Its been over 30 years since I have played with buggies … ( Electric or other )
Seriously , a box full of fun with a capital F !!!
I am playing with my action cams , trying to capture some action …
The back yard is not large enough , so hopefully the weather will cool of shortly .
Anyhow just playing with the possibilities …
Did I say how much fun this buggy is ? ( I really need another battery )
That does look fun. Haha, I will be over in about 20 mins to play with the toy car to evaluate the model car. 
Bought an old 2wd Stampede the other day for almost nothing ...
made the mistake of plugging a DOA battery into a cheapo charger....a few minutes later I smelled it burning the electronics out of it :( ...my bad !!
Ordered a battery from hobby king just a couple hours ago.
I ordered a battery off Ebay a few hours ago …
I will have to remember to do a discharge test on the factory battery for capacity … ( Got to remember that )
I ordered one of these …
Just went for a walk , took the buggy with me … ( One battery is not enough )
If you are looking for somewhere to drive it, I used to work near a bmx track in Cheltenham that was popular with a few RC guys.
I still have a 90’s era Tamiya Stadium Blitzer, unfortunately it looks like it needs a fair bit of work to get it running again.
I think (?) , there used to be a BMX track not too far away …
I really want a spare battery though , one is simply not enough .
( I have a spare 2s , unfortunately its overly long to fit in the battery tray )
Nice desert buggy. A few years ago I got into rc’s. Don’t have any now.
I don’t know where you live but was guessing Cheltenham might not be too far based on some of your dashcam videos. The RC guys used to refer to it as Bayside Jumps.
How long does the current battery last?
Well I am in Clarinda , there used to be a BMX track on Center Road …
Cant remember if its still there ?
Battery ? Wow I have not timed it …
Let me check the video , not sure if the time stamp is active …
hehehehehehehehehe WOW!!! I collected 18 minutes of video from the cam attached to the buggy … ( From this morning )
A good 7.4V 5Ah LiPo pack would be nice
Damn its like 20years I had a buggy and ordered one now
Ordered 2 of those with 15% RC coupon
http://www.gearbest.com/multi-rotor-parts/pp_237408.html?wid=21
For 17€
18 mins seems like a pretty decent run-time, but I bet when you are the one driving (is it called driving?) that time flies by.
Haha, I still remember all those times as a kid with only one battery and hovering around the charger impatiently waiting for it to be ready.
18 minutes …
Most of the time I had the Tx set to 50% throttle … ( can’t give it more than 50% )
I found that plenty …
@ 100% throttle it was just spinning the wheels all the time and almost impossible to keep tracking correctly ( due to the wheel spin )
Just uploading video from this morning now …
Yeah , so much time spent recharging nicads in the old days ( is 30 years ago the old days ? )
And the charger I had , well it had no overcharge protection except for me …
No walking away when charging , you had to monitor the charge like a mother watching a child .
It was way easy to damage ( over charge ) the batteries .
WLToys 12428 Crawler from Banggood.com
Product Page = WLtoys 12428 2.4G 1/12 4WD Crawler RC Auto Sale - Banggood Deutschland sold out-arrival notice-arrival notice
First just let me say for the record , holly smoke Batman this is a lot of fun . ( On the fun scale = 10 / 10 ) It has been a long time since I have owned a RC car or buggy , a little over 30 years in fact . 30 Years ago , for the money that buys this ready to rock and roll buggy you would have been lucky to buy a Transmitter . ( We have come a long way folks )
What you get in the box is a ready to go buggy complete with a rechargeable battery and charger , there are no batteries for the transmitter but it takes 4 x AA in the base . The battery that came with the buggy had a resting voltage of 7.8v or there about which is rather good . First thing I did was charge the battery ( 2s = 8.4v fully charged ) and then turn the buggy upside down to run in the moving parts some ( without load ) to help smooth out the drivetrain . It also helps to find any problems before actually taking the buggy outside to play with ( better safe than sorry ) and I am happy to say no issues have cropped up .
