This little escapade today with my broken throttle arm turned out causing a lot more damage than I originally thought! About 3 gears were ground off the spur gear. The melted plastic from the spur gear solidified all over the clutch bell gear. My MIP 4N1 clutch melted and ruined the clutch bell and clutch bearing. Ain't it funny how one little broken part can cause all this collateral damage. Well, I guess it ain't that funny, this one's goona cost a bit of moola.

yeah clutch bells are one of the more expensive parts ... prolly 15 bucks

Actually, it was the clutch bearings that shocked me. They're $14 a pair!

Oh, I almost forgot, I was able to dial in the power somewhat before the throttle arm broke. Even though I didn't get to finish tuning it in, I can tell this engine's got a great deal more power than the TT .15 had. I'm sure it was going over 40 mph, maybe close to 45, and it actually did a few wheelies. It sounds like it's turning quite a few more rpm's that the TT did as well. I can't wait to get this thing completely tuned in.

grampi needs "ANOTHER RIG" for a backup when his goes down.

Yes...I know...I'll get you in trouble with the Mrs for suggesting that! Don't forget to get her some flowers and a card!

ya gotta hav emore than one ...if one breaks and you dont have the parts on you, your done for the day(week) gotta have 2+
i got 3 just for that reason...prolly getting 4th

Don't know yet if I can get that bill through congress or not.

grampi.....even Congress can be bribed.

I agree, I have a 10GT and just ordered an SS as a 2nd. Now when one is down (my gt is down right now, waiting for another heatsink head then it's still time to go. If I wreck both of them I need to take a break anyway and let my credit card cool down!

You don't know how tough my congress is to bribe. She wants a new vehicle (a real one), so maybe I can use that as a barganing tool.

Dear Mrs Congress.....Please give grampi some cash so he can continue to enjoy his hobby. If you choose not to....the arrival of your new vehicle (full size one) may be delayed.

This session has been adjourned.

lol!

Grampi-

Dynamite sells some 3/16x5/16 (sealed) flanged bearings, 4 for $13 at my local hobby shop. You could probably find them even cheaper at a local bearing shop. Duratrax also makes some that are cheaper than Team AE oem bearings.

I have a CV-R .12 engine, I fabbed a metal carb arm. If you can do that, I found the action to be smoother as it did not bind from the plastic arm tweeking slightly during operation. I also have a 'safety' spring on it to return it to idle if I lose control of the car. I learned that lil tip after the horn came off the servo and my car went WOT into a wall.

Chris

grampi..

if you have a hard time finding a throttle arm for some reason, or dont want to buy one, and have the parts for the broken one still, i might be able to make you one out of aluminum. as long as its not too complicated that is. my lathe skills are limited. lol. let me know, id be happy to do it.

trey

Thanks for the offer, but I ordered a steel one from Tower Hobbies. I don't think aluminum or plastic is a good material for throttle arms.

So grampi, this is the RC10 that is ironically durable, I presume (can't help but laugh -- but not at you, at the situation ... Is that an engine part or a car part? I'm trying to keep an eye on parts that are susceptible to breakage on rigs that I am considering.

pb

It's an engine part, but the engine I have in it now isn't the one it came with. A week ago or so I installed a Fantom .15, which has just about double the power of the original, and about the same amount of power as the Traxxas 2.5. This engine makes the RC 10 a screamer. I would put the RC 10 up against any ST in terms of durability.

Polobear....keeping track of parts breakage on different rigs is sort of like trying to keep an eye on where water goes when it evaporates.

A case in point:

Recently a friend of mine who drives a 2.5 TMaxx had a "bad crash". Now...it's not because he was jumping his rig....or doing anything in particular that would...or should have caused the damage his rig experienced. But...when his throttle got stuck on wide open.....and he was attempting to try and roll it so he could approach it and shut it down.....it didn't roll over...and eventually hit a curb....doing some nasty parts breakage. Nothing that couldn't be replaced with a little $$$ and elbow grease. In fact....he and I were driving this past weekend and his rig is running very well.

Soooo....if you try and take a wait and see approach...or just try and count up all of the different parts breakage....keep in mind...that there will be times that the breakage happens....not from an intended "dare devil stunt"....but rather....an accident that you just cannot control. In these cases....it's hard to group what parts should...or should not break.

Point well taken, CMO, but in this case, I was mostly trying to ascertain what assembly this gear is considered to be part of...

