Review - Traxxas TRX4 2021 Bronco RC Trail
Who wants the brand new 2021 Ford Bronco? Because it’s here in R/C form to offer an off-road 4WD experience, that anyone can enjoy. Whatever takes place in the full size world, the radio controlled world will do too, and sometimes better. With the all new Traxxas Bronco TRX-4, it sports this officially licensed replica 2021 Bronco body, and it comes pre-painted and detailed, included with the ready-to-run TRX-4 trail truck chassis; making this a fully assembled and ready to go truck, once you take it out of the box, and add your own battery.
Is the 2021 TRX-4 Bronco any good? Well, today we find out! In this video we go through the truck, do some R/C crawling, perform some speed runs, and let loose out in the dirt, rocks and anything else we can find. So buckle up as we check out the all-new 2021 Ford Bronco TRX-4 from Traxxas.
The TRX-4 Bronco body comes in two different colors.
Regardless of the colors, both versions offer the Bronco in it’s 4-door glory, also giving the truck chassis a slightly stretched wheelbase, just like the real 4-door Bronco. There are a lot of other little things Traxxas has done to bring life to this body, and it all starts with a lexan shell that Traxxas paints, enhances with decals, and details with molded hard plastic accessories, all attached from the inside of the body.
Scale TRX-4 Bronco Light Kits...
Starting up front, our entire grill and headlight section are hard plastic pieces, with proper Bronco branding and authentic headlight treatments. It’s speculated that when Traxxas releases their light kit for this body, that these headlights will be proper halo lights, which would be really cool, but we’ll have to wait and see, because it’s not yet available. In the meantime, these lenses are unique and don’t look compatible with regular LED’s, so you’ll need the Traxxas light kit to add lighting.
TRX-4 Bronco Bumper... Below the front grill is our proper TRX-4 Bronco bumper that’s attached to the chassis, not the body thankfully, because our tow d-rings are actually useable, so is the awesome front skid plate, as is the winch Fairlead, but the plastic winch is not. If you want a functional winch, the Traxxas pro scale winch will bolt right onto this bumper, but you have to buy that separately. Now right above the grill, you’ll notice the trail sights, that you’ll find on a real Bronco body, and these are used in real life to help the driver navigate terrain when there’s no trail spotter.
Bronco Body Accessories... Moving up under our windshield is the full length hard plastic cowl with flexible windshield wipers. This cowl also supports our side mirrors that features reflective decals. With enough resistance, these mirrors fold back to save them when brushing up against the rocks, and you unfold them by hand. It may be hard to see, but each window also has a decal over it, providing a slight tint and window trim details. This is present on the front, back and all side windows. Other hard plastic accessories can be found with the side rock guards, all the door handles, including the rear one, and then the rear tail lights, which again are ready for the Traxxas led light kit.
TRX-4 Bronco Spare Tire... There’s also a functional spare tire back here, a few ford branded decals, and the authentic rear bumper, which like the front, is again attached to the chassis and includes a hitch mount for trailer pulling. The last item to complete our Bronco looks and styling are the Replica Wildtrack black gloss wheels. These wheels are not beadlocks, but they look exactly like the real 17” wheels that come gloss, black on black, included only with the higher-end Wildtrak Edition Bronco. The only thing these R/C wheels are missing, is the center pony cap.
In the R/C world, these are 1.9” sized tires and wheels, with Traxxas own Canyon Trail rubber tires. These wheels fix to the axle with the standard 12mm hex size, which is compatible with most aftermarket 1.9” tires and wheels.
Clipless Fastening... Did you notice there are no body clips holding the body on? That’s because this truck uses the brand new clip-less hidden fastening system, that clips the body into the chassis under the wheel wells. So to remove the body, you put your hand under there and pinch the clip and lift up. To install the body, line it up on the chassis and push down. It’s so fast and easy, its one of the best clip-less systems I’ve ever used.
That pretty much sums our Bronco looks and styling, but what about performance?
Operating the truck with open differentials will increase cornering performance but operating the truck with locked differentials increases crawling and climbing performance. So it’s kind of like having a street and off-road mode for your vehicle. Another awesome feature on this TRX-4 chassis is the use of a 2-speed transmission, offering the truck a low and high gear. On the transmitter, transmission shifting is controlled with this toggle and it can be operated independently from the locking differentials.
