3-Speeds, anyone any experience

Hi,
As there are so many trail honchos about to land in Dubai I will have to get something else. Does anyone have any experience of the 3-Speeds ? are they a challenging built ? fun to run ? easy to mod ?

Failing that any suggestions for an interesting kit to build and run ?

Thanks
Duane.

I suggest you browse through the scale section in RC4WD online store, thee are many many models to chose from (although i think youd like the solid scale fj the most) you can fit whatever axle, transmission, gearing you like, and if you want somthing within the trail honcho scale, i reccomend you check out the RC4WD Boyer, its just AWESOME!!!!!

Hey duane,

forget the kits, go custom

take a trip out to dragon mart (or dig through your son's toy cupboard) to find a nice scale body which you can strip and repaint and scale up!

check the wheelbase on the body and pick up one of these UTE Chassis
you can choose your wheelbase 10" 11" 12" 13.5" 14.5"

also have a browse through the site they have some nice odds and ends like inboard shock mounts and upright shock mounts specifically for the UTE

then go mad on RC4WD and TCS and choose some axles, wheels, tyres, shocks, links etc etc etc

Hi,
All the scale companies look like they have great stuff, but I would need to spend the next two months online just finding and ordering parts - thats not RC, thats more like work.

I have had a look at the manual for the 3-speeds, it looks like an interesting eough build.

Gears are a nice idea. I always wanted to be able to swicth my CR01 from a jog to a crawl but without spending 100's on an RC4WD gearbox.

As for custom, scratch building front and rear 4-links for a 3-speed will be more custom than picking parts from the web.

That last sentence really says it all - that is the sound of a man talking himself into going ahead with a plan - whether its a good one, you tell me.

Duane.

Junfac do a 4-link upgrade for the tamiya 3-speeders....

The tamiya 3-speeders are notorious for gear selection problems if not built precisely, AWFUL ground clearance as stock, very stiff suspension and non-scale shocks..

Other than that, they are pretty good.

A lot of mods exist for raisng gearbox a little to improve G/C

My thinking is that by the time you have bought a geabox, axles and chassis rails seperatley you are looking at the price of a full kit.

I must admit that I don't like any of the 3-speed bodies, they are all a bit naf looking, but they don't have to be built that way and then they are as easy to fettle with as any other live axle/frame rail chassis.

As Andy says they are well supported in after market parts, but the way I see it once you have the axles and gearbox anyone could make a chassis, set of links, spring mounts etc.

Who knows when I see the price, I might chicken out.

I also need to get my act togther and finish my CC-01 scaler and a dozen other projects.

Anyway, anyone else got anything to add please do

Duane.

Hi Duane,

I had an f350 high lift and it is really fun to build and run, though it cannot go where the scx10 can go, even if you modify the suspension to a four link. In stock form it is narrow with high center of gravity, it likes to rest on its side and stiff leaf springs, even with just one leaf i could not get a couple of inch of articulation. Even with a high torque servo it wont turn the wheels fully if you are in the rocks because of the steering design, the steering servo is too far and the links tend to flex. You need the futaba attack 4 channel stick type controller to be able to shift gears and add the multi function unit for lights and sounds. Being able to shift on the fly is cool but thats it for me, you need to spend a lot of money and time on the net finding parts so it can become a BIT competetive, i did not think it was worth it.

Go visit rc4wd.com, they have a lot of nice kits and rtr as well, or get the trailfinder chassis, you can choose between links set up or if youre diggin a more scale look like i am, then go for the leaf spring. And some trailfinder chassis also come with the 2 speed r2 tranny and aluminum axles, some come in 1.55 wheels and the jeep edition chassis comes with 1.9. Enjoy the scale and go buy yourself a scaler with leaf spring suspension... thats what I would do... or did

JM2C

Hmm, just had a look at this http://store.rc4wd.com/Trail-Finder-110-4-Link-Truck-Kit-Black_p_59.html it is very very nice and like bong says it comes with the 2 speed transmission which is perfect - I am assuming that that just needs an on/off third channel.

500 USD before shipping thats an awful lot of money.

if it was me. . . . i'd get the cheaper sxc10 kit, build it. . . . do some cheap exterior mods, hop the parts up if i have the budget, or just leave it as it is, and have fun with it. . . . . it's a very tough & realiable rig. .

but that's just me. . .

yes you are right Duane, about the 3rd channel and the price... but the high lifts cost about 370 usd (plus shipping) and then you need this: junfac conversion kit

and some decent tires and wheels

Hi,
I had a look on the Tamiya America Crawler site, the 3-Speeds don't see to get much love there.

The SCX-10 does seem like the best option especially at 249 USD.

Back to where I started but maybe a little wiser than when i started ;-)

Duane.

It is the best option, it looks good, performs well and lots of option parts.

buy now





p.s. scx10 come with a spare tire as standard... no worries about not finishing the trail run due to a flat tire

don't worry about having to have the same kit. . . . you can always change the links, ang make your wheelbase shorter to fit cc01 shells. . . .

or you can make this with an scx10: scx10 6x6

Wanna buy a Junfac Joker with CR-01 axles, and a RC4WD R2 tranny?

How much do you want for the R2 ?

Duane.

FREE!!!!!....with every Junfac Joker chassis purchase....

. . . but a Joker chassis is a crawler chassis. . . not a scaler. . .

Andy, nice answer, but no thanks. If you decide to split let me know.

Duane.

I reccomend browsing around RC4WD's scaler section as their bruiser chassis is quite tempting (if your wallet can handle it) but having 3 speeds means also buying a new radio system (4 channel) in order to sustain the gears and shifting, ahh well, good luck

Hi Andy,
What are you looking for for the joker, gearbox etc and is it s rolling chassis, or whats not included ?

If I don't bite, someone else might ...

Duane.

Duane,

I am looking for AED500 for it, and yep it is a rolling chassis. It has CR-01 axles on it with Junfac hard steel driveshafts (very tough), Junfac beadlocks wheels and HB Rover whites. It has been driven twice, you saw it going once when you had your CR-01 on the rockpile outside my place....
I would recommend a CR-01 gearbox would suit it better because the 2-speed box, although good, would be better in a scaler or something where you would use it properly....you dont need 2-speed on a crawler...

Go on then, I will take it, I dont think I will be in your are today unless your popping over to meydan at anytime, otherwise I will come over when I am back from Ethiopia next weekend.

Let me know what suits,
Duane.

that wasnt a very hard sale!

I guess that because Andy and I both work in sales, we prefer to avoid all the fannying around if we are not being paid to put up with it.

Duane.