Taking the WLToys 12428 Crawler outside to play with the first thing you want to do is sort out the tracking ( you want the buggy to drive straight ) . The dial on top is there to center the steering and the dial bellow is for the throttle . I had to dial my throttle back to about 50% to make the buggy drivable ( yeah I found there was simply too much power available for the back yard ) . It is really hard to steer the 12428 with the front wheels of the ground , yes I am saying it was popping wheelies @ 100% throttle as well you run out of space in a hurry .
Taking the 12428 to a dirt track ( Walking track ) I found there was still not enough space to really open it up @ 100% throttle . I spent most of the time driving with about 50% throttle . At 100% throttle the 12428 was spinning its wheels and driving it in a straight line became almost impossible . Even when I gently brought up the speed and then applied full throttle the 12428 would spin its wheels . ( if you watch the video carefully you can see when 100% throttle is applied from the rooster tail that suddenly appears )
Cars and buggies don’t require a lot of skill to drive , they just require a little common sense . The driving part is very easy especially if you dial back the throttle as 100% is a little more power than needed for fun . I found about 50% throttle gave plenty of enjoyment and allowed for good control . 100% throttle just breaks traction and control and if you have the space for such then great , but I found that 100% just saw me hitting things , flipping the buggy , and generally not being in control ( I am sure some people would simply be tickled pink by such a prospect - Watch the 2nd video ) .
I have so far had no issues with the 12428 , but one thing to watch for ( simple cure ) is the battery in the battery tray . I found the battery to be a very lose fit and to correct the slop fit I used electrical tape wrapped around the battery as well the retaining arm . If the battery is not a snug fit then it is really going to flop about and possibly come to some mischief . Other than this one thing there is nothing to complain about . On the other hand there is room for improvement .
And where I would like to see improvement is in the steering . The turning circle is a little on the large side , but I can see where this could be a issue at speed . Also the steering servo or assembly is a little lacking in authority . I am not sure if a better servo is needed or perhaps some tweaking to make the steering a little more authoritative . At this price point I don’t think tweaking or tuning was a serious consideration as I would also like to be able to tune the toe in . I think the major consideration has been durability and ” FUN ” at a very reasonable price . I guess that’s what aftermarket parts are for ! ( Upgrades )
The bottom line is that the WLToys delivers a tough 4WD buggy at a very affordable price that will put a stupid grin on your dial , and it drives very well for what is a entry level RC Buggy . My only regret is that there is only one battery . It’s a little like eating chocolate , once you are done you are left wanting more . ( I have already ordered a new battery - but I wanted it yesterday ) . I don’t know what age to recommend for this buggy , but I am middle aged and I love it . Every time I drive it I am left wanting more ( FUN ) . The fun factor on this is 10 out of 10 , scoring the product on it’s own merits I would give it 9 out of 10 . Unfortunately this is such a great buggy , that people are going to wonder why it could not have been better and the simple answer is that it was built to meet a certain goal at a given price point . ( And I think it exceeds that ) I did not know what to expect with this buggy as all my RC Car stuff is from way back , but it did not fail in fulfilling what I hoped it would be . So much freaking fun !
Thank you Banggood for sending me the WLToys 12428 Crawler
Update:
I found a video that might explain the steering on youtube…
Bugger. A (long) while ago I got a pair of RC off-road trucks (jacked-up Nissan Frontiers)… but they’re not supposed to be used off-road! There are explicit warnings to not go off into sand or mud. Like, wtf?!?
They’re still fun to play with in a mostly-vacant parking lot, but damn, when I took them to the beach, I wanted to use them on the beach, not in the parking lot of the beach area.
Oh yeah …
I am still finding small stones in the WLToys truck …
UPDATE ! …
The steering went wonky on mine , so I had to pull the buggy apart some .
Seems there is a slider that connects to the tie rods and it binds ( Rather badly it seems )
Here is a video :
Fixing it , very nice steering now …
I have a 12428 buggy and looking for a new battery with 5000mah that can fit in the car.
I prefer the gensace models but other options will be welcome.
Can you help me ?
I know I need 15C with 7.4V and currently I have just 1500mah that can run for 20min I need something longer.
There really is not room for a huge battery unless you modify the battery tray …
Some just strap a larger battery in …
If your looking for batteries … Hobby King is a good place to look … They sell decent batteries … Stuff off Ebay can be hit or miss …