How fast is the TRX4 Bronco?
To test the top speed of our truck, we charged up a battery and attached a GPS speed meter. After driving back and forth, the top speed for 1st gear is 4MPH, and the top speed for 2nd gear is 10MPH. For smooth and precise trail crawling, 1st gear is all you need, but every now and then, having the extra wheel speed from 2nd gear proved awesome and we found ourselves jumping up some terrain.
Suggested TRX-4 Battery...
For all the driving we do, and testing those speeds, we used this Traxxas 3S LiPo battery in our truck, although this truck will fit larger batteries for extended runtimes. But the smaller and lightweight battery reduces our center of gravity, and by placing the battery at the front with our own Velcro strap, we place more weight over the front axle for better climbing. With the included VXL-3S speed controller in this truck, a 3S LiPo is the max you can use, and with the included iD Traxxas connector, the truck needs Traxxas batteries to be compatible.
Q.) Is the TRX4 Bronco waterproof?
A.)Yes, it’s ok to get wet, just be sure to dry it good afterwards. Because this is a proper hobby grade R/C truck and this chassis has a lot going on that you want to keep in working order.
TRX-4 Bronco electronics; the truck uses a 550 sized 27 turn brushed motor, and for crawling, 1st gear is buttery smooth and precise, excellent for crawling. To steer the tires, the truck uses the Traxxas 2075X servo with a metal servo horn, and we had no issues with it on the rocks. The truck also uses three little servos, one control the 2-speed transmission, and the other two lock and unlock the differentials by cable. All of these electronics are ok to get wet. Lastly, the receiver for the transmitter sits inside this waterproof box, because it is not waterproof.
Titan 21T 550 Motor
High Torque Servo
High/Low Transmission
Waterproof RX Box
Bronco Undercarriage... For starters, the truck uses these big wheel wells to seal up the underside for a cleaner and more realistic look. These wells have been updated from previous TRX4 trucks with this squares for the new clip-less body system to snap into. Underneath those wheel wells are our oil filled shocks on each corner, which feature threaded aluminum shock bodies. Those shocks are then connected to our portal axles, which use a gear reduction at the axle to raise the center pumpkin and provide more ground clearance, without excessively raising the truck.
These axles are connected to our truck with a 4-link suspension in the rear, and 3-link panhard in the front. All of these links are metal with plastic ends and sized, for a 12.8” wheelbase. You’ll also see under here the plastic telescoping driveshafts, with the front axle pumpkin offset for better driveline angles, and you can also see our locking and unlocking cables. In the very center, a skidplate sits under the transmission.
Just for fun... we compare the original 1979 Ford Bronco body kit for TRX-4 and the 2021 TRX. These trucks are lined up by the rear axle; there is not a big difference between the 1979 TRX4 Bronco 12.2 and the 2021 TRX4 Bronco at 12.8, but it’s there. This '79 Bronco belongs to John who works in our customer service department, and its kind of cool to see both Broncos side by side.
How does the TRX-4 Bronco perform? Now out on the trail, the new Bronco is a joy to drive. Because we opted for the smaller battery and reduced center of gravity, the truck handles our local terrain with ease and control. In the past, some truck bodies were top heavy leading to easy roll overs, but we’re not experiencing any of that with the Bronco, even though Traxxas still used bracing inside, but at least it’s not all the way up at the roof.
Overall, amongst all the TRX-4 trucks, this Bronco is one of the best out-of-the-box performers on the trail, aside from the Sport model. When you consider how great the Bronco body looks, combined with one of the quickest hidden body fastening systems out there, you’ve got yourself one refined and polished trail truck.
Guys, go check out the Traxxas Bronco TRX-4 as well as parts and accessories listed in this article here.
Traxxas 3S "Power Cell" 25C LiPo Battery w/iD Traxxas Connector (11.1V/1400mAh)
Traxxas 3S "Power Cell" 25C LiPo Battery w/iD Traxxas Connector (11.1V/5000mAh)
SkyRC GPS Speed Meter & Data Logger
EcoPower Rotating 1/10 & 1/8 Aluminum Car Stand w/Shock Holder
Fuji EnviroMAX AA Super Alkaline Battery (4)
Traxxas Winch Kit With Wireless Controller, TRX-4