I own both Phoenix straight and portal axle trucks, I prefer building mine and putting what I want motor and electronics wise. If someone I know wants to get into rc I will tell them all day the fordyce is the way to go.
So i just got back into the hobby recently from when radio shack used to be the hot spot for rc's an i picked up a fordyce. Cant complain at all. I wanted good parts but a basic crawler that got the job done an it does everything i throw at it. I do like the Phoenix but just didnt need all the bells an whistles off the rip. Fordyce all day for getting into the hobby cant beat it. Side note ur question do we need build kits absolutely. Il will be buying a basecamp builders kit next an im looking forward to putting it together with my own spin of electronics. Kits have to be around its part of the hobby. Theres nuthing wrong with the best of both worlds kits an rtrs. Gotta keep the kits tho hands down to many people love to build there own how they want it. Excellent video as always. Take care
I'd imagine it's heads & tails over the RS RC's. Hobby grade RC's that you can actually work on & replace parts gotta feel good. Congrats & welcome to the hobby.
Dangit Gerry....I have both of these, still in the box and have 100% been planning to use them with hardbodies, but now you go and make me 2nd guess myself with all your "modern interpretation" talk of two trucks I very much love! Oh well, they're a bit of a ways down on the list so I guess we'll see what happens eventually. I don't really get into the debates you mentioned. For me, it came down to I wanted to BUILD a Vanquish and see what all the hype is about and since the Phoenix has portals, the Fordyce with straight axles just made sense. Although, I didn't intend to get both, it just kinda happened :)
@ Awesome i have a couple of crawlers. Jeep gladiator scx10 3, trx4 blazer on tracks and scx24 JL. All setup brushless. Really intrested in getting the vanquish fordyce. Great vids man, subscribed.
Gotta say after I paid $400 for the Phoenix portal kit (without the extra metal gears but with the Wildpeak Falkens). I was thinking the Fordyce rtr was probably the better deal. I did want portals & the OD & dig though. I also like building & using the gear I want. Pretty sure either is a decent deal, if your new to rc id recommend the rtr since you'll need a lot of gear on top of the kits price like you said. Cheers from Tulsa.
As long as you like straight axles the fordyce or phoenix rtr to me are great deals, but if you want simple the fordyce is best! Oh but the leaky shocks 😲 🙄
I have the Fordyce and made a couple videos with it. One with the factory body and then I did an LCG rail conversion with a VW Beetle Tamiya Sand Scorcher body. I haven’t driven a Phoenix, yet. However, I enjoy the Fordyce as at the time of purchase the Phoenix was not being sold and hard to find.
I enjoy my Phoenix straight axle kit. I thought I tightened the slipper up tight but it irks me when it slips and just has pressure and no bind. I need to break it back down and fix it.
Would love to see a full video on that fancy gladiator of yours, i as well would like to see more kits as it is more fun to build it myself but those vanquish fordyce are definitely on my list of rtr rigs to buy.
My dig works perfect on my scx10 3, I've had it for 2.5 years same servo. If you don't use a decent servo and set your expo you'll burn the any servo up. No issue at all with mine
Wow then you have lucked out, out of 5 in out crawler club none work. I bought a new radio to be able to trim out the servo and it still burned up. But other then that the truck is one of my favorites!
@gerrysoldguyreview im running the Hobbywing axe v2 motor/esc, my radio is the Noble NB4. I have dig and 2 soeed tranny set up and I swapped out the tranny gear for more speed on Hi. Had I not set my end points it would of burned up asap. I immediately set them I've no issue to date 👍🏼
I started out with a Phoenix And it's a solid truck but I sold it to a friend who does comp crawling who had the same thoughts that you have then I went out and bought a falcon edition for myself it's not going anywhere love that thing have you ever sold an RC car just to buy a different RC car
Element enduro kits - Axial base camp kit, Axial Pro kit, Vanquish Kit, Vanquish vrd carbon kit, Traxxas builders kit, HPI Venture SBK kit, Rc4wd tf2 kit , I don't think kits are going anywhere. If anything their on fire, Hot Item 🔥 👍🏼
When I made the video could only find element, axial kits were only available. Wasn't looking into pro kits and rc4wd aren't for everyone. But thanks for the info on the venture kit!! Now I can start using my og venture more knowing I can get parts!!😁
I have a VRD carbon and have since been wanting to make a mullet build with a vs4-10 axles and vfd twin transmission but now I'm not sure I should since they are out of production, may not be able to get parts for reasonable prices after some time... I want dig and am fine with permanent overdrive. Maybe they will make a new product I have to get if I wait a bit longer lol
@@keldonator funny!!?? I wonder if vanquish stops shipping older kits when they have a new product? The fordyce was all I could find available and a phoenix on horizon hobby website!
