You spend the entire driving portion talking about how crappy it is, but its behaving like most stock 1/10 crawlers. They arent bad. And they're dirt cheap so you have a lot more money for after market upgrades
Well.... MINE is arriving today. I KNOW it's not a Rock Crawler. First thing is to change it to a 3 Link Front with Panhard, using spare parts. The "Cool Kids" will hate this! But I'm a Disabled Veteran, THIS was all I could afford. I can't even afford A 1080 ESC.... I'm stuck with a 1060, without a good Drag Brake. If you're in my position, with no help from anyone - this COULD be a good option! Just requires some creativity on the user's part.... A LOT of creativity. I'm hoping it will make a decent budget Trail Truck. Carmine ✈🚂🚙
Trans gears are plastic so don’t put any real power to it or abuse it on the rocks. The trans gears will go first, if not for the bad camber on the front, the axles could be ok. Just keep it mildly powered and as you go, if you want to stay with this side of the hobby, get an axial 10.2 builders kit and put these electronics into that. You’ll see a huge boost in performance when you do. Also keep in mind the budget Holmes motors are $15 and will run fine with a 1060.
@@ExocagedRC I've already got a 10.2 Builder's Kit... Except for the fact that the Shocks completely SUCK, it's my best Chassis. I just don't have that kind of money anymore.... I'm HOPING that I could turn this into something.... I already know it ain't much out of the box! 😖 And I'm absolutely going with a HH Motor!! It's all I use, and the new Sport Motors are only 14.95 on Evilbay!
Seemed to do perfectly fine. I was expecting something would break...but it seemed to held up ok. A 6 year old would destroy any hobby grade rc. That is why you give them toys :)
I always see parents looking at the new bright wall mart crap for 100$ and i tell them throw an extra 100$ and buy somthing that you can up grade and find parts but with this knock off scx10 to me the only thing your left with after throwing all the crapy parts away is maybe the rails and links lol.
I think you should do a build series on this for everyone just getting into the hobby or cant afford a more expensive one. In the series you can teach the ones that don't know much on how to upgrade it cheaply to help it out and do some free mods on it. I agree that it is a lower end product but everyone has to start somewhere and that ultimately depends on your budget. I believe people would appreciate you trying to make it better for performance than just to shoot it down. I dont think it was a snob review and dont take this message in a negative way, just sharing my thoughts and believe if we can always help out the less fortunate in this hobby then it's always 100% better for everyone. Thank you for your videos amd look forward to the next ones.
We have some Traxxas TRX4 and Axial...and also two of this Austar ! We tried them for cheap price and we found them NOT SO BAD, but after some FIXES: - front steering (we adjust length of links to fix the problem you note first) - mount the servo with horn backwards (so is really covered) - changed those too hard shocks (only back is quite enough) - cut bumper supports (too long) - change tires (quite bad on rock) After those changes we get THE BEST capacity of climbing steep walls without tipping over !! Much better than Traxxas (ever with brass weight on the front) or Axial ! Now we use them as reference to upgrade all others models to get the same performance in climbing... So my opinion is that "is not so bad, but require some skill in elaboration"...and your channel has teach us many ways to do that ! Thanks for your job !
My austar/ injora scx10 has been awesome and I abuse it. I got bored with crawling and installed a 13t motor on it…can do about 20mph now, so I get to do mild bashing as well and small jumps. I replaced the drive shaft with a better one for $19 to withstand the power. Also make sure to put threadlocker on the gear and engine mounts. The shocks come with no oil as well, so fill it up.
Bingo, the stiff springs and lack of oil out of the box are it's biggest weakness. Lighter springs and about 70% sag and the suspension comes to life. The bumpsteer is easily addressed by either a panhard or relocating the servo; it's no different than any other truck in that respect (it comes with the panhard bar mounts).
I know this is an old video, but I bought this chassis, the Injora Jeep hardbody, and some cheap wheels and tires. I corrected the bump steer by replacing the front shock hoops with cheap aluminum SCX10.2 versions and added a panhard bar to make a correct 3-link setup. The stock shocks were a bit bouncy, but have changed those out with some cheap internally spring versions. It is my cheapest build to date, and runs great. It is a perfect trail truck, with some rock crawling. Here is a video of it with the stock shocks and 1.55 Injora wheels and tires. th-cam.com/video/Iu-K2333bHI/w-d-xo.html
He’s one of those guys that has to spend a fortune for it to be good! If that truck beat everything he has it would still be no good because its not expensive
I started crawling in early 2005. I started with tlt axles and a stampeded trans. pot metal axle gears and plastic trans gears. we didn't have the power of today but it was still a lot of fun, this looks like comparable quality to the old tlt days. I would pic one of these up to just have a simple slow crawl. if you just adjust the top links a little it will help with the caster, looks like there was a little bit of room on the pinion angle. also if you do a bit of a z-bend on the drag link and line it up with the steering cross bar it will help with bump steer.
You have the servo horn facing forward it needs to face rearward and the steering will be much better! You made your mind up from the start so no matter how good that truck is your gonna have nothing good to say i own that truck and its very good for price
That's why I was patient and saved my $$ for an AXE, it was tough waiting but the reward was worth it. I am a disabled Veteran and I don't have the Money to waste on trying to make something acceptable out of something substandard. In my life experience spending the extra $ on quality means better chance for a favorable outcome. it's like the saying the right tool for the job, you can pound a nail with a rock, but a hammer gets the job done quick and the nail goes where you want it. Throwing good money at a bad purchase is just a bad idea, and no amount of money will make you feel better if you don't see real results. Thanks for this video, I think you do a service to warn people off these vehicles and back into something that will help them experience the joy most of us feel for our Crawlers, and not the disappointment that won't bring them into the sport/hobby with a deeper appreciation for it.
Bro, if you wanted to shit on this kit, you shouldn't have posted this video because it shows how well it did. For a kit that's under $100, it did FANTASTIC on the rocks. Every single "name brand" crawler has come with some baggage yet the fanboys still praise them. This kit isn't priced at $360 yet still performs just as well as any other early gen crawler that cost almost 3x the amount. I don't own one of these, I have a TRX4 but after seeing how well it did and the fact that it didn't come with plastic diffs, I'd buy one as a trail kit without thinking about it twice. Bravo Austar!!
