CROSS-RC MC8 8x8 Kit (Re-Post)

[moo10032]

This is a re-post with better organized and sized images (Admin please delete other thread)

This is a Chinese made build it yourself kit from CROSS-RC. I ordered one a few weeks back I just got it all built and it is AWESOME! I own 2 Tamiya semi-trucks and 3 trailers and this is on par with Tamiya's quality. Mechanical design and materials used through-out the build are excellent. The upper body has a lot of detailing in. It's solid axle drive, and the wheels are very soft and have a lot of traction, high quality rubber. Being solid axle it still turns better then I thought and can climb over pretty much anything! I highly recommend getting one.

The kit was very well organized. Every stage of construction was in its own plastic bag. Even all the screws were sorted out by each type, it is the best organized kit I've ever done. The instructions were in Chinese but it didn't effect me at all in following them, clear images and even had a listing of each screw used in each step like the Tamiya instructions have.

I purchased one of these from Rocky Law through email and he is the greatest only 7 days from ordering I got it from China to the US fastest shipping ever.

The axles are solid, but they do sell optional differential gears that you can plug into them at cross-rc.com but stock they are locked solid. The axle casing they claim to be some kind of high strength polycarbonate plastic. All the inner, gears, axles etc. are all metal. It turns better then I thought it would, the wheels are very soft so they just flex around when its turning.

It seems pretty strong, I can hold my hand in front of the bumper and all 8 wheels will spin trying to move it, it has a ton of torque to it. It's very slow though I'm not sure what kind of gear ratio but its defiantly meant for off-roading.

Locking diffs would be awesome, cross-rc doesn't have any and I'm not even sure how to get a hold of them because each axle is unique for the drive shafts and steering units. You would need to find like... |- -|- -S- -S axles.

The kit also comes with pre-wired very nice lighting system with a LED driver board that has working brake lights, reverse lights, headlights toggle-able with a 3rd channel and blinkers. It connects into 3 channels on your receiver.

A few problems I've noticed though on this are the stock springs are WAY to soft, I've ordered some stronger ones they carry. The whole truck tilts a little one way. The spring design is very unique the top and bottom ends are coiled into the center and a screw is used with a washer to hold them directly to the frame and axle, there is no damper in the middle, its outside it on another mount.

Also the reverse lights are brighter then the headlights which is a little odd. I'm sure I could replace the LED's on them.

[moo10032]

I finally got my order in for upgrade parts. I had to use YoyBuy.com as a TaoBao.com agent to get a hold of them. YoyBuy was a very good agent also they got me the items I ordered in just about a week from china to the US. I ordered the strongest springs cross-rc sells and metal spring mounts, also some spare steering pieces in-case anything breaks.

I would HIGHLY recommend that anyone who orders this kit to make sure to order these yellow springs and the metal mounts. With these yellow springs installed to me it seems like a very good balance of ability to handle weight now but its still soft enough to move over obstacles easily. The stock springs are not suited for this truck.

I had the truck outside today in the snow and it is way better then I thought it would be. It was able to go through 1-2 inches of snow with no problems! I will be recording some videos tomorrow.





Stock vs yellow strongest upgrade springs from cross-rc


Metal upgrade vs stock plastic mounts

[moo10032]

Just uploaded a video of this driving around out in the snow. It handles so much better then I imagined... It was about -2F out in that vid.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9UJFCCZgEmA

[moo10032]

I just got some metal drive-shafts in the mail today. Even though Cross-RC sells upgraded metal drive-shafts I bought some from the US here that looked like they would fit and they did! Took it out for more runs in the snow today and one of the steering knuckles broke! Thankfully I ordered some extra parts when I ordered the yellow springs so I had it replaced very quickly. I was trying to turn up a steep snow hill and it must have been too much for it to handle. I took it back out afterwards and ran it for about an half an hour with more careful driving with no more problems.

