Wow I have spent more time repairing my Backdraft 3.5 than I have running it........!

It's been down a week waiting on a new steel spur gear which I got installed last night, after Idid that I went over the buggy with a fine tooth comb and tightend all the screws and just did a general PM ( Preventive Mait. ) routine on it, was real excited that the weather had cleared a bit so I got it out and was running around in the back yard just being easy on it, then decided to hop it over a small ramp only about 8" high never hit all out of wack or anything never hit it going fast, just pulled up to the ramp and hopped over it and landed on the back wheels 95% of the time, I turned the buggy toward me and noticed that the left front wheel was leaning in at the top.

After a quick inspection I found that the bottomscrew that hold the Steering/DriveKnuckle arm in place had sheared off inside the Knuckle, I cleaned it up, brought it in and decided to look at the one on the right side and it was bent all to heck and in the proccess of doing the same thing, so it's down and out again..........

I'm seriously wondering now if this stuff is really as I have said in the past <u>" the best bang for the buck " </u>the gears are not thatgood, the screws are soft and strip easy, plastic parts break easier than most, itjust makes me wonder if there's really any savings in these vehicles.
I know we can have issues with any of them but for another $100 more than A backdraft cost I think I can get a more reliable vehicle, I've already got about $50+ in repairs and upgrades counting wheels and tires $280 - $300 total in itand this thing breaks almost everytime I run it across the yard, I dont think the Backdraft 3.5Buggy would make more than 4-5 laps around a track with a few jumps before it would be out of order!

Dont get me wrong here I'm not bashing Redcat Racing and I dont mind working on my vehicles every couple a times out but I cant even get 30 minutes of run time on this Buggy before something gives it upso far and it's getting old fast, the engine is great... runs like a scaulded ape, I like the radio, I've had no servo issues so far, and it actually handles pretty good, it's just all the cheap mickey mouse screws and lack of quality materials inthe chasis parts and gear boxesthat messes all the other good things up in my developing opinion on this vehicle, this thing will nickle and dime a fella to death with how unreliable ithas been, kinda takes thefun out of it and will really discourage new comers to the hobby Iwould think, anyway so far the quality of this buggy has been disappointing, I'm gonna repalce all those iffy screws on the frontand see where thingsgowith this thing from here, but if I continue to have nothing but solid heckwith it I may go a different route and shelf thisthing..........

OK I vented........

Peace</p>

dang, i didnt have nearly as many issues with my BD 3.5
i had the throttle servo go, and "I" broke a pull cord(pulled to hard)
other than those 2 things it worked well. i never had screws snap, or broke the plastic parts.
dont know what to say.

Well, I'm gonna replace some screwswith better ones and hope it does a little better, if Ihad been out really putting it through it's paces and running it hard and high jumping it I would understand the issues I've had, but I have never roughed it up and it still breaks something nearly every time I take it out.
I haven't give up on it yet though, as soon as I make a few more up grades to the hardware I'll see how it goes, i've looked at the Stainles Steel upgrades as an option..... but considering what they cost I just cant justify putting another $150 into this buggy right now.

I just hope when Iget the Knuckle Arm screws upgraded with better ones I can get out and have a little fun before something else breaks.

I'll be making a comparison with my TraxxasNitro Sports in the reliabilty area, the one I just replaced the brake disc on has more bashing time on it with less trouble so far and it's an older truck, I know theres a big power difference between thetwobut theSuspension, Gear Boxand DriveTrain seem to be holding up prettygood on it so far in comparison to the new Backdraft 3.5, I'llkeep toying with it and see if I can get it to the point that something doesn't fail everytime out.

Alishanmao's videos with this Buggy is what sold me on it, by " showing how durable it is " but I have not found that to be the case with mine anyway, I've never even come close t oputting mine through what he does in the videos and mine ha sbeen very fragile even with the soft bashing I've done with it.

But, if I do a couple more upgrades and this buggy starts holding up pretty well then I''ll come back to this thread and be sure to post what I've done and how well it has worked and of coarse I will be very happy about it as well, I really do like the buggy and want so bad for that thing to perform without constant breakage, I'm gonna give it every chance I can before I bail on it, I tend to be a die hard and dont quit easily.....!
Ya know Nitro mine started off on a bad foot with the diffs giving it up right out of the box so maybe Ijust got a lemon to start with, but I'm trying to sweeten the deal if Ican......!</p>

After reading some of the post in redcats forums, ive already ordered lunsford universal stainless steel screw set. Also got some of the 4 mm turnbuckles and ball ends.

Seems like im spending a ton on parts and extras.

Hopefully come home tomorrow and have me some carbon sheets from ups here.

Upgrade over stock anytime you replace a part imo.

Yes I agree, upgrade is the way to go when replacing parts on these vehicles, some of us can afford the upgrades but many out there can't that is the bad thing about it, but then again this really aint a cheap hobby to start with so if someone has no spare change they shouldn't get into the RC land vehicles anyway.

I'll probably have every stainless steel upgrade available on my backdraft by the time I'm done and then I'll bet it will hang in there pretty good.

I'm feeling much better now also...........! Superbowl turned out the way I wanted it too...... :-)

Peace all!