The Story Of My Rustler

It all started back during Christmas Season in 2012. My mom wanted to know what I wanted for Christmas, and I told her I didn't really know; I didn't want anything specific. One day she said, "Well you have this $50 gift card to the hobby shop." So she took me to the hobby shop to take a look around.

We were looking and I was immediately drawn to the RC section. There were so many different cars and planes and everything else; I wanted one. But then I saw the price tags... $200, $300, $500, plus dollars just for an RC!!! I was in shock! I never realized how expensive they were or that this was actually cheap compared to some of the prices for other RCs out there. Previously, I had no experience with RCs, but now I would begin the journey of getting into RCs...

As my mom talked to the shop owner about which car would be the right choice, I looked at the different models. Most were all Traxxas models, and the owner suggested starting off small with the Rustler XL-5. Now I had no knowledge of anything RC at this point, or that the XL-5 was the very basic model, so we bought it.

My mom made me wait until Christmas to open it, so during the next week or so before Christmas, I spent a lot of time doing RC research and familiarizing myself with everything about RC. I learned pretty much the basic gist of what was going on and decided that I would indeed be going brushless in the future.

Christmas came and I drove the XL-5 for the very first time.

Wow! I had never driven such a fast car! Now I realize that going 20 mph on-road isn't exactly "fast" compared to RC standards... but still this was my first time and I was amazed!!!


So I drove a few times before the inevitable happened. Yes, the front castor block broke. This first breaking of a part started the upgrading journey:

I had done enough research to know that you can find many more parts for cheaper prices online rather than at the LHS, so I bought STRC aluminum castor blocks for the front of my Rusty off of Amazon.

After a few more weeks of driving, I hit the point of no return. I had decided to go brushless. Many hours of research led to the decision to get the Castle Creations Sidewinder 3 ESC (Remember, I am only 15 and any upgrades to this thing came out of MY pocket, not my parents) because it was affordable, performed well, and was waterproof. I also bought the Neu-Castle 1410 series 3800kv motor because it was only slightly more expensive than the motor that came in the ESC/Motor combo. Altogether, I paid $120 for the two off of eBay. I knew I wanted to make this Rustly for off-road use, because on-road can, well, get boring.

I had already installed bearings, so as soon as the ESC and motor arrived, I installed them and had my Dad do the soldering. When I tried it out the next day, I was in shock! It was amazing! So much faster than the XL-5. It was incredible!

The brushless system led to a number of broken parts, but now I have finished upgrading those parts and my Rusty is what you could call "stable". The other main upgrade I have done so far is Pro-Line Trenchers 2.8"

I would post pictures but I can't figure out how...

Here's a list of all the upgrades so far:
- STRC Aluminum (Blue) Castor Blocks
- RPM Camber Links
- Traxxas Ball Bearings 5x11x4mm (8)
- Castle Creations Sidewinder 3 ESC
- Castle Creations Neu-Castle 1410 Series 3800kv Motor
- Pro-Line Racing 2.8” Trencher Tires (4)
- Tenergy 11.1V 5000mAh 25C Li-Polymer Battery Pack
- Pro-Line Racing 2.8” Front and Rear Black Desperado Wheels
- STRC Aluminum (Blue) Bulkhead
- RPM Front Wide Bumper (Blue)
- RPM Rear Shock Tower
- RPM Front and Rear Bearing Carriers

Well that's it so far! My speeds are 32 off-road and 47 on-road. Thanks for listening!

Someone loves his rusty...:wub:

Do you use different gearings for on-road and off-road? I still have the xl-5 (can't afford brushless because I ran out of birthday and holiday money) and I use the same gearing for both. Sounds like a nice car, have fun with it:wacko:

Sounds like you are very attached to your Rustler. Sounds like me and my trusty old Bandit. I hope you are still enjoying that Rustler 10, 15, and even 20 years down the line.

Sent from my CM10 Android device using Tapatalk 2

What charger do you use?

Your truck has come a long way since Christmas!

I use the same gearing for both simply because it is too much of a hassle to change every time.

Thank you! I'm loving rc so far and I hope I enjoy for a long time too

Right now I'm just using a simple and inexpensive balance charger simple because I don't have enough money to buy a proper charger yet. It takes about six hours to charge, but I only drive my rc once a day anyway

Awesome story Andrew!! Like you I got a Rustler for christmas (2012) too (bought it for myself). Being 42 years old I'm not brave enough to go brushless (yet). I've done a bunch of upgrades as well and it's been a lot of fun. My 4 year old son is having fun as well. He likes when we go for "test drives" after a repair or upgrade. I was totally new to R/C like you as well.

Happy driving and I hope you're able to post some pics of your rustler!

Awesome bud. That sounds about like us. Me being 40 and buying a rusty for my 8 year old for his BD in January. Just like Scaccima we haven't went brushless yet but plenty of other upgrades..the battery and charger being the biggest so far and by far the most expensive. My son does all the driving and I do all the fixing and upgrades. We both have a lot of fun with it. I want one of my own but he told me yesterday "Dad, I just want us to have this one because we make a good team." lol

Have fun with your rustler Andrew and hopefully we can see it soon.

[QUOTE=scaccima;5417987]Awesome story Andrew!! Like you I got a Rustler for christmas (2012) too (bought it for myself). Being 42 years old I'm not brave enough to go brushless (yet). I've done a bunch of upgrades as well and it's been a lot of fun. My 4 year old son is having fun as well. He likes when we go for "test drives" after a repair or upgrade. I was totally new to R/C like you as well.

Happy driving and I hope you're able to post some pics of your rustler![/QUOTE]

Thank you and I hope you enjoy yours too! Brushless is a HUGE difference but it's so much fun once you to used too it

And I will try to post pics soon!

Great to read another full story/experience. Look forward to some pics some time :)

HERE ARE THE PHOTOS:

[IMG]http://s1357.beta.photobucket.com/user/andrewg1112/media/DSC00974_zpse0b60ed8.jpg.html?sort=3&o=4[/IMG]

[IMG]http://s1357.beta.photobucket.com/user/andrewg1112/media/DSC00975_zps6caf75ec.jpg.html?sort=3&o=3[/IMG]

[IMG]http://s1357.beta.photobucket.com/user/andrewg1112/media/DSC00976_zps7f497708.jpg.html?sort=3&o=2[/IMG]

[IMG]http://s1357.beta.photobucket.com/user/andrewg1112/media/DSC00977_zpsaaa47295.jpg.html?sort=3&o=1[/IMG]

[IMG]http://s1357.beta.photobucket.com/user/andrewg1112/media/DSC00978_zps84c1bef2.jpg.html?sort=3&o=0[/IMG]

My cars nice and dirty... didn't clean it recently. If the link is not working for the picture, just right click the icon and click "open"

awesome tale man,welcome to the adiction.this forum is awesome,everyone is helpful and tons of knowlege.