Remote Control General Lee - What a POS!

[Todd Wilson]

Well tonight I am roaming around Walmart. I am a kid at heart. I check out the toys. I like this time of the year because we tend to start seeing more and more cool toys for the christmas season. I turn the corner and there it is! A remote control General Lee! 1:18th scale. Seems to have nice detail. SO I grab it up at 35$. Its got a small pocket noise maker that players Dixie. The whole way home I am excited as a kid at christmas. Playing the dixie horn and get home and throw off the coat and rip open the batteries and put them in. I dont have 1 minute run time on the kitchen floor when the General gets stuck in reverse. I tear open the controller to find the contacts on the speed control are bent and creating a constant contact. I see a piece of glue laying loose and I suspect this got lodged in there and bent the metal prong as I moved the throttle.  Fix this or so I thought and put it back together. 20 seconds into driving it does it again. I take the controller apart again to find the steering part of the mechanics  has serious end play and its pushing against the throttle bending the metal prong. So I tighten up the srcews as it was clear that the controller was not properly put together and tightened.

Back to the kitchen we go and about 10 seconds of driving the ol General wont hardly move. Forward or backward. The gears in the rear end seem to be stripped out. Not enough contact left to move the car itself.
I could tell right away this was no Tyco RC car. But I would have hoped it would have lasted longer. Maybe I got a bad unit or Wally World simply put a returned General Lee back on the shelve. I will take it back tomorrow and get another one and if it blows up I will get my $ back.



Todd

[JimShine]

Mine is fine, but I heard over on the Confed site about some having issues.

[Wakko]

They're selling on Ebay, so if you can get extras, do so.  I can't find them at my local WalMarts. 

[sharpspike]

heres one you could try.

http://www.dodgecharger.com/forum/index.php?PHPSESSID=0b74d23ab0062f314e9761b5d3635e36&topic=4631.0

[BrianShaughnessy]

Never saw that before 

I got one of the plum crazy remote funkmaster flex '69's and was disappointed in the performance... not much  go.   

Much better go from the black muscle machine's 69 remote 

[JimShine]

The GL kicks the Funkmaster R/C's ass speedwise. I would say it is easily twice as fast. You can get it to do 180's when you get aquainted with the controller and have room to get speed. However, it is smaller than the Funkmaster. It is a 1:18 scale and is at home with the larger diecast cars .

[ChargerBill]

Man, those cool toys never make it up to my neck of the woods...

[BrianShaughnessy]

The GL kicks the Funkmaster R/C's ass speedwise. I would say it is easily twice as fast. You can get it to do 180's when you get aquainted with the controller and have room to get speed. However, it is smaller than the Funkmaster. It is a 1:18 scale and is at home with the larger diecast cars .

Sounds like it'd be a good race between that rc GL and the muscle machines car.   I'll have to look for it.    The muscle machine is also smaller than the funkflex car so they must be pretty close or built on similar chassis perhaps.

[TheGhost]

If anyone wants one, there are 3 here at the local Wal-Mart, the last time I checked.  I can pick one up for ya, if you pay for cost+shipping.

[48chebbie]

the difference between junk R/C cars,and true,quality R/C,is leaps and bounds. the junk they sell at wally world,toys R us,etc. is a complete waste of time and money. i have been into R/C vehicles for 20+ years,and if you folks ever tried the "real thing",you would never even take a second look at that junk. for example,i have a TEAM ASSOCIATED RC10B4 stealth 2wd electric buggy,with a novak brushless motor,runs 60 mph on a 7-cell battery pack,and runs for 25+ minutes on a charge. a set-up like this,will set you back $350.00,but,every single part is replaceable,and hobby stores stock them,parts,supplies,etc. run it into a tree,break a suspension arm,un screw it,go buy a $3.00 arm,screw it back on, and run again. just my two cents on R/C.

[Ghoste]

How does it jump?

Sorry, I couldn't resist.

[JR]

Mine did the exact same thing with the rear gears. I'm not even gonna bother trying to take mine back though. I'll figure out some way to   use the body on a real RC car one day.

I hear ya loud and clear 48chebbie about the quality R/C cars. I have a traxxas Nitro stampede. Old but fun and indestructable.

Wanna pick up a 1/10th drift car or Rally car next. I've been out of the loop for a couple of years, but I didn't like that converted RS4 Rally car that used belt drive. that seemed a little fragile.

for some real radio control stuff look here

www.towerhobbies.com

[48chebbie]

HPI offersan RS4 version,that is a rally car,alot tougher delrin suspension parts,alum. threaded shocks,etc. belt drive but tough. actually,i own a number of TAMIYA TL-01,TL-02 touring cars,shaft drive,with nicely sealed gearboxes. i add a nice set of aluminum shocks,swaybars,and a set of rallyblock tires,and play with them in the dirt like crazy. tamiya even offers these cars,in a pre-built(expert-built series) that come RTR with a futaba radio,and tamiyas own electronic speed control,completely factory built,just add battery,and the come in all the really neat rally car bodies,subaru,lancer evo,ford focus,citreon,etc. tower hobbies sells them,about $200.00,just look up 1/10 scale electric ready to run vehicles. like i mentioned earlier,every single part is replaceable,but,they are built far tougher than any of that junk from wally world.

