Show notes — SNU

First for this week, Holmes Hobbies just dropped a new motor, the Puller Pro R 540-L V2. This is on their rock crawler side. Now, it's a 540-L size, so that's the long can style that a lot of crawler guys run for that low end torque. This one comes in two different kv options. You've got a 2100kv and then a 6000kv, so depending on how you want to gear it, you can go for a slow, you know, controlled crawl, or if you've got a bouncier rig and want a little more speed out of it, the 6000 is there for that. So you're kind of picking based on the type of driving you're doing rather than the price, because both of these versions come in at $74.99, which is the same no matter which kv you go with. I like that they didn't charge more for one over the other. Now, this is a V2, so there was a version one of this floating around already. I don't know 100% what all changed between the two, but it's the same general deal, the long can crawler motor in the Puller Pro line. That Puller Pro name is one you've probably seen if you've been around crawling for a while. And these are, you know, brushed motors in that classic form factor, so if you've got a rig running one of these already you can pretty much drop this right in without much fuss. Both kv options are listed as available now over on holmeshobbies.com, and there's a link down in the description below with the details on both versions if you want to dig into the specs a little more. Cool new option from Holmes on the crawler side.

Next, Boom Racing's back with another BRX02 kit, but this time it's a 6x6, which is kind of the interesting part here. We've seen the BRX02 kits with hard bodies before, like the Series III Land Rover pickup a while back, but this is a new 6x6 variant, not just another body dropped on the same chassis. They've paired it with the D110 6x6 pickup hard body, so it's got that scale truck look with six wheels underneath it. Now, to do the six wheels they built new axles just for this, the BRX90 PHAT axles, and these are a pass-thru design with heavy duty steel helical keyed gears. The pass-thru is what lets them run power back to that third axle, so it's not, you know, a bolted-on afterthought. It's rolling on six 1.9 inch 16-hole steelies with the Maxgrappler GEKKO tires, which is a solid tire right off the bat. The chassis is the BRX02 Link platform, but stretched out with extensions and high clearance links to make room for that extra axle back there. You've got KUDU steel CVD driveshafts and their 90mm coil-over scale shocks, so it's a proper built out chassis, not just an extra axle hanging off the back. Price on this one is $879 for the complete kit with the hard body, and that's before you add a motor, ESC, radio, or a battery, so keep that in mind if you're budgeting out a 6x6 build. They do have optional upgrades if you want to go that route, the Hobbywing ESC and motor combos, the Sense Innovations S10 radios, and Boom Racing's own LiPo packs. So you can kind of spec it out how you want. I believe it's a build-it-yourself kit through and through, so plan for some bench time on this one. Pretty cool looking 6x6 for the scale crawler crowd.

New this week from Axial, they've got another SCX10 III out, but this one's the Builder's Kit version. So no body, no wheels, no tires, no electronics, none of that, it's just the rolling chassis basically. And that's kind of the whole point of this one. This is for the guys who already have a box of parts laying around, or you want to run a totally custom body and drivetrain setup instead of being stuck with whatever comes in the RTR box. You're still getting the latest SCX10 III chassis stuff baked in, so all the current performance updates are there, you're just not paying for a body and electronics that a lot of you are gonna rip off anyway. Now, we've talked about the SCX10 III a bunch on the show, the Toyota SR5, the CJ-7 body set, but those were RTRs or body sets. This is the first time I've seen them do it as a true builder's kit, so it's kind of a new angle on a platform we already know is good. And honestly this is a smart deal, because a lot of scale guys buy the RTR just to tear into it and swap the body and electronics for their own stuff, so this pretty much cuts out that middleman. You start with the blank canvas and you build the rig you actually want, the body you want, the tires you want, run your own servo and motor and all that. I don't have pricing or a release date on this one yet, so I'll keep an eye out, because I know some of you have been wanting exactly this kind of bare SCX10 III to start from. If you're into the whole builder side of crawling, this is the kind of platform you want to build off of.

Next, staying with Axial, they brought back the SCX10 III Jeep CJ-7, but now it's a V2 and it's an RTR this time. We actually talked about a CJ-7 body set from Axial a little while back, but that was just the body. This is the whole rig, brushed RTR, ready to run out of the box. Now, it's not just a fresh coat of paint on the old one. They went and upgraded the electronics in this version, so you're getting an improved platform, not the exact same deal as before. And this is built on the SCX10 III chassis, which is what most of their trail crawlers run, so performance-wise you kind of know what you're getting there. The CJ-7 itself is just an iconic body style, one of the most recognizable Jeeps ever made, and it's fully licensed, so you get the real Jeep badging and the scale detail work rather than some knockoff shape. They did some new scale detailing on this version too. But the thing I keep coming back to on this one is the Laredo-inspired Copper Brown color they went with. If you know your Jeeps at all, the Laredo was just an iconic look, and they did a pretty good job matching that here. It's got, you know, that warm brown tone that reads really well on the trail body. So it's the same trail-ready platform you'd expect, just wrapped up in that classic CJ-7 look. I don't have pricing information on this one yet, at least nothing I saw on the page. But if you passed on the original CJ-7 and you liked the shape, this Laredo version in the Copper Brown has to be one of the better looking SCX10 III RTRs they've put out.

