Axial Racing any good?

[GodSpeed]

Made the mistake of bringing my 4yr old to the hobby shop today to pick up some parts for my RC10 Classic....

He saw one of these Axial Jeeps http://www.axialracing.com/t/vehicles/scx10 and now can't stop talking about this thing.

Are Axial products "good" or if I were to buy him an electric 1/10 rock crawler of some sort, should I be looking elsewhere?

[Kyoshojoe]

I bought a wraith kit and wish I had not. I might get a lot of flak for my critique. From the start it was a pain, the rear axle was too long and required drilling the locker to keep from binding. The o-rings for the shocks were missing and then backordered from axial. After getting the kit together using a traxxas xl5 and lemans 360st. I had to get a high torque servo and aluminum horn as the stock one stripped. The placement of the servo prohibited using a servo saver. The steering linkage strips the screw that attaches to the drag link and the truck has insane torque steer requiring shocks to be preloaded and/or trim to be set to compensate for high speed running. the truck is extremely top heavy and will topple at the slightest turn under speed. The solution is to lower the truck and weight the wheels but that defeats the ground clearance and the wheels are glued on not beadlocked. The screws constantly back out of critical components due to the rubbery composition of the plastic and the driveshafts twist up under moderate torque. I could keep ranting.

just my opinion and I have no experience with other axial products. I would do thorough research and educate yourself before buying anything. Bear in mind Axial was a reputable name that sold out to hobbico.

[GodSpeed]

Well that sounds bad but I appreciate the review.

[alien3t]

check rccrawler.com and see from there, looking at a scx10 kit rubicon jeep. my bro looking at dingo. scale class for backyard slow driving, most guys suggest, 21.5 fastest brushless, and 35 turn brushed motors. for slow walk behind car on trail stuff. minus maybe king of the hill type trucks

[Kyoshojoe]

I wish I had better things to say about the wraith but I have yet to run a pack through it without breaking it. I live in Florida so not a lot of heavy crawling action, just a small pile of rocks and some logs here and there which was one reason for not going full crawler.

There are plenty of aluminum hop up parts to bullet proof it but they are not cheap. Honestly I bought the thing based on cool factor and ignored my own best advice and didn't do enough research as all these issues are pretty common on the forums. the scalers are a little different and are more like their 1:1 counterparts but they share the same drivetrain components as the wraith. axles, drive shafts, etc.

[DennisM]

I´d say the SCX10 is well proven and would have no worries buying that.
It´s more a trail/scale rigg than a rockcrawler.
If You want to do rockclimbing, I think You should look for a real 2,2 crawler.

I wouldn´t suggest the Wraith at all.
It can´t crawl and it flips over if You try to race it like a truck/truggy.
It can be modded to being useable, but not worth the buck Imo.

[Lonestar]

Sounds like Axial is to Crawling/trailing what Duratrax is to racing...

Oh - wait - they're both owned by Hobbico

Paul

[limestang]

I have experience with 3 Axial products:

Scorpion Rock Crawler - I like it, works well and easy to work on and upgrade

XR10 Rock Crawler - Difficult build but performs great!

Terra Buggy - Looks amazing, but difficult to build and work on. Way too many screw types and sizes.

I bought my son a scorpion and he had allot of fun with it. Overall, if your son wants a rock crawler, Axial may be a good answer. I've heard good things about the Losi Rock Crawler as well.

- Limestang

[vintage AE]

I have a Wraith, but it's far from stock. Mine is lower and all of the linkages and axles are now aluminum, so that created a lower center of gravity.

I'd say it's definitely not a crawler, I have a Losi Comp Crawler and the Wraith can't go half the places the Losi goes. The Wraith ended up being a 2.2 scale rock racer for me with moderate crawling capabilities but still fun to "play" with. I'm still trying to find the right set of tires for it, just ordered set number 5.

[slapshot1979]

I have a scx10 jeep rubicon rtr that has been upgraded with enuff stuff to be reliable. I love it works well. but like any RC they all have their weakness when taken past their capabilitys. but aftermarket parts are plentiful.

[LTO_Dave]

I bought an SCX-10 Honcho RTR for my brother's step kids a few years ago and they love it. I also got my brother a JK Rubicon RTR and the kids beat the crap out of it too. I waterproofed both of them and added a brushless setup in the JK.

They definitely have their weaknesses...like the steering links, shock hoops, 3-link suspension, leaky shocks, etc. But they can take a beating.

A guy I crawl with just got a Deadbolt RTR and got his son a Poison Spyder Wraith RTR, and they both did great in a local comp right out of the box.

I'm currently building a Wraith from scratch using almost all aftermarket parts, so I hope it will perform as good as it looks.

[vintage AE]

I'm currently building a Wraith from scratch using almost all aftermarket parts, so I hope it will perform as good as it looks.

I wouldn't get your hopes up too high. I'd prefer the steering to be a bit stronger. Also I'd go for a Ti steering linkage. I'm on my third aluminum one and they just keep getting bent up. The stock plastic one is too flexible. The bottom of the axle seems to get hung up on a lot of stuff too, that could be driver error though.

[LTO_Dave]

I'm currently building a Wraith from scratch using almost all aftermarket parts, so I hope it will perform as good as it looks.

I wouldn't get your hopes up too high. I'd prefer the steering to be a bit stronger. Also I'd go for a Ti steering linkage. I'm on my third aluminum one and they just keep getting bent up. The stock plastic one is too flexible. The bottom of the axle seems to get hung up on a lot of stuff too, that could be driver error though.

It couldn't be worse than my CR-01.

I have a Savox waterproof servo with 277 oz-in of torque and VP titanium links for everything. And I have VP Curries that should help with the clearance issues.

Now I just need to find a good driver for it.

[slapshot1979]

I also scratch built a monster with wraith drivetrain and even with the bigger wheels have yet to have a problem.

[longboardnj]

I also scratch built a monster with wraith drivetrain and even with the bigger wheels have yet to have a problem.

love this build but no problems? did you drive it? i have a wraith with tamiya wide offset/blackfoot 3 rims with small 2.2 panther tires (kinda pull truck tires making it look like a formula offroad truck) and i broke the spindle and bent the axle in less then 4 min.. thats only doing donuts on my lawn running 3000nimh pack and a duratrax 3900 motor. as for the scx10 , ive driven them brushless lipo doing hill climbs with paddle tires and never had a problem