 Just a quick heads-up that TeamRedcatShop will be closed on Thursday, July 4. Orders placed on Thursday will ship on Friday.
Thanks for your support, have a safe and fun holiday! Rob
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If you've been looking for a well produced Redcat Camo X4 review video, look no further than this one by Greg over at RCDriver. I dream of some day having the video producing capabilities that Greg has but for now, I'll just share his videos with you
'till next time Rob  An order of Everest-10 and Gen7 Parts just arrived including a few parts that have been out of stock for a while. The following parts are back in stock and ready to order if you've been waiting for them:
Thanks for your support, I really appreciate it Rob  My son and I ran our Camo X4 again yesterday and have really started to enjoy it. It took us a little while to figure out how to drive it (it doesn't like to do sharp turns on high traction surfaces) but now that we have, it's awesome! The Camo X4 loves to jump. We burned through six 5000mAh LiPo packs yesterday and virtually all of that time was spent jumping ditches and tree stumps. The combination of massive tires and soft suspension helps the Camo X4 soak up the landings and it's very controllable in the air so we can bring the nose up with a blip of the throttle and even twist the chassis if needed with a combination of throttle and steering. Did I mention that this thing is fun to jump? Parts Damage: We did run into some minor issues yesterday. 1. The Diff Cup on the front drive shaft came loose. The set screw backed off enough that the entire drive shaft and diff cup fell off of the input pinion. Somehow, they were both still sitting on the chassis when I took the body off to inspect. I simply re-installed the diff cup and we were good to go again within 5-10 minutes. I may add some threadlock to the set screw before our next bashing session but we ran several packs through the Camo after the re-installation without trouble. As as side note, it was nice to see that the diff cup uses a relatively large 3mm set screw (use your 2mm hex driver). Also, I pulled the center spur gear cover off while doing the repair and the steel spur gear and steel pinion gear looked great. I think these will stand up to a lot of abuse. 2. Rear Upper Suspension Link. I think we were on our fourth run of repeated stump jumps when my son launched the Camo approximately 4-5' in the air and landed it hard on it's side. This broke one of the rear upper suspension links. I glued the link back together with some CA glue. I then wrapped the link with some strips of blue paper shop towel soaked in CA glue to essentially make a cast. Once the CA set-up, I wrapped the arm in electrical tape (mostly to hide the blue color cast) and we were back to jumping. We ran two more batteries through the Camo and so far the repair is holding up well. If the repair fails at some point, I'll replace the link with another stock plastic one, just to confirm whether or not this was just a fluke part failure of f this is something you should watch out for. If that link fails, I'll give the aluminum upper links a try. Misc. thoughts: Although we were running back-to-back batteries, the motor runs hotter than I'd like it to. I haven't temped it with my temp gauge yet but I will next time. I may look to add a cooling fan at some point to help protect the motor and make sure it lasts as long as possible. Lastly, be sure to check the set screws on your diff cups from time-time-time to make sure they are still tight. Also, the wheel nuts tend to get a little loose so be sure to tighten them before each run. So far, the Camo X4 has been a super fun bashing machine and I'm looking forward to taking it out again. If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment below and I'll do my best to help. 'till next time Rob   I was able to get my Redcat Camo X4 out for a bashing session this afternoon and it was a blast! Here's a quick first run review Set-Up: I always recommend that people give their RTR vehicle a thorough check over before running for the first time. Checking over all the screws and nuts for tightness and ensuring everything is installed correctly can help ensure the first run is a success. With that said, I know most people don't do this so I didn't either! I simply installed some AA batteries in the transmitter and dropped in a 2s LiPo and hit the dirt.. Build Quality: After running two packs through the X4, I dropped it on the table for a quick once over. I couldn't find any fault with how the car was assembled other than a tab on the interior panel was installed on top of the roll cage when it should have been below. Other than that, all of the screws were tight, the shocks were well filled and not leaking, the pinion/spur mesh was perfect, etc. I did snug up the wheel nuts though as all were a touch loose after running. Turning: When driving