Element Gatekeeper Review: Rock Racer Looks, Crawler Hooks!
Рет қаралды 3,965
Күн бұрынThis is the Element RC Enduro Gatekeeper review. The GK is a 1.9" Rock Runner-style RC Crawler. It's a member of the Enduro family, which keeps getting better and better, though the Gatekeeper is maybe the most different compared to all the other Enduro vehicles.
Can it crawl? Yes! Better than you might think at first look - it actually has turned out to be one of the most capable 1.9" rigs in the RC-TNT stable, and that's saying a lot!
Join us for a review and test drive on the 6-problem crawler course as we determine just how good this keeper of gates really is.
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Get your Element RC Gatekeeper Kit: www.asiatees.com/display?Elem...
Servo Options:
jx Servo 23kg 6V servo: www.asiatees.com/display?Misc...
JX Servo 45KG Waterproof Brushless Metal Gear Digital Servo 8.4V: www.asiatees.com/display?Misc...
An excellent BEC to support the HV variants: www.asiatees.com/display?Misc...
My favourite servo (HH 12-14V): holmeshobbies.com/electronics...
HobbyWing WP-1080 ESC: www.asiatees.com/display?Misc...
Holmes Hobbies 16T 5-slot 540 in the GK: holmeshobbies.com/motors/brus...
(Find HH brushed motors on ATees: Holmes Hobbies brushed motors: www.asiatees.com/featured?ran...)
Wheels: s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_Aaw21A
TEST TIRE:
The tire used in this review & test:
Pro-line BFGoodrich® Krawler T/A® KX 1.9" Predator
www.prolineracing.com/tires/b...
www.asiatees.com/display?Misc...
The foams were a 2-stage (hard/medium rear, med/soft front) from Boom Racing. There are more expensive foams out there and alternatively, the Pro-Line tires do ship with their own single-stage memory foams. I may test foams at a later time but for where I'm at in knowledge and experience, I've found that simply getting hard/med in the rear tires and med/soft in the fronts gives good general rock crawling utility.
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Chapters:
0:00 Intro
0:11 Body
0:23 Manual & Build
0:33 Axles & Diffs
0:49 Design
0:59 Electronics
1:13 Wheels & Tires
1:23 Design Cues
1:33 Suspension
2:00 Overdrive
2:10 Plastics
2:29 Battery Trays
2:55 Overall Geometry
3:24 Weight & Angles
4:03 Problem 1
4:59 Problem 2
5:33 Problem 3
6:36 Problem 4
7:37 Problem 5
8:38 Problem 6
10:17 Drive De-brief
10:45 Rear Axle Fix
11:04 Shock Pre-load
11:24 Servo Options
11:50 Closing Thoughts
12:33 Coming Soon
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Follow us:
Twitter @rctrailandtech and on Instagram:
/ rctrailandtech
#rccrawlers, #elementrc, #elementgatekeeper
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@jayb3518 Жыл бұрын
I have to say one of the most underrated channels I've found so far on youtube... relatively young channel, however, the content is great and the comparison of models on the same course is very informative. I would suspect your subscriber count to eventually start to exponentially increase. I enjoy both the 6 problem challenges, as well as the course run comparisons equally. The only other thing that might be interesting, especially for these "rock racer/bouncers", is maybe just a quick demonstration on speed of the particular set up. I know, it's probably not as important for crawling, however it gives some of your viewers an idea of how different Motor/gearing combos would potentially run on trails. Just a quick run up and back on flat land. Keep up the Great content..., can't wait to see more mods, and models reviewed on your channel. I am also curious if putting longer links on the front axle would be "easily" accomplished to minimize the front overhang of the "body/bars" without negatively impacting other geometry.
@RCTNT Жыл бұрын
Thanks Jay! I expect the numbers will come if I'm making the right content. Working on it! Ah, the speed of rock racer/rock bouncer models is definitely relevant! I missed that completely! Mind you, with a kit the speed can really vary with motor and battery choice, even assuming stock gearing. Still, could have included that, yes! More broadly, I've had the same realisation about speed and started showing speed of a model very recently - that'll come up on the Marksman review on the 30th. Thanks for the idea, it's definitely a gap in most of my reviews! (I think did it on the RGT Rescuer EX86190 and probably a few others, but not consistently. I'll keep it in mind). Good question about the GK nose problem. I don't know that links would help more than hinder in this case. Yes, you could move the front axle forward with several changes (and watching for that front drive shaft length too). You'd achieve a better approach angle, but you'd compromise break over at least. I don't know it'd be worth the trade off. It's an interesting problem. The GK is otherwise amazing and this nose issue is relatively minor, other performance considered. Would be nice to deal with it somehow though!
