Trooper - 4WD Short Course Truck

(aka ACME Trooper)

HK have sold a heap of these trucks from HK, US and in AUS, but still no dedicated thread in this forum so I thought no time like the present to share experiences.

First up, like a lot of HK buyers I suspect, I am more into Aircraft and RC Cars is not my area of expertise. I don't own or have ever considered buying a high end hobby grade vehicle. My first "car" was the QRF400 Bike!

So, if you are like me and want something to do when the flying weather is bad, then read on....

My Trooper


I am running the 3600mAh 3S 30-40C Turnigy LiPo which give great performance and over 15mins of hard running time.



One of the major issues I am having is with fine sandy dirt getting into the Bearings, especially in the rear diff and axles. Also debris (rocks and sticks) getting into the cockpit area was causing issues with the Drive Train, so I am trialing a debris screen.




With a thin strip of hook & loop holding the screen in place, its easy to remove to access the battery, etc. So far its being doing a good job of keeping the rubbish out while still allowing for cooling of the LiPo, Motor and ESC.

I now have a Blue truck for my son to drive and we are having a ball racing on our backyard "track".

We have had our share of breakages, some our fault (ie. running into solid objects), some have been failures.

Rear bearings have only been lasting a week or so in the grass & dirt before seizing up and spinning within their housing. Otherwise the gear components have been holding up surprisingly well considering the bashing they have been receiving.

Overall, considering the purchase price and the price of parts, I'd say we are very happy with the fun delivered from these machines. I know I won't need to mow the grass in the backyard for sometime.

Hope to hear your experiences...

Ah good to see I'm not the only one with the grass problem.

Whenever I drive either my df02 or my blitz, (especially the blitz), every niche gets packed with grass.

And yea, they mow the lawn very nicely. :)

Yes metal gear servo is a must have

For the shocks, i agree with you i am looking for some replacment shock from other brand (like hpi, losi, Team ASSO, traxxas, ... SCT shocks) but it need some test fitting ...

Mine is on the way!!!...... cant wait!

And yes i hope HK will get some upgrade parts for this truck.

Im getting a Trooper for Christmas, unfortunately they are still making it in China so I havn't received it yet.... but i've read that they need a tighten up/going over out of the box before you run them.
As im new to all this what do people recommend checking? How do you know when its right?
Any suggestions would be great :)