The Latrax Teton RC Monster Truck is an entry level radio controlled vehicle which is ideal for the beginner radio controlled model enthusiast. The Latrax Teton comes neatly neatly packaged along with a 6 cell 7.2 volt NiMH battery as well as a charger that can be used in your car. I guess that the folks there at LaTrax assumed the most of us will be driving our real cars to some remote location where we would be having fun driving the little off road truck in some park or beach. The charger would normally plug into the cigarette lighter in your vehicle and the stock 6 cell 7.2 volt NiMH battery would take about 3 to 3 and a half hours to give you a full charge. On a full battery charge you can get about 12 – 15 minutes of decent driving. Depending on how often you drive the truck at full throttle you may be able to squeeze out a couple more minutes of decent drive time.
Looking at the RC truck in more detail, as with most of the vehicles in the LaTrax line, the Teton is a good looking truck. There are also a couple color options as well like red, blue green and yellow. The cover is held down by miniature clips that can easily be removed as well as snap back in place when the cover is put back on.
On the inside the on board electronics that take care of throttle control, steering and electronic speed control are all securely housed inside a waterproof housing. This is great news because it means that you can have loads of fun driving this thing in mud and water. Sweet.
Now what is an off road truck without the 4×4 feature right? Well no worries because the LaTrax Teton has a central drive shaft that connects all four wheels together to give you that true all wheel driving experience on rough and rugged terrain. Speaking of terrain, the Teton also comes with oil-filled shocks on all four wheels and the tires themselves are large and spongy. The tires themselves are air-filled.
The stock Traxxas 370 28T motor is brushed and does provide a pretty decent – and fast – driving experience. I have read on several forums however that after prolonged driving the brushes on the motor eventually burn out. But no worries, there are tons of after market brushless motors that work well with the LaTrax Teton that you can buy online. Swapping out the motor is also very easy to do.
Brushless motors have greater torque and speed and because they are brushless, there is no risk of motor burnout.
Getting back to the stock Traxxas 370 28T motor, what impressed me was the speed that this little engine could get the LaTRax Teton to move at. Top speeds with the stock brushed motor being powered by a 6-cell 7.2 NiMh battery were around 17 to 20 mph. With a good after market brushless motor and some simple mods you can get this little off-road vehicle up to speeds of 34 mph.
The controller is the standard trigger type form factor that comes with 2-channels, a trimmer for the steering as well as a comfortable and spongy steering wheel that also has a spring mechanism that snaps the steering wheel back into the default forward position when the steering wheel is let go.
Looking at the physical dimensions, the Teton is about 10.16 inches long, 7.28 inches wide and stands 4.65 inches tall. It also has a wheel spacing of 6.44 inches between the front and rear wheels.
Now, I must admit, that in addition to looking really nice, having the all wheel drive feature, oil shocks, large wheels and powerful motor this little beast drives very well in all kinds of conditions. I have literally driven the LaTrax Teton in the rain, in puddles, sand and mud and even snow. I would strongly recommend this for any novice RC hobbyist. The price tag is for one of these vehicles is quite impressive to, retailing for about $130 it is a great deal indeed. You can buy them from Amazon here.
Checkout my YouTube review video below and also see this truck in action in a second YouTube video below as well.