This is proving to be a tough issue to figure out. i cant seem to get my brakes to work properly or at all for that matter. My truck is a redcat avalanche and after getting rid of every piece of electronics that came with it (new servos, radio, recieve box) i cant seem to get it to stop. visualy it apears to be on there right but the servo that came with my radio which is a standard but good qualilty futaba just wont pull those two little levers that squeeze the brakes. It will open and close the throttle no problem but barely moves when i hit the brakes. to me it just looks like the servo is not strong enough to pull the levers but i really doubt this is my problem. i was lookin at my buddies team losi aftershock brakes and i barely had to apply pressure to his somewhat similar break lever and it was effectivly applying its breaks. could really use your help on this one guys, its my biggest problem atm. things are goin good though i got a new futaba radio and a hitec ultra torque servo for the steering. with the monster of an engine on this thing and the new electronics i think i should be able to give that aftershock a run for its money once i get everything working properly and adjusted! Thanks for listening

Defm~

Oh ya forgot to ask, anyone have there wheels wobble some at higher speeds? any way to remedy this and balance them better?

what tranmitter do you have, model number, maybe there is a setting for servo throw.

Futaba magnum 2PL Im kinda thinking its more in the brakes themselves than the servo or its settings. I can grab the little lever that the servo is connected to and pull on it myself and there isnt really any observable braking then either, and i think im definatley pulling harder on it than the servo could. can this wear out my servo really fast if it tries to pull on the lever but cant get it to move muich at all?

OK quick edit -- i just tried to move the little break levers with my fingers and they do apply brakes when moved, it just seems that the dang servo isnt strong enough to pull it tight iv always heard its good to get a high torque for steering but not neccisary really for throttle/brake i realy dont want to go spend another 50 bucks on a high torque servo im hopeing i just dont have it adjusted right but im having a real hard time figureing out what to adjust.

does the radio have servo throw settings? if so maybe you need to adjust them, i am not too sure how the brake setup is on that truck so i really dont know what else to say to help you out.

Im not quite sure what servo throw is, could it be called something else in the manual?

from what i can see in the picture from redcat, does that spring on the arm do the breaking, if so replace it with a piece of fuel tubing, those springs are good for returns but stink on brakes.

gain?>?> i am not sure what you would call it, i will check now for you and see what i can find out

ok here it is: Steering/Throttle End Point Adjustment (EPA) limits servo travel for
more control and to prevent servo damage


you know you have an anti lock braking setting on that too??

Ill try that, thanks for your help ehroof!

anytime bro, let me know how you make out.

well i got the engine running like a champ, steering servos are working nicely, but the brake problem persists. I am 99% sure i have tried everything possible to fix the problem except for takeing the entire brake assembly apart and checking each part for problems. Im thinking of doing this tomarrow, im done for the day now. at this point the only problem it seems to have is that the servo isnt pulling hard enough on the levers, unless of course theres something going on isnide the whole assembly that i cant see without taking it apart. i adjusted the end point adjustments so that the brake side was only moving about 40% of what it usually does because it wont move past that point anyway and i guess thats bad on them when it tries to move all the way but cant.

Few other little things about the truck though.

Problem #1 the fuel tank and the exhaust pipe are rediculously close to each other, fixed this by putting a small strip of airplane baffle material between the two, glue is currently drying.


Problem #2 the part that the connecting rod from the steering servo connects to hits the part in front of it when you try to turn hard left. when you turn right it is free to move all the way back but when you go left it moves foward and hits before you get it turned all the way over. no way to fix this it seems, the avalanche is capable of turning sharper right than it is left

These problems arent a big deal, the steering wil be fine after some more small adjustments i think, i got that hitec ultra torque servo so i should be good in the steering department.

OK one last thing, my dad just had a great idea, if the servos arent pulling adjust the brake lever to stick out more and increase the leverage! this sounds very promising!

ok time to think about something else for a change and go out with friends! semester starts in 20 days, i better enjoy these all day tuning sessions while they last

Defm~

well the leverage thing isn't really working I even tried haveing only the back or only the front brakes hooked up and i cant even get them to work by themselves. im thinking about swithing my high torque servo to the throttle/brake just so i can get the thing to stop. im not even sure if that will do it. i've already ran into 3 or 4 parked cars with it! this thing is so fast i think i might destroy it before i get this figured out. I'm almost afraid I'm gunna strip the gears in the standard servo thats in there, its working so hard and can barely move, the server throw on the brake side is set at about 25%.

Defm~ is confused

why are you setting it so low, set it higher so the brakes get more pressure, set it to 100% or more if it has that setting.

its set so low because thats all the farther it will move no matter what the setting is. im afraid if i set it at 100% it will damage it because the lever wont pull even close to that far back even if im pulling it with my hand.

you wont break the servo, set it at a highter setting (100%) and make sure you have the servo centered correctly and the servo epa''s at their highest settings and put the horn on then try it out, make sure the servo's trim on the transmitter is centered before you put the horn on.

ok well i figured out that the standard servo simply wasnt strong enough to pull my brakes tight. I pulled my high torque servo out from the steering and put it on the throttle/brake and the standard on the steering. It works good now but i stripped the teeth out of the horn. servo is fine i just need a metal horn i think. also i think i should have set the servo throw lower because the servo is so strong is just kept going and stripped the horn teeth. Im definately happy at this point tho because i know whats goin on. Also i wanted to ask are there bodies for sale anywhere that fit the avalanche? the one i have looks cool but it doesnt have a hole in the truck bed for the glow plug, its a real pain taking it off just to start it then putting it back on.

Defm~

Just curious why you can't use the servo that the car came with. I got a new transmitter combo with servos and found that the stock ones were stronger, not as accurate but much more powerful.

steering servo fried 2nd day, week later new servo came and then throttle/brake servo fried

your supposed to cut the whole for the motor and the one in the front for cooling. Most dont come cut.

was your servo twitching when you tried applying the brakes? My stock steering servo burned up in my tsunami last weekend, it totally quit turning right then quit turning at all. then this weekend i noticed my throttle wasnt openning right. same deal, servo would pull brakes fine, but wouldnt push the throttle open and would twitch when it tried. swapped servo out and it works perfect.

ya both stock servos are junk