@thomasvanderpool4735 2 жыл бұрын
I have a capra and gatekeeper. I really like them both in there own way. The gatekeeper seems to keep up with my capra, might take a little more effort to take the same lines but it manages to get it done. The front of the gatekeeper does get hung up sometimes, the capra has better approuch angles for sure. Enjoyed the video, good looking rig!
@RCTNT 2 жыл бұрын
Heh, that's all pretty much what I found too. Nice one.
@benlait3696 2 жыл бұрын
Just a heads up you have located the trailing arm's at the wrong place on the rear axle. They should be on the outside and there should be a spacer taking up the gap where you have located them. It's not obvious in the manual but if you look at the exploded view at the back of the manual you can clearly see where they are meant to be. 👍
@RCTNT 2 жыл бұрын
Ah, brilliant, thanks! I thought they looked a bit off! (Is this where I get to say, "See? The manual isn't too great!") That makes sense - great catch!
@benlait3696 2 жыл бұрын
@@RCTNT No worries I made a couple of mistakes assembling the Gatekeeper. It took me age's. 😂 The 7mm spacers come with the kit but it really needs 7.5mm. I used a 0.5mm Nylon washer to take up the space.
@RCTNT 2 жыл бұрын
@@benlait3696 I don't feel too bad, yeah! Built it while I was sick last week, during home schooling and while my boy was unwell too. It was a challenging week, I'm frankly surprised I got anything done, lol! Thanks again for the info, I'll get onto it soon.
@benlait3696 2 жыл бұрын
@@RCTNT I built part of mine whilst trying to look after my 5 year old daughter. Lost count of how many times I dropped small screws on the floor. 😜
@RCTNT 2 жыл бұрын
@@benlait3696 lol I know the feeling! On the bright side, RC! It's a nice escape.
@madsrcbuggy 2 жыл бұрын
Oh, this was great to watch! I remember I watched this earlier, I think it was right after I actually got my Gatekeeper, it was being suggested by the AI of KZfaq, I reckon I had already watched all the existing Gatekeeper videos, so I was happy to chew down one more, and it was really good! I'm happy to be back and proper watch this, Craig, and be able to comment... And I need to get mine out soon, just not right now while it's minus 20 C, brrrr...
@RCTNT 2 жыл бұрын
Heh that's excellent! I'm glad you got something out of it. Meantime, keep warm and dream happy Gatekeeper dreams!
@ItzLocker 2 жыл бұрын
Haven’t been here in a while, solid editing.
@RCTNT 2 жыл бұрын
Thanks, nice to see you round these parts again :)
@Oper8or Жыл бұрын
Love the video's on the Gatekeeper man! I've gone through and watched all of them. I don't know if you are trolling or not about the larger battery tray, it mounts in the back between the cage rails. I chuckled at first but just in case someone actually doesn't know it does work on the rc, just not where you think it would be mounted.
@RCTNT Жыл бұрын
Thanks! Wasn't trolling, that's great to know. Thank you!
@ed0c 2 жыл бұрын
ive been thinking about picking up one of these and doing the IFS conversion. the kit is cheap at the moment IFS is about 100
@RCTNT 2 жыл бұрын
That would make for a pretty decent rock-runner and trail rig!
@sammygonzalez7627 2 жыл бұрын
As always 👍
@areadierc2803 2 жыл бұрын
Create little crawl, are you running the stock shock positions. I run mine one the lowest settings. Helps alot with side hills.
@RCTNT 2 жыл бұрын
Hm forgot to mention that. Everything stock other than preload on the coils. I try to test things as stock first to give the most useful general review of the rig from factory - making it most applicable to as many potential buyers as possible. After that, mods to improve, with the same aim.
@atdakore 2 жыл бұрын
great vid mate! that servo looks quick! good chassis. Was it fun to build at least? Also just saw a free mod for some droopiness. Just attach rubber band to the axles to pull against the forces of the shocks. Helps so much at steep inclines, keeping top heavy trucks tied down to the rocks. are scx style axles compatible with the Element enduro? Damn boi youre up early for this one!
@RCTNT 2 жыл бұрын
Hm, it wasn't super fun to build, but it wasn't painful like some of the cheaper smaller scale rigs can be. Compared to other 1:10 crawler builds, it was probably one of my less enjoyable experiences, honestly, but even so, okay. I've done a rubber band on rear axle in the past for a specific comp build. It worked alright but I prefer less droop these days. Axle compatibility: dunno. Probably. You can make most things fit with most things if you try hard enough! These axles are fine though :)
@atdakore 2 жыл бұрын
@@RCTNT hey man, thanks heaps for you're responses! you clearly know your stuff!!!!
@RCTNT 2 жыл бұрын
@@atdakore thanks, it's been good talking. Hang in there with the extra lockdown stuff, it wasn't a surprise today but it still sucks! Backyard course time!
