Overview of my Basher Rocksta

00:00 - 18:55 My rambling about the car and it's mods.
18:55 - 27:25 Outdoor testing.
27:25 - 27:56 Some still photos for visual aid on my mods.
I'm not much of a talker, as obvious from my clips, but IRL too. So I struggle getting my words and sentences out properly.
Anyway, I wanted to do an overview of what I've done to my Basher Rocksta to get it to where I'm happy. This was my first RC in over a decade and first real attempt at modding one.

[@scott4350]

Awesome build! I have the brasher with metal gears, I was going to attach the axles and brain unit to a model car but now I think I will do something like you did! Thanks for the inspiration!

[@danielhearn4036]

Many crazy mods. Getting my stock Basha Rocksta excited ..

[@silbernersurfer8264]

Great mods, thanks for sharing!

[@johndeesfpv9289]

nice

[@themountain59]

I was never into micro crawler but your outstanding video changed my mind...I am gonna get one right away!

[@foxracerdrew]

All RC's have their charm.

[@pissipaus]

The test part was extremely cool to watch :)

[@foxracerdrew]

Happy you enjoyed it :)

[@rcrockcrawler]

Great mods! 👍 Extending the rear instead of the front will push lots of weight the the front.

[@foxracerdrew]

Thanks, I've changed the setup again since this, bu I'll keep the extended rear in mind in case I switch it up again in the future.

[@georgemccune8502]

Great video! Very informative for upgrading. I started a Facebook group for the Rocksta hoping to learn more.

[@foxracerdrew]

Thanks for watching. This is what I find works best for me and where I generally run my micros, but there's definitely many other styles out there. Do you have a link to the group, maybe I'll check it out.

[@georgemccune8502]

@@foxracerdrew Sure: facebook.com/groups/1446209815535278/

[@chosenseed4505]

OUTSTANDING.

[@foxracerdrew]

Thanks.

[@supernova1976]

Wow your mods completely changed this to a little gravity defying monster

[@foxracerdrew]

The rocksta really are capable little crawlers, even if you only change the tyres.

[@ChordsofPower]

great vid. I just got my first rocksta. do you sell the chassis? or know where i can get one?

[@foxracerdrew]

The only place to get the chassis is from HobbyKing, but it's very difficult to find parts in stock as they only restock once a year I believe.

[@whome7004]

So what did you start out with, I got HBX but I Think I made bad pick what you recommend

[@foxracerdrew]

This car, the Basher Rocksta. Never had an Devastator. Each has their pro's and cons, it all comes down to what you want to do with them. Downside with rocksta is parts availability, it's almost constantly out of stock for anything, which isn't the case for the HBX. That said, I think the rocksta is the more capable of the two when modifying the cars, there's just more you can do with individual drive on each axle. If I had a devastator I'd look to improve it's flex a little and switch out the tyres for some rc4wd 1" rubbers, a set of those tyres will make a world of difference to the car. Other than that, the devastator looks like quite the capable little car.

[@99dedbuffoons17]

What servos are those Brotato? Nice.

[@foxracerdrew]

Just some cheap 9g servos from Hobbyking.

[@themountain59]

Where did you get the carbon supports for the upper links?

[@foxracerdrew]

I got them from Aliexpress, just search for Tamiya Mini 4WD parts / spare parts, there's plenty that do the carbon/fibreglass parts.

[@themountain59]

@@foxracerdrew thanks...I will search for it .😉👍....edit:: Found it ...ten bucks, already on the way Thanks again

[@jdawg55598]

what size is the rod ends

[@foxracerdrew]

Sorry took a while to reply, I had to check them myself to make sure I was right. The ball is 5mm.

[@stevewatts3502]

I call that some serious polishing bro. If it was any more articulate it'd sort out Brexit.

[@1LittleTinker]

Many thanks for this great video! Did you consider the hbx before going for the Rocksta? If so was there a reason? If you were making the choice today what 1/24 would you go for? (I just started researching this class this evening so any insights and pointers would be very much appreciated)

[@foxracerdrew]

There's plenty of different cars out there, the question is more along the lines of what basics are you looking for. For me, I wanted a mini rock crawler after watching a couple of competition moa's. I love micro so I can use them indoors as well as outside, so the bigger rc's were out for me, on the smaller scale, the only cars with quad steering were the hbx/ftx (same car, diff branding) and Rocksta, the rest were all toy grade stuff. Between the rocksta and hbx, the rocksta was the closest car to what I was looking at, so I went with this. The hbx was tempting, but I was afraid of the metal getting rusty through use (constantly down by the stream). The rocksta is mainly plastic. It's also the only true MOA (motor on axle) at this scale. The hbx is a single motor with a central gearbox and driveshafts out to the axles, so less capable in comparison for the silly things I had in mind. Also it's much easier and cheaper to modify the plastic over metal. I think my choice would be the same today. The downside is the parts are harder to come by in comparison to the hbx. On the other hand there are some great little scale trail crawlers out there now, the HobbyPlus, Carisma SCA-1E (I think), RGT all do some great 1/24 scale style crawlers. The one I'd really like in this scale though is the AutoRC Geko II, it's an all metal scale crawler chassis. I should probably have had one by now, but I got hung up on the Orlandoo Hunters which are 1/32 scale. You don't get any smaller with full 4 link suspension. You should be able to find those around on my channel too (red Land Rover, grey Jeep and my custom 8x8). If there's any specific questions you'd like to ask, feel free to give me a shout. Always happy to give my experience.