[moo10032]

Over the last couple weeks I basically gutted all the original layout of the drive train and replaced it with 2, 3-speed transmissions for a total of 9 different gear ratios via the transmitter! I put a 3-Speed transmission from the Tamiya semi-trucks inside the cab like the real truck's design. I had to mount it very high up inside the cab to clear the axles when they are fully compressed, also to clear the top of the steering servo. It has a 3:1 Great Planes gear reduction and a 55T RC4WD motor to power it all. I then re-arranged the electronics on the whole truck and made a platform above the transmission for the receiver, ESC and the LED driver the truck came with. The transmission output then runs through a drive-shaft carrier and then down to the RC4WD 3-Speed Transfer Case. The transfer case is pretty bad-***, the gears inside it look pretty beefy and it has had a lot of use so far and is holding up very well. The transfer case can switch from 2WD 1:1, 4WD 1:1 and 4WD 2:1. I had to modify some of the under carrige of the flat-bed to relocate the battery, I ended up using a Tamiya battery holder from one of my semi trucks which fit perfectly under it. For the transmitter I added another 3-way switch to my radio which was easy because I use a 9X 9 channel Turnigy radio system that's modded with a SmartieParts board and new firmware that's supports an endless amount of features.

I'm working on another video with a new camcorder for YouTube.

[doodlebug]

I like the new drivetrain mods!
Cheer's, Neil.

[flatdeck]

That thing is heavy duty.. What is the weight of it??


Wayne

[moo10032]

It weighs 15 lbs right now. The new layout is better on the front axles because everything in the cab now weighs less then the battery, with the battery in the middle of the whole frame its a lot better weight balance across all 4 axles.

[Tamiya Cowboy]

I am really liking this kit.. Nice work with the upgrades..

[moo10032]

I made another video, this time a really extended half hour long vid with lots of driving showing of its 9 gear ratios now! Some wheel cam and slow rock crawling in the vid also.

Check it out here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jpXDYZozINQ

[ptebbe]

Thanks for the review. I'm thinking about getting one of these.

[moo10032]

If you do order one make sure to buy the upgraded yellow springs and maybe even the upgraded metal spring mounts the stock springs are way to soft. Also couldn't hurt to order some extra steering arms its the only thing that's actually broken sofar, those broke on my 2nd run but since then I've had nothing else break and I regularly drive in 10F to -20F degree weather so whatever kind of plastic they used is working lol. My 8x8 has had probably 20 runs now total.

[Espeefan]

When I first saw photos of these trucks I was quite impressed. They look very scale, and everything seems to be of high quality. I'm a little surprised there are some plastic components on the chassis, but I suppose that is done to help keep costs down, and provide a money maker for the upgrades. Never the less it seems to be a very nice model and it is quite impressive. I really like the scale look of it. Thanks for the photos and your thoughts on the truck.

[Berman]

Very cool! I have been eyeing one of these up lately. How stiff are those yellow springs?
I would love to make a Rheinmetall HX-81 out of one, but the trailer would be full on if I wanted to cart my Tamiya Leopard 2a6 around too.

[moo10032]

The yellow springs to me seem like the perfect amount, its able to carry things in the flatbed this way still, anything less then yellow I think it would slouch to one side or the other.

I just ordered a sound module with a speaker also from the same rocky-law guy on ebay. Ill post another video once I get it all up and running.

[topher1266]

This may sound a bit foolish but could I ask what type of glue did you use on this white plastic? I ask because I wonder if regular testers model glue is ok or would something stronger would work better, anyone with advice can chime in. Also what paint did you use [rattle can/airbrush].

[kaptain Jack]

Here you go, this stuff is deadly,like odorless acetone,it melts the plastic and bonds it with in 10 sec. use small brush and apply quickly it will evaporate from the brush tip in seconds.

[topher1266]

Thanks picked some up today. Also got some other plastic weld, looks to setup a bit slower than the Tenax. Will let you know how it works out.

[topher1266]

Hey Moo have you thought of changing out that 55T for a 35T. The 6x6 came with the 35T.

[4X44DAD]

How can i get one of these.

i sent emails and no answer to the company