@philadamski945 Жыл бұрын
Regarding the nose problem - would a delrin or some hard, low friction nylon skid plate help? I wonder if anyone makes one yet 🤔
@RCTNT Жыл бұрын
That's an interesting idea.
@YoShImUrA53 2 жыл бұрын
Great stuff. I could see you getting back onto your mojo on this vid. Super informative, and no idle or moments. Can't wait for the next one! I feel like this rig could have been a bit better if they had made the caged body a bit lower, especially the roof, or maybe lowering the waist line, in any case, to lower the CoG and make that long nose more inboard to help not getting caught up with it. I think it would have helped it making it one of the most capable rock runners out there... to be fair, I'm probably missing some constraints such as transmission vs cabin clearances, but I wonder how much better it could've been done. I guess it's all up to us users to figure out! I'm sure I'll end up getting a builder's kit V2. Did you look it up? Also, it seems like a popular choice to disconnect the rear sway bar on these to help with articulation. If it's for rock racing as you say, you'd wonder if this body wouldn't make it a bit too tippy for its own good when cornering at speed? Im glad it's there, but I wish it made sense... Let us know if you test it in that regard and if it does help stabilize the car laterally. Watch out for the tougher plastics on cold day runs. I've heard they're a bit more brittle in these conditions...
@RCTNT 2 жыл бұрын
I'm planning on an improvement video where we experiment with some changes to this rig. There are a few pieces to optimise it, for sure. Thanks for your thoughts! High quality comments as usual. Much appreciated :) PS. V2?! Haven't heard of it, though I tend to live under a rock. Will check into this! Cheers
@YoShImUrA53 2 жыл бұрын
@@RCTNT Cheers! Always a treat whenever there's a new TNT vid! A few weeks before the recent unveiling of the (gorgeous, but-not-so-crawly-more-like-traily-as-in-trails-as-well-as-trailer-for-your-serious-crawler) Element Knightrunner, they unveiled the Builders Kit V2 with juicy upgrades from V1. Pretty much all the good off-the-shelf stuff Element already had, but now available, besides the Gatekeeper, also on their Builder's kit (two solid axles, and I think the links' delrin ball ends are exclusive to this kit.
@RCTNT 2 жыл бұрын
Ah! I'm getting back up to speed on the landscape - thanks for the info. After being right into it since 2011 or so, I took 18 months away from crawler news and info, right up to when I started this channel. Hence there's been some catching up to do! Am back up to speed with the latest from axial, traxxas and even cross rc, but element is a group I'm still getting to know. The Knight Runner looks ace, doesn't it? I'm thrilled for the partnership James Knight managed here, that's just great for a guy in his position. There's a Trailrunner that lives near me I was hoping to test and review this week, but our lockdown has been extended again this week and now they've introduced a curfew as well as distance measures, so it makes things a bit harder. We'll get there!
@YoShImUrA53 2 жыл бұрын
@@RCTNT I feel ya. Here in winter is more of the same... It feels more and more like Orwell's 1984, doesn't it!? Let's get back on track. We're here for a good time, not a long time =) Cross RC are OK-ish, I really like the Emo's locking difs (probably my favorite option for a scale rig), but besides the Emo, I've seen on the RC Review YT channel that the Cross RC SG4 Demon the drivetrain and other Customer Service issues prevent it from being a real contender. So a bit wary of the brand. I have yet to see a dealer in continental Europe that I know of, let alone the spares. As for new stuff that maybe could be of your interest, my favorite scale truck, besides Element's basic Enduro chassis, and maybe a couple of its iterations (Knightrunner, mostly it's-so-choice!) would be Gmade's Buffalo. They recently released a pickup version vs the two hardtop options prior. It's a very comprehensive build, which for me is almost 60% of the fun. Apparently their build quality issues of previous models are non-existant in the Buffalo, so for me, probably in my top 3 to get! Also, I really like this body as is, even being a non-licensed one (albeit very similar to a Blazer), I think it looks great.
@RCTNT 2 жыл бұрын
@@YoShImUrA53 I've bought my Cross RC models directly from China. There's an HC6 and an AT4 EMO sitting in their boxes in my office, waiting to be built. The customer service I had for the BC8 when I built it was typical of buying from official resellers in China - show proof of the failure and they ship you a replacement part, no delay or hassle. And the BC8 is the best engineered scale model RC I've ever owned, period. Am building a Gmade GS02F kit at the minute :)
@babblingidiot7903 2 жыл бұрын
Will portal axles help with this rc?
@RCTNT 2 жыл бұрын
With the center of gravity already being quite high for a vehicle of this type, my feeling is that it would be detrimental overall - though there would be times where the extra clearance would be helpful. Let's say, mostly not but sometimes yes.
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