Not sure what it is you don’t like about it. You didn’t seem to mention why you don’t recommend it. Kind of feel you were against it at the beginning. For a budget start this seems to be a great build start. I got one for my son almost 2 years ago (he’s 5 now) he’s beat the snot out of it and still going strong. Using the same servo you have, a 1060 ESC and stock scx10 shocks. Drive shafts have held up (although I’ve seen others that lose pins) axles have had no issue and handles the rocky hills really well. You can’t beat it for the price, and I can hand down parts from my axials when I upgrade. After having two of these in my collection I can definitely recommend it to anyone trying to stay on a low end budget
Ya im with everyone else on this one. I bought one for the wife and might buy another one for the kid. Just because for under 200 bucks I can have a running rig that will do alright when we all go out. They don't need anything fancy, I have a trx4 blazer and a fully customized scx10 ii. I like how it came out of the box, setup was pretty easy, shocks where definitely the first thing I noticed where trash. Overall all jeep body, almost rtr knock off frame, brushed esc, rx/tx, and servo ill be into it 230 bucks and the wife can take it out whenever she wants. That's a win in my book.
I have one and what I did was replace the axles with portal axles and that did a world of difference. Plus I replaced the shocks with some from Axial. Handles better. I bought it with the intention of modifying it.
You could change the shock springs, shorten the upper front links to fix the caster angle and put a little more weight on it. I mean, it is cheap. You recommended Axial and Traxxas for builders kits, but the best comparable cheap builders kit would be the Redcat Gen 8 Pack kit hands down for a reasonably priced low budget starter kit.
My basically stock gen8 has outdone fully built axial and traxxas all I did was pull the springs off the oil filled shocks so it sits low af and bam man things ridiculous on rocks
This chassis is super cheap. I think its good value even after this video. Its a start for under 100usd. Thanks for doing this [fail] video, most of the apprehension is from not knowing the issues. .Upgrading is part of the hobby...
I couldn't do it. I would get a Gen 7 if money was tough. Redcat will warranty darn near everything. Not to mention I would quarantine it for two weeks to see if it coughed.
We run the Reely "Free Men" a SCX 10 ll clone! You can get three different versions :RTR,Kit with inversion of control drive (both kardans drive in opposite direchtions like reverse drive),and a Pro Version with scale parts and some upgrades. Now here are more Free Mens then SCX 10 ll crawl in the nature. I stress my Free Men RTR under near "any" condition and it survive near all, except Acis Six brushless run ha ha. As i can get a spare part for my Free men i put a set of Austar/Injora AR44 clones ,they survive even not one ride! Broke one CV front and toast ring and pinion in the rear.
There is some cheap improvements that can be made at this chassis.. Install the servo by the underside of the chassis. It will reduce the bump steer. Reduce 3mm the upper front suspension links lenght. It will make the Caster angle better.
What crawler will u recommend for under 150usd? Building this truck with cheapest electronics+batteries only cost like 130usd in my region but i want to look if there are even more better price-performance ratio crawlers
Just bought this as starter for myself. It requires alot of modification and it dosent seem like all axial upgrades fit. Just tried installing better differential gears and it won't fit together correctly...
the carrier hubs are on the wrong side with this rig, I had to move lots of stuff to get it right. the caster is proper if you flip the carrier hubs, also puts the panhard mount in the right spot. a few free mods and a couple things bought it can be a great rig, I used traxxas links for the panhard bar and put rc4wd leafs springs on the back and used axial shock towers
@@ExocagedRC not switching them upside down but left to right, Austar hobbies used scx10 aftermarket parts for the build, it has the panhard tab on the left carrier rather then the right. I swapped em to their proper place and used traxxas link and axial front shock towers
byknmike rc I would never flip them, then they are even more wrong. Side to side is the only way to go but they are vertical. It’s possible you can use the legit axial brand chubs but they are different and you’d have to have those with older style knuckles too.
@@ExocagedRC The carriers or c hubs are just og scx10 versions but put on the wrong side of the axle, if I had a way to send you a picture of how I did it you'd see its a cross between 10 and 10.2. once I got this done my geometry is perfect and 0 bump steer. Leave the knuckle on each side where they are from the box and only move the ''chubs" from either side. Makes a world of difference and these rigs are very decent with some know how
The good is they're 100 bucks. My 6-7 year old has beat the absolute crap out of his and the only thing hes broke. Is the wheel hexes and motor. But I did fix the castor issue by adjusting the links before I even put the tires on it. The driveshafts held up good but the stupid little pins eventually come loose. It now has scx10.2 drive shafts
@@ExocagedRC yeah I'm dead serious. Its obviously not a performer and the steering is a nightmare but for kids it's a whole new world compared to Walmart r/c lol!
The best cure for any spiral lock driveshaft is heat shrink over the bastards, I cured the caster issue(just have the axles) with different links, the other question is will scx10ii gears fit in that housing? Just wonder however they have been on a truck for 20+ miles and haven't really got any signs of wear on the ring and pinion.
I know you secretly LOVE it To lol I just built the cheap 3 Racing ex real build. The 275mm wheelbase Truck Funny thing is I used the same servo you did and it makes the ex real trucks front wheels turn and flex if the wheels are held in between some rocks. It’s a flexer 😅lol. Still awesome ❤️👊😀
Well I did get one of them Austar some time ago and you can make it work if you swap out all between the bumpers. So I keep drivin my Ecto and Gen8 and still don´t know what to do about that Austar junk.
Since this is a cheap truck review. I have a question. About eight years ago I built a Venom creeper. I did some adjustments and mods and it wasn't a bad build but it does have problems. my question is, is it worth putting any additional money and time into as a crawler, its just something that i have and it looks cool. Can it be modified to correct its problems.
Climbs his regular circuit. But he bags it the whole way. But if it was sent to him as the new TRX5 for $800, he'd be raving about how awesome it was...
for people on a budget it works fine for sure. it would last me along time i think because i dont bash my trucks im a trail/detail guy. heck ive had walmart $50 monster trucks last me 4/5 years all i replaced is battery's
I had a friend roll theirs (was running a hard body) and it fell off of a rock (maybe 2ft high) and it broke a shock tower, broke the rear axle housing and bent the shaft. I believe the heavy body had a lot to do with it...but the plastics did seem weak. I'd say with a lexan body and a bit of tuning... it might be ok for just trail running... but I'd not take it near the rocks.
