j5bowling

On dec 31 i got it ( aftershock 3.0)and by jan4 spur gear stripped well told myself that it was my fault ? well finnally the gear shows up mind ya i bought 2 of them just in case well made it to about the 8th tank of fuel (yes it was somrthing like it should a little at idel and on exceleration it was good)and ya guess what that rite moter locked up so now the moter on its way to red cat ad once again i wait for them to decide faulty moter or operator error you know who falt the will be (mine) other then all this i like the truck runs good threw the grass dirt and on pavement it flies just wish red cat would stand behind their product a little better and next time ill buy somrthing threw a local hobby shop so i can at least get parts let this be lesson to all of us pay a little more but when ya needsomething it wont take 3 wks 4 partsone last thing im not speaking bad of red cat just disappointed in myself and them dint think this would be that hard

rjsdad

I'm wondering if you were running the engine too lean? The best way (i think) to monitor your mixture is to look at the exhaust. Regarding tunning, if you have good blue smoke coming from the exhaust your adjustments are near dialed in correctly. Of course you could lean it out just a little, but having good smoke from your exhaust will ensure engine longevity.

Mr_Byte

While I hate to play Spelling Nazi, and I understand you may have been angry, but it was hard puzzling out of the the spelling in your post.

Ok, that aside, it sounds like the motor was leaned out waaay too much. If you haven't gotten a temp gun, you need one. Smoke is good, but the temp gun will tell you how hot it's getting. If you want deluxe, get a smart-temp fail-safe, which will cut the throttle down if the engine gets too hot.

On a side note, my shockwave hit 400 degrees once and locked up, and suffered nothing terrible. After it cooled down it still ran. But my engine had a gallon of fuel thru it, so it was well broken in.

The spur gear, first time, was probably due to factory mis-adjustment. If the gear on the clutch-bell is sitting too close or too far from the spur gear, you will strip the plastic gear. There's bound to be a tutorial on here on the best method to keep spur gears from dying. Personally, I always end up with steel gears if possible. The shockwave doesn't have any availble from Redcat, but if you're running the single speed transmission, then it wouldn't be difficult to make something work.

I had a 2-speed steel gear set I tried to stuff into my shockwave but they didn't work. Believe it or not, the steel gears I used stripped my clutch bell, which was off an HPI.

Good luck on the motor. If they go against you, you should be able to find something cheap on eBay or here. They might offer their engine exchange plan, but as their "retail" price is usually much higher than street price, you'll end up paying about the same as at a hobby shop for a motor.

Devils-Reject

My Feedback: (8)

you know what me... i got my redcat backdraft 3.5 and the same thing after 3 runs the spur gear fried the steering linkage busted and now i just noticed the carrier thing for the front wheels are busted on both sides.
i am soo pissed.
redcat sent me out a new spur gear but so what they are made from cheap ass plastic.



i just emailed them about the front wheels but i WILL NOT EVER BUY ANOTHER REDCAT PRODUCT EVER!! WASTE OF $300

Mr_Byte

So, what did you hit?

Mickstix

Make sure ya follow the breakin procedures and tune instructions closely, when ya get your new motor! And make sure your gear mesh is tight (Pinion/spur) so ya dont blow out anymore spur gears! Use the paper trick to make sure it's tight! Should look similar to this when set:

Devils-Reject

My Feedback: (8)

thats the funny thing i didnt hit anything at all
nothing i am on the phone with redcat right now

Mickstix

We already told ya, your spur stripped causeyour mesh was too loose! (Your picture speaks a 1000 words)Dont matter if you use a steel spur gear, if ya dont have the mesh set properly something will strip!! And on top of the steering link and one of the arms breaking, nowBOTHof your wheel carriers are broken??Dude, someone crashed that car at a high rate of speed, into something solid!!LOL.. If you can keep getting new parts by threatening to bash redcat, good for ya!But I'd give you a refund and tell ya to go buy a Losi or HPI and see how long they last.. Sorry, butI believe your inexperience is what's causing your problems, not the car..

Devils-Reject

My Feedback: (8)

no this car was not crashed at alll you may think that thats fine.
and i know why the spur gear got trashed, nothing i can do about that now but fix itup properly when i get the new ones in.
i was still breaking in the motor when the gear stripped out.
im not that inexperienced i have owned and do own several cars and non broke this fast.
this car was not crashed i didnt even  get to jump it yet

Mr_Byte

@Mick:

There's 2 cars here, one w/seized motor and stripped spur, and Devil's car.

rjsdad

Mr Byte,

Looking at the Devil's photos you can see that the gears were not meshed corectly. From what I have read a temp gun is good, but you should not tune your nitro engine on temp alone. We know that weather and climate factors into tuning. Having good smoke from the exhaust will let you know that your settings are pretty dialed in. Trying to obtain a certain "degree" can decrease the life and performance of the engine.

It is better to run rich than lean. I was born and raised in El Paso, Texas (which is a dry climate), and I now live in Austin, Texas (which is mild climate). 100 degree teperature in both cities feels cpmpetely different. If I had the same engine and ran it at the same temperture... the tuning setting would be different in order to obtain the same temp. One would be more lean (or rich) and that difference could spell premature engine failure. If these engines had a computer that monitored the air and adjusted the fuel this would not be an issue, but since we have to manually adjust the fuel...trying to adjust it to a specific temp may work depending on your climate. All of the tutorials I have read and seen always state to make sure you have good blue smoke...Why??? because again this is the best way to ensure that the engine is not running too lean. I even saw one tutorial that said after you got it tunned correctly record the engine temp...use this as your bench marker.

kart45

Regarding the front hub issue...
My Demo Aftershock 8E has experienced failures similar to yours. It was caused by the hinge pins not being properly secured and backing their way out. By the Redcat schematic, it appears there is supposed to be a 3x3 set screw in the back of the hub hinge pin channel that retains the pin. I didn't check my truck out of the box, so they very well may have just fallen out. I installed these set screws and have had no hub failures since then. I will say that the center steering idler link broke, and the new replacement came in Aluminum - kudos to Redcat on that one [8D] )
Either way, I stand on your side that these are frustrating issues... but I challenge you to find another brand stocked at your LHS for a comperable price with comperable or better quality. We all know if you want to go fast and hit things [get a Traxxas and pay Traxxas prices] you can pretty much write off some of the bigger brands anymore as some have become just as bad as the cheaper mass-productions. Some have remained strong and even improved, but many times their price reflects that.

