I'm so confused...which one is best for me???

[RobWilJas]

Hi everyone...

So I have decided to buy a nitro monster truck, but I'm very confused about which one. This will be my second nitro as I currently have a Duratrax Nitro Evader ST. I just want it to bash with, I don't race, and I am not hard on my vehicles. I've narrowed it down to either a T-Maxx or an MGT 4.6SE, due to budget and features (I want reverse). I really like the way the T-Maxx looks as well as all of it's features, plus the fact that it's a little smaller is a plus for me since I don't have much room for storage. The T-Maxx has tons of parts available to me locally since every LHS near me sells them, while only one LHS near me sells parts for the MGT. The T-Maxx is also cheaper, I can get it for $320 with the battery and charger for the EZ-start, compared to $370 for just the MGT.

Now for the reasons I've stated I'm obviosly leaning towards purchasing the T-Maxx, however the problem I'm having is that I have been told my many many people on another online community that the T-Maxx is junk and that I should get the MGT 4.6SE. I went to the one LHS near me that sells the MGT (for $50 more than the T-Maxx) and he tried to sell me the T-Maxx instead saying that it's much better than the MGT. I expected him to try to sell me the more expensive one not the cheaper one.

I'm so confused! :confused: Which do you think I should get? Is the T-Maxx really not durable?

[Kuldeep]

Two totally different trucks.

Big Block= MGT

SmallBlock= T-Maxx

Well, its a tuff decision, the T-Maxx would be really fast, and the MGT would be really durable.

The T-Maxx tops around 45+
The MGT tops around 30+

The MGT is quite bigger in size, like you said, it depends on storage but im sure a few inches all around might not be a burden.

hmm its up to you buddy lol :D

[RobWilJas]

I'm mainly concerned about durability and cost of upkeep. I don't want to have to constantly fix something. Another important thing to me is availability of parts. I hate it when I break some stupid little $2 part on my evader and have to wait a week for it because none of my LHS sell duratrax stuff. With the T-Maxx that definately wouldn't be a problem, but might be with the MGT. If the T-Maxx constantly breaks though and the MGT rarely does then parts availability isn't really much of a concern. I guess what I'm really wanting to know is if the T-Maxx will hold up ok or is it a POS. I suck at making decisions....lol

[ericem]

You buy a t-maxx basically if you want to upgrade it to the moon. you buy a MGT if you want a reliable and strong truck out of the box that needs nothing other then a glow ignitor,batteries, and fuel.

[nis720]

Tmaxx is definetely faster... but easier to break.

MGT seems like it would break less.

I'm partial to the Tmaxx but in your case the MGT is a better choice.

[NitroTXT1]

mgt is a good truck to bash with and fairly durable

[ministerOFfire]

MGT...great truck and easy to work on.

[Blue_Dawg]

T-maxx with RPM arms and bumpers is tuff as nails IMO.

[ericem]

T-maxx with RPM arms and bumpers is tuff as nails IMO.

still think the bulkheads need to be addressed then.

[nis720]

still think the bulkheads need to be addressed then.

:p:D

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d193/nis720/RC%20Stuff/SS850138a.jpg

[chukb]

savage.:)

[RobWilJas]

savage.:)


Too expensive and no reverse. Also absolutely no local parts sources.

[zakerid]

honestly I have never needed to replace a part on my savage, but I did upgrade it... MGT seems like a great choice. I love my Revo, and LST as well. There are a bunch of great trucks out there.

[PCC]

I'm mainly concerned about durability and cost of upkeep. I don't want to have to constantly fix something. Another important thing to me is availability of parts. I hate it when I break some stupid little $2 part on my evader and have to wait a week for it because none of my LHS sell duratrax stuff. With the T-Maxx that definately wouldn't be a problem, but might be with the MGT. If the T-Maxx constantly breaks though and the MGT rarely does then parts availability isn't really much of a concern. I guess what I'm really wanting to know is if the T-Maxx will hold up ok or is it a POS. I suck at making decisions....lol

Get the MGT then. In my experience the T-Maxx is fragile. Fix it, run half a tank and break something. Fix it, run a tank and break something. Fix it, run half a tank and break something.....

[lordoftraxxas]

ok i dont know why everyone says the tmaxx is fragile. i had mine for 2 1/2 yrs before i decided to hop it up. it is a very reliable truck. ive seen MGTs go and they are extremely slow and imo crappy.

[TheoThonio]

(chanting voice)>Tmaxx! Tmaxx! Tmaxx! Tmaxx!

