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Just Cant Win

Old 01-14-2012, 08:55 AM
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Night_Train
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Default Just Cant Win

Out of curiousity i was wondering if anyone else has encountered the same problems. I have had nothing but bad luck withmy tornado s30. since the first day i recieved this buggy it has been a nightmare. between the broken parts and tuning there is no time to enjoy it at all. The first day i had it out i ended up breaking the front arms and losing the breaks and a dogbone. So i upgraded with the "hop up" kit. I get it back out there, and it starts throwing one of my wheels off because the nylon lock nuts are not worth a crap. so that eventuallycosted me a set of wing stays.
So instead of buying a new set i made some out of aluminium, and put them on. The very same day i get it back out and start driving it around the yard and guess what..... The clanking and grinding starts,,, yep there goes the damn spur gears, eat all to hell and back. (yes the gear mash was set) So i upgraded to the single speed tranny and 13t clutch bellfrom himoto. (in which i gotta recommend to anyone with the 2 speed set up, its a nice beefy upgrade!)
Anyhow i slap it all back together thinking i got this ready to roll now! and now the carb is hanging up, so i figured i would go ahead and clean it. I pull it all apart,,,, its not dirty,,, the spring is broken! I got a buddy of mine that just closed his hobby shop, so i gave him a call and luckily he had spring out of abrand newcarb off of a volcano s30 he hooked me up with it.
So here again i get it installed and start tuning it.and tuning and tuning, finally get it where i want it.. then my radio takes a dump, LMAO what the hell??? Im pretty much past the point of getting angry, i call it my viper cause there is more shop time than drive time.
its to the point i'm going to sell this thing for the cost of the hop up kit and tranny, im done dropping money in this tornado!
Old 01-14-2012, 09:27 AM
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Default RE: Just Cant Win

it"s issues like this that run people out of the hobby.  Things like this can be looked at from two different angles - inexperience or a crap product.  Many of the things you've mentioned are typical among any nitro car.  

The breaking of the front arms and dogbone was self inflicted, yes a Hpi Savage may have survived the impact but with a $500 price tag comes greater durability.  The hop up kit was certainly not a must.  $3.99 for new front arms and $4.99 for new dogbones would have had you back running just fine.  

The nylon nuts on any vehicle work for only a few times on and off the wheels, after that locktight on your wheel nuts is a must.

I'm sure you checked your gear mesh before running but you must have hit something to jar the engine to destroy the spur gears, this is the most common way it happens.  It's how I destroy mine and I'm always checking my mesh.  Because of my constant checking and locktight on the engine I seem to go for several months before waisting a spur gear, but still last week at the park we were jumping on a hill top and I went cartwheeling down hill.  I didn't stop and check my buggy, I just kept trucking and a minute later I had no spur gear left.

The carb spring is another thing that's just gonna happen on nitro vehicles.  I've had way more problems out of my Hpi G3.0 than I've had out of my SH .18.  The Redcat motor is by far a better more user friendly engine especially when it comes to tuning.

I think the only real issue to complain about is the radio.  When you say "took a dump" what do you mean?  Did the receiver go?  I've replaced all my receiver with plain old Traxxas am receivers and run all of them off my old Hpi radio.  

I don't know how long you've been in the hobby but I can tell you no matter how experienced you are these things can drive you nuts.  I've spent 3 nights working on a throttle problem on my Hpi finally figuring out the barrel was coming out of the carb and letting air leak in.  I took everything apart, re-adjusted linkages and just couldn't figure out why as soon as I started it all it wanted to do was scream.  Once you get it though it makes you feel good about what you've done.

