Some newb questions about electric savages

So I'm looking into getting my 7 y.o. his own savage and after realizing how much of a PITA a nitro (at least k59) can be I think I'd like to go electric for him. But what i wanted to know most of all is, I heard with a castle link or something of that sort the truck speed can be governed. Is that true? That last thing i want to do is put a 7 year old in charge of an 11lbs rocket that does 50+, so if i could govern'd it down to about 5-10mph and make it faster as he gets older that would be AWESOME! I'd also like to know what savage would be least expensive to buy and repair, most durable, and easiest to work on. Thanks in advance for the help mates.

I was in the same situtaion a couple months back. I got him a wheely king. He really likes it, when its running. Total PITA. HPI is selling that truck as a platform for a rockcrawler and nothing else. I have had a servo go out, the three channel radio is crap, the steering links are crap and the spur went out in an hour (although that was my fault). Dont get the wheely king for a seven year old.

Even if you get a truck that can be governed down to 5mph, 11 lbs at 5 mph can still break a seven year olds ankle. Besides that 5mph will be to slow to be fun.

My boy wanted a monster truck so something like a SC was really out of the question. So what you need to find is something that weighs alot less than a savage, not so much alot slower. If he doesnt mind a sc than I would go more that route if they weigh less. Something in the 1/10 scale. Thats what my boys wheely king is (I think). Its alot smaller than my XL but he still likes it ( I am just glad he is patient enough to have the downtime)

If I could do it all over again I would find the lightest pan chassis monster truck I could find and put a decent brushed electric setup on it.

One thing I can tell you is that the transmitter needs to be durable. As much so as the truck. I swapped out my boys three channel for the two channel out of my XL that I replaced with a FlySky. My truck is nitro and I was able to rebind and set the failsafe at neutral instead of break and it works just fine for electric. The going price for them if you shop is 25$

So your main specs to look for is low weight, around 25 max speed that can be governed, and EASY TO WORK ON. The less parts the better. If its 4 wheel drive than the front and rear bulks need to have the same parts (Starting to sound like a savage). I think the LST is a pan chassis monster truck and Duratrax made one also.

And you got to consider batteries. I bought two 6cell NiMh sticks for 35 each for the 5000 mah rating. They last about 30-40 min in the wheely king, and take about an hour to charge on an onyx charger which was also around 30. Also dont forget the weight of the batteries when installed in the truck.

Its a rather hard age to buy for, hes not old enough for a big truck, but he is old enough to want something more than a walmart toy otherwise it wouldnt be fun.

What I am doing is building a second nitro savage for him to drive while we bash together, and try to keep that wheelyking together so he has something while I am not around.

Hope all that helps some. PM me if needed.

Oh also the wheely king is getting the bugs out and he actually got alot of run time this weekend till some screws fell out that I replaced when he got home. And the upside is when he gets older he can build a crawler out of it if he wants so its not a total waste. But man it is no fun to work on thats for sure. I would rather tear down my savage twice than pull the tranny on that thing.

I hear everything that your saying, and i appreciate the input. I have looked at the wheely king but IMO it looks cheap and i fear soon the parts may be hard to come by. I would really like to get him something like the xs rtr but 65mph is insane if i could get it down to at most 15 i think he'd be fine. I have let him bash my xl and he has excellent control, my only fear is him getting a little overzealous and putting it into a wall or something of value that's not mine Shocked

at full speed. Is it possible to swap out the motor for some cheap p.o.s. from radio shack or something?

The settings on different Castle esc's may be different, all I have are the Mamba Monsters. Through the Castle link you can go to *power* and it'll let you reduce it down to 30%. You could also run the smallest pinion that will mesh with whatever spur the particular truck has.

I'd look to find him a Savage now. Excellent parts support, tough, and can grow along with him. Toss on a cheapo brushless motor and esc if you wish, something that will run on 2s or 3s and run in parallel instead of series ...

Pick up a blitz, tough as nails. Perfect starter truck IMO if 4X4 isn't necessary.

Ill tell ya, I have an XL build coming up soon out of spare parts and if I knew I could build it with a seven year old in mind I certiantly would. Maybe I need to do more research on it. But everytime I think about it the weight just kills the idea. As squid said a blitz would be great if it doesnt need to be a MT. That was one of the ones I was considering, but he just had to have a MT.

I would prefer a 4wd mt but if the blitz fits the bill in durability and ease of operation and repair and isn't too fast then thst suits me fine. I also like the price, found them for like 210$

Which blitz? The maxxis, ese, short corse?

Which blitz? The maxxis, ese, short corse?

Just get the kid a XS or an HP and a castle link. Just don't let him at it without a little de tuning!

-DT-


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