cq842000

Hello, I've pretty much gone full metal with the aluminum hop up kit in the front and rear, aluminum servo horn, all stainless steel screws, aluminum body posts, upgraded (and modified) aluminum shocks, and pretty much everything except the chassis and the linkages. My question is, are there any Axel extenders that are compatible with the XTE Pro? I tried a set of 19mm ones from Amazon and after chucking them in the lathe and drilling the ID to correct depth, I found out it wouldn't work because the wheel hub bolt isn't threaded all the way.

So now I have two options, either find a compatible kit or a die and thread the hub bolts the rest of the way. My next question pertains to the latter, what thread and/or pitch is used on the hub bolts?

cq842000

Well, I finally found some that will work with only minimal modification. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...ilpage_o01_s00

All I had to do was chuck these in my lathe and drill 1/4" depth with a 1/4" bit and voila. They not only fit but they partially engage the threading on the hub bolts, giving the bolt slightly more rigidity.

The more I dig into this redcat, the more I see severe design flaws, like the upper bulkhead being made out of plastic, and not even some high-grade acrylic, but some other slightly more brittle composite. Anyways I've gone through two of the upper bulkheads just by upgrading to the aluminum body posts after a short bash, the top portion that supports both the shock mounting plate as well as the body posts, just pops right off. That part should seriously be made out a stronger material having to deal with so much stress from different sources.

I switched the front steering linkages to the aluminum traxxas type, and no more popping off randomly. The pinion is such a soft metal (even the new "steel material" one) that plastic (regardless of proper meshing) apparently wears it down until the teeth have points. I've had a driveshaft let go of a shaft pin and come loose from one of the ball ends (dogbones) so I ordered another one but went ahead and turned down some 304 stainless on the lathe, cross-drilled it on the mill and had it checked for balance. It's a proper driveshaft that I'll use when (not if) the aluminum one goes.

All in all, I love the XTE Pro and I understand that things break... but most of the breaking occurs because of design materials shortcuts. Also I understand cheap parts mean cheaper to market but come on Redcat, show some confidence in your product and give us some options. I'm considering taking one of the upper bulkheads to a local machine shop and having it duplicated in stainless or 7075 aluminium, this is not a part that should be made of plastic.

Customer support has been largely helpful, understanding, and supportive of my attempts to make Redcat a better company through customer feedback... that is until I started dealing with someone other than CJ. I have nothing but praise for CJ, his performance in customer service was a shining example that really helped me like Redcat... then I started dealing with other people when more bulkheads started breaking, and a motor decided to start clicking, etc. Needless to say I'm now honoring my own warranty as a Redcat rep (who shall remain nameless) wanted a picture of the clicking, and to determine which part failed (obviously it was the spring washer that keeps tension and proper spacing between both ends of the motor shaft and the bearings). While I've heard that a picture is worth a thousand words, I've never heard that it's worth any sounds. When a customer says a motor has failed within a month of purchase, I'd personally send him a new one first under warranty, and ask him to send the broken one back to diagnose it, or if he keeps it, make him understand that he will be charged the full price of the motor.

Its okay though, I'm a disabled Army veteran with alot of time to fix things when they break, and understand why they broke. I just would appreciate more options before Traxxas gets a previous customer back.

cq842000

Oh yeah, here is a pic of my current setup, and below that is a picture of the 304 stainless steel driveshaft before I finished it.





And... here is my XTE Pro in action. I'm currently researching a gimbal setup that will work for this truck.


https://youtu.be/7SjGXDBSojo

lilrick98

When I first got my Blackout I was really enjoying it but with just under a month of casual bashing the spur and pinion gears stripped out on me. To me that unacceptable. I was actually shocked to see the pinion gear stripped too! Well I ordered replacements and contacted Redcat and they sent me out both spur and pinion. The pinion they sent me is steel unlike the brass one that came with it. I'm thinking about getting rid of it cause I really don't wanna be bothered with replacing them on a regular basis..

cq842000

Hey I understand, and have already gone through the same ordeal. However, I really like my xte so I'm going to hang onto it and continue reaching out to Redcat for improvements. In the meantime I've already gotten a steel spur and pinion but had to modify it on the mill to make it fit. I havent tested it yet but it physically will fit according to my caliper. The only issue I have is that the spur is a 64 tooth and the pinion is17 tooth so I'll keep searching for a stainless equivalent gear set in 55T/15T.

lilrick98

Yeah there's a YouTube user names "Pistol Pete's RC" and he successfully installed the Volcanos 64t metal spur gear along with a 29t HSP pinion gear. I'm gonna give that setup a shot after my current gears strip out. I'm interested in the Terremoto 10 but from what I understand it also uses plastic gears. :/

cq842000

Yeah I dont like that the gears are plastic either, and after seeing just how fast this thing is on dual 3s in parallel, most of it needs to be made of steel or 7075 aluminum for longevity. I personally am researching ways to seal the front and rear diff, so that I can use real gear oil and not worry about all the dirt and particulates fouling the innards and causing unnecessary wear and friction.

Oxbig376

What model are the Traxxas parts you used? Did you have to mod them?