[48chebbie]

here are a few of mine,a couple still in their boxes. they are alot of fun,with stock motor,and esc,will run 30 min. on a charge,and run about 20 mph.

[48chebbie]

or,if you creative,or have the time, you can do like me,i machine up my own aluminum,radio control monster trucks.

[JimShine]

I like the high quality R/C's myself, but have yet to see a really nice Charger body.

[Geordie]

Hey 48 chebbie,

Can you suggest a nice high quality RC for around the 350 bucks your talking about? I want to get into the hobby for fun, but don't have a clue where to start or what to look for. Thanks!

[48chebbie]

well,gordie,it all depends on what you are looking for in an R/C car/truck.are you looking for on-road,off-road,2wd,4wd,super fast,realistic looking? the diversity in these vehicles are vast,and are only limited by your taste,and pocketbook. a good quality vehicle,from a top name,and good fast fun,doesn't cost that much. the car i mentioned($350.00) is a high-dollar elaborate set-up. that team associated buggy,in RTR form,is $189.00 from www.towerhobbies.com . it is very fast,right out of the box,airtronics radio,15 turn reedy mod motor,oil shocks,etc. you can jump a 6 foot fench with it all day long,and will run 15-20 minutes on a good,6-cell 7.2 volt stick pack. batteries run around $20.00 per pack,and you will want 2-3 packs. a really great battery charger will set you back,$40-$55,and the upgrades,for this car,and any other,is endless. the cars i posted pics of above,on the otherhand,are called touring cars. they are all wheel drive,on or offroad cars. you can set them up as parking lot corner carvers,of dirt kicking rally cars. the difference is money spent on better shocks,hotter motor,higher amp speed control,different tires,etc. the awesome thing about any of these quality R/C car/trucks is,the bodies are made out of clear poly-carbonate(lexan). you paint them from the inside with a special paint,available at any hobby store on the planet. and the body styles are endless as well. there are 1000's. a company named PARMA,that offers a few mopar bodies,including a 70 hemi cuda(with shaker),and.....a 69 charger. go to www.towerhobbies.com and browse away,and feel free to ask me any questions you have.

[48chebbie]

here is a pic of the hemi cuda body,unpainted on a touring car chassis,with the decals,and the window mask,which you stick on,paint,then peel off,leaving clear windows,and a pic of an unpainted 55 chevy truck body,on a custom monster truck chassis

[mustanghater]

Are those stick on decals or do you use water?

[48chebbie]

they are stick on decals. you cut them on the sheet with scissors,or an exacto knife,then stick 'em on. remember,the paint is on the inside,so,the outside is always shiny,and,when you hit stuff,it doesn't knock paint off.

[THE CHARGER PUNK]

ive got an 1:10 scale 1969 charger r/t lime green with silver r/t stripe and see through hood and working front and rear light.i have to say this thing rips like hell i can do 360s and shit i jump it off curbs and everything it works great and is made to last i try to find pic l8r-MATT

p.s. where did you buy that build it yourself 70 hemi cuda remote control vehicke?-MATT

[moparguy01]

ive got an 1:10 scale 1969 charger r/t lime green with silver r/t stripe and see through hood and working front and rear light.i have to say this thing rips like hell i can do 360s and shit i jump it off curbs and everything it works great and is made to last i try to find pic l8r-MATT

p.s. where did you buy that build it yourself 70 hemi cuda remote control vehicke?-MATT

Got a pic? sounds like a cool rig.

[48chebbie]

the chassis under that cuda body,is a kyosho V1 type-R,it's a carbonfiber chassis,kevlar belt-drive AWD touring car. it is about 6-7 years old,it is a factory race kit,i used to use it as a back-up to my yokomo MR4-TC when i raced club touring cars a few years ago. the bodies,can be bought,by themselves,and put on any 1/10 scale car or truck chassis you chose. almost all the touring cars available by tamiya,kyosho,schumacher,etc. are all the same wheelbase,and width. and the choices of wheels,tires,paint colors,and body-styles are endless. almost all are available as ready-to-run or,in kit form. kits are usually the basic kit,minus radio,speed control,so you can chose your own equiptment.

[THE CHARGER PUNK]

here ya go pics of the exact same car that i own -MATT

[Andrew]

I sometimes buy crap $20 cars and play fear factor with them, Their pretty quick and can take a few big hits before they start to lose bits.

[70charginglizard]

Three little words for you.....MADE IN CHINA.

I'm sure you'll find that somewhere on the piece of crap

[Andrew]

Yeah.

Thats why I try to only buy stuff that says "Made in USA" or "Made in Germany".

Sometimes Finland if its a phone Im buying.