If the broken bulks above utilized a plastic shock tower that guy would have saved a lot of money. The plastic shock towers would have broken leavin the bulks good to go and plastic shock towers are pennies compared to aluminum bulks. Then they could be the stock plastic bulks too which makes the situation even worse because by mounting aluminum towers in plastic bulks you take the chance of replacing cheap bulks everytime you roll or land on your lid. The wing mount didn't help his cause any either.

Get the MGT then. In my experience the T-Maxx is fragile. Fix it, run half a tank and break something. Fix it, run a tank and break something. Fix it, run half a tank and break something.....
This isn't true either. If this happens to you, you have absolutely no business owning an RC MT in the first place, and that goes for any truck.

Oh yeah, one more thing. My local parts source is over 5,000 miles away. Tower, Stormer, Amain, Killer, RC Boca and lets not forget "The Bay"

[ericem]

ok i dont know why everyone says the tmaxx is fragile. i had mine for 2 1/2 yrs before i decided to hop it up. it is a very reliable truck. ive seen MGTs go and they are extremely slow and imo crappy.

crappy? why is it crappy exactly???

How is the t-maxx NOT fragile anyway?? I mean if you do a 5ft jump you will break those plastic braces on the bottom like twigs. Thats all my friends replaces when we go bashing. His revo is ALOT better then his stupid t-maxx. Its either a-arms, bulkheads, or the plastic braces. Hes not even doing instance jumps like I do.

[lordoftraxxas]

crappy? why is it crappy exactly???

How is the t-maxx NOT fragile anyway?? I mean if you do a 5ft jump you will break those plastic braces on the bottom like twigs. Thats all my friends replaces when we go bashing. His revo is ALOT better then his stupid t-maxx. Its either a-arms, bulkheads, or the plastic braces. Hes not even doing instance jumps like I do.


dude i have never broken a part on my maxx except for my servo saver and that was my fault. i can jump my maxx for about 5 ft and come down just fine. i am purely bashing and like i said before didnt decide to hop it up until AFTER 2 1/2 yrs. the tmaxx is a very basic reliable fun truck. no matter what anyone says it is not the worst truck. every truck has its problems.

* bigger, bigger, bigger, means slower more sluggish and really bulky*

[TheoThonio]

If the T-Maxx sucks and is SOOOOOO fragile then answer me this. Why has it been around longer, sold more than any other RC Monster Truck in the business and have the best aftermarket support than any other RC Monster Truck?

I know, I know the first thing your going to say about the aftermarket support, because it's garbage out of the box and it absolutely must have aftermarket support to make it reliable, BULL! It's all a matter of opinion and how much experience you have wrenching, driving and tuning.

The absolute best thing to do is to listen to the opinions and make your decision. Whatever you decide on will have its ups and downs. People who own Maxx's will say Maxx and peolple who own MGT's will say MGT. Peole who've owned both will tell you to pick which ever one they had the most fun with. Any truck will break this and break that. Remember to give RTR's the once over before even running it. I even completely disassemble new engines to ensure there's no machining residue and all proper components are in place before yanking the PS or pushing the button on the wand. I once fired up a Hyper in my brand new Monster Pirate and there was no pin in the piston/con-rod. Needless to say it never really "fired" up and Ofna replace it for me.

The best thing about this hobby for me is learning an RC vehicle through and through. That way you can try anything you want with it, jumps, speed runs, climbing, muddin and not have to worry about a thing because you know exactly where to start to troubleshoot so that you can fix it and then BREAK IT AGAIN! trying some outlandish climbing or jump that no one else in the crowd will attempt for fear of BREAKING something.

One more thing I will absolutely guarantee. What ever you decide to get you will eventually break it. All you have to do is decide on the right combo of aluminum/ plastic/ carbon graphite or whatever other parts are made of these days and bullet proof it in the areas that you tend to break the most with your driving style. Remember this also if you NEVER break something on your RC Monster someone out there is having a lot more fun than you are.

Take risks, push it to the limit, learn your beast thouroughly so you can feed it what you need to make it stronger & stronger. OK that's a little dramatic and over the edge but, I love this hobby!

[savage25le]

iv owned a t-maxx, savage, revo, inferno st, inferno st-r, and an lst2 and the only one i really didn't like was the t-maxx. so if i were you i would go mgt

[savage25le]

dude i have never broken a part on my maxx except for my servo saver and that was my fault. i can jump my maxx for about 5 ft and come down just fine. i am purely bashing and like i said before didnt decide to hop it up until AFTER 2 1/2 yrs. the tmaxx is a very basic reliable fun truck. no matter what anyone says it is not the worst truck. every truck has its problems.

