I am still new to the hobby and don't know all the parts of the car.

XTMer said to clean out the case well and grease it. What case is this? is it the case in the back center that the axles of the back wheels attach to? Do you need to use a special grease or would lithium grease be good enough?

also, i read a post saying that you need to check the gear mesh. can somebody clue me in on how to do this? what do I look for in it?

You shouldn't have to let it cool down a nitro can be ran all day and still maintain tempature.

Ok cool, I'll make sure that's the case with the temperature. Still, I'll be checking it just incase with my temperature reader.

If it is tuned right it shouldn't have a problem overheating.
Ecfarr I think when you mean case you mean tranny. In this case I meant that if the diff gear strips to clean the box out really well and grease it up good too. I use marine grease and it seems to work good. I have had one diff gear strip and when I replaced it I did this and haven't had a problem since. And when we talk about gear mesh we mean the meshing between the spur and clutch bell, the thing that is attached to the engine and spins. I just look at the spacing and judge it by looks, but you should probably use a piece of paper until you get it right. I haven't had a spur strip yet because it all depends on the mesh, and I take my time to check it. With the paper roll it in between the gears and it should be really crinkled but it shouldn't tear it. If you just want to eyeball it make it so there is a small gap in the gears so it rolls freely and you should be fine.

If the truck doesn't seem to run as fast after adjusting mesh you probly got it to tight but be careful not to get it to lose or you will strip the spur.

I am having a problem tightening the nuts for the back tires. when i try to tighten the nut, the entire axle starts spinning also, the spur and diff gears too also. Is there anywhere on the truck that I should hold tight with a wrench to avoid this from happening?

all you need to to is hold the tire as long as you get the pin that goes thourgh the axel in the space on the back of the wheel it should work. on a side note do not over tighten your wheels or the bearings will not roll smooth.

i still have not run the car yet, i am planning on starting tomorrow. before I do are there any screws that I should put threadlock on? I assume the screws bolting the engine in place, but do any others really need it?

Its recomended but I didnt put it on till i had to take the motor off to clean it then when putting it back on I put thread locker on but you should be fine for a few days till you clean it then apply it while everythings off and you have to put it back togehter anyway and incase you dont know only apply it to screws thant go into aluminum or metal

I never had to do it until after I took the engine out, they have thredlock on them. Mine did at least.

Which websites are you guys finding the silver aluminum arms and turnbuckles? The only ones my buddy has been able to find are the overpriced blue anodized arms at the Hobby People for $44. [X(]

Evader front arms fit, T4 turnbuckles fit, and you can polish the arms to a silver finish if you want. There is a tutorial on the XTM forums, take a look.

Now the throttle and steering control is failing on and off with my X-Cellerator. The batteries are new. Sometimes it comes back when I turn the switch on the car off, then on again. Sometimes it doesn't. Been losing control of the car. Could it be the battery holder thing and the crack on it? You can see it in the photo I posted here. Or should the wiring be replaced? The controls work, but sometimes it will suddenly stop reading my controls or obey them barely.

I would replace the battery pod and see if that helps

Get a rechargealbe pack, trust me they are like night and day difference.

Would the rechargeable pack completely replace the battery holder thing, the one with the crack on it?

They go into the black battery holder(you wouldn't need the thing the batteries go into). Here is the one I have.[link=http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXMGW5&P=ML]this[/link] You might want to hurry they sell out quickly and are almost gone. They work a LOT better than alkaline batteries. Night and day difference.

My car seems like its fallling apart i've been to my hobby shop time and time again because it just keeps breaking. Now The employee at the hobby shop has it and is trying to get XTM to replace the part that is currently broken. And remember this car is only a month old. Are your x-cells like this or is mine a defect or something, it is rather frustrating. Sorry for the change in subject.

What is breaking? One part or is it your driving?

I'm not exactly sure whats breaking, it's not the suspension it's basically everything else. The piece that is broken right now is a copper piece that just snapped in half, i'm not really sure what it is. I really havent even done anything rediculous to it, just up and down my driveway not very fast. It is like hardly broken in. Is it because it is cold or what I mean i'm rather frustrated. Was yours ever like this? It seems like every time I take it outside and run it something breaks...

Well in the first month I had mine it had a couple problems and it made me very frustrated. But now it is fine, just worked out the kinks. Seems like now that I know a lot more that most of the problems were my fault and I didn't even know. Just ask if you need help or are unsure and we will try to help.

I've had to replace a few plastic parts but I find it alright since I'm new to nitro RC and have had a few tumbles(like the car doing cartwheels in the dirt). Still, I've heard good and bad about the XTM X-Cellerator. Some owners of this one told me it's very durable. One guy said he "put it through hell" and only had to replace a few simple parts. A staff member at the hobby store where I got it has had his for a few years with the same stock engine.

Yet I've been told they're not as durable as Traxxas and Associated parts. One guy told me that XTM uses "vacuum cleaner plastic" that breaks if you bend them, whereas the Traxxas plastic won't really break that easily. And the front body mount post on mine did snap very easily. That and a plastic frame-like piece that goes under it are the first one that broke on mine. Recently the left rear arm snapped. And now the battery holder.

As for the battery pack XTMer linked to, I should definitely get one of those! But I want to make sure the battery holder I have is the reason for the control failure I've been getting.

The cold way up there does make things more brittle. Can you get a pic of that copper thing? There are alot on the truck.

I don't have it at the moment, the guy that works at the hobby shop is trying to get the part. But I guess i'll just wait untill spring to run it and hope it is better, it is pretty cold here now.

Do you jump it very high? I have landed on the battery box many times from about 6 feet. Maybe it was a fluke. The cold is probably a big factor. It barely ever freezes where i live, sometimes it doesn't. Hope your new parts hold up.