I am likely not the average purchaser of one of these RC vehicles. I am 62 years old. I have been working on mechanical things since I was a kid. Starting with my bicycles to cars to motorcycles, building my own computers for over two decades, built a number of complicated electronic components from kits, and even taught some basic auto repair classes. I use to build my own bicycle wheels and had a personal bicycle repair shop in my home when I was riding and racing a lot. I now work as a self-employed graphic artist and have created and edited a number of owners manuals and repair procedures in the coffee industry.
If you are looking for a quality RC vehicle that can be repaired and you want to operate it mainly in the dirt, this is likely an excellent choice; at least I found it to be so. So why did a 62 year old get this anyway? I have a German Shepherd puppy and he can already outrun me so I know I will be needing something to exercise him.
DOG MATH Natural ball drive + remote control vehicle = big chase fun and healthy dog.
Now, I mentioned that I create owner’s manuals and I did so for a reason. This doesn’t have one. Sure it comes with the usual warnings and some basic help and simple troubleshooting list, but there was NOTHING about the remote control included. Nothing about how to disassemble parts. They tell you that the bearings need lubrication but do not show you where they are actually located except for an exploded parts diagram that you have to sort of figure out on your own. No step-by-step illustrations on even the simplest of tasks like removing a wheel to lube the axle bearings. What size tools? You guess! A 7mm socket, a 1.5 and 2mm hex bit, and a No.1 and 2 Phillips IIRC. Yes they sell a toolkit, but no, it does not come with any tools at all (other than the plug to bind the remote to the receiver in the car, just in case- mine was ready to go when I received it so I did not use it).
Here is an example: The truck ran great at first but on that first day my car began making a gear grinding noise. I diagnosed it as a too-close fit between the pinion and spur gear. They discuss this in the manual and show the motor and drive assembly removed from the vehicle. Unfortunately they do not tell you what tool to use and the one photo shows the motor/gear assembly removed from the truck. So? The illustration is not from this truck and you can make the adjustment to the fit between the gears without removing the assembly if you have the right tools. What tools? Viscious circle here, no?
They tell you to run the antenna up through the roof and they include a plastic tube to keep the antenna wire stiff but there is no hole in the roof and no info on where to punch it. I choose to just bend the tube a bit and leave it under the shell to avoid weakening the body (or poking the puppy).
I went to the Redcat Racing website and looked up the videos on the electric vehicles. A good number of the videos in the electric vehicles area concerning gas vehicles and even the videos on the remote did not show the remote that came with my truck although if you watch through them there is enough generic info that will apply and give some help.
It came with what appears to be shock spring spacers to adjust the spring preload- four thin and four thick spacers. Two problems with that: first, this truck has eight shocks so if you want to use the same size spaces on all of them, sorry.. I stated that I assumed that is what they are. I looked over the parts diagram twice and the upgrade parts and did not see these parts listed nor described anywhere. Thew manual does state that to adjust ride height you move the top spring collar up or down, but it doesn’t tell you how to do that either.
Do we see a pattern here? If you are handy with tools and the sort of person that other people come to when something needs repairing, and you are organized enough and careful enough to deal with quite a number of little (dare I say, tiny) parts, you will likely do fine in the long run. I am the kind of person who lives for seeing “Assembly required” on the box. While this truck comes ready to go (once the battery is charged and you supply the 8 AA cells for the remote), repair will be something you should learn, if for no other reason than for maintenance purposes.
OK enough complaining… The good stuff is that this thing is quite tough, particularly compared to the cheap toy-store RC vehicles. The front and rear bumpers really work well (he says with beginner’s embarrassment) and it is fast enough to make it not a kid’s or beginner’s “toy.” I was running it in large circles with a wide-open throttle this morning in the dirt and had to stop for the dust cloud it raised. With a fully-charged battery it is good entertainment.
Be aware that the battery it comes with is an 1800mAh pack. The truck’s…
For the reviewer who had trouble with their car, I think that is the exception. The couple of Redcat cars we’ve got have worked great out of the box. These are much higher quality cars than you would get from a toy store. Go look how much it is to get a Traxxas. The Volcano is certainly a very good deal since this will run out of the box. If something breaks on this car, you can fix it. If you want to make the car better, you can buy better parts for it. I’d certainly recommend a Redcat to someone getting into the hobby. They are cheap and good quality. I don’t believe they require any more maintenance work than any other hobby level RC car. My 6yr old trashes his Volcano and it’s never broke. Note that at some point you will likely want a faster car, and then you’ll be looking at brushless motors, new chargers, new batteries, etc…. From what I’ve read in other reviews, the Volcano may not be the best car for those (expensive) upgrades, but otherwise it is a very nice car.
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This review is from: Redcat Racing Volcano EPX Electric Truck, Blue/Silver, 1/10 Scale (Toy)
For $130, this truck is plenty fast and very durable.
I have been bashing it hard almost every day for 2 to 4 battery packs (10-15 minutes each) for the past few months.
It has been flipped, cartwheeled, crashed, spun and rolled over more times than I can count. The body is scraped up but still intact.
I think running these kind of plastic toys in warmer weather helps them be more flexible when you crash rather than just snapping. If you live in a cold climate, you’ll have to be more careful than someone who lives in the tropics.
So far I’ve replaced the stock motor which lasted two months of heavy abuse with the slightly faster Redcat 550 19 turn motor.
I’ve also had to replace the two front hub carriers due to some hard jumping from a garage roof and over a plywood ramp a few feet down on to grass. The bottom screws stripped out of the holes. I was able to temporarily fix them with some Crazy Glue while waiting for the aluminum parts to arrive.