I can't decide between the portals and straight axle. I want the selectable overdrive. I really want to figure out a way to get rid of dig and make it rear wheel drive and 4wd . Is it possible to do this with any of these two vanquish trucks? Im new to the hobby. I don't have anything vanquish yet. Hopefully someone in the comments can help me decide between the two of them. Thanks.
Portals make driving easier, straight axles more realistic. With the vrd twin transmission you have all those options and are able to manually shift the 2wd or 4wd or use the servo to shift and just not use the dig
I currently own a Phoenix straight axle and I really love it a lot. I also like the Phoenix body a lot more than the Fordyce and in my opinion, I would rather spend the money on the Phoenix that comes with a dig and overdrive option because you won’t need to purchase that at a later time, it’s good to have it and not use it then to need it and not have it.
Good conversation, great to hear your thoughts on Vanquish products...love my Fordyce and just built a VRD Carbon, it's also excellent ...btw I believe you can bind up to 15 models to the 4ch radio that the Fordyce came with... take care and keep warm out there :)
hi Gerry, which one would you prefer, phonix , fordyce or stance?? will buy one for my son, but i'd like to know your opinion 'cause you have more experience than me, greeetins from ecuador, south america
Hello Paul! The stance is more just performance, fordyce bare bones .I would go with the Phoenix has all the bells and whistles and you can chose which ones you may want to use.
I own a phoenix straight and portal. I do not own a fordyce. The portal is not built yet. Been 2 years.....got busy and building a couple clodbusters as well. Anyway, as far as comparing them for the 20-4- dollar difference is not really apples to apples. One is RTR with basic electronics and not as beefie parts as well as the VFD instead of the twin. For about 20-40 more dollars over the price of the phoenix you could probably get a cheap radio and motor esc combo and have a beefier vehicle. That being said the RTR's I own are the element trailrunner and gatekeeper. I would not compare them to the vanquish stuff. Not to mention i just attended my first even and first time driving my straight axle this past weekend. I did have a blast though. My vehicles are inferior due to my driving skills.
Hell I've been driving crawlers since they came on the scene and I still think iam a bad driver, but when I hit a great line iam like I'M THE BEST!!🤣🤣🤣 as for the prices I was pointing out others complaints, I feel vanquish makes the best rtr right now except for 4 smaller links it is all phoenix and the electronics and tires are pretty good!
The spectrum dig servo is notorious for going up in smoke! Mine went up in smoke when not even using it. Even switching to a radio with trim settings didn't help
Nice table talk topic bud the pheonix is a great trail truck with that twin trans all those options dig & overdrive front drive or rear drive almost like a real truck the fordyce to me is like a weight saver more competitive base trailer most comps by me only allow winch no dig no 2 speed no selectable overdrive choose & lock it in b4 inspection the real bad part to me is that as great as each of these are now you have the carbon or stance to kick thier ass in crawling lol
I own both Phoenix straight and portal axle trucks, I prefer building mine and putting what I want motor and electronics wise. If someone I know wants to get into rc I will tell them all day the fordyce is the way to go.
Completely agree gary!
Great Talk. Thanks for sharing. I really want a Fordyce.
You won't be disappointed!
So i just got back into the hobby recently from when radio shack used to be the hot spot for rc's an i picked up a fordyce. Cant complain at all. I wanted good parts but a basic crawler that got the job done an it does everything i throw at it. I do like the Phoenix but just didnt need all the bells an whistles off the rip. Fordyce all day for getting into the hobby cant beat it. Side note ur question do we need build kits absolutely. Il will be buying a basecamp builders kit next an im looking forward to putting it together with my own spin of electronics. Kits have to be around its part of the hobby. Theres nuthing wrong with the best of both worlds kits an rtrs. Gotta keep the kits tho hands down to many people love to build there own how they want it.
Excellent video as always.
Take care
Take a look at the element builders kit also, comes with some nice extras!
@@gerrysoldguyreview thank u will do
I'd imagine it's heads & tails over the RS RC's. Hobby grade RC's that you can actually work on & replace parts gotta feel good. Congrats & welcome to the hobby.
Gerry you n me be brothers because you do things just like I would. Love it!
