CompetitionX reviews the Tekno RC MT410 1:10 Pro E-Monster Truck

1. Review: Tekno RC MT410 1:10 Pro E-Monster Truck
www.competitionx.com/news-feed/review-tekno-rc-mt410-110-pro-e-monster-truck/
Words and Photos: Minsoo Kim, CompetitionX Contributor
The MT410 – Build Your Own Monster
What would you say if I told you I found a RC car that could do it all – bash, backflips, wheelies, attacks big jumps,
has excellent track performance and capable of some serious speed? Well, Tekno RC does it all with their
amazingly versatile MT410 1:10 scale E-Monster Truck. This innovative design and outstanding durability remain
unmatched in the Monster Truck Class.
Located in San Diego, California, Tekno RC has been producing excellent competition platforms for 1:8 buggy,
truggy and Short Course classes for quite some time. Tekno RC emphasizes on “Innovative Design, Extreme
Durability, Top Tier Performance and Superior Adjustability” and uses all of these qualities in the MT410. Read on to
find out why this truck can be called the “PRO” Monster Truck.
Specifics
Product: Tekno RC MT410 1:10 Pro E-Monster Truck
Part #: TKR5603
Price: $449.99
Recommended For: Monster Truck lovers wanting a Pro ride
Features
1/9

2. Chassis
The MT410 is based on mix of proven ET48.3 competition 1:8th
Truggy and SCT410.3 Short Course Truck. At a glance, the
sturdy 4mm, black-anodized aluminum chassis is narrow
enough to be held by the just palm of your hand and inhibits a
very low center of gravity designed to provide unmatched
traction. It also features an adjustable chassis brace system to
help you tune flex at both ends of the truck.
The layout of the chassis makes the MT410 simple to work on.
There is plenty of room for electronics and includes an enclosed
receiver box with integrated transponder mount. Access to the set screw is unhindered and the servo horn is not
hidden behind anything, allowing easy adjustment if needed.
Suspension
The suspension on the MT410 is extremely solid. They’ve used
their extensive 1:8 racing background to provide the same
features on the Pro-level MT; features like adjustable arm
sweep, adjustable hinge pin braces, Ackermann and
bumpsteer. The shock towers are CNC-machined aluminum cut
to 4mm thickness and have four mounting points for tuning. The
shocks are held to the tower with a nut on each side, allowing
the position to be changed quite easily. Other notable features
are the lower shock mounting nuts that are embedded into the
suspension arm and setscrews to hold the spring retainer in place.
One thing I found was that the shocks did not come with aluminum shock caps. Being a Monster Truck, I assumed it
would include these based on the amount of hardcore bashing it’s going to go through. Although I had to drill holes
in them to bleed the oil, the plastic caps did a fine job overall. There was no leaking at all and the shock action was
smooth as well.
Drivetrain
THe MT410 has a bulletproof drivetrain that includes a unique
center drive system; the 2-piece, CNC-machined motor mount
sits way back in the chassis and uses a very long front shaft and
a very short rear shaft. Three fluid-filled differentials offer the
driver a true “AWD” feel, giving maximum traction through the
CVDs and out to the 17mm hexes at the wheels. The strong
inner differential gears provide bind-free operation and have yet
to fail me even on large, harsh landings.
Steering
A dual-bellcrank setup is standard on the MT410 and uses a
very short link between the servo and the steering system,
providing a fast steering response. It rides on a full set of
bearings and has an excellent turning radius with no binding or
slop in the bellcrank.
The steering also has the standard adjustments; you can tweak
bumpsteer, toe, camber and Ackermann.
Electronics
2/9

