Review I posted on RCZ; Change a few stuff:

Part I. 9/04/04
Skribble owning a Revo?!!?! Wth!? I know some people will have a laugh. If any of you read my previous posts (On all the forums I'm signed up on) .. You'll know I was against the Revo fanboys/owners, so you can call me a hypocrite now. I was going to buy a TNX, but with no parts support on location and some of my LHS employees not recommending it (One of them always giving me a hard time on trying to buy stuff they don't support) due to starter shaft problems and buying having to buy a whole bag of parts for 1 part, etc, I opted for the next best thing: Revo. Mind you this is my first nitro vehicle, except for a used Nitro 4-TEC I bought with no nitro experience (About a year before); Ended up busting the car in half in less than a week because of no precautions: No Failsafe or throttle return spring + 40MPH into the curb. Had to learn the hard way.

Packaging was okay. Just steyrofoam(SP?) on both sides of the truck in the box. Everything easy to find, and comes with a decent ammount of extra items (LT rockers/springs, huge precut sticker sheet, etc). The only problem I ran into was my side-by-side batteries didn't fit in the EZ-Start Starter because of the way my wires are soldered, so I had to be ghetto and hold the battery onto one side of the starter when starting my car.

Raced my Revo the night after I bought it. I started to break in the engine during the race, so I only got to run the main (Two heats and 1 main). Break-in went as planned .. No plastic in the fuel tank, etc. Started when I wanted to, didn't die at random times, etc. I was only half way done on my 5th tank, so I had to keep it easy on the track. I didn't have a temp. gun, so I don't know what tempatures the 2.5R was reaching. Burned my finger on the engine head too when I was picking up the truck. The rollbar/handle is pretty close to the engine, so if you have big hands, I probably wouldn't use it as a handle.

During the race, I found the jumping characteristics horrible. Give it a "little" too much gas, and you'll send the truck aiming for the sky and vice versa with brake. Touch the brake, and you'll drop the front end like an anvil. My track is made more for 1/10 scale electric (A dirt oval track with offroad in the middle), but the Revo got around the track pretty fast; I just need a faster servo. The suspension soaked everything up really good, and jumps were like nothing. Only times the engine died was when I got stuck on a cone and I came around the dirt oval turn a little too fast, sending the truck into slide, smacking the rear of the truck against the wall. Even with my bad driving, the shock ends didn't seem to be phased at all.

My setup was stock except for lowering the truck by 1 position, no bumpers, no holes cut in the body, and 40 Series Bow Ties + Dish. The super soft suspension made the truck really sloppy around the turns, so I'll definatelly be picking up stiffer springs and P2 rockers.
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Ran it on the street today, and I got a a lot of 2 and 3 wheeling action since the setup was so soft. Every now and then the engine would die when pulled a hard u-turn and got it 3 wheeling. Other than that, everything ran perfect ..

I just bought a Dynamite Fail-Safe, Traxxas 2.5 Pullstart, and Dynamite Glow Igniter a couple hours ago. Looks like stiffer springs, P2/P3 rockers, and MIP Onboard Temp Gauge comes on my next paycheck. I'll eventually be picking up a synthesized radio too.

Overall, it wasn't as bad like I posted here. Owning the product cleared my vision. Sorry for the long post.

Christopher.²
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Part II. 9/06/04
Finally got around to installing the pullstart, and it was harder than I thought. Taking off the rear shocktower/bodymount was considerably easy: three screws and the muffler mount screw. Then I slid one of the hingepins (e-clipless) out and moved the rear arm so I could pull off the ez-start system. Take the one-way bear out of the ez-start gear, slide it into the pullstart, and screw it on, but 1 of the 4 screws is at a angle so if you don't have a ball-end metric driver, it kinda sucks.

