I sold my Caldera, which meant I could give myself permission to buy another toy. I wanted another generic 4wd platform to fiddle with and although I looked at some alternatives, the short-list was two Short Course trucks: a Losi SCTE 2.0, or a Tekno SCT410. The day after I had decided on a SCT, Amain had a sale on Tekno products… so the decision was made for me.
A few days after ordering a surprise arrived in the mail!
The box was small, since Tekno doesn’t include a body or tires/rims. Two large parts bags, the aluminum chassis, a manual, and a bag of various oils, grease and threadlock.
The parts bags were laid out perfectly: not only was each sub-assembly in it’s own lettered bag (matching pages in the manual)… the bags had been packed in the correct order to be pulled out sequentially. Done one step? Just grab the next bag in line! First you built the diffs: front/center/rear
Next the front and rear gearboxes. The shock towers are made of beefy aluminum and shims were provided to perfectly align the diffs. The moldings were crisp with little to no flashing. The tiny bit of trimming I did wasn’t for fit: I only shaved a couple slivers off for cosmetics.
Next came the A-arms, bumpers, driveshaft, hubs, and swaybars. Tekno provided the perfect number of screws and made it easy to compare sizes to make sure you were using the correct ones for each step. Until now I thought my RC8Te was the most solidly put together kit: but the Tekno beats it!
Finally it started to look like a truck once the center diff was installed and the front+rear assemblies were bolted on:
I attached the plastic siderails and bumpers and started to install the electronics. I recycled a black HobbyWing 150A ESC, transponder and lipo but the rest was new: RX471 receiver, RP1005M servo, and 4600KV motor. The motor/ESC/servo is a tight fit and I haven’t figure out the best wiring layout yet, but it works!
And here’s the final result. I used new Pro-Line Calibers on DE Racing rims, but recycled the body. Yes… after all the new electrics I’m using a beaten up body that someone else painted that came with my old SC10 2wd 🙂
I’m still breaking it in, but I’ve been very impressed with Tekno so far. This is my first kit from them (and there is only limited local parts support) but I’m hoping it’s tough enough I won’t be breaking it all the time. Now to take it to Sids!
Morning Edit: 7am at the secret testing facilities 🙂