[@1LittleTinker]

@@foxracerdrew many thanks for the detailed reply, I will go through those you mentioned. I fly drones and have 1/10 tamiya tt02b which had various upgrades. What I thought I wanted was a Crawler small enough for indoors but can do outdoors also. This evening, seeing the Rocksta and hbx with 4 wheel steer makes me think maybe that is what I want. Rocksta seems more capable, although I liked that the hbx was a bit quicker on the flat between obstacles. I've also just been looking at Panda Tetra x 1, which is 1/18. Certainly for scale I think between 1/18 and 1/24 is where I'm aiming. Thanks again I'll keep looking and likely come back to ask questions. Subscribed, cheers :)

[@99dedbuffoons17]

@@foxracerdrew check GamyRC's channel for Basher Rocksta Mini Mantis! He makes those miniaturized versions of Billet Works Designs Mantis torsion chassis originally made for the XR10 and Berg axles 👍👌

[@99dedbuffoons17]

@@1LittleTinker just got my first SCX24 on Friday it's SWEET like a tiny Scx10 Deadbolt so much third parts parts support. I also have the Rocksta it's sweet but takes WAY MORE tinkering with it to make it great. Where as the scx24's are pretty damn awesome right out the box de cased the esc/receiver moved the battery to the esc mount and hot glued the esc at a tilt to the trailing edge of the transmission also made a jsl connector adaptor for the battery so I can use the cheaper $6 350mAh lipos from hobbyking 👌found front and rear aluminum axle housings for $32 on Amazon and now waiting on some brass steering knuckles

[@AllegraChicken]

What battery/charger did you use?

[@foxracerdrew]

I use a zippy 850mah battery and a cheap simple 2/3s turnigy charger

[@AllegraChicken]

@@foxracerdrew thanks!

[@djrodriguez6582]

Would you consider selling some arms like the ones you made?

[@foxracerdrew]

They're pretty simple to make, just need some rod ends and 2mm rod (Here I was using tamiya mini4wd 2mm axle). Thread each end and bend where you want it or how you want it. I don't have any materials for making more, I went on a selling spree after my dog passed as I'm taking a big break from the hobby right now.

[@djrodriguez6582]

@@foxracerdrew ok maybe I'll just try it myself. Thanks for the tip and sorry to hear about the pup

[@silbernersurfer8264]

Are axle wideners needed for the Scramblers on the HBX rims?

[@foxracerdrew]

No, the hex is level with the back of the rims unlike most. This gives the wheels a much wider stance and the hbx rims are also a bit wider than most wheels of this size.

[@alexs9302]

Hey Drew, nice modding! I am not this good in understanding english, so can you please tell me, what parts you took to elongate the upper triangle links? This would be very kind of you, thanks a lot!

[@foxracerdrew]

I've uploaded a post to imgur where I've labelled the parts I've used, hopefully this will help you see better what I've done: imgur.com/dbkMGIy

[@alexs9302]

@@foxracerdrew Thank you very much, that is what I asked for. When all parts arrived, the big modding can begin :)

[@iturdferguson]

@@foxracerdrew do you know how long you extended the triangle part?

[@foxracerdrew]

@@iturdferguson I really don't remember, not sure if I used 60mm rods or 72mm rods (tamiya mini4wd axles). I think I had to make a custom center link too.

[@SeaUsername]

These crawlers are great, but it is noisy which spoils the enjoyment of using it indoors. Have you got any suggestions to make it quieter ?

[@foxracerdrew]

Most of the noise comes from the gear train so unfortunately no. If it's metal gears, it's going to be noisy, plastic gears is quieter but they break almost instantly due to the amount of reduction.

[@themountain59]

@@foxracerdrew what about POM...you should be able to print it?

[@foxracerdrew]

@@themountain59 I think the original plastic gears were pom....at least the chinese style which is absurdly weak. What you need to keep in mind is that the gears are all reduction gears so any hang up at the wheel end it will shear the teeth straight off. Also the final gear is what both dog bones slide into to be driven, any plastic would be rounded off pretty quickly. One last thing to consider is that these gears are not exactly big on a small crawler like this.

[@99dedbuffoons17]

@@foxracerdrew the gearboxes on these are retardedly complicated for what they are. It's like the manufacturer had only ever seen an MOA crawler from around 50 yards before they designed these axles. My Berg, bully's and XR10 axles have nowhere near this much crap in em everything fits into an OBVIOUS SPOT it ain't 7 identical gears and rods and spacers 🤣🤣🤷🤦🤦 soooooo glad AXIAL put out the SCX24! now if they'd only make a XR24 AND BABY WRAITHS!! 🙁😮😊👌

[@jeromedupont8994]

you did same mod as me, great job