This is ok for someone that is getting into crawling , 12 yr old and up.. basically a budget crawler I would save up a few more bucks and get the Everest 10 crawler , mine is turning out awesome ... Upgrading as things go out...
This Truck is a very very very good base to start. you dont need to buy 500$ traxxas to start with. those austar chassis are good enough for every beginner and might be good enough for experience drivers to maybe upgrade on.
I'm largely of the opinion that if you're looking to do comps, yes you need to put some serious $$ in your rig. It's almost pay to win. However for trail rigs? Just going out on a nature walk with your buddies and doing an obstacle every now & then? I think largely anything will work. I use to have a Redcat Racing Gen 7 Sport I used for that. Worked great. I currently have a VRX Racing BF-4J (a rather large crawler I've had fun customizing) I got a ways back on a whim and it's great for that type of stuff. I'd never be crazy enough to take it to a comp but for just trail running? This can do the job just fine if you're on a budget. I also think it's a matter of perspective. If you've routinely driven say a TRX (insert any of the versions you like) or a Axial scx10 III of which you could probably buy 3 of these Austars for, yeah I'm sure it seems like a significant downgrade. But then I would ask "If you're already willing to spend $400+ of a crawler, why would you get this one for around $100?" Of course you'll be disappointed. But someone who this might be their first crawler or thinks it's ludicrous to spend $600-ish on a crawler after the initial price & upgrades, things like this can be a good option I think so long as you have them in the right setting (basically anything but comps). All that being said, videos like this are important for anybody under the false hope that this could be on the same level as those other more popular, proven & more expensive rigs.
i own a clone, scx10II, scx10III and trx4 for a serious low budget rc. its pretty good i find my clone to be a bit fast for crawling but great in trail if your wanting a budget truck, its good i got mine with the wheels and tires i actually enjoy running my clone ill have a second scx10II this week and im ordering another clone to trail run with a 3d printed body
I feel you were aginst this kit from the start and that you didn’t really give it a chance. At the price point I feel there’s room to upgrade the shocks and maybe do a SOA setup. Maybe some better tires.. anyway. You didn’t give it a chance in my opinion
For those who can't afford high end rigs it's a good start. First off don't put a big bulky front or rear bumper Serves no purpose other than getting hung up on everything and not being able to get up anything and they are just UGLY but decent tires shocks and fix the bump steer and just figure it out along the way
Man. This is an old video but for what it costs to build a crawler from a bigger name brand or buy an rtr, this is an amazing deal. At the time of this comment the price of those chasis have almost doubled in price and it's still cheaper to build. I think you went in with a little bias based on the price and it being a Chinese brand lol. I would definitely give this to a 6yold cus I don't have to worry about breaking expensive parts, a 6yold will break anything cheap or expensive.
Its a cheap trail truck for fun plus its less than 100$. They all have their flaws but less than 100$ I'll wont waste my time to complain about AuStar'w roller. My opinion great chassis for the buck.
I dont get why its bad? you just say it bot not why. It did drive where ever you pointed at with no problem. why is this a bad chassis. its less than 100€ so what can be better in that price range? builders kit starts at 220€- and it's more or less the same besides one or two things.
With caster like that, you should throw a Ford body on it lol has the same lean as older F150s with I beams 😂 not the worst looking knockoff I've seen, to be honest. A few tweaks & it could be a decent starter rig for people with limited budgets, I think. Thanks for the review!
I think you missed the point of this truck; it is not intended to compete directly with an SCXII, performance or feature-wise, but instead to offer a starting platform to build cheap, so you have to consider *who* will be buying this chassis (I built one for my wife for less than $190, which she will run about 2-3 times a year; it would be silly to drop $350-400 on a truck for my wife). The "corners" that it does cut, however, are the most common upgrade components... so a build on this platform will work fine as things like shocks, gearbox, axles, panhard etc are upgraded as-needed. The bumpsteer is easily fixed with an added panhard bar (it has the mounts) or servo relocation, and the caster can be adjusted well-enough using the links. Your performance issues on the test run were due to the un-damped shocks (it doesn't ship with oil) and super stiff springs (it's biggest fault) on a light build... add 25 wt oil, lighter springs (and/or more weight) and about 70% sag, and the suspension comes to life. As for 3S... again, consider who is buying this and why... no one is going to start off with 3S building this chassis, and once they do upgrade to 3S, the weakness will likely have been upgraded too.
Man ive figured out something here tht some of you guys cant apreciate a budget starter rig no its not the best by far but for someones first rig to see if they like crawling itd be just fine
Once you swap out the panhard (c-hub) mount to the correct side and compare the housing to a one piece authentic AR44, they are identical. Mount it up to an authentic 10.2 chassis and the placement is exact, including the pinion angle. Not trying to be difficult, but that's how it is. I have seven 10.2 rigs, correct links are the fix; every single link of this kit is too long. I do agree on the pricing, it's a $50 chassis, on a good day. Even at that price, if the somewhat proprietary axle components break, it's not worth it. That front axle also isn't sealed; there is no bearing between the C-hub and axle housing. There is a provision for one but the bearing won't fit through the CV axle without modifying the square ends by grinding off the 4 corners. (further compromising already weak parts) Only thing thats copied right are the C channel chassis. Plastics are cheap and brittle. All 4 shock hoops are from the rear of a 10.1. At least the heads of the screws don't strip out easily like your normal cheap China quality hardware. Shocks are usable for mock ups but that's about it. May be fine with lighter springs. Transmission needs to go straight to the trash, same with the DSs. Also agree on your assessment on the knockoff Hyrax. The markings on the tire is a downer, they should have left those out, lol.
Only negative video I've seen about the Injora clone. With a track bar for the steering and a few other minor upgrades, the truck is solid rig for the price. Plus you can interchange for real scx10 stuff in the future. Good starter rig.
