Redcat Racing Volcano EPX 1/10 Scale Electric RC Monster Truck – 4WD RC Truck with 2.4GHz Radio, Waterproof Electronics, 19T Brushed 550 Motor, Battery & Charger, Red

I bought this for Christmas for my son who is 5 years old. I liked it so much I bought myself brushless epx Pro which I have also reviewed and is a fantastic truck as well. He has been running this truck pretty hard (and crashing a lot) for 3 months now and I haven't had to replace anything except the front bumper. I have driving this truck as well and I have definitely bashed it and I have to say it's extremely durable and I don't think you can beat it for the price. Since it's hobby grade you can always upgrade if you want to give it a boost in performance or durability. There are a few things you need to do before you run it for first time and I do have one or two recommendations so here goes: First thing we did before we drove it was set the gear mesh. This step is imperative as it ensures the gears won't strip from being too loose and also ensures if they're not too tight which could burn up the motor or ESC. We really didn't have to do much else out of the box except for charge the battery. I definitely do recommend getting an upgraded charger when you buy this truck they really don't cost that much and they cut your charge time and a half. You're going to run nimh batteries I also recommend getting at least a 3800 mAh battery. I would even go so far as to recommend purchase the battery box as an upgrade and run this with 2s lipo battery, you won't be disappointed, it's a serious performance enhancement. The batteries that was included failed after about 2 weeks and I called Redcat and they told me how to file a warranty claim. Within one week I received not only a new battery but one that was 200mah larger than the one that came in the box with the truck, free upgrades are always cool. One more thing to remember, if you do upgrade to LiPO batteries you need to switch the ESC to Lipo mode by moving the jumper. This will enable the low voltage cutoff so you don't ruin your battery. You can see how to do this by Consulting the ESC manual that is included with the truck. In conclusion I definitely recommend this truck to anyone starting out in RC. You don't have to spend a ton of money to get a really good amount of performance and durability. This is an extremely well-built machine in general but even better when you consider the price point. If they can handle my five-year-old I think I can handle pretty much anything

Great truck! Lots of fun! Excellent entry level RC truck. Have only run it in the snow so far and it's been great. No issues with moisture, yet. Only had it less than a week and already upgraded to a 2S LiPo 4000Mah battery, probably twice the punch and significantly faster top speed than the stock 2000Mah NiMh battery. The stock battery does not last very long and gives kind of poor performance. This version of the Volcano EPX brushed truck has an ESC that is designed to also run 2S LiPo. An almost necessary upgrade. Some of the parts will break if bashed hard, especially if it's cold. I broke a front lower suspension arm the first day, hit something to hard with the front tire. Aluminum upgrades are on the way but meanwhile I repaired it with some thin metal strips and tiny screws and it's probably stronger than the original plastic was. Overall it seems to be a great entry level truck with some potential. It will likely get a brushless system eventually. Also aluminum upgrades, hubs/carriers, suspension etc. The 2.4Ghz controller is pretty good in my limited experience, great range and instant response all the time. Full proportional controls, forward, reverse, left, and right. Steering can be trimmed for straight travel and also for more/less steering force for better control at high speeds. Update 01/30. Broke and axle stub. Seems it may have been defective however from the way I've bashed it maybe not. Still have not installed any aluminum upgrades so far even after putting a brushless 120A ESC and a 3000kv motor on it. On 2s LiPo this a very fun setup, on 3s it is wild crazy fast. (almost fried the Hobby Wing motor on 3s though because it is basically 380 motor internals in a ribbed 540/550 can). Will be upgrading to a full sized 3660 2600kv motor with possibly different gearing.

Although i do like this vehicle, if you are looking for something fast, the brushless version would be a better purchase. Upgrading this is a bit of work, but, the prices for the upgrades, and even for eventually needed repairs, are well worth it compared to some others i have had. Redcat seems to be onto something with their line of less expensive vehicles. I have 3, and, of the three, this one is better suited for younger children, and for those just starting out. It isnt a speed demon by any means, but, out of the box, it will climb small hills, power through snow, can get wet, although i wouldnt recommend running it through more than an inch of water, and even then, only briefly. It is a decent starter vehicle, as the speed is decent, low end power is way more than adequate, parts and repairs arent too difficult compared to most other vehicles by other manufacturers, parts are readily available, whether looking for stock plastic parts, or upgrading to aluminum parts, which come in at least a couple different colors, although, this one they only seem to make a plastic or carbon fiber, but not aluminum, chassis, almost every other part for it can be had in at least blue or purple aluminum. I actually ran this with a Traxxas Titan 12T motor, and a 2S LiPO 5000MAH battery (i wouldnt recommend that combo as a full term upgrade though, due to issues it caused with overheating the motor), which caused it to do some spectacular crashes, and about the only damage i did was to the body posts (the body was off while i was testing and changing things), and, everytime it flipped over, it would slide on the body posts. Other than that, even after jumping it at least 6 feet several times, ramming into a tractor tire, and several other mishaps, it has held up very well. Im sure though that eventually parts will break, since, as many people say, if it didnt break, you didnt run it hard enough. The only complaint i had with it really was that it only comes with a 7.2V 2000MAH NIMH battery, which only lasts about 20 minutes, and takes at least 5 hours to charge using the supplied charger, so, if you are looking to run this for lengthy periods, i would recommend a couple of their 3800MAH batteries and a decent charger.