't even remember the last time I put together a complete kit (all parts from one box and not trying to find that last vintage item on ebay ). I had a $20 coupon and Tower is offering free shipping, to my door for $169.99. I won't give it to myself for Christmas but by time I get to it, Christmas will be here.

[flipwils11]

Yes, the free shipping offer came out the next day, I could have saved $10! Trying to decide what to get for a rainy day: one of these B4 kits, a B44 FT kit, or an Avante re-release. Or all three but that is a lot of money to blow on myself and to sit in a box until I feel motivated to dig in.

My wife just saw the rc workbench the other day and exclaimed "are these things multiplying?". Ummmm....

[esaresky75]

My wife just saw the rc workbench the other day and exclaimed "are these things multiplying?". Ummmm....

I don't say anything to my wife about shoes, purses, umbrellas (yes, umbrellas. she has like 6 and have never owned one) and she doesn't say anything about the RC cars although she doesn't know exactly how many I have since I keep them at my business.

[kaiser]

i find the factory team b4 to be much tighter then the b4.1's.

the only thing i changed on my original ft b4 is i installed the plastic noncarbon chassis.