I think its ok trail chassis if you cant afford axial/traxxas/vaterra etc Poor engineering, needs much tinkering, but it works Take a challenge to make it comp crawler :D
What is all that jingle jangle I hear when driving on the rocks? Is that the rig sounding like that, or is that all the coin you saved in your pocket🤔🤫🤪
DONT think you were exactly being fair about this r/c ! for a bone stock r/c its very good for any one thats wants to get into rock crawling dirt cheap . every single part on your real axial cross fits this! only difference is this 1/4 the price . the injora metal upgrade parts are way cheap and work just fine . not every one wants to spend a lot of money when they dont need to . i m not trying to be a dick but you really caught me off guard with your remarks. put 20 pounds of vitacrap on it and then its all good though. every single thing you where crying about is a simple free fix . injora makes a rock crawler knock off of the ryft for $40 wich is the whole center section . put all the upggrades that you put on your ryft and save $400 on buying the rtr !!
Hey man, nice video quite helpful. Can you please list the bad things about this thing below. Also, what would you upgrade first and get rid of. E.g. Different shocks all together or new anything and will any axial scx10 part fit on this. COuld i go and buy an axial part and mount it onto this no prob.
I’ll have to go back on it. Mostly the angles of the steering chubs are bad, in my experience cheap vehicles like this have cheap gears that simply do not last at all. The plastic felt a bit underwhelming and I feel if you get this and make it into a nice quality truck, a 10.2 builders kit would actually be cheaper. My Superlite truck is a 10.2 builders kit and it’s amazing. I just wasn’t impressed by this one at all.
If you want a Good cheap crawler go with the danchee ridge rock made by red cat racing its 108 dollars rtr at my local hobbyshop/pawn shop in nowhere Arkansas brand new in the box.
So the thing i get out of this is because its not expensive your gonna find fault in it no matter how good it is! I have one of these and it keeps right up with my axial scx10 2 builders kit
Im sorry but i feel you really bashed this guys truck and had no proof on the rocks at all,you talked crap and act like it would break at any second and didnt do any test showing bumpsteer in the rocks or anything,sorry but seeing stuff like this discredits your word in the future for me.not being mean as you say but im sorry gary he must have it out for you he failed in my opinion on this video.
He had it at an event sunday, it survived but he is already looking to sell it. For the money you can get a used scx10.2 and be better off. Sorry you don’t agree with my opinion on this but if you get this as a first vehicle to see if this is our thing it could make you sell and never return to the hobby. I drive a LOT of different vehicles and this one did not impress at all.
I don't understand why you would bash this thing unweighted even with your driving style. It's like you were trying to get it to fail. Tires were the hold back, and being unweighted. No roller chassis will perform like a finished rig.
OK I get it, its a knock off. But the point of going over anything sent to you is to try to find the breaking point of it. Not run it like its glass. This one was s bit of a disappointment. Just like anything else you, or we, buy you dont leave it stock. You throw upgrades at it to make it run better and make it stronger.
You spend the entire driving portion talking about how crappy it is, but its behaving like most stock 1/10 crawlers. They arent bad. And they're dirt cheap so you have a lot more money for after market upgrades
Well.... MINE is arriving today. I KNOW it's not a Rock Crawler. First thing is to change it to a 3 Link Front with Panhard, using spare parts.
The "Cool Kids" will hate this! But I'm a Disabled Veteran, THIS was all I could afford. I can't even afford A 1080 ESC.... I'm stuck with a 1060, without a good Drag Brake.
If you're in my position, with no help from anyone - this COULD be a good option!
Just requires some creativity on the user's part.... A LOT of creativity.
I'm hoping it will make a decent budget Trail Truck.
Carmine ✈🚂🚙
Trans gears are plastic so don’t put any real power to it or abuse it on the rocks. The trans gears will go first, if not for the bad camber on the front, the axles could be ok. Just keep it mildly powered and as you go, if you want to stay with this side of the hobby, get an axial 10.2 builders kit and put these electronics into that. You’ll see a huge boost in performance when you do. Also keep in mind the budget Holmes motors are $15 and will run fine with a 1060.
Banggood has replacement parts for this platform.
What have they changed? I haven't messed with banggood in a long time
@@ExocagedRC banggood offers metal transmission gears and full line of replacement parts. You just have to look under the scx10 parts.
@@ExocagedRC I've already got a 10.2 Builder's Kit... Except for the fact that the Shocks completely SUCK, it's my best Chassis. I just don't have that kind of money anymore....
I'm HOPING that I could turn this into something.... I already know it ain't much out of the box! 😖 And I'm absolutely going with a HH Motor!! It's all I use, and the new Sport Motors are only 14.95 on Evilbay!
For people that can't afford a high end rig I think this is OK just to get started. Like they say you gotta start somewhere
Seemed to do perfectly fine. I was expecting something would break...but it seemed to held up ok. A 6 year old would destroy any hobby grade rc. That is why you give them toys :)
I always see parents looking at the new bright wall mart crap for 100$ and i tell them throw an extra 100$ and buy somthing that you can up grade and find parts but with this knock off scx10 to me the only thing your left with after throwing all the crapy parts away is maybe the rails and links lol.
They sell it cheap for a reason and even with a traxxas or axial you still need to throw a ton of money at it to make it durable
I think you should do a build series on this for everyone just getting into the hobby or cant afford a more expensive one. In the series you can teach the ones that don't know much on how to upgrade it cheaply to help it out and do some free mods on it. I agree that it is a lower end product but everyone has to start somewhere and that ultimately depends on your budget. I believe people would appreciate you trying to make it better for performance than just to shoot it down. I dont think it was a snob review and dont take this message in a negative way, just sharing my thoughts and believe if we can always help out the less fortunate in this hobby then it's always 100% better for everyone. Thank you for your videos amd look forward to the next ones.
Come on Exo!!! You know you secretly love it!!! You could give it transformers kind of name like Knock-off, Mega Bum, or even Crapimus Prime!!!😂😂😂😂
I just can’t approve of this one.
We have some Traxxas TRX4 and Axial...and also two of this Austar !