the X4 on the grass, I had to go easy on the steering. Any quick movements caused the buggy to traction roll. I quickly got the hang of it's limits though and even found that I could "save" it from rolling with a slight counter-steer and punch of throttle. The stock HexFly 15kg servo is a little slower than the race spec servos I've been running lately but it worked well and had enough torque to turn the big tires without any troubles. Jumping: This is where the Camo X4 shines. It jumps well and lands very plushly (is that a word?). The landings were smooth with no bottoming out and if I landed a little crooked, the Camo X4 corrected itself and continued on for more fun. On-Road: After some jumps and drifting in the dirt, I hit the street for some speed runs. The Camo X4 is pretty quick but I wouldn't call it a speed demon. The stock Team Redcat TR-SC10e is a little quicker. I'll do some more speed runs later and make some notes on the Camo X4's top speed. Punching the throttle from a stand still caused the left front wheel to lift, the chassis to twist and the vehicle to take off down the street. Steering input had to be gentle or it would want to tip over. I didn't roll it over but it came close a couple of times. Some quick corrective steering and throttle inputs saved the day. The X4 runs very quietly on the street. You can hear the tires on the road and the drivetrain/electronics package is smooth and quiet. Grass: No problem. The huge tires handled the grass without any issues. I checked the motor temps after the first battery pack was done and the motor was warm but not hot. I didn't use my temp gun but I'd guess the temps to be well under 100 degrees as I could hold my finger on the can without issue. Tires: They are big and have decent traction in the dirt, work great in the grass and equally well on the road. Possibly due to the tread pattern and tire compound but also the solid rear axle with locked rear diff, the X4 likes to kick the rear out in the dirt but on grass and asphalt, the tires are really good. Power: The stock 3300kv motor does a good job of getting the Camo X4 up to speed. I'm not sure that I'd want to put much more power to the ground with these big tires and solid rear axle. In drag races against my son's Team Redcat TR-SC10e equipped with a 4300kv 4-Pole motor, the X4 was a little slower but, if I got the hole-shot, I could beat my son in a 100' drag Radio: Although they are a simple radio, the included 2CENR transmitter works great. I've never had any troubles with these. They feel comfortable in my hand, have excellent range and, as a bonus, the steering trim was set perfectly right out of the box. Broken Parts: None yet. I traction rolled the X4 numerous times, jumped it countless times and even launched it 5 or 6 feet straight up a tree followed by a full-on front end lawn dart landing while trying unsuccessfully to do a back flip. Nothing has broken, cracked or been damaged in any way. Misc Thoughts: I know this isn't a thorough Camo X4 review but so far I'm very happy with this buggy. I wish it came with some LED lights of some kind but that will be an easy addition. The stock steering servo is a little slow but most drivers with find it completely adequate. So far build quality and durability has been great. Run times are a little shorter than the SC10E for some reason (the big tires?), handling is decent but this is a tall and somewhat top heavy rig so smooth steering inputs are required if you want to keep the rubber side down. It's a fun mix of crawler, jumper, drifter and all-around basher. I think this is a great vehicle...hmmm...I wonder how it will perform at the skateboard park? Let me know if you have any question by leaving a comment below 'till next time Rob By the way, if you decide to purchase a Redcat Camo X4, hopefully you'll buy one from me here. If you already have one, you can really help me out by purchasing your X4 parts and hop-ups from me   I finally have the Camo X4 pictures completed so it's time to get this thing dirty! Stay tuned for more pictures and info on the Camo X4 and if you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment below.
'till next time Rob  It's been a while but the Camo X4 Rock Racers and Camo TT Trophy Trucks are back in stock and available to order as of today! If you order a Camo X4 or TT, you can also choose a tool set, LiPo battery and LiPo battery charger at a discounted price if ordered with your vehicle. Here are some quick links:
I'll also be spending some time abusing my personal X4 so stay tuned for more blog posts about it Let me know if you have any questions 'till next time Rob  A while back, I created some coffee mugs over at Zazzle.com. They are cool in that you can customize them with your name, a picture of your truck or whatever you'd like. Just click on the "customize" button beside the product of your choice then you can add whatever text or images you'd like.
