Non-Robotic Related Hobbies

[Billfred]

Originally Posted by Adam Freeman

You pay all that money for a Traxxas, so that they don't break. Must be driving it really hard....or really bad.

I just recently bought a Redcat XTG for me and my 5 year old son to play with. We got it last Friday. Two battery packs later, he smashed it into a pole and broke the lower control arm at the hinge pin. Hopefully the epoxy holds and we will be back up and running tonight.

Heading to the r/c track this weekend. Good thing I ordered some spare parts.

While I am on record that a Slash VXL has more speed than I have talent (especially on the relatively tight track I run at), I can also hide behind the fact that I bought the Slash used. The previous owner had put on 1/8-scale wheels and tires, different shocks and bearing blocks, and a few RPM bits; the only upgrade I've added was going to RPM rear A-arms after the stock set broke near the pin (looks like the pin got loose).

The chassis went because the transmission wasn't screwed into the rear skid plate--I hadn't torn into that part to see how it all worked, so I didn't realize that its omission meant the whole rear end of the truck (transmission, motor, shock tower, A-arms) was sending all of its load through a small tab on the main chassis plate (plus whatever marginal support the skid plate provided). Really, it's a miracle the truck made it through practice, two heats, and half a main.

Last time I ran, the truck was tracking oddly; first hunch was a diff issue, but further inspection showed the bearings were going (again--one was bad when I bought it, but a fix was in the box). No telling where the last owner drove (there were sand paddles in the box mounted on stadium truck tires), so I figure that's just life. I'm just going to replace all eight on the truck with brand new ones so I don't get bit by this again.

Naturally, while troubleshooting that bearing issue I disconnected the motor from the ESC so I could get the whole back half of the truck off. While doing so, one of the ESC's plugs decided it was going to go along for the ride with the motor lead. I'll have to break out the soldering iron before my next run too.

It's the risk you run when buying used--but this has been a good lesson in a lot of things about the truck. I'm sure to run out of things to break eventually!*

*famous last words...