New to RC. What to buy

I am trying to decide what to buy for my 14 year old son. I want a truck, monster truck or buggy. He will be using it on pavement, parking lots and grass fields. No heavy offload, or racing. I have researched some, and have several questions on what would be my best options. I want to get him something that is good quality and has parts available for repairs and or upgrades in the future.

1. 2wd vs 4wd. It seems that 4wd is easier handling for a beginner

2. Brushed vs brushless. I know there are more maintenance issues with the brushed, but how difficult is this maintenance.

3. Truck monster truck or buggy. Probably doing much of his driving in cut grass fields and lawns, or packed gravel parking lots.

I would like to stay around $250 including radio and batteries but may be willing to spend a little more. It is our first vehicle so I would like ready to run, or at least something that requires minimal assembly.

I have looked at some of the traxxis products, and they look good, but there are so many models that I am not sure what direction to go.

Any help would be appreciated regarding specific model recomendations as well as recomendations on retailers to deal with. There are no hobby shops in my area, so I will probably be purchasing online.


Thanks

Firstly, there are no stupid questions when you're about to plunk down $250 or more on something you know very little about:)

I have neither the Slash nor the Stampede (both are great RC's).

1)My suggestion would be to first find out from your son what kind of vehicle he wants (stadium, monster, truggy, buggy, etc.). Is he interested in eventually racing?, or just bashing around? Use YouTube to look at videos to see what kind of terrain and driving you all like. ALSO, decide if the type of terrain they're driving on is compatible with that where you live.

2)Many folks start off with brushed motors simply from an initial cost standpoint. Once they decide to stick with the hobby they upgrade to brushless. Brushed Traxxas RC's are also waterproof (so are VXL brushless, but at a price premium). If you do not go into water it's neither here nor there.

3) Most 4wd's by their nature do a little better in rough terrain and grass. This is sometimes at the cost of shorter run times and a little more maintenance. 2wd's can really scream on dirt and asphalt (and off road too).

Another thing to consider is batteries, Traxxas RC's usually ship with batteries and an overnight/slow charger.

You also have a choice of NiMh or LiPo batteries.

You'll also eventually want a "fast" charger if ya'll get bit really hard by the RC bug.

You seem to be off to a good start with your research so far. As far as online vendors, I do not have a clue. I do know that E-bay has been a great resource for spare parts at reasonable cost. My nearest hobby shop is an hour away.

Research some more and fire a few questions back :)

definatly monster truck. most durable kind there are. and they look cool. 2wd is cheaper but with 4wd you have more options to where u can run the vehicle. traxxas is teh way to go 100% for beginners, excellent support/customer servce, cheaper than some other companies, theres an absolute WORLD of upgrades for when your son decides it time to upgrade, you can find traxxas replacment and upgrade parts on EVERY rc website. Brushless is the way to go but more power comes more speed which a 14 year old can handle (im 13 and a half and more speed is fine once you get used to it). but brushed is cheaper and is able to teach the basics of driving an rc car. for brushed, traxxas 1/10 rustler xl5, traxxas 1/10 stampede 2wd xl5, traxxas 1/16 summit/erevo. for brushless, traxxas 1/10 rustler vxl, traxxas 1/10 stampede 2wd vxl, traxxas 1/16 summit/erevo vxl, duratrax evader brushless, or the traxxas 1/10 stampede 4x4 vxl. it really comes down to looks. I would either recommend these 4 cars; traxxas 1/10 rustler vxl, traxxas 1/10 stampede 4x4 vxl, traxxas 1/16 summit vxl, or the duratrax evader brushless. and as for vender, rcplanet.com has some cheaper prices than buying the car from the companies website. o yes, i almost forgot, the traxxas xl5 and vxl cars are waterproof so iif he wants he could jump is into a lake or what ever, but not into salt water. Have fun RCing

Short course trucks are really good. The traxxas 4wd might be something you want to look into. It is very durable and the parts are readily available. You might want to upgrade bumpers and nerf bars to RPM stuff, but I have a slash 2wd and do just fine. I haven't upgraded to RPM stuff yet, but I'm going to try to some time next year. If you're ever going to race, you might want to look into a 2wd because they are really good in a track setting. The slash might not be the best to race with though, you might want to look into the team associated sc10 if your going to be doing any serious racing. My first rc was a slash 2wd, and I still have it, the only thing I've done is popped off a shock cap, which you can expect with the stock shocks. Overall, it really depends on what you're going to be doing with it now and long term. All traxxas products are very durable, just need a few parts upgraded.

get a traxxas stampede 2wd even thought its not a 4wd its a lot cheaper
also brushed for right now
you oonly have to change out the motor when it dies

Quote:

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Originally Posted by rcrexing

get a traxxas stampede 2wd even thought its not a 4wd its a lot cheaper
also brushed for right now
you oonly have to change out the motor when it dies

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but if u do get the 2wd xl5, be sure to break in the motor cause the titan 550's love to burn out unexpectedly. breaking in means, no reverse, no full throttle from a stop and no breaking from speed, you want to line up the brushes in the motor. u wouldnt need to do that if u get the pede 2wd vxl or the pede 4x4