Zazzle is offering a 20% off coupon code right now too. I'm not sure when it expires but the details will be on their site. I hope to add some more products to my Zazzle store soon so be sure to check back again later 'till next time Rob  Coming soon, these new Hexfly HX-3225 25kg high torque, metal gear, waterproof servos are perfect for almost any Redcat Racing or Team Redcat vehicle and they will even include an aluminum 25t servo arm.
 The new Gen8 light kits have just arrived and are available to order now. Made specifically for the Gen8 with Scout II Body, these LED light kits are fully waterproof and include a total of 16 LED's. (4 Red and 12 White 5mm LED's).
Features include:
Check out the Gen8 LED light kits here 'till next time Rob With so much attention being placed on the Gen8 Scout II lately, I thought it would be a good idea to remind you that the Gen7 Pro is still available and it's still just as awesome as ever - only now, it's priced even lower! Whether you are just getting started in RC or you are looking for a cool rig to add to your fleet, the Gen7 Pro is definitely worth another look.
Check out the Gen7 Pro specs, features and pricing here 'till next time Rob  Just a quick heads-up that TeamRedcatShop will be closed on Monday, May 27. Orders placed on Saturday, Sunday and Monday will ship on Tuesday
Thanks for your support Rob Here's another in the series of Gen8 Upgrade videos by Greg Vogel for you. This week's video is all about the installation of the Aluminum Front Shock Towers.
Here are some quick links to some of the products shown in the video: Gen8 Scout II Gen8 Aluminum Front Shock Towers HexFly Hand Tools Redcat Racing Pit Mat Blue (Medium) Threadlock (Amazon Link) And, just in case you missed them, here are some of the other Gen8 upgrade videos: Aluminum Transfer Case Drive Shaft Aluminum Rear Shock Towers CNC Steel Gears 'till next time Rob  A small shipment of parts has just arrived. The following parts are back in stock now and ready to order:
Also, coming in about one month are some new laser cut bodies for the Gen8. These are the same as the existing bodies but will be fully trimmed to make life a little easier. 'till next time Rob Over the past couple of weeks, I have posted two great Gen8 upgrade videos by Greg Vogel
Those past two upgrades were quite simple. This week's video by Greg - How to Install the CNC Steel Gear Set is also relatively simple but it's a little more time consuming than the other upgrades Here are some quick links to some of the products shown in the video: Gen8 Scout II Gen8 CNC Steel Gear Set HexFly Hand Tools Redcat Racing Pit Mat Blue (Medium) Threadlock (Amazon Link) 'till next time Rob Last week, I posted a video by Greg Vogel on the installation of the Gen8 Aluminum Transfer Case Drive Shaft. This week, I have another great Gen8 upgrade video by Greg on how t o Install the RER11409 Aluminum Rear Shock Towers.
Here are some quick links to some of the products shown in the video: Gen8 Scout II RER11409 Aluminum Rear Shock Towers MIP 2mm Hex Driver (Amazon Link) Blue (Medium) Threadlock (Amazon Link) Lastly, you may also like these HexFly Tools if you don't want to spend the money to purchase MIP drivers like Greg uses 'till next time Rob If you are looking to upgrade your Gen8 Scout II or Gen8 PACK, the RER11413 Aluminum Transfer Case Drive Shaft is a great starting point. The installation is straight forward but this how-to video by the one and only Greg Vogel from RCDriver will make it even easier for you.
Here are some quick links to some of the products shown in the video: Gen8 Scout II RER11413 Aluminum Transfer Case Drive Shaft MIP 2mm Hex Driver (Amazon Link) I don't offer thread lock for sale here at TeamRedcatShop.com but here's a link some on Amazon Blue (Medium) Threadlock Lastly, you may also like these HexFly Tools if you don't want to spend the money to purchase MIP drivers like Greg uses 'till next time Rob  Redcat recently created some awesome downloadable scale garage accessories including some Gen8 and Gen7 boxes, shipping boxes, garage walls and garage doors.
