Have you ever wanted an RC truck that looks like a real pick-up truck? Well, the Traxxas Stampede 2wd gives you exactly that. The Traxxas Stampede 2wd Off-road RC truck provides some real excitement.

Although it is a fun and exciting RC truck, “It” can be a bit challenging if you’re running off-road. “I’d” like to share the experience I had with the Stampede 2wd.

Stampede 2wd – Exciting RC Truck

Last June I purchased a Traxxas Stampede 2wd for my son and a Traxxas Rustler for myself. We ran them through the yard and raced down the street once or twice. After only a day or two, we bought some 2s 5200mah lipo batteries. Those batteries really woke these RCs up. You could definitely see the power and speed increase. However, in turn, the Stampede would not stay on its wheels.

Every time my son would go to take off the Stampede would wheelie so high it would flip right over. After a while of it doing this, he got so upset with it he told me he wanted to get rid of it and get a rustler like mine. “I” explaining to him to just ease on the trigger, but he kept telling me he can’t. “So,” I told him we will put the NiMH battery back in. He did not want any part of that.

Finally, I decided to switch vehicles with him for a couple runs, And to my surprise, it did not matter how little on the trigger you were. The second it started to move it was upside down. When you did by chance get it to stay upright it would run just as fast as the rustler, so we did not want to change the gearing.

We put a wheelie bar on it. Awesome it wheelies still, but if we keep the wheelie bar set to the lowest point the truck would take off like a rocket. My son was so excited. He ran it for two days (5 batteries) and tells me he wants to race me through the backyard. That made me happy to know he is starting to like the truck.

Traxxas Stampede 2wd – backyard racing

That weekend was supposed to be nice weather and I didn’t have to work. We spent the weekend running and racing. “I” got to say the Stampede has some really take off power, As for corners forget it. The Stampede would flip over and do barrel rolls around every corner.

You have to let off and slow way down before reaching the corners. That is all fine for everyday running, just not so good for actually racing off-road.

Stampede – On Loose Dirt

Down the road from me, we have a dirt strip used for tractor pulls. We took our RC trucks down there to run the dirt. The Stampede does a lot better on dirt flat track.

“It” still does not like the corners too well but definitely a lot better than on grass and hard ground.

Bashing Stampede – backyard jumps

My son and I decided to mainly stick to running in the backyard. “I” mowed an oval track down to almost dirt.

Running in the morning and in the evening when sun going down and there’s a little dew, the Stampede flies around the oval track with next to no issues. Maybe every 5-6 laps the Stampede would catch in a corner and barrel roll.

We built some jumps with metal fence frame and a sheet of plywood made two of them. Both are 4 foot by 8 foot. The Rustler would launch of them and fly through the air like a champ.

The Stampede would fly off them but wanted to flip in the air all the time. “It” took a bit of control to keep it from doing flips in the air to be able to land on all fours. When it landed on all four wheels, it would bounce and flip over.

Traxxas Stampede – Final Chapter

After all, we went through with the Stampede we decided to do some upgrades. Here is what I did. Change the shocks to big bore all aluminum shocks, change tires (don’t remember what brand) holeshot tires for dirt track, and stuck a little weight on the front end. Wow! I could not believe the difference that made. “It” was like a completely different truck.

Now my son and I both like running this Stampede. When it flies off the jumps it just floats through the air nice and straight and level. Landing? No problem. “It” lands on all 4 wheels and continues going. We can even make it do front and backflips in the air, and control it.

My son now loves racing me with his Stampede. He can run around corners without letting off the trigger too much and gun it about half-way through, The truck will just come out of it like a rocket.

Down on the dirt strip, The Stampede just wings around the corners throwing dirt everywhere.

On the last day my son ran the Stampede, we were racing around the backyard, hitting jumps, and flying around the hummingbird bush. Having a blast.

Well, it ended rather quickly, my son came flying down the yard with the Stampede and went to take a corner to go around the hummingbird bush. Instead of going around the bush, the truck decided it wanted to keep going straight.

Into the bush, it went with a loud bang. The hummingbird bush was planted with a metal pole to hold it upright.

The Stampede smashed into that pole so hard it Snapped the chassis and skid plate in half and the rear half of the truck flew up over the front half and out the other side of the bush. “And” that was the end of the Traxxas Stampede 2wd RC Truck.

Stampede Overall – My Thoughts

My first thought when I got this truck was, it is no good. Definitely not an RC vehicle that I want. It couldn’t handle my style of running.

After I did some improvements on the truck, “I” had to rethink of how I felt about the Stampede. All of a sudden the Stampede now is a really decent RC truck.

“I” would definitely recommend this Traxxas Stampede. It is a really good RC truck. The type of running you do and how you plan to run it are the factors of how well it will perform.

“If” you’re looking to do some serious bashing or racing with it, I would strongly recommend you do some upgrades to it. Which after the upgrades the Stampede was able to hold up to me beating on it, and that’s saying something! “I” can and usually do break everything. “As I run my RCs very hard day in and day out.

What are your thoughts and opinions on this? What questions do you have? Please leave me a comment below and I will reply to you as soon as possible. “I’d” love to hear your thoughts.