So I got it in my head to build a low cost monster /crawler .

Deciding I wanted to build some thing with solid axles was the easy part . I'm a cheap person and to to be honest I wanted this project to be as cheap as possible . Mostly because I wanted this to be a trail truck / crawler and I had the feeling that it wouldn't take long for it to turn in to a smallish monster truck or something similar to a mega truck .


I'm gonna have a post dedicated to the parts that I am using for this project and a link will and can be found here . Parts list   after it gets posted . The parts I'm starting with  where purchased from https://www.dollarhobbyz.com and more sources will be added in time as there will be lots of little bits I'm sure I haven't even thought about and I'll probably be adding pieces I will be making my self .

The stars of the low budget show .

A pair of HPI Crawler king / Wheely king axles .

 At $40.45  through Dollar Hobbyz Plus shipping and handling and a little assembly these were the cheapest axles I could find . Given that Most of the Axial based axles seem to be selling for $40.00 per axle These seemed to be the best way to go .



How about a Traxxas 1/16th scale transmission with the 540 motor mount .

At $13.99 for this transmission from Dollar Hobbyz Its a steal and I think it may be a very over looked but great crawler transmission with just a bit of work . My reasoning may take a bit of explaining so expect a link here LINK to a post just talking about this transmission and the reasons why i plan to use it .

( 2 year plus update) Turnigy 4000mAh 2S 30C hardcase pack

Original post ( May 17, 2013 )
Well in the time I have owned 2 of these packs " a little over 2 years"  I have repeatedly compared it to the ZIPPY Flightmax 4000mAh 2S1P 25C Car Lipoly which is one of the cheapest hard-case packs on the market . To be fair they have both aged about the same. Both originally had usable capacities of around 4000 Mah and both are running around 2200 Mah these days when ran in my ZD Racing ZMT 10 and in less demanding applications "crawler and slower vintage cars and trucks " I see usable capacities around 3500 Mah. I will say these packs seem to require being balanced more often than the 4000 Mah zippy packs .  I also had a physical failure   recently . It seems the positive lead broke the tab that is used to attach it to the cell and so the pack is dead as I'm not going to even attempt fixing it . I do think this could have been prevented if I had forced some silicone sealant into the case around the wires to give them additional support .   But in short I feel I got lots of good use and bang for my buck with these packs and if you can't run the 4000 Mah Zippy packs due to your chassis design I feel Turnigy should be the next pack to check out . 

(2 year plus update) ZIPPY Flightmax 4000mAh 2S1P 25C Car Lipoly (ROAR APPROVED)

Original post ( June 15, 2013 )
After 2 years I'm happy to say. I have had a great experience with these batteries and for the money they have been a great battery . 

Originally I purchased 2 of these and they have both been comparable and aged equally in terms of usable capacity and punch . 

Usable capacity has dropped off as time has gone on and they are both down to about 2200 Mah worth of usable capacity when ran in my ZD Racing zmt 10 compared to ruffly 4000 Mah usable capacity when they where new . The primary difference is the voltage sag during use . Basically the LVC of the speed controller will get tripped much earlier due to the dip in voltage . Without a load the battery will read around 6.84 volts but with a load applied a 6.2 volt LVC will trip. So these batteries are now being used primarily in slower and less amp hungry applications  where they still preform quite well and when matched with the right application " crawlers and low powered vintage stuff "can still provide about 3500 Mah . The packs still maintain there balance well no matter the rate they are discharged at and still do not require balance charging often .

So if your chassis design will allow you to use these packs I consider these my top pick for low cost and effective Lipo's.

Been a while .

Well I haven't posted anything for along time but that's about to change .