Don't buy associated they cost too much, buy a thundertiger MTA4 its the same truck different name but costs less and if you want the AE MGT look just get an MGT shell. I have an MTA4 S28 and S50. Fast trucks the only real downfall is maybe weak shocks and knuckle ends but you can replace the stock ones with alloy ones over time (stock are plastic. As for the Jato i got my son one for his 7th birthday, get new wheels bigger and better tyres and you will have a lot more fun.
There is £10 between the Associated and Thunder Tiger, and the Associated comes with a XP3D FM computerised digital radio transmitter, the Thunder Tiger comes with a much cheaper transmitter lacking all the handy features, so it's well worth the extra £10.
Everyone says they're indentical, which they are, but people fail to mention the fact the transmitters are different, mainly because not many people know, they just assume they're the same since the trucks are the same.
The shocks on the MGT 8.0 are completely fine, I don't think I've seen anyone manage to break them who didn't smack a tree/post/wall at high, it doesn't matter what parts or truck you've got then, it's going to break, same with the knuckle ends, the only time I'd mod those is if you want a greater turning ability
Replacing parts with alloy is a big no no as well, since they tend to warp, transfer the energy onto a more expensive and harder to get to part, and break it.
Then you've got a warped alloy part, and another broken plastic part.
Unless you can afford to replace everything with alloy, don't mind the performance losses from the increased weight, and can afford to replace an expensive part when it warps in a crash, then they're a possibility, if not, they're a pointless inconvenience for the sake of a bit of bling.
I'd rather stick to RPM parts, or just stick with stock plastic parts and replace them cheaply if they break.
RPM parts are the best to get if you want to upgrade, they have none of the down falls of alloy parts, RPM parts are flexible under extreme stresses, so they absorb the energy, don't break, and don't pass the energy onto a weaker part and break it, and they'll replace them for free if you manage to break them, however, the only thing I'd replace on the MGT are the a-arms all around, these are a weak point on every truck and will break eventually if you're bashing, once you buy RPM a-arms, you don't have to worry about them.
@ Biggles, that box is a temperature monitor, it logs high and low temps and displays in real time, with a loop with several sensors on it going around the bottom of the engine cooling head, the fail safe is in the radio box.