I recall reading that grampi replaced his engine (it seems like his keen eye for pricing caught most by surprise, as memory serves), and based on what he explained above, it almost sounds as if he upgraded the source of torque and not what the torque was being applied to with results that were less than desirable (if not expected). Yes? No?

Things that seem to be common problems or extreme problems are catching my eye... like the broken shock towers on the HPIs that I keep reading about. And this problem definitely qualifies as extreme, but I suspect that once the drivetrain is brought up to 'spec' to handle the new stresses being placed on it, grampi will be having a great time (followed by posts about not being able to keep the front wheels down, etc., hehe)

See, cars are so much harder than planes!! In a plane I transfer my torque to a prop, the end.

pb

Yes...you are correct. Once we swap out one part for a different one....or in grampi's case....an engine that want's to hit RPM's in the "It's off the chart" level.....then what's to be expected is damage....due to new stresses that the rig was not designed for.

I remember years ago...one of my nephews who bought a small framed Chevy car (name escapes me at the present) and put a bored out....blue printed and balanced 350 engine that was producing around 500 horse into it. Since we lived miles apart I seldom saw how his venture was coming along until one day I stopped by for a visit. Here is what I remember:

I pulled into the driveway next to his Chevy Vega (Amazing I can remember that) and saw him trying to start the engine. At the time...it had no exhaust system attached to it....everything on the car was stock....even the drive line.....and the engine was a beast to kick over. He had two batteries hooked up for starting....and finally it fired up. MAN WAS THAT THING LOUD!!!! Well....after a few minutes of tweaking the carburetor.....he decided to get behind the wheel and take it around the block. I remember to this day saying to him.....Uhhhh...gee Jim.....won't all of that torque ruin the drive line? Awwww....heck no....I'll take it easy. As he backed out of the driveway....then put it into first gear.....I think he got about 20 feet when the entire drive shaft broke away from the u-joints and it rolled around on the road. He looked at me like he was in total shock and asked if I could help him roll the car back into the drive way.

The big difference between that Chevy Vega and our little nitro rigs is when they crash....or break a part....we can simply pick them up....put them in the truck....and drive home and fix them back up with little time invested. Now....when it comes to the money part....that can be a different story.

lol... I was going to guess he gunned it and twisted the frame/snapped the engine mounts and rolled the motor onto its side, but yes, I see the point.

The 'limiting factor' problem isn't confined to this hobby. Pretty much all systems that require engineering are built with the limiting factor in mind, and when the limiting factor is upgraded and suddenly *isn't* any longer, the system simply finds a new limiting factor.

So, case in point, the RC 10 drivetrain was designed with X capacity in mind, X was exceeded in this case, and the next limiting factor, well, limited.

I was particularly appreciative of grampi mentioning that his new engine produces roughly the same power as the traxx 2.5 (I didn't know this before). So the rustler, presumably, is designed to handle the add'l power and in its case, the suspension/handling is the limiting factor (you have great power that can't always be used).

Let me ask this (and I'm not trying to hijack the thread or anything), how hard it is to tune the suspension (and perhaps reinforce it w/ better parts?) vs. replacing the engine and drivetrain if you are only considering upgradability?

It seems like the suspension would require less expertise, but CAN it be tuned to improve handling? I'm just trying to get my arms around the whole nitro car package.

Thanks, and sorry grampi if i'm steering your thread away, it's not intentional!!

pb

Ahhhh....we can call it the "X FACTOR".....

grampi.....you'll need parts to handle the "X FACTOR".

As for tuning the suspension....there are books on this subject and others who I would say are more qualified than I am to give you first hand experience....different setups....springs....oil weight....etc. But...I did remember this link that you might be interested in. While your there...perhaps when you have more time...you can check out the RC Articles section. Lots of good stuff there.

http://www.rcnitro.com/rn/articles/tune_sus.asp

Polarbear, I don't mind what you're saying at all. I can tell you this; for me, tuning, modding, replacing, or anything to do with making engines more powerful is much easier for me to understand than how doing "X" to the suspension affects the handling. I'm still in the dark with handling, but how to make it more powerful I understand. I have tried altering the handling of my RC 10 to no avail. That's not to say that anyone else wouldn't be just the opposite. I have always had a good understanding of engines and drive trains.

CMO, I don't think the RC 10's driveline will have any problem handling the Fantom, with maybe the exception of the spur gear, and they make metal ones if the plastic ones won't hold up. Had the throttle arm not broken while a WOT, I don't think I'd be replacing any of these parts.