Also, what are the details on 3wk shipping? Were they out of stock on a particular item?

Mickstix

Welcome to the forum Kart45!! I imagine he's referring to parts he got for free, via warrenty? Least I hope so.. I've never waited over 5 days for parts I purchased online, that were instock.. The note about the set screw to hold the pin makes sence.. Maybe they were loose or missing on his truck?

Mr Byte, yea I know there's 2 cars.. I was referring to another thread where we had already seen the pic of the loose gear mesh, and let them know then, that was why it had stripped..

Devil, what happened with Redcat? If you honestly havent crashed it, and all that stuff has broken while just riding around breaking in the engine,, I'd start to suspect that someone must of preowned it, crashed it and sent it back, and it somehow made its way back to market as "new"?? Cause even cheap brittle parts wont break just doing figure 8's, know what I mean? Id seriously look the car over for any more signs of previous damage, and see about sending it back for a refund and just start over.. That's way too many problems to be having with a new car..  Good luck!!

Devils-Reject

My Feedback: (8)

i never thought of that, well what i noticed with the front hubs is i dont think they were tight, and same with the mesh, the rear wheel wasnt installed on the hex right either.
i think it was all manufacturing issues.
yes i know and i researched for ever to find a tough r/c and then all this happens my woman was like that thing is a waste of money , what a money pit... hahaha i told her i just gotta work the bugs out, so while waiting for the parts to come in i have went over it tightened everything up and i think its ready

Mr_Byte

I'm sorry, I should have said "Temp and Smoke" since that's really what I meant. Temp will tell you it it's hot even with plenty of smoke. Then you make it richer to drop the temp. I have a Force .28 that runs hot no matter what I do, but lots of smoke. Not really sure what to do with it.

Then again, I just tuned my airboat by smoke alone, so who am I to talk ;-)

@Mick: Yup, saw that after I posted here.

It does sound like you got a pre-broken car here, Devil. Not sure who you got it from, if it was a LHS or online. I believe my Hurricane was that scenario, as the steering servo wasn't original. The car looked new, ran like new, all good, so no complaints. (I got a discount anyway when I bought it.)

rjsdad

Glad that we are all on the same page. LOL

jbeane316

thats the exact same thing that happend to one of my front hubs, from just driving up and down the street. no jumps, or bumps. no rollovers, just playing on flat concrete.

Devils-Reject

My Feedback: (8)

yup, no one believes that i didnt wreck mine.
my spur gear went out, both of those hubs and the steering linkage.

BigDave09

Mr__Byte even if u have plenty of smoke and have the temp set and everything is set for the greatest run ever you also have to keep in mind theses cars arent made for full speed runs the hole time you drive it these aint top of the line cars i've had my tornado bb for like 2 yrs now and replaced the engine twice cause i didn't uderstand that just a heads up not ragging you or redcat

Mr_Byte

I WOT'd mine all the time, up the street and back. Out in the yard, spinning donuts in the grass. My step-son was the one running her when she hit 400. I'll grant you, you're not going to get much life from a motor if you start it, and then run it full tilt thru the tank. I think that's where he went wrong, he was out in the grass at the park running wide open too long.

But I'd say that the VX is a good motor. I ran my Traxxas the same way and it was showing it more than the VX did. Maybe I'm hard on engines. ;-) Car engines don't last as long as airplane engines anyhow; I think it has more to do with the lower oil content in the fuel. My MDS .40 on my airboat is ??? old (I got it used w/boat) and it starts by hand and runs damn good, WOT all the time on 10% nitro.

I never had a problem with my VX .18. It was maybe a bit tired when I did sell it, but it still fired up easily (I use the starter) and ran well. I only wish my .28's were as forgiving as that little VX was.

chevyderek72

On your hubs, hot glue the pin in place, or just make sure it doesnt fall out. I broke that piece bashin around, and i hot glued it in place and it worked great till i hit a big rock and broke the whole piece. It will let your run till you can get a new one

rjsdad

Nitron car engines are not designed to run WOT the entire time, you will shorten the life of the engine. Airplane engines are designed to run WOT. I will run mine WOT for a few seconds and come off the throttle, nut not the entire time. You will notice that the engine will start to get hot and you should see a decrease in the performance...at that time you should let the engine cool off with the piston at BDC (bottom dead center).

blockdoc

hey guys I've got  the aftershock 3.5 & have had the exact same problems when you get your c-hubs for front end heres a fix for that problem.go to
your LHS and pick up Traxxas part # 3640 suspension screw pin set.Heres a web site that shows you how to do it.Go to
http://www.rcracewaysonline.com go to forums,then short course trucks,then Redcat8E test,I know 8E is electric but suspension is the same.

jbeane316

not a bad looking fix. will deff be looking into that while waiting for redcat to come up with the new parts. by the way, im from charleston, and me and my guys plan on comming up to race with you guys, seing your only a hour and a half or so away.

i'll be checking up on your site, but any idea when the first race day will be??


thanks for the fix and any info.

jeremy

Devils-Reject

My Feedback: (8)

good call on the traxxas part i will do that for sure