My faher-in-law had a chance to try a co-workers gas powerd RC truck about a month ago, and he has been talking about the things ever since.  My wife and I would like to get him a 1/10 or 1/8 scale truck for Christmas, but I don't know much about them.  What is a good nitro truck that wont break the bank?  What kind of gear will he need to go with it? How much is it going to cost me (the cheaper the better!?  Any help is greatly appreciated.  Thanks-  Loki

we have several trucks cars and buggies in our neighborhood. ive worked on or built most of them. i would have to say hpi savage in a good truck for the money, easy to work on, and there are tons of goodies out there for them. im guessin appro 400 - 450 for the truck and 200 - 300 for accesories , you will need batteris for controller ,glow plugs, glow plug ignitor( get one with a meter on it ) ,fuel 30 bucks a gal, battery pack and charger for truck, fuel bottle glow ,plug wrench and some basic hand tools.  these are lots of fun, but like anything guys do it can cost lots of money, cant even begin to gueuss how much we have wrapped up in our stuff.

Checkout a local Hobby Shop.  You may want to see what kind he tried out too.  A friend with a similar truck may help him get started and answer questions for him.

Tmaxx is a nice truck. Very durable. Ive smashed mine up a few times and its very cheap to fix.

I own 3 TMaxx trucks. Bought for close to $500 each.

If hes new and has nothing, add about $100-$150 to the price of the r/c for fuel, batteries, spare parts and a tote box.

f-ing money pit...got 3 of them

Go with a T-Maxx over the popular Savage truck, Ive got one and I've litterally driven it off of my tailgate of my truck (F-150 8" lift, 39" tires)
Byrd

Team Losi XXXT NT
I'm a Losi guy

LOSI LST2

Stay away from the savage and tmaxx shit, it's just that.......shit

The LST2 will run ya about 550$ for the ready to run package and is far superior to all thats mentioned above.

IF he might ever want to race it, look more towards the truggies like the losi 8ight T or Mugen MBX5t

I`m gonna say Hpi Savage, good quality parts, durable and easy to fix/maintain. It`s one of the toughest nitro trucks out there, especially if he wants to ride over jumps and rough stuff. I still have my Savage sitting on the shelf, altough i havent used the truck  for over 2 years. Other rc truck I used to have was Ofna Dominator, handling was alot better (low center of gravity and built on a buggy platform) but it broke parts fast and new ones were hard/expensive to get.  But anyways...whatever you gonna choose, stay away from rare and exotic stuff because it might be hard to find replacement parts and nitro rc-s  need them on regular basis.

Be prepared for the RC truck money pit


I have a Jato and a HPI savage and have spent more money on them in the last 2 years then I have maintaining my 2007 F150, 1995 Jeep Cherokee, and 1997 explorer all put together.



Broken parts and hop ups on RC stuff adds up, just like AR15 stuff :)  Everything from engine blocks, clutches, diffs,  brake rotors.  It is all the same as in a real vehicle.  One summer I went through 3 engine blocks.

Sure is fun though.

Thanks for all the help so far guys.  When I was talking to my wife about this gift idea I said "I should post this on AR15.com.  I bet I can get a ton of info there."  Her reply was "why would you post about RC stuff on a gun site?"  Haha...she has no idea what kind of shit you can learn on this site! Anyway, thanks for all the great info so far.  It sounds like this can get adictive, but hey, everyone needs a vice or 2.  keep the info coming!