Check out these totally free downloads here and create your own scale RC garage! 'till next time Rob  The Gen8 parts we've all been waiting for (Aluminum Front Outer Portal Axle Housings) have just arrived and are shipping now!
Check out these and all the other Gen8 aluminum hop-ups right here 'till next time Rob  A shipment of Gen8 Scout II Trucks has arrived and are available to order. These are expected to sell out quickly so be sure to get your order in ASAP.
Thanks for your support, I really appreciate it Rob  Due to arrive some time in May, these new LED light kits are made specifically for the Gen8 Scout II Body
These kits are fully waterproof and include 16 total LED's. (4 Red and 12 White 5mm LED's) Features include:
Check out all the details and pricing for the Gen8 LED Light kits here 'till next time Rob  I just picked up a few more upgrades for my TR-SC10E project including a Tekin RX8 Gen3 ESC, Tekin 4300kv motor, and a Protek 170SBL servo. Also in the picture above is a FlySky FGr4 receiver that I'll be installing for use with my Noble transmitter  Here's a quick look at the 170SBL servo installed. This servo is substantially heavier than the Savox 1267SG that was in the truck but it appears to be well constructed. The servo itself was a straight forward install. I did notice that there is potential for the servo to move should the mounting screws ever become loose so I may use some servo mounting grommets in the future to take up some of the space between the screws and the servo tabs. I also installed a Protek 7819-BK aluminum servo horn but I'm not sure if I'll actually use this one or not. Because the horn is designed to be low profile, the servo linkage ball stud was touching the top of the receiver box. I had to move the ball stud from the bottom of the servo horn to the top. This created a fairly dramatic slope to the servo linkage. I'm not sure how this will effect the truck's steering geometry so I'll likely see what other servo horn I can find that is a closer match to the stock plastic one. I also took this time to mount a transponder in front of the servo.  The Tekin RX8 was a perfect fit for the TR-SC10E's ESC tray. It's almost as if the truck was designed for this ESC. I purchased a black case for the RX8 but when attempting to remove the white case, I stripped two of the tiny phillips head screws on the bottom of the case (I was using a 30 year old junk screwdriver). I suppose if I tried a little harder and perhaps purchased a new screwdriver, I would have been able to get the screws out but I decided to just use the white case for now. Compared to some of my Hobbywing ESC's, the Tekin is a little ugly looking and I definitely don't like the cheap on/off switch but I'm sure the performance will be good.  Here's the Tekin Motor installed. While I was installing the motor, I also added the aluminum center diff mount and cam style motor mount. The aluminum diff mount will help ensure everything stays where it should and the cam style motor mount will make pinion gear changes much easier. I'm not super happy with where the motor tabs are but the combination of cam style motor mount and where the holes are in the motor didn't allow me to put the tabs on the top as I would have preferred.  Here is everything wired up. I'm fairly satisfied with how it came together. I may make a few more minor adjustments but I think the truck is now ready to hit the track.
Notice that the servo horn ball stud is now on the bottom of the servo horn. The servo came with some shims that I added under the servo to raise it up just enough that I could return the ball stud to the under side of the servo horn. I'm still not 100% satisfied with this arrangement but, I think it will work. Also, the FlySky FGr4 receiver fit okay in the receiver box bit it's about 1/8" too tall so the servo box lid doesn't fit as snuggly as I'd like it too. Other than dremelling some material off of the top of the receiver and from the inside of the servo box lid, I'm not sure how to improve this situation either. That's it for now, I hope this helped you with your TR-SC10E upgrades. By the way, you can do me a HUGE favor by purchasing your TR-SC10E parts and hop-ups from me and also by using my Amazon link if you make any purchases at Amazon (they'll pay me a small commission) You can also check out some of my other TR-SC10E project posts here: Part 1 - New Body Part 2 - ESC Mount Part 3 - Front Bumper Part 4 - Wheel Nuts Part 5 - Aluminum Rear Hubs and Aluminum Steering Knuckles Part 6 - Rear End Upgrades Part 7 - Front End Upgrades Part 8 - Ball Cups Part 9 - Battery Tray Part 10 - Tires Part 11 - Savox Servo Part 12 - Transmitter Upgrade Part 13 - T-Bone Racing Front Bumper Part 14 - Aluminum Shocks 'till next time Rob  I've been playing around on a website called Zazzle recently and created some Everest Gen7 Pro coffee mugs. They are available for purchase if you'd like to buy one or, better yet, you can customize my designs with a picture of your own truck, your name or whatever you'd like.
