I love toys especially remote control ones and today for review I’ve got the Rock Crawler from Kidzlane which is a 4×4 truck that’s made to drive over large rocks as the name implies. There’s plenty of clearance under the truck to make it over large rocks and the truck is fast as it does have dual motors for the wheels and even a third motor just for steering. All in all I like the Rock Crawler, it’s lots of fun, and it seems well made and durable. Read on to learn more…
Specifications and Features
The Kidzlane radio controlled 4×4 rock crawler is built tough with two powerful, high torque motors and rechargeable battery to keep you going.
Also included are transmitter batteries and instructions. The rims, tires, body, and other parts are made of lightweight, impact resistant, quality materials.
The Kidzlane rock crawler includes large, soft rubber tires that make it the ultimate r/c rock crawler, able to drive on rocks, dirt, sand, and mud.
This rock crawler is fully suspended with oversize long travel shocks and moving chassis parts with a high clearance design so you can drive over large, odd shaped rocks. Its body cover has a high quality, flexible, anti-abuse resistance for all types of terrains for rock crawling
The Kidzlane rock crawler includes the transmitter, all batteries, and a charger right in the box so you can take your truck off road without having to purchase anything else.
-4 wheel Large shocks propulsion with active suspension for high performance and high quality, flexible, anti-abuse resistance body cover for all types of terrain for rock crawling
-Includes Monster Rock Crawler, Hi-Capacity Rechargeable battery (Included) for car & Battery charger (UL Certified), Transmitter and 9V battery for transmitter, Phillips screwdriver
-Trigger throttle and steering wheel transmitter, Heavy duty construction and off road tire tread, drives great on rocks, mud, sand and beach!
-3 Powerful motors, 2 for car driving & 1 for steering
-RTR Remote Control Rock Crawler Truck, just charge and drive
Product Dimensions: 12 x 8.5 x 7 inches ; 3.1 pounds
Price: $49.99 (from Amazon at time of review)
The Review
Let’s start with the video unboxing and then move on:
The packaging is a nice looking box with a large window on the front to see the truck inside and there’s plenty of information all over the box to read.
Once you get it unpacked you’ll find lots of things, user guide, battery pack, antenna, charger, screwdriver, 9 volt battery remote control and the truck itself. Yes they even include a screwdriver as you’ll need one to remove the battery cover.
The battery is a 600mAh and it should provide about 15 minutes of run time which isn’t. It’s your standard common battery pack with lead coming out of it to charge and connect to the truck. Instructions say it should take between 2 and 4 hours to charge the battery and that sounds about normal.
The remote is the gun style with trigger for throttle and a steering wheel on the side. The remote does have a trim knob or dial on it to help you out.
The battery compartment is on the bottom and there’s an LED indicator above the power switch to let you know it’s powered on.
You need to install the antenna, it’s simple just insert and twist. The remote is made so most of the antenna is inside of the body of the remote when it’s collapsed, I like this as it’s much harder to accidentally break it. To use it you just pull it out and it telescopes up.
The truck I received for review is a bright red and it has a body that’s made of a very soft plastic so it won’t get damaged, it will just bend. The body can also come off as it’s held on with clips. The body has the expected decorations on it and the antenna is sticking out of the back, it’s a thin stiff wire essentially. I like the body as you don’t have to worry that it will get broken and if you wanted to you could replace it with something else.
The Rock Crawler actually three motors inside of it, one for steering and two for the wheels, one in front and one I back, this makes it more powerful especially for rock crawling. The Rock Crawler has four independent spring shocks as well to help you ride better and keep you from crashing or falling over. There’s plenty of clearance under the truck to get over rocks and the there are angled plates on the front and back to also help you get over ricks and to protect the motors.
The tires are large and made of soft rubber and very much resemble real off-road style tires.
On the bottom is the battery compartment and power switch along with a trim dial at the front. The battery compartment is secured with a screw and they’ve supplied a screwdriver for you to make life easier.
I’ve got a quick video for you of the Rock Crawler driving over rocks in my yard. It makes it over the rocks with no problems really, only when the battery starts going down is there an issue.
The Rock Crawler is fast, a bit too fast actually to use in your home unless you’ve got plenty of room to drive and maneuver as the turns are very wide. I found myself constantly running into things like the legs of chairs and the couch etc, but outside it’s fine as you’ve got more room of course.
I do like this truck and I’ve had lots of fun with it but there is one glaring downside and that’s the charger. The instructions actually tell you to plug it in and let it charge for 2-4 hours or until it’s warm to the touch. That’s ridiculous, there should be some kind of LED to indicate charging and that it’s done and it should auto-shut off when done. Basically I looked at the clock and figured out how much time it should charge and checked on it, the next time I actually set the timer on my phone to go off. I shouldn’t have to do any of that as we have the technology to make a decent charger that can let you know when it’s charged.
The next issue is the range, it’s limited to about 40 feet which is fine for driving it around the house or in my yard but that’s it. This isn’t that big of an issue though as it’s not that expensive so the range, at least to me, is expected to be somewhat limited. As is range is fine for most uses though I think.
Conclusion
The Kidzlane Rock Crawler does as advertised, it can easily crawl over large rocks without getting stuck and it seems like a tough and durable truck.
The 15 minute run time is decent, good enough for some outdoor or indoor fun. I actually think I got a little longer than that before it really started to slow down.
I like the fact that the body is virtually indestructible, it’s made of soft plastic that will just bend and pop back into shape and you could replace it if you wanted to.
The range is a bit limited to about 35 feet which should be fine for most, but I would have liked to have seen a longer range personally. It’s not even enough for me to go from one end of my yard and back without walking. Oh well, not that big of an issue though.
The charger is a big issue, they seriously need to replace the charger with a better one, there’s just no excuse for the ‘when it feels warn it’s done charging’. Sorry that’s not how a battery charger should work.
Overall I like the Rock Crawler, my kids like the Rock Crawler and I’ve had lots of fun with it. It’s not bad really except for the charger…
+Lots of clearance to go over rocks
+Large rubber wheels
+Well made overall
+15 Minute drive time
+Removable and soft body
+Three motors
Cons:
-Limited range
-Charger needs to be better
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Disclosure: This product was given to us for review by the company for review purposes only, and is not considered by us as payment for the review.
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