We tried them for cheap price and we found them NOT SO BAD, but after some FIXES:
- front steering (we adjust length of links to fix the problem you note first)
- mount the servo with horn backwards (so is really covered)
- changed those too hard shocks (only back is quite enough)
- cut bumper supports (too long)
- change tires (quite bad on rock)
After those changes we get THE BEST capacity of climbing steep walls without tipping over !!
Much better than Traxxas (ever with brass weight on the front) or Axial !
Now we use them as reference to upgrade all others models to get the same performance in climbing...
So my opinion is that "is not so bad, but require some skill in elaboration"...and your channel has teach us many ways to do that !
Thanks for your job !
My austar/ injora scx10 has been awesome and I abuse it. I got bored with crawling and installed a 13t motor on it…can do about 20mph now, so I get to do mild bashing as well and small jumps. I replaced the drive shaft with a better one for $19 to withstand the power. Also make sure to put threadlocker on the gear and engine mounts. The shocks come with no oil as well, so fill it up.
Still running this rig?
Put softer springs on it and try it again.
Bingo, the stiff springs and lack of oil out of the box are it's biggest weakness. Lighter springs and about 70% sag and the suspension comes to life. The bumpsteer is easily addressed by either a panhard or relocating the servo; it's no different than any other truck in that respect (it comes with the panhard bar mounts).
I know this is an old video, but I bought this chassis, the Injora Jeep hardbody, and some cheap wheels and tires. I corrected the bump steer by replacing the front shock hoops with cheap aluminum SCX10.2 versions and added a panhard bar to make a correct 3-link setup. The stock shocks were a bit bouncy, but have changed those out with some cheap internally spring versions. It is my cheapest build to date, and runs great. It is a perfect trail truck, with some rock crawling.
Here is a video of it with the stock shocks and 1.55 Injora wheels and tires. th-cam.com/video/Iu-K2333bHI/w-d-xo.html
How's it going now? Is it still good? I like your truck looks, i think I'll pair it with comanche body
@@Latimerias_trailncrawl still runs great.
Gotta do what you gotta do if your financially lacking.
They just have to remember you get what you pay for.
They handle 3s no problem at all,I've had great luck with this cheap rig. Granted it has it's limitations,but it's not that poor.
I've yet to find its weakness sofar rides the same as scx10 2.
Its perfect for 98.00$ thenprice when they first introduced on ebay.
He’s one of those guys that has to spend a fortune for it to be good! If that truck beat everything he has it would still be no good because its not expensive
Hey are the stock axles and transmission good enough?ive heard ppl say theyre brittle
@@rahulpandit1749 Personally,in the 2 years that this thing has been used and abused,I've never had a problem with them.
I started crawling in early 2005. I started with tlt axles and a stampeded trans. pot metal axle gears and plastic trans gears. we didn't have the power of today but it was still a lot of fun, this looks like comparable quality to the old tlt days. I would pic one of these up to just have a simple slow crawl. if you just adjust the top links a little it will help with the caster, looks like there was a little bit of room on the pinion angle. also if you do a bit of a z-bend on the drag link and line it up with the steering cross bar it will help with bump steer.
You have the servo horn facing forward it needs to face rearward and the steering will be much better! You made your mind up from the start so no matter how good that truck is your gonna have nothing good to say i own that truck and its very good for price
Been waiting to see this chassis review, I like seeing what fails because it save us from wasting our hard earned money. Keep up the vids. 👍
Good honest review. I’m getting my first crawler tomorrow. I’m getting the Axial Scx10 ii deadbolt.
Good chioce. Great place to start. So much aftermarket support. But no rush cause its got plenty of 'outta box capabilities'
Keith cerce yep that’s why I picked it 👍.
That's why I was patient and saved my $$ for an AXE, it was tough waiting but the reward was worth it. I am a disabled Veteran and I don't have the Money to waste on trying to make something acceptable out of something substandard. In my life experience spending the extra $ on quality means better chance for a favorable outcome. it's like the saying the right tool for the job, you can pound a nail with a rock, but a hammer gets the job done quick and the nail goes where you want it.
Throwing good money at a bad purchase is just a bad idea, and no amount of money will make you feel better if you don't see real results. Thanks for this video, I think you do a service to warn people off these vehicles and back into something that will help them experience the joy most of us feel for our Crawlers, and not the disappointment that won't bring them into the sport/hobby with a deeper appreciation for it.
Bro, if you wanted to shit on this kit, you shouldn't have posted this video because it shows how well it did. For a kit that's under $100, it did FANTASTIC on the rocks. Every single "name brand" crawler has come with some baggage yet the fanboys still praise them. This kit isn't priced at $360 yet still performs just as well as any other early gen crawler that cost almost 3x the amount.
I don't own one of these, I have a TRX4 but after seeing how well it did and the fact that it didn't come with plastic diffs, I'd buy one as a trail kit without thinking about it twice. Bravo Austar!!
Not sure what it is you don’t like about it. You didn’t seem to mention why you don’t recommend it. Kind of feel you were against it at the beginning. For a budget start this seems to be a great build start. I got one for my son almost 2 years ago (he’s 5 now) he’s beat the snot out of it and still going strong. Using the same servo you have, a 1060 ESC and stock scx10 shocks. Drive shafts have held up (although I’ve seen others that lose pins) axles have had no issue and handles the rocky hills really well. You can’t beat it for the price, and I can hand down parts from my axials when I upgrade. After having two of these in my collection I can definitely recommend it to anyone trying to stay on a low end budget
Ya im with everyone else on this one. I bought one for the wife and might buy another one for the kid. Just because for under 200 bucks I can have a running rig that will do alright when we all go out. They don't need anything fancy, I have a trx4 blazer and a fully customized scx10 ii. I like how it came out of the box, setup was pretty easy, shocks where definitely the first thing I noticed where trash. Overall all jeep body, almost rtr knock off frame, brushed esc, rx/tx, and servo ill be into it 230 bucks and the wife can take it out whenever she wants. That's a win in my book.
I have one and what I did was replace the axles with portal axles and that did a world of difference. Plus I replaced the shocks with some from Axial. Handles better. I bought it with the intention of modifying it.
You could change the shock springs, shorten the upper front links to fix the caster angle and put a little more weight on it. I mean, it is cheap.
