SCX10 III Gladiator Upgrades & Fixes to Crawl Better! Part 1

[@YoShImUrA53]

It's always a good day when you are able to see your favorite rig (or one that you like inherently) do better than the last time, especially through a simple and not too costly of a mod. I love the Gladiator in particular for being different. It may not be optimal as other more standard ones seem to be, but to me that's missing the point of its uniqueness and diferentiation. IMO, quirkyness is fun, not conforming to all being the same. That's why it's always on my want list. I hope I end up with one, before it's discontinued! Given how big the difference is when putting a rig to crawl, it's funny how only recently metal or heavyweight beadlock wheels are starting to gain traction from the OEMs (Cross RC EMO, to name an example), but they're still a very small minority. I actually can't think of another RTR or kit with heavy wheels from the top of my head. I can see a few reasons for this, although I suspect it's always something to do with cost, one way or another. Metal on its own is not necessarily much more expensive than plastic, if at all, but it does have a few inconveniences: - Puts on a higher amount of stress on the drivetrain (customer satisfaction - from reliability's POV in this case- and warranties are big liabilities for any manufacturer) - Many rigs end up being used on trails 90% of the time, same as the built up 1:1s end up queuing up at the Starbucks drive in, rather than on the trails, so no real need for it, but more of a "nice-to-have" - Shipping weight from the factory and to the shops is always a part of the cost to a manufacturer. That can add to the cost of the vehicle substantially, especially in bulk numbers when considering logistics, both sheer cost per pound/kg, as well as the ability to pile up the boxes -or needing to reinforce their strength, making them even heavier and costier, etc...-, as well as to secure the protection of the rest of the components from being damaged through movement of the heavier parts inside the box. In my mind, this last one is the biggest deal-breaker for manufacturers not including them. But that only is an invitation for us to put on our own wheel and make the rig more personal and suited to our taste and needs from the word go. So, again, not a bad thing, if you ask me.

[@nielsjuhr594]

ssd products. Portal covers, brake/ hex 5mm wheel widener, aluminum rims with the same Nitos, uluminum panhard mount, tucked in bumper and it performs as you hoped it would have out of the box. I bought this because it has portals, a really long wheelbase, I really like the look of the Gladiator and you often have to take different lines because of all that. As mentioned, some of those differences is what makes it challenging and fun. I have everything from really short wheelbase to the Gladiator and I love them all and their differences.

[@RCTNT]

Nice, thanks for the details. That sounds like a recipe to get it working well. Glad you're enjoying them, it's a solid platform! Cheers

[@thatsmyrc]

Yep the lower the weight the better the weight distribution. 👍🏼

[@RCTNT]

Lower center of gravity, that's it!

[@Wild_Buggy]

My favorite youtube channel and my favorite trail truck in the same video! Yay!!!!

[@RCTNT]

Heh thank you. There's a follow up to this video, you've no doubt found. And then my gentle knock on the Horizon Elite Edition they released some time later, of course :p kzbin.info/www/bejne/m5PZgn15hNWSpZI

[@rkd350z]

Nice, i knew it lol 😆 weight down low. Also loving the brass portal covers

[@RCTNT]

Yep! They'll be next!

[@teamsargentrc6399]

Very Impressive this was a Fun video . . . Very informative & a good chuckle! 👍🤟🤜🤛!

[@RCTNT]

Thanks! (It did my head in a bit, with the mic issue. Finally solved the problem with a quick voice over this morning, but it took a lot of working on the original, mangled sound before I gave up. Lesson learned!)

[@teamsargentrc6399]

@@RCTNT Turned out excellent mate! The part where they threw the scx10iii under... I thought the same exact. This was the company that showed up & kicked the door down in crawler world... lol.

[@RCTNT]

@@teamsargentrc6399 yes! Exactly. Well put!

[@skidog7440]

Thanks for the video. I've been holding off on buying a SCX10II due to it's more "trail" orientation. But after seeing your results maybe it's worth the try. All of my Axials have been solid performers so far. Loved your 1080 article by the way, very informative and helpful. Thanks again!

[@RCTNT]

Oh good, thanks for that! I'm just putting together the follow up video for this one now, with a little brass on the front corners and then testing. Gonna see how far we can take the truck without changing the electronics or spending big - it's expensive enough as it is! Thanks for the compliments and happy crawling :)

[@276rclife6]

Another great video!! I was really shocked by how much better the new wheels helped on the rocks and makes it look way meaner..well done..looking at getting some for the Gen8v2. Can't wait to see you get your hands on the new scx6..