I appreciate that!😁
Dangit Gerry....I have both of these, still in the box and have 100% been planning to use them with hardbodies, but now you go and make me 2nd guess myself with all your "modern interpretation" talk of two trucks I very much love! Oh well, they're a bit of a ways down on the list so I guess we'll see what happens eventually.
I don't really get into the debates you mentioned. For me, it came down to I wanted to BUILD a Vanquish and see what all the hype is about and since the Phoenix has portals, the Fordyce with straight axles just made sense. Although, I didn't intend to get both, it just kinda happened :)
Glad to help buddy!!🤣🤣 wish now I had gotten the portal kit!!
Great review thanks for posting!
Thanks for watching!
Where in alaska are you?
@ Matsu valley 👍
@urbancavemanintheak7732 north pole here!
@ Awesome i have a couple of crawlers. Jeep gladiator scx10 3, trx4 blazer on tracks and scx24 JL. All setup brushless. Really intrested in getting the vanquish fordyce. Great vids man, subscribed.
Gotta say after I paid $400 for the Phoenix portal kit (without the extra metal gears but with the Wildpeak Falkens). I was thinking the Fordyce rtr was probably the better deal. I did want portals & the OD & dig though. I also like building & using the gear I want. Pretty sure either is a decent deal, if your new to rc id recommend the rtr since you'll need a lot of gear on top of the kits price like you said. Cheers from Tulsa.
As long as you like straight axles the fordyce or phoenix rtr to me are great deals, but if you want simple the fordyce is best!
Oh but the leaky shocks 😲 🙄
I have the Fordyce and made a couple videos with it. One with the factory body and then I did an LCG rail conversion with a VW Beetle Tamiya Sand Scorcher body. I haven’t driven a Phoenix, yet. However, I enjoy the Fordyce as at the time of purchase the Phoenix was not being sold and hard to find.
Subscribed will check out the videos!
I enjoy my Phoenix straight axle kit. I thought I tightened the slipper up tight but it irks me when it slips and just has pressure and no bind. I need to break it back down and fix it.
I haven't had that problem yet, I will have to keep my eye on it. But then I do tighten my slippers on most my rigs pretty tight!
Would love to see a full video on that fancy gladiator of yours, i as well would like to see more kits as it is more fun to build it myself but those vanquish fordyce are definitely on my list of rtr rigs to buy.
In my Playlist under builds you will find the videos I have done on it!
You would like the fordyce!
@@gerrysoldguyreview it looks so good as well and I hear they are a pleasure to drive. Thanks Gerry.
@WoodsUnknown I wouldn't know how it drives stock, but mine does drive like a dream! Was just working on it today
My dig works perfect on my scx10 3, I've had it for 2.5 years same servo. If you don't use a decent servo and set your expo you'll burn the any servo up. No issue at all with mine
Wow then you have lucked out, out of 5 in out crawler club none work. I bought a new radio to be able to trim out the servo and it still burned up. But other then that the truck is one of my favorites!
@gerrysoldguyreview im running the Hobbywing axe v2 motor/esc, my radio is the Noble NB4. I have dig and 2 soeed tranny set up and I swapped out the tranny gear for more speed on Hi. Had I not set my end points it would of burned up asap. I immediately set them I've no issue to date 👍🏼
I started out with a Phoenix And it's a solid truck but I sold it to a friend who does comp crawling who had the same thoughts that you have then I went out and bought a falcon edition for myself it's not going anywhere love that thing have you ever sold an RC car just to buy a different RC car
More trading then selling. Really fond of the affordable vanquish
I like my Phoenix RTR, but even today I still like my Traxxas TRX4 the best of all my rigs.
For ease of getting out my vanquish rigs are best! But drive wise I really like my Scx10.3 but I do love my trx4's also !
Element enduro kits - Axial base camp kit, Axial Pro kit, Vanquish Kit, Vanquish vrd carbon kit, Traxxas builders kit, HPI Venture SBK kit, Rc4wd tf2 kit , I don't think kits are going anywhere. If anything their on fire, Hot Item 🔥 👍🏼
When I made the video could only find element, axial kits were only available. Wasn't looking into pro kits and rc4wd aren't for everyone. But thanks for the info on the venture kit!! Now I can start using my og venture more knowing I can get parts!!😁
I have a VRD carbon and have since been wanting to make a mullet build with a vs4-10 axles and vfd twin transmission but now I'm not sure I should since they are out of production, may not be able to get parts for reasonable prices after some time... I want dig and am fine with permanent overdrive. Maybe they will make a new product I have to get if I wait a bit longer lol
The Phoenix rtr has all that if you want to get a parts truck! 🤣🤣
@@gerrysoldguyreview I know but them being discontinued makes me a bit nervous. I can still get one now, but who knows for how long
@@keldonator funny!!?? I wonder if vanquish stops shipping older kits when they have a new product? The fordyce was all I could find available and a phoenix on horizon hobby website!