You recommended Axial and Traxxas for builders kits, but the best comparable cheap builders kit would be the Redcat Gen 8 Pack kit hands down for a reasonably priced low budget starter kit.
My basically stock gen8 has outdone fully built axial and traxxas all I did was pull the springs off the oil filled shocks so it sits low af and bam man things ridiculous on rocks
This chassis is super cheap. I think its good value even after this video. Its a start for under 100usd. Thanks for doing this [fail] video, most of the apprehension is from not knowing the issues. .Upgrading is part of the hobby...
Agree
I couldn't do it. I would get a Gen 7 if money was tough. Redcat will warranty darn near everything. Not to mention I would quarantine it for two weeks to see if it coughed.
Super light 👌,, I liked the way it's set! When you set it back down on the shelf, 👍,, NC MOUNTAINS 🏞backyard RC ,
i Just bought one and i love it, needed a little work out of the box but after a little wrench time it runs and crawls great.
We run the Reely "Free Men" a SCX 10 ll clone! You can get three different versions :RTR,Kit with inversion of control drive (both kardans drive in opposite direchtions like reverse drive),and a Pro Version with scale parts and some upgrades. Now here are more Free Mens then SCX 10 ll crawl in the nature. I stress my Free Men RTR under near "any" condition and it survive near all, except Acis Six brushless run ha ha. As i can get a spare part for my Free men i put a set of Austar/Injora AR44 clones ,they survive even not one ride! Broke one CV front and toast ring and pinion in the rear.
There is some cheap improvements that can be made at this chassis.. Install the servo by the underside of the chassis. It will reduce the bump steer.
Reduce 3mm the upper front suspension links lenght. It will make the Caster angle better.
Gustavo Royo Ribeiro if it were actually mine, I’d try some stuff to polish it up a bit.
What crawler will u recommend for under 150usd? Building this truck with cheapest electronics+batteries only cost like 130usd in my region but i want to look if there are even more better price-performance ratio crawlers
Just bought this as starter for myself. It requires alot of modification and it dosent seem like all axial upgrades fit. Just tried installing better differential gears and it won't fit together correctly...
Those tires remind me of my PB rock beasts in komp compound lol
I think I'll get one for crawlspace inspections.
the carrier hubs are on the wrong side with this rig, I had to move lots of stuff to get it right. the caster is proper if you flip the carrier hubs, also puts the panhard mount in the right spot. a few free mods and a couple things bought it can be a great rig, I used traxxas links for the panhard bar and put rc4wd leafs springs on the back and used axial shock towers
The chubs are vertical, can’t see how switching them would help anything at all.
@@ExocagedRC not switching them upside down but left to right, Austar hobbies used scx10 aftermarket parts for the build, it has the panhard tab on the left carrier rather then the right. I swapped em to their proper place and used traxxas link and axial front shock towers
byknmike rc I would never flip them, then they are even more wrong. Side to side is the only way to go but they are vertical. It’s possible you can use the legit axial brand chubs but they are different and you’d have to have those with older style knuckles too.
@@ExocagedRC The carriers or c hubs are just og scx10 versions but put on the wrong side of the axle, if I had a way to send you a picture of how I did it you'd see its a cross between 10 and 10.2. once I got this done my geometry is perfect and 0 bump steer. Leave the knuckle on each side where they are from the box and only move the ''chubs" from either side. Makes a world of difference and these rigs are very decent with some know how
@@ExocagedRC i get it but is it real try it
U get what u pay for.. I always recommend the element enduro or a trx4 sport better off saving and getting something quality
Got a deal on just the chassis. I’m making an if’s raptor from a wltoys driveline. Everything is going pretty smooth
The chassis looked good. How much was it?
The good is they're 100 bucks. My 6-7 year old has beat the absolute crap out of his and the only thing hes broke. Is the wheel hexes and motor. But I did fix the castor issue by adjusting the links before I even put the tires on it. The driveshafts held up good but the stupid little pins eventually come loose. It now has scx10.2 drive shafts
Wow. Seriously?
@@ExocagedRC yeah I'm dead serious. Its obviously not a performer and the steering is a nightmare but for kids it's a whole new world compared to Walmart r/c lol!
It might be good for my nephew, i have enough stock axail part to make it work, just need a body for it.
The best cure for any spiral lock driveshaft is heat shrink over the bastards, I cured the caster issue(just have the axles) with different links, the other question is will scx10ii gears fit in that housing? Just wonder however they have been on a truck for 20+ miles and haven't really got any signs of wear on the ring and pinion.
Two 5mm lower link spacers will fix that front end right up.
Another reason I like this channel you don’t just do experience stuff you do cheep stuff to
I know you secretly LOVE it To lol
I just built the cheap 3 Racing ex real build. The 275mm wheelbase Truck
Funny thing is I used the same servo you did and it makes the ex real trucks front wheels turn and flex if the wheels are held in between some rocks. It’s a flexer 😅lol.
Still awesome ❤️👊😀
Well I did get one of them Austar some time ago and you can make it work if you swap out all between the bumpers. So I keep drivin my Ecto and Gen8 and still don´t know what to do about that Austar junk.
Since this is a cheap truck review. I have a question. About eight years ago I built a Venom creeper. I did some adjustments and mods and it wasn't a bad build but it does have problems. my question is, is it worth putting any additional money and time into as a crawler, its just something that i have and it looks cool. Can it be modified to correct its problems.
I had a creeper as well. At this point in time parts are hard to find, I’d put it on the shelf and build a current model.
Thanks for the review sir haha😄
🔥Excellent upload.🔥💯🔥
I enjoyed the birds in background
LoL it’s like I lie in an aviary sometimes
You do know they make better tires and a axle mounted servo bracket?
Climbs his regular circuit. But he bags it the whole way. But if it was sent to him as the new TRX5 for $800, he'd be raving about how awesome it was...
for people on a budget it works fine for sure. it would last me along time i think because i dont bash my trucks im a trail/detail guy. heck ive had walmart $50 monster trucks last me 4/5 years all i replaced is battery's
I have one 6 monts light modified run 3s lipo all weekend an i dont have any broken parts i change the steering only with difrent aluminium parts
Did the tires get in the water ??
