Traxxas cars... I get it now

[Bottom Feeder]

I'm a longtime Associated enthusiast with a minor in Losis and Tamiyas and the occasional dabbling in Kyoshos and other brands. But in my 35 year interest in this hobby I've barely ever touched a Traxxas product.

Well, I get it now. Wanting a basher I didn't have to worry about breaking, I took delivery of a stripped new Bandit from eBay a few days ago in all its cheap-looking grey plastic glory. Even without wheels/tires/body/electronics, this thing is heavy! The chassis is thick and stiff, the top brace making it even more so. The top brace having the steering rack and servo mounts integrated is a great idea. The arms are flexible yet sturdy and the upper links are much heavier than the 4-40 stuff I'm used to. The integrated rear arm mounts seems like a 'why doesn't everyone else do this' design. The shock towers are stiff enough to do their job but soft enough to not beak with the first hit. The shocks are smooth and properly bled. The transmission is smooth. The slipper is beefy. Sealed bearings everywhere. Apparently decent electronics and batteries are available. And any parts I needed were cheap and in stock! Time will tell if my opinion changes after running it but we're certainly off to a good start.

Kudos, Traxxas.

[GoMachV]

The bandit and rustler date back to 1994 as well, making them really the only “classic” still produced in almost its exact original form. Traxxas is making a killing and they just work. You can walk into most any hobby shop and buy parts for them, and their aftermarket is phenomenal. People hate on Traxxas a lot, but they have a good platform that has stood the test of time.

[Bottom Feeder]

Yeah, I never had any hate for Traxxas, just a disinterest in RTRs in general. Early on back when they seemed like wannabe-RC10s maybe, but they must be doing something right to have the stranglehold on the hobby that they enjoy nowadays. Good on them.

[juicedcoupe]

You can walk into most any hobby shop and buy parts for them, and their aftermarket is phenomenal.

People hate on Traxxas a lot, but they have a good platform that has stood the test of time.

I've been saying this for years.

[JosephS]

The bandit and rustler date back to 1994 as well, making them really the only “classic” still produced in almost its exact original form.

I gotta say that I highly respect Tamiya for keeping kits and parts available.

[juicedcoupe]

The fixed camber links are easily upgraded as well. I run 4mm turnbuckles on my Stampede. They are massive, compared to typical 4-40 and 3mm stuff.

The shocks kinda remind me of Tamiya CVA's, except that parts are readily available and cheap.

The lighter steering assembly is easily upgraded to the heavier duty Rustler/Slash/Stampede parts as well, or their aftermarket variants.

[morrisey0]

I did some Slash flipping recently so I could end up with one for myself for free (bought 4, sold 3). I ended up lacking a battery hold down, so just out of habit I went online looking for where to order from and thinking it was going to be $20+ and take a week to get here. Turned out I walked into HobbyTown and walk out with one for $6. It kinda weirded me out.

[Frankentruck]

How durable are the plastic outdrives and stub axle connections? That's one thing that has always made me nervous about the Traxxas vehicles since that design first came out with the Bullet. It has to be reliable if it keeps getting used, or it's just really cheap to keep replacing. The metal pivot joint spider tearing up the plastic flanges under abusive/basher use concerns me. Not that CVDs and dogbones are perfect either though.

[juicedcoupe]

I wouldn't say that they are perfect but they are tougher than they look, and they are cheap.

But if they become an issue, there are lots of aftermarket alternatives.

[Chewbacca]

I'm a longtime Associated enthusiast with a minor in Losis and Tamiyas and the occasional dabbling in Kyoshos and other brands. But in my 35 year interest in this hobby I've barely ever touched a Traxxas product.

Well, I get it now. Wanting a basher I didn't have to worry about breaking………

So far I agree

The top brace having the steering rack and servo mounts integrated is a great idea….

I personally actually hate that part and have converted that area.

The arms are flexible yet sturdy -sort of like RPM parts- and the upper links are much heavier than the 4-40 stuff I'm used to.

The integrated rear arm mounts seems like a 'why doesn't everyone else do this' design.

I believe you will change your mind as soon as you tear one of those off of the gearbox

The shock towers are stiff enough to do their job but soft enough to not beak with the first hit.

Kudos, Traxxas.

I agree with most of what you are saying. I like the older Traxxas stuff and like to mix it with newer parts.

The only thing I totally disagree with are the integrated rear arm mounts. The new drag slash transmission seems beefy er there, but I still prefer separate mounts.

[Bottom Feeder]

Yeah, I'm sure the design has its drawbacks but from a strength and simplicity standpoint, it's pretty solid. Besides, I'd rather replace a transmission case rather than a chassis if I hit something hard enough to rip separate arm mounts off and pulled the screws out the side. Not sure if a 12 year old with a lead finger would agree though. lol

[juicedcoupe]

The RPM transmission case has separate control arm mounts and a metal motor mount plate.