I can't decide between the portals and straight axle. I want the selectable overdrive. I really want to figure out a way to get rid of dig and make it rear wheel drive and 4wd . Is it possible to do this with any of these two vanquish trucks? Im new to the hobby. I don't have anything vanquish yet. Hopefully someone in the comments can help me decide between the two of them. Thanks.
Portals make driving easier, straight axles more realistic. With the vrd twin transmission you have all those options and are able to manually shift the 2wd or 4wd or use the servo to shift and just not use the dig
I currently own a Phoenix straight axle and I really love it a lot. I also like the Phoenix body a lot more than the Fordyce and in my opinion, I would rather spend the money on the Phoenix that comes with a dig and overdrive option because you won’t need to purchase that at a later time, it’s good to have it and not use it then to need it and not have it.
So true! Love the extras, I have the servos installed just need a 4ch radio
Good conversation, great to hear your thoughts on Vanquish products...love my Fordyce and just built a VRD Carbon, it's also excellent ...btw I believe you can bind up to 15 models to the 4ch radio that the Fordyce came with... take care and keep warm out there :)
Thank you!
I just bought a Fordyce. I'll put brushless in it right away. Otherwise, I like the bare bones part of this truck also.
Jared, I can't state enough how much I like this truck, the build quality alone will have me buying again!!
Your Very Welcome! Where can I find you on a personal note ? Enjoy chatting with you in person.
David I have an channel email
Oldguyreview@gmail.com, Facebook and Instagram both gerrysoldguyreview
hi Gerry, which one would you prefer, phonix , fordyce or stance?? will buy one for my son, but i'd like to know your opinion 'cause you have more experience than me,
greeetins from ecuador, south america
Hello Paul! The stance is more just performance, fordyce bare bones .I would go with the Phoenix has all the bells and whistles and you can chose which ones you may want to use.
I own a phoenix straight and portal. I do not own a fordyce. The portal is not built yet. Been 2 years.....got busy and building a couple clodbusters as well. Anyway, as far as comparing them for the 20-4- dollar difference is not really apples to apples. One is RTR with basic electronics and not as beefie parts as well as the VFD instead of the twin. For about 20-40 more dollars over the price of the phoenix you could probably get a cheap radio and motor esc combo and have a beefier vehicle. That being said the RTR's I own are the element trailrunner and gatekeeper. I would not compare them to the vanquish stuff. Not to mention i just attended my first even and first time driving my straight axle this past weekend. I did have a blast though. My vehicles are inferior due to my driving skills.
Hell I've been driving crawlers since they came on the scene and I still think iam a bad driver, but when I hit a great line iam like I'M THE BEST!!🤣🤣🤣 as for the prices I was pointing out others complaints, I feel vanquish makes the best rtr right now except for 4 smaller links it is all phoenix and the electronics and tires are pretty good!
As to RTR, which would YOU get? Between Fordyce & Pheonix?
Also, what about between fordyce vs pheonix vs Axial cj7 ?
Mike that is a loaded question that deserves a video! Stand by while I make it!
@@gerrysoldguyreview awesome, parts qualify etc. Build quality, up grid path? Parts pricing? Sort of things would be helpful.
19:35 Will do!! 👍
Nice someone caught it!🤣🤣
Don't want a servo for dig because of magic smoke on the scx10? What do you mean?
The spectrum dig servo is notorious for going up in smoke! Mine went up in smoke when not even using it. Even switching to a radio with trim settings didn't help
@@gerrysoldguyreview Oh lol, good to know
Boy do you love hearing yourself talk.
Only way I know to answer a question!
Nice table talk topic bud the pheonix is a great trail truck with that twin trans all those options dig & overdrive front drive or rear drive almost like a real truck the fordyce to me is like a weight saver more competitive base trailer most comps by me only allow winch no dig no 2 speed no selectable overdrive choose & lock it in b4 inspection the real bad part to me is that as great as each of these are now you have the carbon or stance to kick thier ass in crawling lol
Also on the plus side the fordyce can be relatively cheaply made into a cheap lcg rig!