Crawler Canyon Presents: MST CMX RTR-- not an RTR. At all.

This one is an odd duck. It has well more than it's fair share of problems. I am nevertheless intrigued, and will continue forward, perhaps against my own best interests.

[@sr20detized]

The J3 version definitely grew on me. Bought one on a similar deal from amain. Chucked the radio, esc and tires. Went through the shocks (green slime), 45/60wt oil and threw softer springs up front (off an old cr12) a little front droop keeps it from flipping as much on its short wb. I went through the axles and transmission and installed bearings. Threw on a HH 540 crawlmaster 16t, hw 1080, a small pinion (cant recall the size), a set of element 1.55s (off the knight runner) and grabbers... finally a power hd 20kg servo. After ALL of that work, its actually one of my favorite trail crawlers... So much so I've thought about making another project out of the J4 version so I have a "micro class" pair. I suspect you'll find it tugging at you often to go play. . . Something about a samurai/jimny!

[@CrawlerCanyon]

That seems very similar to the route I'll end up going. In a perfect world, it would have been sold as a kit so I wouldn't have to pull the whole thing apart to put in the stuff that should have been in there to begin with. Then again, I'm kinda looking forward to it.

[@hilltoprccrawlers1979]

I've got the name for this rig! Sisyphus! Because it's a constant uphill struggle, not impossible, but constant. Great video. Looking forward to the series. :)

[@teamsargentrc6399]

Have my son Cannon the Rgt version of that, Mst & Weighted Wheels & we put in a dynamite 27t 380 the motor & it has control, & Great drag brake on stock pinion & esc. 👍 oh edit we replaced shocks to idk what they are though, worked. Lol. Great Video!

[@CrawlerCanyon]

No complaints about the drag brake. But the ESC, with either of the motors I tried, is an on-off switch, and the radio has no adjustments aside from EPA and trims. I'm finding that anything RTR ends up requiring more attention than anything sold as a kit.

[@teamsargentrc6399]

@@CrawlerCanyon true there, I paid 2hundred for RGT & it actually came with bearings & when I seen that mst bushings I was like 🤦🏼, the 380 27 t really help with smoth drive & Helped Alchemate smoothness in the throttle, I Wonder if RGT bearings would help you out Yet for smoothness acceleration I never got smooth acceleration out of bushings ever personally. Causes a lot of binding.

[@dirtyfingersninja]

great coverage of the mst cmx, i just got mine, surprised with what it could do in stock form. but after wheels and tires, a HW 1080, putting 50 weight oil in the shocks and not using the stock remote, it is so much better!

[@CrawlerCanyon]

I can't imagine 50wt in the stock shocks-- they're pretty slow on 20wt. Those piston holes (like the rest of the rig) are tiny. The MST option TC70 shocks need HEAVY oil.

[@dirtyfingersninja]

@@CrawlerCanyon yeah i know, its all i had at the time, works fine for my local crawl area. but like you, i still have a lot to do to it, i haven't taken it apart yet.

[@Br0rB]

The shot in the last 17 seconds of the video was amazing. All cinematic like and what not. Could almost be from a commercial for the CMX. :)

[@erickrzanich8000]

I put a holmes hobby 540 with the hw 1080 esc. It really needs new tires/ shocks and I think it'll be a short bus beast. Love your videos dude.

[@Andy_Yates]

I have to agree this looks great, and looked even better when you changed to the Carisma wheels and tires. I have to imagine a little better ESC, smaller pinion, and decent rubber will improve its performance. In other words, ditch everything and make it not even a roller, and replace it all 😂. I'm along for the ride on this one and I have to agree your commentary just makes these videos so much fun and interesting

[@RevolutionX]

I see these rigs as more of a scale rig. A lot of scale builds were made using the CMX and CFX platforms. It's more inline with the Tamiya CC01 and CC02. I would just get the chassis kit. At least that is what I did, and I plan to make a scale rig out of it.

[@CrawlerCanyon]

I love a good chassis kit, but don't love that the Jimny bodies are 80 bucks. That's part of how I'm justifying the purchase to myself-- the body is like 35% of the cost of the RTR.