[@RCTNT]

Makes a difference! Fwiw, I've added weight (solder winding) to the Gen 8 V2 wheels already (174g front, 155g rear) and when I tested those tires they were on the weighted wheels already. I may have forgotten to include that detail in the video series but it's worth noting. Thanks for the comment! Happy modding, if you can call it that! Fun tho, eh :D

[@jeffsrcchannel2191]

Very cool, and great driving.

[@RCTNT]

Thanks :)

[@hellorc7678]

I just put up a running vid of my gladiator with brass on the front portals and metal beadlocks. Using stock ecto tires with cut foams on it. Unbelievable improvement in performance. Nice video buddy!

[@RCTNT]

Nice one. Goes a lot better with some little fixes eh

[@hellorc7678]

@@RCTNT I was truly surprised with how much better it was. Just need to fix my dig now

[@RCTNT]

I'm working on my Gladiator right now. Since owning it, this is the first week I've actually liked it enough to drive it, use it, think about it (given I'm lucky enough to have other trucks to use). A bit of weight down low really woke it up!

[@hellorc7678]

@@RCTNT working on my gen 7. Putting on its upgrades. It has a match against the gladiator in the losers bracket of our national cheerio league. Probably film it tomorrow!

[@RCTNT]

The league idea is pretty good. I'll give you a shout out if I do something like it. Have been thinking through how to put all these crawlers against each other in some epic battle!

[@andrewrichey7374]

Super cool, Love the video this is the beauty of this hobby yeah love it

[@RCTNT]

Thanks Andrew, me too. Great hobby eh!

[@rodgalley9209]

Interesting, I have an Element Ecto that I've heavily modded and a Gladiator, stock, with Proline Trenchers on it. I find my Gladiator is more than comparable to the best crawler Element make. So not sure why you were initially disappointed, the rtr Gladiator is awesome straight out of the box. And I'm by no means a pro driver.

[@RCTNT]

G'day Rod, thanks for your thoughts. To be clear, it isn't a bad crawler, it's just that there's plenty of room for improvement. The tires and wheelbase are challenges, among other things. I've gone into detail in other videos but in short, it just didn't score as well as other trucks on my test problems and courses. Make of that what you will, but it's definitely a lovely truck and it's grown on me quite a bit in the time I've had it :) I've said it before, whatever crawler you have today is the best crawler - I'm nitpicking from a crazily high standard of options these days, that's for sure! A good problem to have! Cheers

[@rodgalley9209]

@@RCTNT no worries mate. I was out on the rocks today near Brisbane with both truck's and the differences were marginal. The lwb can be difficult it's easy to beach but you have to expect that and it shouldn't be a surprise. Part of the fun is to adapt to it and drive differently which gives you variety. All good, keep up the good content 👍

[@ramkaer]

Weight down low helps. That's my experience too. :) Nice video as always.

[@RCTNT]

Finding that magic balance is key, right on. Unsprung weight below the axle line for maximum gains - that's how I've done it for years, though I'm going to keep experimenting with things on-video so we all get to learn stuff :) Glad you enjoyed it and thank you for watching!

[@eprc7585]

I'd be interested to see an SCX10 2 round the course and see how that compared to the 3

[@RCTNT]

I would too. In particular, a II vs III with same regular wheelbase - not the Gladiator. I do have a SCX10 II Raw Builder's Kit here but haven't bought an SCX10.3 that isn't the Gladiator yet. We'll file it as a maybe for this year. Thanks for the idea.

[@eprc7585]

@@RCTNT yeah that would be really good and surprisingly hard to see reviews on KZbin doing just that to confirm that the new far more expensive 1 is actually better! I love my SCX10 2, gets used way more than the TRX4. Old school simplicity that just works

[@RCTNT]

@@eprc7585 the scx10 II is getting pretty hard to find now in stock form. I've got a JLU scx10 III on the way (better comparison than scx10 II) but finding a stock scx10 II could be a challenge! I may need to build an equivalent. We'll see!

[@Apasash]

😉👍

[@standforjesus7427]

Alloy wheels and wheel weights 1st upgrade on everything

[@RCTNT]

I prefer axle weights rather than adding rotational mass where possible, but low down weight seems to be a solid first upgrade, yeah!

[@bernardrc1137]

Nice vid,,bro 😁👍

[@RCTNT]

Thank you :) I had fun making it!

[@junkb06]

I made the mistake of putting too much weight in my wheels and it stripped some gears. 350g per wheel may of been the breaking point

[@RCTNT]

Lol yeah that'd do it! Heh my commiserations