Budget build not bad change wheels and fix steering. For under 100 for a starter for scale maybe not bad
I had a friend roll theirs (was running a hard body) and it fell off of a rock (maybe 2ft high) and it broke a shock tower, broke the rear axle housing and bent the shaft. I believe the heavy body had a lot to do with it...but the plastics did seem weak. I'd say with a lexan body and a bit of tuning... it might be ok for just trail running... but I'd not take it near the rocks.
This is ok for someone that is getting into crawling , 12 yr old and up.. basically a budget crawler I would save up a few more bucks and get the Everest 10 crawler , mine is turning out awesome ... Upgrading as things go out...
Best part of today’s video was your backyard chorus!
LoL yeah I’ve got a comp to put on this weekend, maybe I’ll get some video of it.
Exocaged RC Don’t let trump catcha with more than 50 people in your backyard! Hehehe! ~;+}>
John Underhill LoL Trump said 10 last time! I’ll be in trouble for sure!
This Truck is a very very very good base to start. you dont need to buy 500$ traxxas to start with. those austar chassis are good enough for every beginner and might be good enough for experience drivers to maybe upgrade on.
I'm largely of the opinion that if you're looking to do comps, yes you need to put some serious $$ in your rig. It's almost pay to win. However for trail rigs? Just going out on a nature walk with your buddies and doing an obstacle every now & then? I think largely anything will work. I use to have a Redcat Racing Gen 7 Sport I used for that. Worked great. I currently have a VRX Racing BF-4J (a rather large crawler I've had fun customizing) I got a ways back on a whim and it's great for that type of stuff. I'd never be crazy enough to take it to a comp but for just trail running? This can do the job just fine if you're on a budget.
I also think it's a matter of perspective. If you've routinely driven say a TRX (insert any of the versions you like) or a Axial scx10 III of which you could probably buy 3 of these Austars for, yeah I'm sure it seems like a significant downgrade. But then I would ask "If you're already willing to spend $400+ of a crawler, why would you get this one for around $100?" Of course you'll be disappointed. But someone who this might be their first crawler or thinks it's ludicrous to spend $600-ish on a crawler after the initial price & upgrades, things like this can be a good option I think so long as you have them in the right setting (basically anything but comps).
All that being said, videos like this are important for anybody under the false hope that this could be on the same level as those other more popular, proven & more expensive rigs.
Looks like it’s crawling fine looks good to me
i own a clone, scx10II, scx10III and trx4
for a serious low budget rc. its pretty good
i find my clone to be a bit fast for crawling but great in trail
if your wanting a budget truck, its good
i got mine with the wheels and tires
i actually enjoy running my clone
ill have a second scx10II this week and im ordering another clone to trail run with a 3d printed body
Looked pretty good to me.
Fantastico telaio ...bel video... ciao dall'Italia
I feel you were aginst this kit from the start and that you didn’t really give it a chance. At the price point I feel there’s room to upgrade the shocks and maybe do a SOA setup. Maybe some better tires.. anyway. You didn’t give it a chance in my opinion
For those who can't afford high end rigs it's a good start. First off don't put a big bulky front or rear bumper Serves no purpose other than getting hung up on everything and not being able to get up anything and they are just UGLY but decent tires shocks and fix the bump steer and just figure it out along the way
Man. This is an old video but for what it costs to build a crawler from a bigger name brand or buy an rtr, this is an amazing deal. At the time of this comment the price of those chasis have almost doubled in price and it's still cheaper to build. I think you went in with a little bias based on the price and it being a Chinese brand lol. I would definitely give this to a 6yold cus I don't have to worry about breaking expensive parts, a 6yold will break anything cheap or expensive.
Its a cheap trail truck for fun plus its less than 100$. They all have their flaws but less than 100$ I'll wont waste my time to complain about AuStar'w roller. My opinion great chassis for the buck.
2yr want,for 100 bucks it's great. just about everything you shot down on that truck you would replace on any RTR anyways.
Might be good for someone looking to get in the hobby and test the waters..... but you do get what you pay for I guess.
Nice review bud
This could deter someone from the hobby when they get this and have issue after issue.
Exocaged RC very true
I dont get why its bad? you just say it bot not why. It did drive where ever you pointed at with no problem. why is this a bad chassis. its less than 100€ so what can be better in that price range? builders kit starts at 220€- and it's more or less the same besides one or two things.
With caster like that, you should throw a Ford body on it lol has the same lean as older F150s with I beams 😂 not the worst looking knockoff I've seen, to be honest. A few tweaks & it could be a decent starter rig for people with limited budgets, I think. Thanks for the review!
Man I would rather someone save up a bit more and get an 10ii Kit and go from there. The axial is so much better.
I think you missed the point of this truck; it is not intended to compete directly with an SCXII, performance or feature-wise, but instead to offer a starting platform to build cheap, so you have to consider *who* will be buying this chassis (I built one for my wife for less than $190, which she will run about 2-3 times a year; it would be silly to drop $350-400 on a truck for my wife). The "corners" that it does cut, however, are the most common upgrade components... so a build on this platform will work fine as things like shocks, gearbox, axles, panhard etc are upgraded as-needed. The bumpsteer is easily fixed with an added panhard bar (it has the mounts) or servo relocation, and the caster can be adjusted well-enough using the links. Your performance issues on the test run were due to the un-damped shocks (it doesn't ship with oil) and super stiff springs (it's biggest fault) on a light build... add 25 wt oil, lighter springs (and/or more weight) and about 70% sag, and the suspension comes to life. As for 3S... again, consider who is buying this and why... no one is going to start off with 3S building this chassis, and once they do upgrade to 3S, the weakness will likely have been upgraded too.
I’m thinking about trading my trx4 sport for one. I think I’m gonna do it. My buff said he will also throw in a 2s battery
LoL
Dude 😃
Man ive figured out something here tht some of you guys cant apreciate a budget starter rig no its not the best by far but for someones first rig to see if they like crawling itd be just fine
There are way better budget starter rigs like the Redcat Gen7. Heck the Gen8 is a bit more but way better.
🤣😂😉 I’ve been looking at this!!!
Yeah hope you saw what you needed to see to stay away from it.
