Question, trading TNX for MGT : wise?

[trw]

I've never raced my TNX, I've always bashed it and always have a slight fear in the back of my head of breaking something, because its a race truck.

plus I would like to be able to jump this thing and crash (given my bad driving) without having to worry about "oh no, did I break anything?"

so I got a few questions on the MGT.

#1 does it have any weaknesses? Im opting for the 4.6 SE so power shouldnt be an issue.

Im nervous about the plastic spur gear though, as I read all the gears will now be steal but in the pics the spur looked plastic :(

anyways, my main area of curiosity - suspension, how strong is it? I hear the MGTs bust alot of stock shock caps but other then that can they take tons of abuse? and what about the driveshafts, dogbones CVD etc... how reliable are they?

I know the 4.6 isnt out yet, so Im asking these questions to current MGT owners.

thanks for your input :D

[twistedtrik]

i have busted 3 a-arms on my mgt. that is over 4 gallons of pure abuse. the spur gear is still the one from the factory, as is everything else. with the exception of a ported and polished mach.26, ofna 063 pipe, copper springs, 100wt. shock oil and FOC. i have never had a stock shock cap pop off. i just upgraded to rpm arms to alleviate the a-arm problems. i say go for it.

[fezzy]

Personally, After owning an MGT... I wouldn't.

[mad-quick]

nonono go with a madforce nothing is faster or stronger well savage but that truck is a freak

[jimcrawler]

best truck out there. (mgt)

[turbopower]

I have both trucks. The MGT does break arms and knuckles. Reliability wise they are very close. If it wasn't for the TNX axles the nod may go to the TNX. Just so you know the TNX is a more fun truck to drive and jump. The TNX is a much more agile truck.

[Mongoose420]

the universals on the TNX are really only a problem with powerstrokes + on power landings. With the stock shocks or if you limit the powerstrokes to the travel of stock shocks(about .400 of fuel tubing per shock) aparently they hold up extremely well.

Ive done some impressive cartwheels with my TNX that didnt break anything and thats with wabash 40 series wheels. I did break one of the stock universals but ive got powerstrokes at full travel. I'll be reinforce'n the stock universals with some custom cut copper tubing that solves the problem with full travel powerstrokes. I'll let ya know after the mod.

[MikeWz]

I'd say go for it. The only "weakness" some people say the MGT has is that it's got a .21. If you're going to get the new one that .28 will definitely wake it up. I haven't found any real weakness of the truck, honestly. Some people break knuckles, some break a-arms, but in 4 gallons of racing and bashing I've only managed to break an a-arm and blown some shock caps (because I'm running a 4-shock rather than 8-shock set-up)

[Mongoose420]

yea, i'd wait till we see something on the 4.6SE MGT. Thats really the biggest diffrence between the .21 MGT and the TNX. The MGT is underpowered unless you put it on a diet to get it down from its 12lb stock weight. the .18 in the tnx is plenty powerfull but the trucks also about 3lbs lighter.

[minipirate]

personaly i dont like tamiya but i have heard good things about the tnx.
Go for it the mgt is awsome and the new motor is a screamer plus i have heard too many good things about the mgt :D

[fezzy]

I was just recently in a similar decision as yourself. I had an MGT up until just recently, when I decided that I'd like to maybe give the TNX a go, or maybe continue to keep spending more on the MGT to get it how I wanted it (And how it should be from the box). I had decided to keep the MGT as the TNX generally doesn't have the design that alot of the other trucks on the market have, but it seems to genuinely work. However, one day I got my camber gauge out to set my MGT up and I simply couldn't, wheels where wobbling every which way due to wear and slop in the carriers, turnbuckles and so on, it made it impossible. Now usually I wouldn't mind, wear and tear is normal.. But the truck hadn't even gone passed a gallon yet!. Thunder Tiger have always had bad press for making poor quality products that had a tendancy to wear too quickly, they seemed to have turned over a new leaf with the S3, but it looks like the MGT just missed the boat, because its just the same as any other Thunder Tiger. What killed it for me also was the fact everything else had devloped wear, from CVD's to the output cups and I just thought 'Whats the point' so I managed to sell it with the intent to buy a TNX, but then the more I looked and read at those the more I decided it might not of been a great move. Don't get me wrong, the TNX is an awesome truck, and without a doubt I am sure its better than the MGT, but its just the fact that its so basic, I just didn't feel as if I was going to get alot for my money.