I will say that you can argue that if you bought a $400-$500 truck some of these thing may not have happened but then again some of them might have,  One thing I've learned is they all break, just depends on how much your willing to spend.
Old 01-14-2012, 09:53 AM
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Night_Train
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Default RE: Just Cant Win

i've been in the hobby for a while,.so im pretty much well seasoned. I have a collection of nitros, from hpi, ofna and traxxas. and this redcat is falling way short. yes i understand they are lower end rcs but when you do all the upgrades they get up there in durability. my traxxas rustler is bone stock, and you would not believe the crap it has been through, and its always ready to go,
Asfar as the nylon nut, it wasonly used one time. and im not a big fan of using loctiteon an m3 thread when your already using a nyloc nut.
I totally agree and your right 100% there is alot of up keep and headaches when in this hobby. Butthere is always a point that you will get to when you say enough is enough! and start considering spending it on another brand than keep dropping it on something that might be a lost cause, I honestly dont evenhave a whole quart of fuelran through this buggy yet! Next time your at Ed's ask him if he carries any parts for these redcats and see what he says lol or pretty much anyone else around here that is reputable when dealing or working onnitros.Im either having to make my own parts or wait a week and a half to get them from A.Z.
Old 01-15-2012, 12:40 AM
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Haddi Taha
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Default RE: Just Cant Win

been down that road, then realised that with the money I spent on the buggy in a month, I could've been half way there towards a thunder tiger mt4
Old 01-15-2012, 03:26 AM
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Default RE: Just Cant Win


ORIGINAL: Dads like rc too

it''s issues like this that run people out of the hobby. Things like this can be looked at from two different angles - inexperience or a crap product. Many of the things you've mentioned are typical among any nitro car.

The breaking of the front arms and dogbone was self inflicted, yes a Hpi Savage may have survived the impact but with a $500 price tag comes greater durability. The hop up kit was certainly not a must. $3.99 for new front arms and $4.99 for new dogbones would have had you back running just fine.

The nylon nuts on any vehicle work for only a few times on and off the wheels, after that locktight on your wheel nuts is a must.

I'm sure you checked your gear mesh before running but you must have hit something to jar the engine to destroy the spur gears, this is the most common way it happens. It's how I destroy mine and I'm always checking my mesh. Because of my constant checking and locktight on the engine I seem to go for several months before waisting a spur gear, but still last week at the park we were jumping on a hill top and I went cartwheeling down hill. I didn't stop and check my buggy, I just kept trucking and a minute later I had no spur gear left.

The carb spring is another thing that's just gonna happen on nitro vehicles. I've had way more problems out of my Hpi G3.0 than I've had out of my SH .18. The Redcat motor is by far a better more user friendly engine especially when it comes to tuning.

I think the only real issue to complain about is the radio. When you say ''took a dump'' what do you mean? Did the receiver go? I've replaced all my receiver with plain old Traxxas am receivers and run all of them off my old Hpi radio.

I don't know how long you've been in the hobby but I can tell you no matter how experienced you are these things can drive you nuts. I've spent 3 nights working on a throttle problem on my Hpi finally figuring out the barrel was coming out of the carb and letting air leak in. I took everything apart, re-adjusted linkages and just couldn't figure out why as soon as I started it all it wanted to do was scream. Once you get it though it makes you feel good about what you've done.

I will say that you can argue that if you bought a $400-$500 truck some of these thing may not have happened but then again some of them might have, One thing I've learned is they all break, just depends on how much your willing to spend.
Great post.
Old 01-15-2012, 03:27 AM
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Default RE: Just Cant Win


ORIGINAL: Night_Train

i've been in the hobby for a while,.so im pretty much well seasoned. I have a collection of nitros, from hpi, ofna and traxxas. and this redcat is falling way short. yes i understand they are lower end rcs but when you do all the upgrades they get up there in durability. my traxxas rustler is bone stock, and you would not believe the crap it has been through, and its always ready to go,
As far as the nylon nut, it was only used one time. and im not a big fan of using loctite on an m3 thread when your already using a nyloc nut.
I totally agree and your right 100% there is alot of up keep and headaches when in this hobby. But there is always a point that you will get to when you say enough is enough! and start considering spending it on another brand than keep dropping it on something that might be a lost cause, I honestly dont even have a whole quart of fuel ran through this buggy yet! Next time your at Ed's ask him if he carries any parts for these redcats and see what he says lol or pretty much anyone else around here that is reputable when dealing or working on nitros. Im either having to make my own parts or wait a week and a half to get them from A.Z.
Great response.

