Buggy Suggestions

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Buggy Basher

Buggy Basher

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Hello all, I know this is a beat up Horse but I'm leaning towards the Rovan or King Motors 1/5 Buggy. I see both are similiar and I know with upgrades they can both be a lot better. Whats some opinions on which platform would be the better choice to start with. I see the King Motors is a bit more expensive but still within budget. Thanks.
 
Welcome to the forum 👍🏻
If you buy a cheap car expect to go through a butt ton of teething issues
Before you can run tank after tank🤔👍🏻
Good reliable car can cost 2k in the end.
There is nothing like cheap or quick fixes🤔
And please feel free to ask us our opinions 👍🏻 and enjoy the best 1/5 forum
Ps must have thick skin round these parts🤣😉👍🏻
 
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dougstar said:
Good reliable car can cost 2k in the end.
There is nothing like cheap or quick fixes
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Best advice I've ever heard. However if you are HARD set on getting a baja probably getting peice by peice over time could be your best bet if you want the absolute most reliable baja. I considered doing that for my 2nd baja but then caved and bought a roller from King Motors which reminded me how many upgrades these things need before they become reliable again. Really comes down to budget, 5th scales ain't cheap man.

Here's a post about the Kraken 2wd. Not much is known yet. https://www.largescaleforums.com/threads/krakens-new-1-5-scale.26784/
 
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Hello and welcome.

I run a KM Baja, well that's what it started out as. You can get good clones and bad ones, and it doesn't seem to matter too much on brand with Baja clones. It's luck of the draw. I've put plenty of money into mine and it still looks stock.
My advise would be if your going for Rovan or KM, expect stuff to break like the servo's and maybe even the engines. The plastics are a lot better now than they used to be, as stuff breaks upgrade. Also aluminium isn't always an upgrade from Nylon.
If its your first 5th scale remember to fit a remote kill switch to the engine and do the fluid check before taking for its first run.
Also have fun with it.
 
KevTrem said:
Hello and welcome.

I run a KM Baja, well that's what it started out as. You can get good clones and bad ones, and it doesn't seem to matter too much on brand with Baja clones. It's luck of the draw. I've put plenty of money into mine and it still looks stock.
My advise would be if your going for Rovan or KM, expect stuff to break like the servo's and maybe even the engines. The plastics are a lot better now than they used to be, as stuff breaks upgrade. Also aluminium isn't always an upgrade from Nylon.
If its your first 5th scale remember to fit a remote kill switch to the engine and do the fluid check before taking for its first run.
Also have fun with it.
Click to expand...
When I decided to get into 1/5 scale, I wanted a roller to put in my own motor and servos. Even the HPi had cheap 2 bolt cyclinder motors and servos that didnt last, that werent cheap to replace if you bought their parts. HPi doesn't make rollers. Their Baja Buggy kit was $900, with questionable motor/carbs and servos. The used HPi buggies I saw were around $450 and were trashed. Nothing wrong with a KM roller, I paid $300 for a roller. Drop in a new Zen from DDM, a good pipe, your servos and have fun. Check out my pics. I bought mine about 6 years ago. Its been rolled, flipped many times, nothing broke. All will break if you hit something, its plastic. Regardless of what others say, parts are cheap for being a 1/5 scale. Just watch what you buy if you buy KM parts. I tend not to. DDM and others have good parts from other manufacturers. Its not a Traxxas X Maxx for huge jumps, it will break. Its not made for that.
 
jbl302 said:
When I decided to get into 1/5 scale, I wanted a roller to put in my own motor and servos. Even the HPi had cheap 2 bolt cyclinder motors and servos that didnt last, that werent cheap to replace if you bought their parts. HPi doesn't make rollers. Their Baja Buggy kit was $900, with questionable motor/carbs and servos. The used HPi buggies I saw were around $450 and were trashed. Nothing wrong with a KM roller, I paid $300 for a roller. Drop in a new Zen from DDM, a good pipe, your servos and have fun. Check out my pics. I bought mine about 6 years ago. Its been rolled, flipped many times, nothing broke. All will break if you hit something, its plastic. Regardless of what others say, parts are cheap for being a 1/5 scale. Just watch what you buy if you buy KM parts. I tend not to. DDM and others have good parts from other manufacturers. Its not a Traxxas X Maxx for huge jumps, it will break. Its not made for that.
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I mean you have a pretty good attitude about it. This was my experience aswell. I kept my rovan baja stock and had minimal issues. All my plastic parts are about 3 years old. It was only until I dropped in more power did I need to start really upgrading almost every single component.
 
If you isnsist on going rovan or km there are some things you should know. First off they are mostly hit or miss, you may get a "good" one or a bad one. If you get a "good" one they are just ok. I got a rovan and think I got a "good" one. Stock rovan servos are :poop: . Stock rovan engine lasted me just over a year, replaced with g320. Stock driveshafts are eh, broke one, we shall see how it holds up to the g320. After a few runs, due to loctite on the diff screws, housing separated and damaged the diff. Had clutch bolt come loose. Stock shocks kinda suck. First thing to do out of the box is loctite all metal to metal and oil the filter.
 
RcJunkie13 said:
If you isnsist on going rovan or km there are some things you should know. First off they are mostly hit or miss, you may get a "good" one or a bad one. If you get a "good" one they are just ok. I got a rovan and think I got a "good" one. Stock rovan servos are :poop: . Stock rovan engine lasted me just over a year, replaced with g320. Stock driveshafts are eh, broke one, we shall see how it holds up to the g320. After a few runs, due to loctite on the diff screws, housing separated and damaged the diff. Had clutch bolt come loose. Stock shocks kinda suck. First thing to do out of the box is loctite all metal to metal and oil the filter.
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Yep seems about right. I feel like we should get together and make a sticky about rovan experiences from verified owners. Maybe even get a few videos out there.

They aren't going away we might aswell get a super thread going about what people can expect out the box. I know ppl can just search it up here but they rarely do. Might help people make better decisions.
 
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