gasrc

This goes right along with my dislikes of RTRs.

Crash and Burn warned you about the 2spd setpin backing out due to lack of a chemical locking agent (CLA).

I mentioned the ease of removing the endbell screw...due to lac of CLA or assembly torque for that matter.

Now my buddy reports that he STRIPPED the teeth off his spur gear because he lost ALL FOUR of the flathead screw that hold the square purple engine mount deck on the chassis bars.....Once again due to lack of CLA.

Look at step 29. It even instructs you to use CLA. Why did HPI not use CLA anywhere on the truck?

http://www.hpiracing.com/graphics/in...ge/s21_p32.jpg

As soon as he told me this, I check my Savage, and low and behold, one of the screw was half-way out and the rest took NO torqure to remove.

cptbwst

My Feedback: (1)

That is why whenever you get a RTR or a trade I always break it down and make sure it is locktited and put together correct. You always have to do that with a RTR.

eletrick

My Feedback: (1)

I went over the entire truck with blue locktight, ran all day, and no problems (never had loose screws with the max's thou!).

RN

dbow

My Feedback: (1)

These are not Issues at all, The 2spd screw comes out in any model that has the same design. Its nothing new and its always been known that you have to use loctite all the way back to the original 2spd when it came out for the RS4.

As for HPI addding loctite, I mean c'mon everyone knows you have to check everything over and tighten up things and so forth.
Ready to Run doesnt mean you open the box and the engine is running at idle ready for you to run it.

HPI does everything they possiblly can to prepare these RTR's and keep cost down.
I think some fail to see that and wouldnt be pleased unless HPI sent out a rep to hold their hand while they play with their car.

Heck when I started nobody I knew wanted to touch an RTR, just about everyone wanted to build the kit and learn how everything was put together.
Guess things have changed cause these days its sometimes hard to find most models in Kit form. Planes seem to be going the same route with the ARFs.
I do realize that many people dont have the time to build kits, however if you are one of the ones that dont you are missing out big time.

Just mine

Dbow

crash_me_over

My Feedback: (16)

Gee dbow.....don't candy coat it!

trey3670

My Feedback: (10)

well heres my two cents rtr's are supossed to be rtr's they are targetting the folks that are brand new to the hobby not all research the models like the guys we see here,and they do not know you are suposed to locktite everything and check everything,i personally do not like rtr's but thats me i like ta build em,but for the newbie that wants to rock after he buys it,yes they should be locktited from the factory cuz the newbie then gets frustrated and feels ripped when his 400$ ride bites cuz some factory was to dang cheap to locktite a coupla screws my two and a half cents i guess lol

kdfdawg

i agree with you there trey3670-- i just got the savage myself for xmas, and well, this is my first experience getting into this hobby. if indeed companies are touting that their products are indeed RTR, they should be pretty much ready to go out of the box. this is a direct quote from hpi's website:

"The Savage 21 comes factory assembled, everything is done for you! Even the tires are glued to the wheels. In less than 15 minutes customers can be driving their Savage 21 trucks! "

my one penny thought....

eletrick

My Feedback: (1)

When you get a tmax out of the box, you don't have to do the check every screw thing. From what was posted all over the web, everyone had screws falling out all over the place on the savage, I never had that with the max. Our 2.5's have a few gallons each threw them, and I just now, am tightening the screw's on them.

I have a savage also, and I did lock-tight everything on it, only b/c
I read all the other guys post. I don't think, lock-tight is that expensive an item, for a truck which claimed to be so high and mighty. I don't think four drops of c/a on the tires classifies it as "tires glued" (which size engine are the tires glued for?).

I think this truck is great, don't get me wrong, but for all the hype that was made about how it has all these upgrades...ect.... it should have been put together a bit better. I think out of the box, the tmax is a better product, especially for the newbie's!

My 2 cents!

