As I was looking at different rigs to try out, one choice in particular really stuck out…the Trail Finder 2 by RC4WD. The 1/10 scale truck has endless options for upgrade and if you have the imagination, this truck can be anything you want it to be. It really added a lot to my RC experience!
As soon as you open the box, you gain a huge appreciation for what $399 gets you:
- Mojave Pickup Body kit
- All metal ladder frame (must be assembled)
- Soft spring steel leaf springs
- Cast Metal Yota Axles with locked diffs
- Realistic look transfer case & 2 speed Transmission
- 4 three-piece bead lock wheels
You will need to purchase your electronics separately. It doesn’t come with a motor, electronic speed control unit, lights, steering servo, gear select servo, or receiver (but it does have a receiver box disguised as a fuel cell).
The Mojave body kit comes packaged separately and gives you the option of doing a traditional pickup bed or just the cab (in case you want to go with a flat bed or other rear option). Even though LEDs don’t come with the kit, there are light buckets for a fully functional tail light set up (blinker, reverse, brake, marker), head lights, front blinkers, fog lights, and side panel marker lights. Lenses and LED anchors come for every bucket. And this isn’t a light weight clear plastic body. On the contrary, it is thick hard plastic that can be filed down, cut, shaped, puttied, and painted to create whatever look your imagination desires. (Seriously, use your favorite search engine to look at some TF2 images; I guarantee some of them will blow your mind)
The lion share of your undercarriage is all metal. The frame rails come completely blank and you will need to assemble it by placing and anchoring the cross members and shackles. The leaf spring stack is easy to put together (it just takes a couple screws that go all the way through and anchor to the Yota axles). It comes with special bolts for attaching the shackles to the leaf springs but you still want to make sure you don’t over-tighten them. You may want to flip the tie rod; I ran into binding issues when I installed exactly as the directions picture.
The transmission and transfer case are pretty cool and look really realistic. I used a light-weight servo to action the range selection and have had no problems at all. The transfer case anchor/skid plate is all machined aluminum too. Overall, it just has a great feel and look to it once you have all your hardware installed. As a note, there are A LOT of fasteners – blue thread locker is your friend!
This truck isn’t meant to be a speed demon like the Axial Wraith or Traxxas Slash but it is a blast to drive and the hop ups for this build seem endless. If you want a 4-link suspension, there are options out there. There are several versions of shocks to pick from or you can just order different rate internal springs for the ones that come with it. I found the aftermarket leaf springs were too soft; this truck is heavy! On that note, you will want to keep the foam in your tires so your truck doesn’t look like its riding a completely flat set of tires. Beyond performance hop ups, there are some detailed mods that are amazing for this kit: real looking V8 motor (only works with single speed transmission), full interior kits, bumpers, roll bars, light controllers, the list just keeps going!
I tried a bunch of hop ups, as I am sure you can tell from the photos but that’s another story. Check out the gallery below for all the photos of the Trailfinder 2.
