Greetings.
The best thing you can do is to read a lot, and learn as much as possible, so you can make the best decisions possible. Even better would be to hook up with some of the local guys, and check out some of their crawlers, so you can get a better feel for what your options are.
If you want good, sound advice, from a great group of locals, check the forum at
www.warcrc.org
There is a ton of information to read at
www.rccrawler.com as well.
Basically the first thing you need to decide is what you want to do with your crawler, and what your budget will be. Are you looking for something really realistic looking, or more performace based? Do you think you will ever want to compete in organized events, or just bash in your backyard? etc.
Basically the best starting rig out there is the Axial AX10. It comes in kit form (you will gain a ton of invaluable experience by assembling it yourself, plus building is FUN). You get to choose your own radio, from a $20 used AM radio, up to a $300 "cadillac" radio, as well as making your own choices on what motor, speed control, and servo you want to run. The AX10 is also the most popular crawler on the market, and has awesome aftermarket support, both from Axial, and other manufacturers.
Personally I wouldn't recomment any of the Ready-to-run (RTR) crawlers, but that's mostly because I'm old school, and think everybody shoud build their first crawler, so they know how it works.
The reason for no gas crawlers is the motors don't have the right power curve to be effective in a rock crawling scenario.
Where are you located, by the way?
I saw the venom creeper on the rccrawler site but no info on how durable it is. Assuming its to new for any carnage reports I'm just wondering everyones thoughts on the selectable lockers and the durability of the axles? I'd like to hear that someone has tried it and its as cool as it looks before I drop the cash for the ax-10.