Richard Newman

Isphius

My Feedback: (1)

i dont like ready to runs because it takes away the "yeah i built that feeling" like when you drive other peoples cars. It also makes it seem more like a toy than a scale model. Kits are also better because when you build it you are familiarized with the assembly and you can choose your own suspension mounting, shock fluid and linkage setup. I do think that rtr is good for a beginer, but not anything expensive that you plan to keep, just so you can figure out nitro engines and electronics and such. just my opinion

Isphius

My Feedback: (1)

its the labor and amount of time it takes to carefully add several drops of loctite when the screws could just be put in by machines or unskilled laborers. And time = money, which comes from your wallet. SO the truck could cost more, or you could use loctite

trey3670

My Feedback: (10)

well heres the thing ever work on full size cars? alot of the nuts and bolts on those are locktite coated when ya buy em,when the bolt is machined it is coated,this is a very inexepensive proccess the manufactures,hpi it sounds like in paticular,need to take note of this,and i dunno about everybody else but when i build a kit i dont neccasarilly adhere 100% to the manual,i will make changes if i think they are needed,like a lock nut instead of a nut,little stuff,when im driveing my cars i know whats going on by the sound if i break i know what happened most of the time even before i take the body off,the benifit of build it your self

dbow

My Feedback: (1)

I can see some valid points here and if the majority of consumers want loctite on the RTRs then Im sure you will be paying for that in the future.

THings have changed over the past few years, companies like HPI are producing much cleaner designs that work out of the box.
When I started I was thinking and ordering parts for the car before the kit even got here. This was based on lots of design flaws and so forth that typically dont show up until you hit the competition on the track. At that time RTR was out there but had not evolved to the point its at today. Nowdays assembly lines are much more efficient and employee A only has to put X number of screws in or complete a certain part of the kit. I feel that its a borderline situation, in that they have the price and profit margin set to a point that can go no further with current technology. Anything more would put a price that I feel currently just makes the cut over the top. We do understand however that things advance and get cheaper as we move forward. Maybe loctite will be stamped on the RTR boxes of the future, who knows.

To me its not an issue because Im gonna tear it down anyway, no matter what you do you always gonna have mistakes and oversights on that assembly line. You never know if the guy that QC'ed your car was smoking a fatty.

I guess I can understand the point of view from the bashers though, being a racer I always want to build and the Race level cars always come in kit form. The race level cars have evolved as well and such so that HPI really does not compete in the racing market anymore. THey may still market to the entry level racer but have become more of a fun basher type.

Oh and the 2spd problem?

I Never use loctite in the 2spd, it is however how most people fix it.
In my opinion its the worst way to keep it from moving. Once you change the shift point (change motor, bells, spurs Etc) the dried loctite tends to float around in the hole and can cause the ball to stick.
HPI makes a Maint kit that has a ball and spring in it so that they can be changed every so forth.
They also include EXTRA set screws in the package.

The best way I have found to keep the shift point set screw in place is to follow a 2nd set screw down the hole to lock it up. No loctite mess to fool with. I change Shift points on mine all the time depending on what size track Im running on. No loctite mess caught up in the hole for me.
The set screw on the shaft needs loctite for certain.

Also, to set the pin before locking it down I take a screw hex driver and put a marking on it, I usually end up backing it out about 3-1/2 to 4 turns depending on the application.

Dbow

BIGDADEPUMP

My Feedback: (1)

I have put together a couple fo kits. Heck, I have built a couple planes from scratch balsa, but I don't think much is gained from buying a kit and assembling as opposed to an RTR TMaxx per say. I have the new one. The quality of design and build is flawless. With my previous Tmaxx, though it was an RTR, I knew front to back becuase of all the times I had to replace a cracked A arm or bulkhead. Bottom line, RTR's break, and it is the REAL MAN who steps up to the plate and rebuilds. Paying a shot to do it is a different story.

eletrick

My Feedback: (1)

In Taiwan and japan, labor labor is dirt cheap, and is not the issue. I don't buy it, the guy putting the screws in, already has the stuff in his hand. The guy gluing the tires, already has the glue in his hands, a few more drops makes a better kit. Sorry, I disagree.


Richard Newman