[@tiborbeetles1882]

Once you get it dialled in, you'll love it. I have a CFX J3 Jimny kit version and its one of my favourites.

[@mrlu9911]

Stock?

[@mickd8188]

Thanks for some cool Saturday morning with a coffee entertainment, MST do a fantastic job of a lexan body, all their crawler bodies look great. Although you would be disappointed if you were expecting RTR and you weren't a tinkerer. Looks fantastic drives like sh#t..! Lol Excitement, laughter, and Tears... yes I left entertained. Cheers mate 👍

[@roberthoney1377]

You made that video so funny I didn't have to cry about how terrible to Performance was

[@cl-audio322]

Love your videos. You should have way more subscribers!!

[@mitsuman5555]

These tempted me for a long time with their good looks, but I always assumed the crawling performance would be pretty hopeless out of the box. But why do I still want one even after seeing how bad it is?? Lol

[@CrawlerCanyon]

Because it's adorable. I can't give up on this little fella.

[@rcukvolts1499]

Stock shocks work well. You made it too stiff. I think you didn't refit your driveshafts in phase. Watch my video with rcw4d tyres, metal beadlocks and 1080 + HH motor on stock gearing.

[@rcukvolts1499]

Works really well for me. Same servo. I run lots of high end rigs too.

[@DesertRC]

This makes me feel 100x better about my RGT V3 rock cruiser. It's a non licensed Jimny. It's got alot more metal under than this. I got mine for 130some. Your paying for the lexon body on this one to be honest. Still cool though just not for me.

[@CrawlerCanyon]

There are indeed some sacrifices to have the coolness that is the MST CMX Jimny. If this guy were a kit in the sub-$200 range (with bearings, aluminum shocks, etc) it would be a no-brainer. As an "RTR"... no way. This was like my 9th or 10th crawler, so it notches right into the fleet. But for anyone with one or two or no rigs-- nuh uh. No way. It's a solid platform (it's no Tamiya CC-01, that's for sure) but it takes a whole lot of tinkering just to make it workable.

[@michaellenheiser3157]

And I opted for the MST CFX WS DC1 kit based off your MST Blue Sky high.

[@CrawlerCanyon]

That CFX-W is one of the rigs that I literally did the least to-- I put electronics in it, changed the tires and shocks, and that was it. This lil' guy is gonna take a bit more tinkering. A lot more.

[@jammer2150]

Brutal, Walmart might have better toy grade crawlers. I can not imagine paying $300 for that, wonder how they came up with that price point vs what you get in the box? I know price in rc has been creeping up but in a lot of cases quality has been going down, honestly on this one I feel they put more effort into the box it came in. hope you dont have to sink another $300 into it, but will be looking forward to... well do what it is suppose to do Crawl. :) :) :) I got a lil bin full of brass bushings from the 2wd traxxas days and other rigs from back then, keep thinking I will use them for something.

[@NB89876]

aha the radio control was funny, i also have carisma and the stock rtr controller is hilariously bad

[@CrawlerCanyon]

I mean, the RTR gear from EVERY company is pretty bad-- but the stuff that comes with Carisma and MST are next-level bad. I feel guilty about even giving that stuff away.

[@FaithSaraG]

RC4WD's X2S3 compound tires are very good. I have them on 3 of my trucks.

[@CrawlerCanyon]

I was pleasantly surprised by the RC4WD Milestar Patagonias, so I definitely haven't ruled them out. It's really all about OD with this rig-- has to be something in the 95-100mm range.

[@rexrcs]

I love tiny wheels on 242mm

[@dkmgm2011]

Stoked.

[@jimbocreationsbu8203]

this rc looks cool ,you should try one off the slower 540 you got there in bin maybe a smaller pinion?

[@CrawlerCanyon]

I'll be fitting as small of a pinion and as high turn of motor as I can. It's just too fast.

[@oldmanjeepingandbiking9621]

Amain is down to $206 as of this video going live

[@CrawlerCanyon]

It's so odd that the two blue ones-- the CMX J3 and J4-- aren't on sale. I shoulda waited another week! Mighta gone below 200!

[@nrvous309]

Wow, that thing is kinda trash. I can't wait to see how much MST is left after you replace pretty much everything