* bigger, bigger, bigger, means slower more sluggish and really bulky*

bigger does not mean slower or sluggish, just because the t-maxx has a weak engine does not mean every thing else does. the lst2 is much bigger and in no way slow or sluggish

[PCC]

This isn't true either. If this happens to you, you have absolutely no business owning an RC MT in the first place, and that goes for any truck.

So, you want me to buy a RC MT and baby the hell out of it? I may as well get a 1/10 electric touring car and drive it around a perfectly smooth track (wait a minute, I own six 1/10 scale electric touring cars!). I buy MT's to jump and bash with. I don't baby them. I do expect them to hold up to some punishment without breaking.

I currently have: E-Maxx, Savage SS 4.6, Revo. I have had a HotBodies Lightning Stadium (flexible suspension arms), OFNA Dominator, T-Maxx and probably a few others that I have forgotten. Out of all of these MT's the Revo and Savage have proven to be rock solid. I purposely tried to break them, short of driving over them with my car, and they have only broken after weeks of abuse. I absolutely cannot say that about the T-Maxx.

Let me ask you this question. If you set up a jump that will launch an RC MT over 10 feet (3 meters) vertically into the air, will your T-Maxx handle it? How many times will you expect to land your T-Maxx from this jump, landing on grass, before it breaks? My brother and I have hit this setup over and over and over again with our Savages, Revos, Hot Bodies Lightning MT's, Dominator, and XRay XB-8s with minimal damage. This includes landing right, landing wrong, missing the ramp altogether and cartwheeling for 30+ feet (almost 10 meters) horizontal distance. Do that with a T-Maxx that hasn't been completely rebuilt with aluminum parts! My Revo is completely stock other than the BB conversion kit and relocated throttle servo. My Savage has an extended chassis, skids, and aluminum diff housings. The XB-8 (okay, a buggy) is absolutely stock. The T-Maxx had RPM skids, RPM arms, Traxxas aluminum bulks, FOC, MIP CVDs, and a whole lot more mods to try to make it stronger. All I ended up doing was making it heavier so that the small block engine could not push it up to speed anymore.

So, do I have any business owning RC MT's?

[InTheZoneAC]

whenever I heart tmaxx I think of parts breaking
whenever I hear MGT I just think of a cheap truck, like cheap materials and poor design
when I hear savage I think of 15 foot jumps all day and it's still ready to do whatever

[ericem]

When you hear MGT you think of a truck with cheap materials and a poor design? Are you blind? What makes you think its a bad design? it is practically one of the easiest monster trucks to repair(if the day comes) and the design is strong and materials are amazing quality, like all other associated vehicles, ever hear that?

[TheoThonio]

So, do I have any business owning RC MT's?



I dont baby anything with an MT attached to it. What you posted was a little extreme about how much your Maxx broke or breaks. It wasn't a direct " you yourself don't have any business owning RC MT's" I was simply stating that Maxx's really weren't that fragile as everyone likes to say just because they own a Savage, LST2, Cen GST 7.7, etc which are all more stout than a stock Maxx, and cost quite a bit more.

BTW- Minimal damage is damage all the same and 10 feet(3 meters) is only 4 feet higher than I am tall. I have two TMaxx's that have gone way beyond that unscathed and not just once but over and over again in a single day.

Look I'm not trying to argue or flame or claim the Tmaxx is the strongest, best MT out there. I'm just saying it get's a bad rap. With a little upgrading it can take a lot of abuse. If you yank it out of the box brand new and expect to launch ten feet into the air and survive your nuts right. With the exception of the 1/8th scale buggy you listed I've owned/broken everything you listed but, I didn't come on the forums that day and post that the Lightning MT was fragile garbage, or the savage was a piece of crap because I launched it off a huge hill into a quary and broke and sus arm.

One last thing, the T-Maxx was designed and released way before anything you listed also. Every MT that came out after the T-Maxx was designed while the designer drove a TMaxx and improved their design while driving it. I'm not saying that all MT's are designed after the TMaxx either I'm simply saying that designers based there designs to improve where the TMaxx was weak.

[chukb]

this is not directed at any one individual, but is it just me or do traxas owners get seam to get defensive pretty quickly?:)

[nis720]

this is not directed at any one individual, but is it just me or do traxas owners get seam to get defensive pretty quickly?:)

Not just traxxas owners... even non traxxas people seem to get defensive..... but everyone has their own opinion.