Overall, this truck is a great value for the money and I’ve been having a lot of fun with it.
I think my next R/C vehicle purchase will be the Redcat Racing Blackout XTE Pro since I’d like to upgrade to the faster brushless motor and Lipo battery experience.
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Here’s a different perspective,
I am likely not the average purchaser of one of these RC vehicles. I am 62 years old. I have been working on mechanical things since I was a kid. Starting with my bicycles to cars to motorcycles, building my own computers for over two decades, built a number of complicated electronic components from kits, and even taught some basic auto repair classes. I use to build my own bicycle wheels and had a personal bicycle repair shop in my home when I was riding and racing a lot. I now work as a self-employed graphic artist and have created and edited a number of owners manuals and repair procedures in the coffee industry.
If you are looking for a quality RC vehicle that can be repaired and you want to operate it mainly in the dirt, this is likely an excellent choice; at least I found it to be so. So why did a 62 year old get this anyway? I have a German Shepherd puppy and he can already outrun me so I know I will be needing something to exercise him.
DOG MATH
Natural ball drive + remote control vehicle = big chase fun and healthy dog.
Now, I mentioned that I create owner’s manuals and I did so for a reason. This doesn’t have one. Sure it comes with the usual warnings and some basic help and simple troubleshooting list, but there was NOTHING about the remote control included. Nothing about how to disassemble parts. They tell you that the bearings need lubrication but do not show you where they are actually located except for an exploded parts diagram that you have to sort of figure out on your own. No step-by-step illustrations on even the simplest of tasks like removing a wheel to lube the axle bearings. What size tools? You guess! A 7mm socket, a 1.5 and 2mm hex bit, and a No.1 and 2 Phillips IIRC. Yes they sell a toolkit, but no, it does not come with any tools at all (other than the plug to bind the remote to the receiver in the car, just in case- mine was ready to go when I received it so I did not use it).
Here is an example: The truck ran great at first but on that first day my car began making a gear grinding noise. I diagnosed it as a too-close fit between the pinion and spur gear. They discuss this in the manual and show the motor and drive assembly removed from the vehicle. Unfortunately they do not tell you what tool to use and the one photo shows the motor/gear assembly removed from the truck. So? The illustration is not from this truck and you can make the adjustment to the fit between the gears without removing the assembly if you have the right tools. What tools? Viscious circle here, no?
They tell you to run the antenna up through the roof and they include a plastic tube to keep the antenna wire stiff but there is no hole in the roof and no info on where to punch it. I choose to just bend the tube a bit and leave it under the shell to avoid weakening the body (or poking the puppy).
I went to the Redcat Racing website and looked up the videos on the electric vehicles. A good number of the videos in the electric vehicles area concerning gas vehicles and even the videos on the remote did not show the remote that came with my truck although if you watch through them there is enough generic info that will apply and give some help.
It came with what appears to be shock spring spacers to adjust the spring preload- four thin and four thick spacers. Two problems with that: first, this truck has eight shocks so if you want to use the same size spaces on all of them, sorry.. I stated that I assumed that is what they are. I looked over the parts diagram twice and the upgrade parts and did not see these parts listed nor described anywhere. Thew manual does state that to adjust ride height you move the top spring collar up or down, but it doesn’t tell you how to do that either.
Do we see a pattern here? If you are handy with tools and the sort of person that other people come to when something needs repairing, and you are organized enough and careful enough to deal with quite a number of little (dare I say, tiny) parts, you will likely do fine in the long run. I am the kind of person who lives for seeing “Assembly required” on the box. While this truck comes ready to go (once the battery is charged and you supply the 8 AA cells for the remote), repair will be something you should learn, if for no other reason than for maintenance purposes.
OK enough complaining… The good stuff is that this thing is quite tough, particularly compared to the cheap toy-store RC vehicles. The front and rear bumpers really work well (he says with beginner’s embarrassment) and it is fast enough to make it not a kid’s or beginner’s “toy.” I was running it in large circles with a wide-open throttle this morning in the dirt and had to stop for the dust cloud it raised. With a fully-charged battery it is good entertainment.
Be aware that the battery it comes with is an 1800mAh pack. The truck’s…
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|Best buy for the money,
Note that at some point you will likely want a faster car, and then you’ll be looking at brushless motors, new chargers, new batteries, etc…. From what I’ve read in other reviews, the Volcano may not be the best car for those (expensive) upgrades, but otherwise it is a very nice car.
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|Fast & Durable – Great value for the money.,
I have been bashing it hard almost every day for 2 to 4 battery packs (10-15 minutes each) for the past few months.
It has been flipped, cartwheeled, crashed, spun and rolled over more times than I can count. The body is scraped up but still intact.
I think running these kind of plastic toys in warmer weather helps them be more flexible when you crash rather than just snapping. If you live in a cold climate, you’ll have to be more careful than someone who lives in the tropics.
So far I’ve replaced the stock motor which lasted two months of heavy abuse with the slightly faster Redcat 550 19 turn motor.
I’ve also had to replace the two front hub carriers due to some hard jumping from a garage roof and over a plywood ramp a few feet down on to grass. The bottom screws stripped out of the holes. I was able to temporarily fix them with some Crazy Glue while waiting for the aluminum parts to arrive.
Overall, this truck is a great value for the money and I’ve been having a lot of fun with it.
I think my next R/C vehicle purchase will be the Redcat Racing Blackout XTE Pro since I’d like to upgrade to the faster brushless motor and Lipo battery experience.
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