RC Truck Up and Running

Today I took my Traxxas Stampede XL-5 out of the cupboard and ran a few battery packs through it.  I haven’t ran it in awhile and I didn’t keep the batteries charged properly so one of them didn’t last that long.  I tried to shoot some video but I realized it was impossible to drive and shoot at the same time.  I also have a few upgrades I bought to add onto the truck that I should put on eventually.  I should think about putting a new bigger battery on my Christmas list too.  All my batteries right now are OK 6 Cell batteries and if I get a new one it will be 7 Cell or a really good 6 Cell.

If you’re ever in the mood to go out and buy a remote controlled car or truck I would recommend spending the extra money to get a nice one.  Go to a hobby shop and buy a hobby grade vehicle instead of a toy from some other store.  You can replace the parts that break if you hit a tree or make a jump that’s just a bit too big.  Plus you’ll be able to drive it all over the place without any trouble.  I must have flipped my truck 20 times today trying to jump things and it didn’t phase it a bit so these things are extremely durable.  I have made ramps giving me 15-20 feet of airtime and jumped over a car before without it breaking.  The one time it broke I ran it straight into a curb at almost full speed and it was only a three dollar part to fix it.

So here’s my buying advice.  If I was to buy another one today it would be the Traxxas Stampede VXL.  This is the upgrade to the XL-5 that I have and it is awesome.  It’s electric like the XL-5 but has a brushless motor and an improved ESC (Electronic Speed Controller) making it capable of using LiPo along with NiMh batteries.  It has other improvements also but I’ll leave you with this.  You have the capability of running this truck faster and for a longer period of time.  That’s what everyone wants when they buy an RC Truck right?