Hot Racing has a couple cases with separate arm mounts. One is all aluminum and the other is part composite.

[Bottom Feeder]

I finally got my last needed part to complete my Bandit, a stock unpainted body. As with pretty much everything else with this 'project', I'm impressed with Traxxas' quality. The body and wing are neatly cut and I like how the wing wire mounts and integrates both together. Heck, even the wing wire is heavier than normal. Everything fits together beautifully.

So what I ended up with was a hybrid Bandit with a mix of XL-5 and VXL features. Adjustable links, hex hardware, an older-style XL-5 ESC that has heatsinks, a 2075 servo that has a metal gear upgrade, and a 12T Titan 550. Four 5x8 bearings from Avid were added to the steering (a fantastic cheap upgrade) to make the stock rack a bit smoother and tighter and eliminate the metal bushings digging into the plastic rack posts. And a set of unbranded white dish B4 wheels and tires. It looks pretty sharp. I have a cheap FlySky radio I'll probably use with it.

Looking back at it now, I was a bit too hasty buying the stripped Bandit VXL for $145. At the time I thought I read somewhere that the VXL models had more metal gears in the trans and had a beefier slipper, along with the heavy adjustable upper links and hex hardware, all things I wanted. Well turns out the trans and slipper are identical so the only differences were the links and hardware. I needed to buy the XL-5's pinion and spur. I would have been ahead of the game if I just bought a complete Bandit XL-5 for $190 and just changed the stuff I wanted. It would have left me with a set of wheels/tires I could have used up and a radio/motor/ESC I could have used elsewhere. Oh well. You know how it is when you see something online and your brain says, "I must have it... NOW..."

[juicedcoupe]

Oh well. You know how it is when you see something online and your brain says, "I must have it... NOW..."

I look at it like this. I you learned something from it and it only cost you a few dollars, it was a bargain.

[CrazyRC]

I have a couple of Traxxas cars - an early Rustler I picked up for $60, still in the original box, a Slash-based drag car, and a Stampede I picked up in a $20 box of parts. The Rustler has been dead nuts reliable. I swapped out the original chassis with a newer one so I could run Lipo without hacking anything up. It still has the original Traxxas #2018 Servo, but I have upgraded to a brushless setup (5200 kv). I'm still running the rubber peg style slipper, even. I picked up a take-off Bandit body at the lhs to preserve the original body. I haven't broken anything on it yet. It is the perfect basher. It wheelies on command and I've got it geared conservatively to about 50-55 mph. The Stampede I built for my daughter, with the intention of keeping it a brushed beater, but I stuffed a Hobbywing 3100 kv setup in it, and it's perfect. I keep the gearing really high for her in it, probably around 30-35 mph, and honestly, it is the most fun car to drive. I've broke a $10 Futaba servo (it was supposed to be a placeholder servo, but ended up lasting 8 months). This truck is just way too much fun. It makes me giggle like a kid when I drive it. Wheelies, jumps, donuts, it takes it all and asks for more. I would love to get a club race going with 2wd Stampedes around here. Just stupid cheap fun. She's 6 and has bounced it off everything, and besides the servo (which I broke actually) has been indestructible. My drag car is based on a Slash LCG chassis with Bandit suspension. I run a Hobbywing ESC and a 4.5t brushless setup. I'm still working out the bugs in the chassis, but I can get it to go reasonably straight, and have hit 53.2 mph in 132 feet, with zero motor timing, and zero esc timing. My plan with that thing is to run some no prep cash days. I totally geek out on setup and tuning, so it's been fun to tinker with.
The outdrives on all of my Traxxas are just the "HD" plastic Traxxas ones. I think it's like $10 for a pack of 6 or 8, but I haven't broken one or worn one out yet, and all 3 get sent. I wouldn't hesitate one second to recommend a Traxxas car to someone who is new to the hobby. They are durable and easy to work on, and parts are easy to come by and cheap. Hell, I have 3 Traxxas dealers within 5 miles of me.
I'd still like to find an older nitro Maxx and do a brushless conversion on it... I scour CL and Ebay for the right one to start with.

The things I don't like about Traxxas cars is the diff, there's not a whole lot of tuning options available. I have a Hot Racing Sealed diff in the drag car, and can't get it to stop leaking, no matter what I do. It's kind of a pain to service, too. The bashers I just fill with heavy grease and run them.
Besides the original servo in my Rustler, I don't like the Traxxas servos. I feel they are WAY overpriced for their performance.

Other than that, they are perfect when I want to just blast around the park, or race around with friends. I have no issue handing the remote to anyone and letting them have a go, and to me, that's the best way to get more people into the hobby and what it's all about.