Hal Challenger 2

[Horses45]

Who's got one and have you had any problems with them ?, I know I will get some earache lol but I really fancy one of the pro models and was wondering what you guys who have bought one think of it ?

[Tankbear]

I've a challenger and doing it up with DKLM parts.

Turret wise got DKLM metal recoil and elevation unit.

Heng long chassis I fitted DKLM metal wheels sprockets and tracks and Leo 2 gearboxes which modding for brushless motors.

Also got the DKLM all metal chassis and clutch style gearbox which runs like a dream.

All work in progress at moment though so might have complete next term at lol.

Ian

[Horses45]

I am fancying something I don't have lol, but do like the look of the challenger, but again time and space so do I
A... Get a pro challenger and just use it as it comes I.e. No mods yet ?
B... Go for a panzer as I don't have one in my collection now ?
C... Get a Torro pro challenger ?

So many options to choose from but I'm looking at something that's ready to run and not needing much to do to it as I have decided that I'm going to get some play time in in the garden while building the course.

[Horses45]

I just seen the video on the other thread and thought about it stu, any idea who's selling the pro ?

[Jay-Em]

I ran the Challenger "pro" version as it came, with the original pot-metal gears, and metal sprockets, idlers and tracks for quite some time.

Up to now I haven't had any major problems. The last gen 2.4 ghz set was a pleasant surprise after the not-so-pleasant Taigen/Torro 2.4ghz with the flip-switches on the TX and the fan on the controller.
The Challenger even has proportional turret ánd barrel control with the new HL 2.4 set. Sounds are still ho-hum. The taigen/Torro set had a much better machine-gun and main gun. Engine sounds were worse in the Taigen/Torro. Just two sounds for driving: Idle and full-on sort-of-rattling. The Heng Long has more stages in the drive sound. Still the ancient Tiger 1 sounds, though.

Compared to all the older Heng Longs, the Challenger is a much more "grown-up" product. Better plastics. Less flash on the styrene parts, ABS for parts under load like the underside of the turret. More precise fit. Sharper cast parts , a smoker that works longer than just half an hour, and smokes enough to be clearly seen. etc.

Though, truth be told the "metal" gearbox is a bit of a farce. Without a large support bearing (in-line skate bearings Abec 5 fit) on the outside of the drive-shaft, the brass bearings wear really fast. Tbh, the metal gearbox is the only thing I really didn't like on the Challenger 2. Noisy, imprecise, lots of play & backlash. I swapped it for a Taigen steel geared, full ball-bearing equipped one. Much better. The tank even coasts when I let go of the throttle. Now thát's a free-running gearbox! For now that's enough of an upgrade to last me some time, mechanically speaking, since on the electronics-part, I am busy fitting it with a Clark TK-22.

[Horses45]

Thank JE for your Imput