Indeed, you get what you pay for. I would be surprised to hear of a seasoned hobbyist buying a Redcat. They are entry level vehicles and should be treated as such.
Old 01-15-2012, 10:25 AM
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Default RE: Just Cant Win


ORIGINAL: Night_Train

i've been in the hobby for a while,.so im pretty much well seasoned. I have a collection of nitros, from hpi, ofna and traxxas. and this redcat is falling way short. yes i understand they are lower end rcs but when you do all the upgrades they get up there in durability. my traxxas rustler is bone stock, and you would not believe the crap it has been through, and its always ready to go,
Asfar as the nylon nut, it wasonly used one time. and im not a big fan of using loctiteon an m3 thread when your already using a nyloc nut.
I totally agree and your right 100% there is alot of up keep and headaches when in this hobby. Butthere is always a point that you will get to when you say enough is enough! and start considering spending it on another brand than keep dropping it on something that might be a lost cause, I honestly dont evenhave a whole quart of fuelran through this buggy yet! Next time your at Ed's ask him if he carries any parts for these redcats and see what he says lol or pretty much anyone else around here that is reputable when dealing or working onnitros.Im either having to make my own parts or wait a week and a half to get them from A.Z.
I can see your point and I will agree there's many post's on here just like your's. Maybe you just got a bad car or had some bad luck. I guess with the two Redcats we have in the house "four with the sumo's" we've been lucky. I've had no out of the ordinary problems with our Redcats.

This actually played a part in me ordering a Monsoon last week. As you know our local shop is a Traxxas dealer. I was considering a Revo simply because I'm tired of having to order a $3.00 part everytime I need one. I'm getting quite a large stock of Redcat parts but it's always that one you don't have that you need. Anyway Savage was what I wanted but again, no parts locally. I was considering buying a Traxxas Revo which retailed for $560 compared to the Savage which was $460 just so I could run over to our LHS for parts. But after thinking about it for a few days I considered my experience with my two Redcats and for what I wound up spending bought me a new 8th scale truggy plus tons of extra parts.

I like Ed's but I've said before that Redcat gave me the opportunity to get back into this hobby with my son at an affordable price. I wouldn't have been able to go in and buy two Traxxas nitro trucks plus eveything else you need to go with it.

Old 01-15-2012, 04:20 PM
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Default RE: Just Cant Win


ORIGINAL: Foxy


ORIGINAL: Night_Train

i've been in the hobby for a while,.so im pretty much well seasoned. I have a collection of nitros, from hpi, ofna and traxxas. and this redcat is falling way short. yes i understand they are lower end rcs but when you do all the upgrades they get up there in durability. my traxxas rustler is bone stock, and you would not believe the crap it has been through, and its always ready to go,
As far as the nylon nut, it was only used one time. and im not a big fan of using loctite on an m3 thread when your already using a nyloc nut.
I totally agree and your right 100% there is alot of up keep and headaches when in this hobby. But there is always a point that you will get to when you say enough is enough! and start considering spending it on another brand than keep dropping it on something that might be a lost cause, I honestly dont even have a whole quart of fuel ran through this buggy yet! Next time your at Ed's ask him if he carries any parts for these redcats and see what he says lol or pretty much anyone else around here that is reputable when dealing or working on nitros. Im either having to make my own parts or wait a week and a half to get them from A.Z.
Great response.

Indeed, you get what you pay for. I would be surprised to hear of a seasoned hobbyist buying a Redcat. They are entry level vehicles and should be treated as such.
+1

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