Fastlane RC Rock Crawler

One thing I just love to tinker with is improving a toy grade RC. I am always fascinated by the toy grade part of RC toys because there are just so many types and interesting designs. But about 99% of the time, the chassis of the toy grade stuff is usually a big block of plastic with a drivetrain for RWD, a motor for left/right non-proportional steering, and suspension that are either fake or just don't work. But this Fastlane crawler is probably the best toy RC I have ever seen.

I first found out about this toy on RCMania, a site dedicated to reviewing toy grade RC's. I always check this site to look for reviews on toy RC's that I am interested in. The review from RCMania was quite good, except for the weak steering. The design of the truck is a total copy of the hobby-grade type rock crawler: low geared transmission in the center, driveshafts connecting the transmission to the front and rear solid axles, beadlocks (non-functional though), soft rubber tires with aggressive treads, and rock buggy style body. I instantly fell in love with this truck and I knew I must have it. The crappy electronics is not a problem as I plan to swap in some hobby grade stuff I have lying around anyways. And to my luck, these were on sale this week too! After I brought it home, I didn't even try out the truck and proceeded to take the truck apart and start the modification. Took about 5 hours and I was done. The results were worth it, I have a cool looking little truck that crawls pretty good and only for a fraction of the price of a hobby grade one.

Here's the review by JANG from RCMania.


Here's a vid I took of mine tonight.