I happen to like my Tmaxx's... and I know there are better trucks out there... but I still stick with what I know.. Tmaxx.

[lordoftraxxas]

bigger does not mean slower or sluggish, just because the t-maxx has a weak engine does not mean every thing else does. the lst2 is much bigger and in no way slow or sluggish

ok yep dude the tmaxx 3.3 has a weak engine thats why that engine wins so many championships right. and even before the revo the tmaxx was still a constant winner on the podium with its 2.5 at the time. how many mgts or savages do you see with gold. not many.

[RobWilJas]

Well I made my decision......I bought a T-Maxx. I went to another hobby shop I found an hour away yesterday that had the MGT and they also reccomended the T-Maxx instead. Anyway I ended up getting a good deal (I hope) on a brand new still in the box original T-Maxx with Pro .15 for $225.00. I know it's not very powerful but it will be great for my purposes, and the money I saved can pay for upgrades in the future. :D Anyway thanks to everyone that replied.

[PCC]

You want to know something funny? The last time I answered a similar question and I recommended against the T-Maxx the OP bought one anyway. He came back on here and reported that he broke in the engine and, on the third run, ran it to the end of his driveway, turned around with a little too much speed and rolled it where the shock tower broke.

Good luck with your new money-pit, I mean T-Maxx.

[RobWilJas]

I thought I'd update this old thread now that it's about 10 months later and let everyone know how my decision to buy the T-Maxx worked out.

At first I loved the T-Maxx, so much so actually that I also bought a used E-Maxx. Having matching nitro and electric trucks was really cool. I drove them both constantly, and although I did have a few breaks, I just fixed them and kept on going. They really were a lot of fun.

Then I got the upgrade bug so I upgraded them both quite a bit. The T-Maxx got a new 3.3 engine, as well as 3.3 chassis, axles, arms and knuckles. The E-Maxx was converted to 3.3 axles, arms and knuckles and I also installed new motors and the new waterproof EVX2. I bought some good 7 cell NiMh packs which gave the truck a huge boost over the 6 cell NiCds I was running, and I installed RPM skid plates on both trucks. I also upgraded both trucks to JR XS3 radios. After upgrading the trucks they were really fast, but they kept breaking every time I ran them, probably due to the increase in speed. It was so bad that I really regretted upgrading them at all and wished I'd left them stock.

The cold weather of winter set in so I stopped driving them and bought a 1/18th Losi Raminator that I could drive in the house as well as outside. I love that little truck, it's so much fun. I've upgraded it to dual motors, LiPo, center ball diff and viscous front and rear diffs. This truck just flies. It's tough too, I beat the crap out of it and have only broken two body posts and a wheel. Then when Losi came out with the 1/36th Raminator I bought one of those too. I have a blast bashing in my living room and jumping off my coffee table. So far I've upgraded it to LiPo and the ball bearing set. I haven't broken anything on it either which is surprising.

Once the weather warmed back up I tried driving the Maxx's again. The T-Maxx broke another bulkhead and the EVX2 in the E-Maxx died. I decided then that I'd had enough, I was tired of all the problems. I repaired the T-Maxx and put the original EVX back in the E-Maxx (luckily I hadn't sold it yet) and I sold both of them on E-Bay. I didn't get nearly as much as I put into them but at least it was over. With the money I got from them I bought a 1/8th Losi Raminator (to complete my Raminator Trifecta :D) and an E-flite Blade CX2.

The 1/8th Raminator is a beast of a truck, and I've yet to break anything on it. I've upgraded it to a complete LST2 tranny (for reverse and high/low range), LST2 2 speed setup, aluminum clutch shoes, and Losi HT pipe. It's not quite as fast as the 3.3 T-Maxx, but it's way more fun to drive. I am just so much happier with this truck than the T-Maxx.

I guess the bottom line of this story is........ I'm an idiot. :roll2: I should have listened to everyone here and on RCU that told me not to buy a T-Maxx. Oh well I did learn from it though, and at least I'm really happy with the trucks I have now. Wanna know something really funny though? I still have the Pro .15 motor in great condition and would really like to find a T-Maxx roller to put it into for my wife...lol. :p

Here's a picture of my Raminators:

http://img365.imageshack.us/img365/1195/trifectazb4.jpg

[wvPUNISHERwv]

those are nasty.....way better than the maxx

[metalry101]

Glad to hear you found something you're happy with. The Raminators are pretty sweet. I've owned all three of those trucks myself (not specifically the Raminator versions...but the same chassis anyways. They're all really cool looking and lots of fun. Hopefully everything continues to go well with them.