I have been around radio controlled cars and trucks since the early ’90s and have had the chance to drive (and break) a lot of vehicles — some good, some not so good. I thought I would list what I consider the best RC monster trucks based on fun factor. Note: The first three trucks in this list are my favorite modern designs. They deliver a lot of smiles per dollar. The six others were impressive for their time, design, or popular fan favorites. Not too long ago, I was able to drive the Losi XXL-2E for a few battery packs before my friend commandeered his vehicle back. This truck is awesome and it will be in my stable soon. Me driving this truck reminds me of the saying “a bull in the China shop,” except that the XXL-2E has an uncanny ability to avoid the China. The XXL-2E has torque and speed but is stable and maneuverable. The active vehicle control keeps it going in a fairly straight line when the throttle is mashed. Losi’s truck is one of the best brushless RC trucks on the market.

It does have a hefty price tag, along with LiPo battery and charger costs, as well. The Traxxas Stampede has been one of my favorite radio controlled monster trucks for a long time. It has been in production since 1994 and was advanced when it was introduced. Back then, the truck came with a 27-turn 540 motor and mechanical speed control — which was easily upgradebale. (I bought one back in the late ’90s and put a 15-turn motor and electronic speed control in it at that time.) Nowadays, the truck comes stock with a 12-turn 550 motor or a 3500 Kv brushless motor. It, also, comes in 2-wheel drive and 4-wheel drive configurations. In its current trims, the Stampede is a great basher and crazy fast — far superior to the one I used to have. Stampedes generally do not break the minute they are crashed. (I recall hitting quite a few trees at speed.) But even when parts break, the truck has been around so long that parts are readily available. It is easy-to-fix, wicked fast, handles OK, and Traxxas sells its pretty cheap.

I think the 2-wheel drive version with the 15-turn motor offers the most smiles per dollar and is probably the best RC monster truck under $300. The second best smiles per dollar award goes to the HPI Wheely King. This truck has two personalities — both are enjoyable. The King drives like a monster truck. The handling is slow and it’s top heavy. But, it’s just fun to beat. It’s not the best RC basher (not enough power or speed) but it is fun to drive.Vw Mk2 Golf T Shirt Out of the box, the truck has a 27-turn 540 motor. Buy An Evian Baby T ShirtAdding a 20-turn motor, which works well with the supplied ESC and a good battery, will liven it up.Siberian Cat Breeders Malaysia Those upgrades will turn into a wheely-popping machine.

The Wheely King can be turned into a capable rock crawler, with a few mods. (That’s what I did with mine after I drove it as a monster truck for awhile.) The first is locking the front and rear differentials in this 4×4 truck. HPI makes a diff locker part, which costs less than $10. When the diffs are locked, all four wheels spin simultaneously. This will provide traction to climb. The second is removing a brace off the suspension. Once this is gone, the truck can articulate like a rock crawler. Of course, the wheelbase can be lengthened, the chassis turned backwards, and a host of other mods can be done if you like to wrench. Or, you could buy a Crawler King, which is a Wheely King converted to a crawler. Although I am a big fan of the Traxxas, I never was into the Traxxas T-Maxx — probably because of nitro. (I’m more of an electric kind of guy.) I have read where people consider this to be the best nitro RC truck. RC Car Action noted that the T-Maxx ushered the “monster truck explosion in the early 2000s.”

When the truck was released, it featured an electric start .15 engine, two coil-over shocks on every corner, huge 5.75 inch high tires. The T-Maxx had a mid-mounted two speed transmission, with permanent four wheel drive. Although changes have been made throughout the years, the truck is still available — even with a faster engine, bigger tires, and many more upgrades over the original. Traxxas, also, released an E-Maxx that is an electric version of the truck. The Tamiya Clodbuster is the iconic bad boy monster truck from the ’80s and ’90s. This truck melted the minds of radio controlled monster truck enthusiasts when it was released. It was four-wheel drive, four-wheel steering, and dual shocks with 6.4 inch tires on each corner. It had two RC-540 motors. Tamiya including a beautiful, injected molded body. This truck was massive and looked like a monster truck. After market parts were plentiful, and the truck could be turned into a backyard basher to sled puller.

The Clods I have driven (many years ago) were not stock. They were modified to the gills for pulling. According to a reviewer on Amazon, “out of the box, [the ClodBuster] surely doesn’t [perform] like a more modern design, but with the zillions of modifications available for it, you can build your Clod to suit your tastes. These are really fun trucks out of the box but throw a couple of brushless systems, a suspension kit and a set of oil shocks on it and you’ve got one awesome RC monster truck that is the closest you’ll get to the real thing.” It was discontinued in 2004 but re-released as the Super ClodBuster recently. Back in the ’90s, Kyosho’s Double Dare competed with the ClodBuster for being the best dual motor monster truck with four wheel drive and four wheel drive steering. But the Double Dare did not compare to the sheer size of the Clod. Kyosho countered with the USA-1. The USA-1 was similar to the Clod but had the then-current appeal of monster truck fans who supported the USA-1 brand.

Size wise, the truck was large, with a nice-looking body. It had realistic-looking components, including the roll cage, grille, and bumpers. The truck was available in electric and nitro. If you wanted the best RC monster truck from the ’80s, then you wanted a Blackfoot. The Blackfoot was on my wish list when I was a kid. I remember seeing this truck available at a local toy store and thought, “I bet this would perform way better than the cheap RC cars I’ve got.” This 1/10 scale truck had its roots in the Tamiya Frog, with the same chassis and suspension. The body, much like all Tamiya bodies, was amazing. As a monster truck released in 1987, the Tamiya Lunchbox was an oddity. With a van body, the Lunchbox was a 1/12 scale — the smallest Tamiya radio controlled monster truck in the late ’80s. The Lunchbox used an independent suspension with a solid rear axle. It’s a wheelie-popping machine and similar to the HPI Wheely King for general bashing.

This truck is a classic. Tamiya re-released the Lunchbox in 2005. Like Losi, Team Associated is/was known for racing vehicles, which is why when the MGT was released people took notice. The Team Associated MGT is nitro, with an extruded aluminum chassis. The engine options have varied since it has been released. The .28 cubic inch engine has been discontinued in favor of the .50 cubic inch engine, which is still available. There is a staggering amount of good RC monster trucks. Many of Tamiya’s truck designs are similar, with a different body on top, which is why I wanted to have a additional mentions section. Here are a few other trucks that are/were still amazing for their time. There are so many good places to buy RCs — whether online, local shops, or even used. The beauty of many of these older trucks is price and availability used on craigslist, forums, newspapers, etc. For example, I bought a good condition used Tamiya Lunchbox (minus electronics, which I had) for $20, drove it for awhile, then re-sold it.