Radio Control Trucks - You'll Love This Story!

My love affair with radio control trucks had an unusual beginning. Let me explain.

It was Florida, it was summer, and it was raining. Every day at 5:00 PM the torrential thunderstorms came. You could almost set your watch by them. We had just torn up all of our grass and laid down 4 inches of new topsoil. It would be two days before the new sod was delivered.

I was taking my radio controlled submarine through its paces in my backyard pool when my neighbor, also an RC enthusiast, dropped by to see how the landscaping project was going. As he surveyed my nearly 1/2 acre of 4 inch deep mud, complete with small hills and valleys, he casually said: "Man, it's too bad that we don't have any radio control trucks".

For a brief moment time stood still. I gave him my best "Tim Taylor Tool Time" look and said "Whoa dude, let's go"! I kicked my muddy deck shoes off at the door, dashed inside for my car keys and a clean pair of sneakers, and we headed off to town.

Slamming to a stop in front of my favorite hobby shop, we hopped out of the car, went inside, and made our way to the radio control trucks section. What I saw stopped me dead in my tracks.

There, sitting on the shelf was the meanest, most powerful, awesome example of radio controlled trucks I had ever laid my eyes on. It was the Traxxas T Maxx Nitro Truck.

Seeing my hands tremble, and watching my credit card throb through the wallet in my back pocket, the sales person came up and gave me the tour...

"The all new Traxxas T Maxx comes RTR (ready to run) and it's equipped with the powerful Traxxas TRX 2.5 Racing Engine, which produces a horsepower gain of 60% over the previous model. It's the finest example of radio control trucks on the market today."

He laid it in my hand. The gorgeous, blue-anodized T-6 aluminum chassis, engineered to a hefty 3.0 mm in thickness, gave the impression that this was one tough truck, maybe even the big Kuhana of the radio control trucks.

Every inch of this 4WD knobby-tired, mud-loving, butt-kicking monster example of radio control trucks was reproduced in amazing 1/10 scale detail. From the 5.75 h x 3.5 w foam-filled tires to the high-volume air intake system with a two-stage air filter, this was the Rambo of radio control trucks. I had to have it.

The sales person explained that the chassis included eight oil-filled shocks (2 at each wheel) that are fully tuneable for the track with up to 10 shock-mounting positions, adjustable front caster angle, front and rear toe, and front and rear camber angles. In other words, of all the radio control trucks, this one was born to roam my back yard!

He wasn't done teasing me. He pointed at a small sign that read:

"The TRX 2.5 blows away every other small block engine we’ve ever tested!" R/C Nitro Magazine, and then showed me a plaque that read: "2003 Readers’ Choice award for Best Nitro Engine". R/C Car Action Magazine.

"Let's get two", my neighbor said. "How much?", I asked. Oh, we have a special right now. This world-class winner in the Radio Control Trucks category is just $625, but I can give it to you for just $550 if you buy two". I quickly did some calculations.

"Hmmm, let's see. It's RTR so I don't need to buy anything else. I already have plenty of Nitro fuel at home... So, that $550 for the truck, $38.50 sales tax, about $100,000 for the divorce lawyer. Three kids, times $500 per week, each, child support."

"Umm", I said, do you have a model for, say under $50?". He suggested that I visit ToysRUs as he walked away shaking his head.

So ended my dream for the ultimate Monster Truck. I later learned that there were a lot of choices in the under $300 range, but none that got my blood flowing like this ultimate example of radio control trucks. We slinked our way back out to the car and settled for a Beer and the Bucs game.

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