3. The kit does not include any electronics but since this is a
Monster Truck, I decided to build this truck for the ultimate
bashing experience on a budget. Therefore, I went with Castle
Creations Mamba Monster 2 and 2200kV 1515 sensorless
motor. This setup has extreme power up to 6S, but I was
informed by Tekno that I should stick to a maximum of 4S
unless I’m strickly doing speed runs.
To command the MT410, I installed a Hitec 7950TH High
Torque servo and Futaba 3PL radio system. Both of these
provided excellent control under the extreme abuse I put this
truck through.
Finally, a SMC 4S 6700mAh LiPo pack pumped the Castle system full of power; and it was alot of power!
Body and Bumpers
The front and rear bumpers on the Tekno MT are identical from
the SCT410.3 chassis and provide a measurable amount of
protection from heavy crash impact. After a pretty major crash
straight into a fence (while trying to perform a backflip), I did
manage to get the front bumper stuck and sheared it right off. It
was a pretty hard hit that would have most certainly broken any
other vehicle, but $15 later from AMain Hobbies and I was back
in business. I’m confident that the front bumper gave it’s life to
protect the rest of the truck!
The MT410 doesn’t come with a body, wheels or tires which left quite a bit of customization up to me. Most of the
popular brands of bodies will work; Pro-Line, JConcepts, HPI and Traxxas. For the sake of ease and the fact that I
had a clear one lying around, I painted up and mounted up an older Traxxas T-Maxx body I had here.
To the wheels and tires, I bolted up a set of Pro-Line’s pre-mounted 3.8 MT Trenchers! Combined with the massive
monster Castle system, these tires did a great job of throwing dirt while in large quantities!
3/9

4. Performance
For an in-depth performance review, I have tested out MT 410 in three different environments; a local dirt bike track
(jumping and durability), local dirt track (racing and performance) and a local park with lots of grass, dirt and asphalt
(bashing and versatility).
Speed and Braking
With a 17T pinion (not included) on the 4600kV motor, the
MT410 was a monster with the 4S battery. Sitting high up on the
Pro-Line 3.8 Trencher tires, the car would pull wheelies at
almost every throttle position. This was fun most of the time but
made it difficult to actually drive. Still, pulling the front tires off
the ground and turning them into thin strips of rubber is always a
good time!
This overdose of power was also noticeable while jumping.
Backflips were flowing like water on even the smallest of jumps;
double backflips were also easily achieved with just a little more run up. I felt like this truck was begging me to
abuse it; I even took it to a baseball mount (which is pretty flat) and it performed backflips with ease. The oversized
rubber also acted as a massive in-air gyro; hitting the throttle or brakes would cause the MT to violently rotate back
and forth for some additional stunt action.
From bashing in the dirt to some speed runs in a parking lot, I was able to hit speeds easily over 50mph with the
17T pinion. While I had trouble keeping the front end down, I think this truck had quite a bit more speed available.
From full throttle to full break, the weight transfer caused the rear end to pop up and sometimes flip over, but it was
pretty planted with no spinning out.
Taking it to the track, MT410’s real competitive edge started to shine. I swapped out the Trenchers for a set of
JConcepts Truggy Hybrid Elevated Bead tires and the wheelie action instantly turned to awesome acceleration off
the line. Thanks to center differentials, the MT410 had no flipping issues while accelerating through the turns and
4/9

5. braking action was smooth and predictable. Moreover, the stability during the jumps and landing was amazing. The
shocks worked amazingly well and no speed was lost during landing. It totally out-performed my initial expectations
as a “Basher” Monster Truck. The MT410 chassis has great potential to be a professional MT racer.
Steering and Handling
The MT410 was a ton of fun during my bash session. I literally
found every mound of dirt and sent the MT flying, rarely lifting
the throttle (as you can see from a few of the pictures). It has
excellent steering and handling traits with the big Pro-Line
rubber, also using those tires as added cushions off of the big
jumps.
With the 3.8 Pro-Line MT tires, the MT410 can easily perform a
“self-righting” action when the car has flipped over. This involves
a quick ‘full throttle’ / ‘full reverse’ action in which the large tires
quickly spin in opposite directions. With a little practice, the tires will grip the ground during the rocking motion and
flip itself right back over, allowing you to get back to the MT action!
On the track, the steering became way more sensitive; I’m assuming due to the JConcepts tires. The rear felt a little
looser than I expected, probably due to the front wheels having more traction. I tried two methods to take the turns:
slow in and fast out or quick in and slow out. For this MT, the slow in and fast out worked better. The rear tires grip
as soon as you “fast out” and eliminates any unstable fish tails. I tried lowering the front ride height and raising the
rear ride height slightly to minimize the wheelie action. I also noticed the MT410 handled great through the rough,
triple bumps section.
Durability and Maintenance
I have to give the MT410 a 10 on this section of the review. The
durability of this truck is unmatched to any other RC vehicles I
have used. The plastics used in A-Arms, dust guards, spindles
and hub carriers did not break at all from hard day of
jumping/racing/bashing.
I did, however, have one issue. Although the body posts are
good for adjusting the body height, they did not last the abuse of
my first 4S battery. From the moment I started wheeling and
flipping over, the body clips started flying everywhere. Even
though I used “body saver” plastic washers, the body clips had trouble staying connected to the posts and cracked
the body holes. This resulted in my body getting ripped to shreds from that moment on. I know this isn’t a fault of
MT410 (maybe more of my driving style), but I was pretty bummed. Take a little care while driving or you’ll end up
with a ruined piece of Lexan after the first run.
Tuning
If you’ve never built a kit before (like me), don’t be scared to
take the plunge. Tekno RC did a great job to make the building
experience as user friendly as possible. The manual is written
in English (USA company) and they are printed in color. They
use red to emphasise things to watch out for. The parts are
bagged in order of A, B, C, etc. through bag P. Each bag
contains all the parts you need to complete that step of the
instruction so you do not have to open all the bags looking for
parts. For me, I took my time to complete the build over 5 days;
5/9