Exocaged RC yep getting an scx10 2 🤣🤣😂🤣🤣
Caster issue is easily fixed using proper links. The ones that comes with the kit are too long.
you bring the castor back and then the pinion is too far down, neither is good
Once you swap out the panhard (c-hub) mount to the correct side and compare the housing to a one piece authentic AR44, they are identical. Mount it up to an authentic 10.2 chassis and the placement is exact, including the pinion angle. Not trying to be difficult, but that's how it is. I have seven 10.2 rigs, correct links are the fix; every single link of this kit is too long.
I do agree on the pricing, it's a $50 chassis, on a good day. Even at that price, if the somewhat proprietary axle components break, it's not worth it. That front axle also isn't sealed; there is no bearing between the C-hub and axle housing. There is a provision for one but the bearing won't fit through the CV axle without modifying the square ends by grinding off the 4 corners. (further compromising already weak parts) Only thing thats copied right are the C channel chassis. Plastics are cheap and brittle. All 4 shock hoops are from the rear of a 10.1. At least the heads of the screws don't strip out easily like your normal cheap China quality hardware. Shocks are usable for mock ups but that's about it. May be fine with lighter springs. Transmission needs to go straight to the trash, same with the DSs. Also agree on your assessment on the knockoff Hyrax. The markings on the tire is a downer, they should have left those out, lol.
Only negative video I've seen about the Injora clone. With a track bar for the steering and a few other minor upgrades, the truck is solid rig for the price. Plus you can interchange for real scx10 stuff in the future. Good starter rig.
I have one it works good for traveling.
But maybe you just used to more expensive stuff. And it's just one man's opinion
I think its ok trail chassis if you cant afford axial/traxxas/vaterra etc
Poor engineering, needs much tinkering, but it works
Take a challenge to make it comp crawler :D
wonder how much if any better is the injora scx10 2 lol
No idea on that.
We need more honesty in general! Thank you for a honest review. Appreciate your time!
Just do the review and don’t try to be funny, it’s not working. You started to hate even before you touched it, why couldn’t you just be Impartial
How much did axial pay you to trash this crawler?
Bonne démonstration de matériel cheap. Bruit métallique bizarre... je possède le AXIAL crawler 1, une merveille, upgrade
What is all that jingle jangle I hear when driving on the rocks? Is that the rig sounding like that, or is that all the coin you saved in your pocket🤔🤫🤪
Hola muy buenas q variador lleva
DONT think you were exactly being fair about this r/c ! for a bone stock r/c its very good for any one thats wants to get into rock crawling dirt cheap . every single part on your real axial cross fits this! only difference is this 1/4 the price . the injora metal upgrade parts are way cheap and work just fine . not every one wants to spend a lot of money when they dont need to . i m not trying to be a dick but you really caught me off guard with your remarks. put 20 pounds of vitacrap on it and then its all good though. every single thing you where crying about is a simple free fix . injora makes a rock crawler knock off of the ryft for $40 wich is the whole center section . put all the upggrades that you put on your ryft and save $400 on buying the rtr !!
How much does it weigh in at
Thats why they are dirt cheap but i dont see wrong especially performance.
It’s 100.00 or less what did you expect, mine came with tires
Hey man, nice video quite helpful. Can you please list the bad things about this thing below. Also, what would you upgrade first and get rid of. E.g. Different shocks all together or new anything and will any axial scx10 part fit on this. COuld i go and buy an axial part and mount it onto this no prob.
It seemed like a capable crawler when you were driving it, especially for the price tag
I’ll have to go back on it. Mostly the angles of the steering chubs are bad, in my experience cheap vehicles like this have cheap gears that simply do not last at all. The plastic felt a bit underwhelming and I feel if you get this and make it into a nice quality truck, a 10.2 builders kit would actually be cheaper. My Superlite truck is a 10.2 builders kit and it’s amazing. I just wasn’t impressed by this one at all.
I’ve heard the links on it are pretty good
They looked good to me too.
@@ExocagedRC maybe they could install another pair on the front for good measure!...😁
If you want a Good cheap crawler go with the danchee ridge rock made by red cat racing its 108 dollars rtr at my local hobbyshop/pawn shop in nowhere Arkansas brand new in the box.
swap the chubs from left to right that will fix the caster issue
Nope they are vertical wouldn’t change anything I tried and showed they were a vertical design.
that sucks...but I mean for what it has in decent parts it still might be worth getting if youre crawlin on a budget and needed some decent 10.2 parts
Big Hoss RC that’s the thing, almost none of this is even close to a 10.2. It’s like a mix up of old and new stuff.
Exocaged RC gah that’s turrible
Tbh I like the hyrax clone better just cause how they were out. My real hyrax still look like new after 40 miles of crawling
So the thing i get out of this is because its not expensive your gonna find fault in it no matter how good it is! I have one of these and it keeps right up with my axial scx10 2 builders kit
Im sorry but i feel you really bashed this guys truck and had no proof on the rocks at all,you talked crap and act like it would break at any second and didnt do any test showing bumpsteer in the rocks or anything,sorry but seeing stuff like this discredits your word in the future for me.not being mean as you say but im sorry gary he must have it out for you he failed in my opinion on this video.
He had it at an event sunday, it survived but he is already looking to sell it. For the money you can get a used scx10.2 and be better off. Sorry you don’t agree with my opinion on this but if you get this as a first vehicle to see if this is our thing it could make you sell and never return to the hobby. I drive a LOT of different vehicles and this one did not impress at all.
I don't understand why you would bash this thing unweighted even with your driving style. It's like you were trying to get it to fail. Tires were the hold back, and being unweighted. No roller chassis will perform like a finished rig.
OK I get it, its a knock off. But the point of going over anything sent to you is to try to find the breaking point of it. Not run it like its glass. This one was s bit of a disappointment. Just like anything else you, or we, buy you dont leave it stock. You throw upgrades at it to make it run better and make it stronger.
I would rather recommend RGT ex86010 than austar it is very bad, you know the price determines the quality 😀
Ive got a capra and vs4 ultra....I LOVE MY RGT PRO EX86100 just as much as the others. You're right
With such stiff suspension , I don't think bump steer is too much of a concern .
Thanks for running my turd..lol
LoL I was easy on it too!