Now, the hard part was removing the ez-start wires. First, they go beneath the rear top shock mount and shocks, so you have to take off the 2 top screws, and another 2 on the bottom. Unscrew the yellow wire from the engine and pull off the blue igniter wire, then you can pull out the wires and there's 3 plastic clip thingies that hold the wires down. I opted to pull them out with pliers. The problem I had was the shock fell out of the rear top shock mount, and the shock cap had those pivot ball things. It took me forever to get the shock back into the mount because the engine interferes with the shock angle (Trying to pull them up away from the chassis). After I reassembled the rear, my truck didn't have the "plush" feeling anymore. I assumed something was binding, so I reassembled it again, and it was a lttie better, but still not as plush as stock. Hopefully when I install the P2 Rockers/Stiffer springs it solves this problem.

After I got the p/s installed, I stuck my Dynamite Glow Igniter on (Nicely built by the way; with a meter), primed the engine, and it started after like 4-5 tugs. Shedding weight off the truck and I don't have to tote around the EZ-Starter anymore is good.
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Next day drove it on the street for a couple of tanks (With the p/s), and with a lot of 2-3 wheel action, one of my wheels fell off (Pro-Line 40 Series Velocity dish) along with the axle pin and one of my Pro-Line hexes. ($22 for 4 of them ) There's some slack in the wheels (Due to the way the Dish is design, between the hex and the knuckle; Not sure on the new stronger ones) which I assumed made the wheel nut come loose .. Looks like I'll have to buy another set of Pro-Line aluminum hexes. So far no other problems with the truck or the p/s. I still haven't bought a tempature gauge yet, but it's on the top of my list.

Finally, one thing I noticed when looking at the exploded views is if I wanted to change the rockers, I have to dismantle the whole rear end? Down to the bulks? Can anyone confirm this?
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Part III. 9/08/04
Had some problems installing the rockers .. One of the rocker post was deformed, so the bearings got stuck. Took it to my LHS, and they finally pried it off. Damage: 1 broken rocker. Didn't care for it since I don't really bash. Took quite a bit of time too.

After that, I had some oval practice. Ran it once, but it sounded funny. So I took it in to check the mesh .. Seems like it was fine, so I tried to get it running again. I pull a couple times, and guess what? My pullstart string comes out of the starter. There wasn't even a knot at the end of the string, so that cut my practice. I might have to stick the EZ-Starter back on. If not, I'll definately be picking up a starterbox.

Seems like my experience is going downhill.
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Today, I actually took the time to reassemble my pullstart. Posted this at Traxxas today:

Part IV. 9/10/04.
Rewound the spring a couple times, but forgot about the string, or trying to put the string in the spool, and the spring unwound in my hand, etc. Quite frustating. I probably lost an inch or so cutting knots that I tied in the wrong places.

I also lost a screw for the cover that goes over the spool. Does anyone know what size it is? When I put my pullstarter back on, the top side without the screw is binding against the engine, so I have to keep the top 2 pullstarter screws quite loose for the pullstarter string to recoil.
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That's it for now.

s7 i thought you liked the lst?

Glad you like it Europa!!!!! Enjoy!!!!!

doesn't sound like hes having to much fun with it actually popa.

Hi S7, looks like you have had some problems with your revo as other kits can have, it's just part of the hobby.

I liked a lot of trucks .. But my track is too small for some like the LST, or not allowed for others like Truggies that don't use T-Maxx Bulkheads which limits my selection a lot. And my LHS is still out of stock for the LSTs.

So far I've fixed all the problems .. So after a week or so, I'll probably write a more detailed review after I get more track time in.

U should have got a TNX - they rock [8D] I have never heard of any1 complaning about starter shaft??? problems on any of the TNX forums. They are hassle free MTs. Good luck anyways.



TNX - tune once... drive lots.

Well, aren't I having the best of luck. One of the stock steering servos crapped out of my yesterday while racing, so I missed both of my heats (2nd time). I didn't really want to buy a another stock servo, so I just dropped 1 bill (Well, used my ATM and came out to be $115) and bought the JR Z8800T. Specs are 188oz and .15 sec. It's insane how fast the Revo turns now ..

I'll probably be giving Traxxas CS a call soon ..

I need help with the Revo Starter II, couls someone send me a pdf format of the owners manual. I just bought it used off of eBay & need the instuctions to set it up correctly. I need to replace the wires on it also. The fuse wire is NOT connected & not sure where it goes? Can someone please help me out ASAP!