6. 1-2 hours each day. All of the oil, threadlock and grease was provided in the kit so you do not have to purchase
separate consumables.
One thing you do need to spend money on would be the proper tools. Had I not had the Tekno Shock Clamp, I would
have had trouble assembling the pivot balls and shock guides. It is also important to have a very good set of hex
drivers and nut wrench.
Additional
Items Needed
• High Torque Servo
• 1:8 scale brushless ESC
• 1:8 scale brushless motor
• Radio system
• Battery
• Body
• Tires and wheels
Items Used
• Hitec HS-7950TH Servo
• Castle Creations Mamba Monster 2 Brushless ESC
• Castle Creations 1515-2200kV Sensorless Motor
• Futaba 3PL Radio System
• SMC 6700mAh 4S LiPo Battery
• Traxxas T-Maxx Clear Body
• Pro-Line 3.8 MT Trencher Pre-Mounts
• JConcepts Hybid Elevated Beads Truggy Tires
Spec Data
General
Scale: 1:10 (but seems like it’s more like 1:8)
Power Source: Electric
Length: 20.9″ (530mm)
Width: 16.5″ (420mm)
Height: 10.6″ (~270mm)
Wheelbase: 12.7-13.2″ (323-335mm)
Weight: 8.3lbs (3850g)
Chassis
Type: Flat tray
Thickness: 4mm
Material: CNC-machined aluminum
Suspension
Type: 4-wheel independent
Camber: Adjustable
Roll: Adjustable
Wheelbase: Adjustable
Shocks: Threaded aluminum
Steering
Steering: Dual bellcrank
6/9

7. Turnbuckles: Steel
Drivetrain
Type: 4WD
Transmission: n/a
Clutch: None
Differentials: Fluid-filled (x3)
Bearings: Full set of shielded
Gearing: Mod 1, 44T plastic spur
Body, Wheels, Tires
Body: Not included
Wing: None
Wheels: Not included
Wheel hex: 17mm
Tires: Not included
Pros
• Extremely durable with a bulletproof drivetrain
• Incredibly versatile performance
• Competitive performance on the track with truggy tires
• Low Center-of-Gravity and center differential provide amazing traction
• ‘Self-righting’ possible
• High clearance with adjustable ride height
• Quality shocks provide plenty of damping for big jumps
• Low maintenance and easy to work on
• Easy to build with user-friendly instructions
• Fairly affordable price compared to the competition
• Customizable electronics and tuning settings
Cons
• No aluminum shock caps like other competition lines
• No bling; the whole truck is either gunmetal or black look without any vibrant colors
Conclusion
Bottom Line: I have three words to describe the MT410: durability, performance and versatility. Thanks to it's
seasoned 1:8 scale design, this truck will outperform almost all the RTR monster trucks out in the market. If you are
a beginner who's never built a kit before (like me), this is one of the best trucks to start with. This truck can go from
basher to racer with just a quick change of tires. As a kit, you can completely customize it with your choice of
electronics, tires, wheels and body. I strongly recommend the MT410 over RTR trucks because of the overall
experience.
Connect
Tekno RC, www.teknorc.com
Castle Creations, www.castlecreations.com
Futaba, www.futaba-rc.com
SMC, www.smc-racing.net
Traxxas, www.traxxas.com
Pro-Line Racing, www.prolineracing.com
JConcepts, www.jconcepts.net
7/9

8. Gallery
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9. 9/9