So in the end? I got an LST, I've always been suspect of the LST durability and reliability with all the negatives feedback (Largely from non LST owners and newbies), but I did some reading and looked at some pics and realised it didn't look all that bad, so I got one. Without going into too much detail I am VERY happy I didn't listen to all the rubbish about them, yes they have some issues here and there, most of them have been resolved and the only really needy thing is the ally diff cases, thats it. I love the truck so much that its begining to over-shine my Revo, which up until this point I thought was the best thing ever made in RC, but now I am thinking twice thanks to the LST. Its not truck of the year for nothing, remember that.

I am not suggesting you get an LST, far from it. But I only wish for you to understand my issues with the MGT, the LST is everything the MGT was and a whole lot more. Despite the high wear rate I found on my MGT the truck went pretty well, it was stable over bumps and with the Powerstroke shocks installed and it went round corners well enough, but the lack of steering really made it fustrating to drive at times, especially round a track.

[minipirate]

well said fezzy, the LST is the most awsome truck in all aspects :) it can truely do-all

[MikeWz]

well said fezzy, the LST is the most awsome truck in all aspects :) it can truely do-all
It's funny how each person says that about their own truck ;)

[minipirate]

i dont own an LST my friend does i have a savage :)

[Divman]

I've got a MTA-4 which is exactly the same as the MGT, its my 1st truck so as u can imagine it has taken some punishment, only thing i bust so far is a knuckle, my steering seems a bit weak but an alu/alloy bellcrank is like £15 ($25). I havent actually broken it, but it likes to work itself loose now n then.

Oh and buy some CVA rebuild kits (£3/$5 for 2) as the crosspins that go thru the drive cups/dogbones have a tendency to break too.

In all Im very surprised at how tough it is, but i never owned a different truck, so i cant give an opinion on them.

Dave

[Tyrael1986]

I have did a lot of reading on the MGT and talked to quite a few people about it. The only REAL weakness that I have heard about is the bad gear mesh in the front/rear diff's. It can be easily fixed with a simple shim though. I'm going to buy a MGT once the new 4.6 versions are released. They seem like Bullet Proof trucks with a few modifications.

[badboy2]

i have the mgt and i can say for me is next to my savage durability wise..i also wanted to try the tnx but the only thing that sets me off is the engine cuz i only have bigblocks..anyway imo mgt is a raceable and bashable truck

[trw]

well its a hard descision, my main deciding factor is durability, I mean, I want to be able to abuse this thing to no end and not have to worry about it aside from maintainence.

now reason im not including the savage is cause i also want something easy to work on (just about any non-TVP truck) and plus my friend got one and it constantly had problems.

I anticipate as well as many others, the results of the MGT 4.60 SE, and until then I will be pounding this TNX into the ground and see if it can handle it (I've been babying it lately from the fear of breakage) so, IF it holds up, I will keep it since its massively reliable and very quick and manueverable from being so lightweight.

again its a hard descision, the TNX is indeed a great truck and I've only broken 1 universal on it a while ago and have only stripped one spur with the OS 18CVRX (engine came loose, didnt tighten it enough when putting back in) and the tranny never misses a shift and the entire truck is massively easy to repair in the field since its simple design but at the same time durable and reliable.

so why the consideration of selling some of you ask? well the MGT's spur is easier to get to incase of strippage ( :p ) all steel tranny, bigblock power and im SURE it doesnt have plastic universals (or dogbones) and has more ground clearance, ofcourse dont leave it to me to make it sound godly, I'll let the soon to come, or hopefully soon to come results to tell all.

again, thanks for all the input :D

[Divman]

If u are into your hop-ups, theres even titanium dogbones and drive cups available for the MGT :)

[fezzy]

I ended up coming to the same conclusion as everyone else, the MGT is a good truck capable of becoming an awesome truck with a few hopups. Well I spent my money and got a few hopups, but at the end of the day hopups mean jack when it comes to the build quality of everything else. If you want ludicrously easy maintainence and cleaning then the LST is perfect, everyone told me how easy it was to wrench on the MGT.. And well, yes it kind of is. But I rebuit and shimmed the diffs just after break-in and it was a freaking nightmare, the LST diffs can be out within 2 minutes!.

[buganddoug]

If u are into your hop-ups, theres even titanium dogbones and drive cups available for the MGT :)
They all so have them for the TNX
http://www.rcxshop.com/product_info.php?cPath=46_48&products_id=182 :D