I made coffee mugs but there's also a full selection of items including T-Shirts, Mouse Pads, Cell Phone Cases and more. Check out my designs by using this link and if you create something, Zazzle, be sure to email me a picture. I'd love to see your creations too 'till next time Rob  Other than high quality tires, well built shocks make some of the biggest improvement to a vehicle's handling characteristics. That is why I decided to upgrade my TR-SC10E to the aluminum shocks. The stock shocks work well and I've never had a problem with them but these aluminum bodied shocks look great and have threaded collars that will allow me to fine tune my truck's ride hight. Here's what I'll be using:
Let's get started...  I started the build with the front shocks. The instructions included with the shocks are great so this should be relatively straight forward.  I like to start my shock builds by soaking the o-rings in shock oil for a while. This helps to lubricate and swell the o-rings in preparation for installation in the shock bodies. The picture above shows the o-rings soaking in a small amount of shock oil  The next step was to install the o-rings inside the shock collars. They were a little fiddly but it only took a minute or so to get them nicely seated within the groove inside the shock collars  I like to add a small amount of black grease to the shock collar o-rings when installing them on the shock bodies. This helps them go on smoothly and also avoids accidentally loosening the shock cap when making ride height adjustments  Next up, I built the shock cartridges. This is where the Green Slime comes in. I like to add some of the green slide to the inside of the lower shock body and then add some to the o-rings. The plastic collars were a snug fit so I used a Tamiya box wrench to push them into place then used my fingernail to install the snap rings  The pistons where next. It's been a long time since I've built shocks that used e-clips...they suck! Thankfully Redcat includes an extra e-clip as one of them shot across the room when I was trying to install it. I heard it ting off of the wall but couldn't find it anywhere after that. I chose to use the 2-hole pistons for the front shock build. The stock shock setup has 1-hole pistons. By assembling these ones with the 2-hole pistons, I can easily swap between 1-hole and 2-hole pistons by changing the entire shock shaft assembly or even the entire shock itself. Did I mention that I hate e-clips?  I like to put some shock oil on the shock shaft threads and add a small amount of oil in the shock body before inserting the shafts. This helps protect the o-rings for leak causing damage  Although the instructions do not call for this, I added the plastic caps to the bottom of the shock bodies at this point. These caps don't fit perfectly but, without them, I feel the shock o-rings are too exposed to dirt and I just don't see that small snap ring being enough to keep everything in place Unfortunately, that's all I have time for today...I'll try to continue with this project later in the week... By the way, you can do me a HUGE favor by purchasing your TR-SC10E parts and hop-ups from me and also by using my Amazon link if you make any purchases at Amazon (they'll pay me a small commission)
You can also check out some of my other TR-SC10E project posts here: Part 1 - New Body Part 2 - ESC Mount Part 3 - Front Bumper Part 4 - Wheel Nuts Part 5 - Aluminum Rear Hubs and Aluminum Steering Knuckles Part 6 - Rear End Upgrades Part 7 - Front End Upgrades Part 8 - Ball Cups Part 9 - Battery Tray Part 10 - Tires Part 11 - Savox Servo Part 12 - Transmitter Upgrade Part 13 - T-Bone Racing Front Bumper 'till next time Rob  Another order of Gen8 aluminum hop-ups has arrived including:
These and all other Gen8 Aluminum Hop-Ups are available here Thanks for your support, I really appreciate it Rob |
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