New this week from RC4WD, they've got the C2X Class 2 Competition Truck out now. This one comes with the Mojave II body, and it's the four door version this time. Now if you're not familiar with class 2 competition crawling, that's a whole different animal than your normal rock crawler class. The rules on class 2 usually mean you're running bigger tires, more aggressive suspension, and the thing is built for speed over the rocks, you know, not just creeping along at a walking pace. So it's more of that rock racer style than a scale trail rig. RC4WD has done a bunch of these Mojave bodies in the past, but this four door version is new to me. I don't think I've seen it in this configuration before. You've had the Arrma Mojave BLX out there, and that big 6S trophy truck Mojave, so that body shape gets used a whole lot, and this brand clearly likes it. The body drops onto the C2X competition chassis, which is set up for that class 2 format. I don't have all the specs in front of me on the suspension geometry, but built for that competition scene is the whole idea here. It's a longer, wider looking truck, which fits the four door body, and it's got that competition rock racer look going on. I don't have pricing information on this one yet, at least nothing I saw jump out on the page. If you're into that competition crawling scene where you're actually running a class and not just bashing around the backyard, this is a good looking option and it's listed on the RC4WD store page as available now.

Another one on the competition side from RC4WD, they've dropped the Bully II MOA Competition Crawler Kit. So this is a full chassis kit, you're building this thing yourself, not an RTR deal. And that kit form is actually cool for what this is aimed at, because comp crawling, tuning is everything, and building it yourself you kind of learn the platform inside and out. That matters more in comp than it would on a trail rig you're just, you know, bashing around with. Now this is a dedicated competition rig, not a scale trail crawler, and those two are pretty different animals. Comp crawling has its own suspension geometry, different priorities, so having a chassis built specifically for that rather than hacking up a trail truck makes sense. It's on their MOA setup, which is motor on axle, so a motor at each end. And we talked about RC4WD's competition crawling tires a little while back, so it looks like they're kind of filling out the whole comp side of things, the tires and now a chassis to run them on. If you're into comp crawling and you've been wanting something purpose-built instead of converting some trail rig over, this is worth a look. I don't have pricing on this one, no price listed on the page that I saw, so keep an eye out for that if you're wanting to pull the trigger. It is listed as available now on the RC4WD store, kit form only.

Next for this week, RC4WD is back at it with another Trail Finder 2 RTR, this time wearing the Mojave II Crawler Body Set. Now, we've talked about the TF2 platform before, back a while ago we covered the RTR version with the 4Runner body on it. So the chassis here, nothing new mechanically as far as I can tell, it's the same TF2 setup that's been a really solid crawler for a long time. What's new is the body. The Mojave II is kind of a different look, more of that desert prerunner truck vibe, but you know, still with those crawler proportions to it. And scale looks are really the thing RC4WD hangs their hat on, so I'd expect the Mojave II body to have all the little details, the mirrors, the hardware, all of that fitted from the factory. This is kind of the RC4WD move we've seen a bunch of times, take the same platform and give you a new body option on top of it. So if you already own a TF2, you don't really need this one. But if you're shopping for your first TF2, the body choice might be what tips you one way or the other. I didn't see pricing on the page yet that I saw, but I'd be curious where it lands compared to the 4Runner version, RC4WD usually keeps these pretty consistent across the body swaps, so I don't imagine it's a huge jump. The Mojave II body I believe has been available as an accessory set for a bit, but this is the full RTR pairing with it, ready to run out of the box. Pretty cool option if that desert truck look is what you're after.

Last one for the week comes from Boom Racing, and this is the BRX02 chassis kit for the Team Raffee D110, that station wagon and pickup hard body. And they actually put out two versions of this. There's a link suspension version and then a leaf spring version, so you can go either way depending on how you want the thing to flex out on the trail. We covered the original BRX02 chassis kit a good while back, so this is them adding these two options for that D110 body. Now, both of them come with that BCF2 two-speed transmission, so you got a Hi-Lo deal there, a crawler gear and then a higher gear for when you want to move a little bit more on the trail. It's also got the SRD anti-torque transfer case in there. The chassis rails, this is the part I'd point out, they went to 6mm aluminum on these instead of the carbon fiber, so it should hold up a little better if you're beating on it. You get the BRX90 high-pinion PHAT axles with the AR44 helical gears, the KUDU 90mm coilover shocks, steel CVD driveshafts, all the scale crawler stuff you'd want at this level. Price on it is $635 for either the link or the leaf spring version, which for that much hardware isn't bad, and there's a whole bunch of optional combos on top of that if you want the ESC, motor, radio, battery all sorted out. The leaf spring one is also RECON G6 certified, I believe. And the other thing here, they've got a new warehouse open in Arizona now, so if you're in the US the shipping on these should be quicker than it used to be.