JK-Forum’s Scale Project – Axial Jeep Wrangler Unlimited Rubicon SCX10 RTR

When Axial Racing released the 1/10th-scale Jeep Wrangler Unlimited Rubicon Ready-To-Run (RTR), they decided to test it on the trail that bares its namesake: the storied Rubicon Trail. It was unprecedented as it not only took three days, but also it traveled a total of 15 miles from Loon Lake to its finish at Homewood. It earned Jeep’s coveted Trail Rated badge just like the full-scale truck did, but will it earn the approval of JK-Forum? We set up a grueling test course at photographer David Karey’s house. Just wait till you see what we cooked up.

(Still Shots by Justin Banner, Action/Testing Shots by David Karey of AmDrift.com)

The SCX10 brings a full-scale appearance to homes everywhere without the typical expense of scale-appearing vehicles. What normally costs $700 to nearly $1,000 from rivaling, overseas brands in just kit forms; the SCX10 costs between $250 to $400 depending on either the kit or RTR version. Our Jeep Wrangler Unlimited Rubicon MSRPs for $379.99 in RTR form, while the kit version is $329.99 where you would need a radio with receiver, motor, speed control for the motor, servo for steering, paint for the Lexan body, battery for the truck and appropriate charger, batteries for the radio, and glue for the tires. Our RTR only needs the batteries and charger as it comes with Axial’s AX-3 two-channel, 2.4GHz radio and AR-3 three-channel, 2.4GHz receiver.

Fortunately, I am a bit of an RC nerd and already have appropriate batteries from MaxAmps. I use their Race Edition 7.2V LiPo two-cell hard-case battery that’s rated for 6,500 mAh. However, the ESC that Axial uses needs a Tamiya connector, while my LiPo uses a Dean’s Ultra Plug. Nothing that a simple conversion harness can’t fix, but if you are in the same situation, you will need to purchase it, or a battery with the correct connection.

The chassis is set up as a triangulated three-link up front, while the rear is a triangulated four-link. It provides maximum articulation for both the front and the rear, while still being realistic. It also uses locked, solid-axles front and rear where most RC 4WD trucks use independent suspensions with open differentials (loose diffs as they are known in the RC world). It adds to the realism, helps make the truck a true rock climber, and simplifies setup as you now don’t have to play with differential fluid to get the diffs tighter to prevent power loss from a spinning wheel.

However, this combined with a slightly stiff suspension does create a truck that is prone to rolling over in hard turns. Throttle control and smooth steering input from the driver corrects this and, let’s face it: it’s not a racer and was never intended to be.

The scale appearance factor doesn’t stop with the chassis. Inside you’ll find a scale-looking cabin with Rebel Off Road seats and detailed interior decals. You’ll also find Poison Spyder crusher fenders, rear bumper with tire carrier, and Rock Brawler bumper. The front bumpers even feature D-Rings and Axial includes more in the package, so you can add a pair to the rear bumper. The spare tire also swings out of the way just like on the full-scale bumper. That is attention to detail.

Then there are the wheels and tires. They are not only already glued on for you, but also are a full set with a spare. The tires are officially licensed Maxxis Trepadors in the Axial R35 compound. At 4.6-inches tall and 1.43-inches wide, they are bigger than the original Axial Ripsaw tires. They are also mounted on licensed Walker Evans Racing wheels that are 1.9 inches in diameter.

Powering the scale Unlimited Rubicon is a 27-turn motor from Axial Racing. This is a middle-of-the-road motor — not too much torque, but not too much speed, either. It’s a great one to start with. If you’re looking for more torque, you’ll start looking for higher-turn motors, which we’ll talk about down the road.

Now, let’s get on to the testing. Our first “course” starts out with a broken-brick and tree-limb circle track. I start out where the bricks are pretty close together and the articulation isn’t too extreme. However, by the time I reach half-way, the larger gaps are making it harder to cross without getting high-centered. It’s not a fail point for the truck. These are just some really big gaps that only custom rigs could cross.

I then take it to the flat, getting that open, flatter desert style of driving with full-throttle pulls and high-speed turns. It three-wheels like a true Baja-rig, but the loose dirt helps make sure it doesn’t tip over. Only on the most extreme, full-throttle, full-lock turns do I really screw up and roll the truck.

We then head over to the back of the house and the “ravine”, which is a section where David’s starting to remodel his house. I straddle the truck where I can and try to stay on line, but portions were washed out and I had no choice, but to move to driver’s left. I then maneuver the JK back to straddle again and utilize the sidewalls of the scale Maxxis Trepadors. It was an awesome, realistic-looking sight as the tires were digging into the walls and clawing for traction. We make it past that and onto truly man-made obstacles.

We had two brick piles and some spare pieces of wood to play around, I mean, test the Axial JK. The first test was partially a balance test and partially an articulation test. I used one long piece of wood that reached the top of this pile for one ramp, and took two other pieces to create the other ramp. I left a gap between those two to see if the balance would get upset while also being off axis, even if only slightly.

It looked at me … it looked at me and laughed.

On the other side was a brick-ramp-to-step challenge. It took it like a champ despite the big angle of departure on the step and the drag brakes showed their stuff. The Axial AE-2 Speed Control is designed in partnership with Castle Creations, and not only designed with LiPo batteries in mind, but also with a programmable drag brake if you have a Castle Creations controller. In stock form, it works very well on all but the most vertical descents.

Next up was a much larger brick pile, so I grabbed a longer piece of wood that was stuck in the ground. Apparently it was being used to hold up a brick wall, so don’t tell David I stole it. Anyhow, I put the end with loose dirt at the top to give the tires a last-minute challenge as it crests. I had to cheat my own test as the dirt was way too loose, so I used the edge of the board to climb the top. That didn’t work, and I nearly made the truck fall off from three feet in height.

We reset the truck at the top and began the longer stair-step down the backside of the brick pile. The Axial JK’s height helped it descend, and my driving prowess …

… sucks.

The final test was similar to our first “ravine”; however, it featured loose dirt in the descent and required me to find the right line to get over a large gap between two chunks of bricks. It was the biggest and last challenge of the day. The descent wasn’t too bad, despite the loose silt. For my first line, I powered the Axial JK toward the brick wall to straddle the gap made by the formerly perpendicular wall and its leftover mortar. Going off, it would high-center on driver’s left, and no matter what I would do, there wasn’t anywhere I could grip to power over it.

I back up and power over the bricks, aiming to gap the “boulder”, but would only end up high-centering in the dead-center of the JK’s SCX10 chassis and center skid plate. Backing up once again, it was time for a new game plan.

This time I stayed to driver’s right, planting the tires on that leftover mortar and using all the bite the sidewalls could give me. It was working and I had the right path …

… until I got to the boulder. I would try variations of this as it was my most successful venture, but each time I would end up getting stuck on the leftover brick wall. David and I tried adding smaller bricks and rocks on the driver’s front tire to give it more grip on the boulder, but nothing worked. It was frustrating in that we almost made it, but we ran out of daylight for me to continue on. If only I had a winch to help pull the Axial JK forward, maybe it would have made it.

Overall, the Axial Jeep Wrangler Unlimited Rubicon has proven that it’s well-deserving of the Jeep Trail Rated badge. While we had a few spots that gave our scale crawler some issues, we knew we gave it an extreme test that would be difficult for many out-of-the-box crawlers. This is also just the start of this JK’s life. We’re going to be upgrading and doing further trail testing of this amazing model, thus giving our “Backyard Test Facility” another go. We’re looking forward to it, and we know you will be, too.