First let me start off by saying Im new to RC. I used to.have a Tyco Super Hopper back in the day but nothing like these bad boys.

I live off the grid...litterally solar power during the day....generator at night. But thats fine with me (someday maybe PG&E will run power up to my hill.)
Im a medically retired.disabled Veteran, so income sucks but living 45 minutes away Chico keeps me from flipping out around too many people....that said....

My friend has a Traxxas Slash 2wd (5805) I believe. Its fun for the flat areas around my property but bogs down trying to climb, and the battery life is about 45 minutes x 8 hour charge time, he basically gets to run it once a day.

Im looking for.something along the lines of the Slash...only 4wd. Basically to get me out of the house and bombing around the 7 acres of land My.family owns.

Ive looked online, and I really like the Slash 4wd on paper.
Im not looking to race, and I have read that the.aluminum parts cause.breakage in the plastic parts. So what Im asking is for a good list of beginer 4wd trucks, that can handle the type.of stupidity a former US Army Infantryman did with his M1126 Stryker ICV. Oh and a list of sites and possible upgrades for either model.

Sorry for the wall of text. Thanks in advance.

Hi SSG I am a SGT in the Army 12B combat engineer. For what you want I would go with a Traxxas Rustler VXL or a 4x4 stampede VXL. Also there are much faster chargers out there. You can be up and running in less than an hour. Go lipo for longer run times. The list of upgrades for the slash rustler and pede are dang near endless. Also these trucks will take a solid beating. Trust me I take mine to local skate parks.

I would go SLASH 4X4 VXL and use one of these codes to save some money!

If Your Order Totals YOU SAVE
$100.00 - $149.99 $10.00 011R1
$150.00 - $199.99 $20.00 011R2
$200.00 - $249.99 $25.00 011R3
$250.00 - $299.99 $30.00 011R4
$300.00 - $349.99 $40.00 011R5
$350.00 - $399.99 $45.00 011R6
$400.00 or more $50.00 011R7
enter code at checkout. You can also use the easy pay plan on this and allot more items where you only pay 1/3rd in 3 equal monthly payments. You can get allot more up front with easy pay because of the low start up cost. This code may still $50.00 off $300.00 011N7 instead of $400.00
Good Luck and Thank you so much for serving our Country.
Mike

Originally Posted by slim_chance

Hi SSG I am a SGT in the Army 12B combat engineer. For what you want I would go with a Traxxas Rustler VXL or a 4x4 stampede VXL. Also there are much faster chargers out there. You can be up and running in less than an hour. Go lipo for longer run times. The list of upgrades for the slash rustler and pede are dang near endless. Also these trucks will take a solid beating. Trust me I take mine to local skate parks.

I would suggest the Stampede 4x4 over the Slash 4x4. More ground clearance will help with rougher terrain.

So, I got a Slash 4wd vxl....awesome little truck, I havent done anything such as jumps just running it on the trails around the.horse pasture. I have noticed some excess moist dirt (lots of fine moon dust around here) caking the top of my front left shock. The Army calls this a a class 1 one leak and the course of action is to keep.an eye on it to see if drops form (class 2) or steady flow (class 3) since these are.much smaller shocks then I am used to should I be worried? Any tips on some better then stock shocks etc I should look at replacing? And do the replacement parts have install guides? Also im not planning on running lipos ever....where I live in the summer a small fire can become a big fire in a minute and a big fire.could be a few hundred acres in a day. so im runnin the stock 3000MAH and I purchased two 4000MAH batteries...i found a few NiMH battery chargers from traxxas but they both state they are trickle chargers does that mean they will charge at about 8 hours like the.cheesey one that came.with the car?

Hey SSG House. Thank you so much for your service. I sm also former Army, infantry mortar platoon. Yes, trickle chargers take hours. Quick chargers are 15 minutes, and peak chargers are about 15-20 minutes. The advantage of a peak charger is they geve the cells a nice even charge which will give you slightly longer run times, but also extend the overall life of the battery.

SSG Duxbury.

Lipos aren't bad if you know what your doing...
I would suggest a different charger. One that charges at 5 amps. That would be less than an hr charge time...