1/5 scale durability

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Dacohas

Gone - bye bye.
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[Skip to the bottom for the short version of my question]

I do not own a 1/5 scale RC but after researching them they seems to have the same durability issues that plague all RC scales. And that is, in order to keep kit prices as low as possible sub-durable parts are used and eventually you end up replacing most parts w/ aftermarket parts. All the manufactures seem to do this but Losi goes so far as to label some of their parts w/ 'rtr' which you can't even buy separately. This thread isn't to expose any RC company it's just the nature of the hobby.

To combat these rtr-parts and still enjoy this hobby I bought a milling machine and machining has become an additional hobby of mine. So most of my kits have parts I've made to reinforce areas that are known to break and thus I've gotten much more value out of my rtr kits.

[question here]

Everyone poo-poos knock off 1/5 kits like redcat, excede, hobbyking etc b/c of cheap parts. Yet if you look through the losi 5ive or hpi baja threads, those guys are replacing axles, axle stubs, shock towers, chassis braces, gears, engines, engine parts, etc etc. So why wouldn't I start out w/ the cheap knock off kit if in the end I'll be fabricating all my own parts anyway? Please don't turn this into a 'support USA' or 'China vs. USA' thread.
 
depends on the brand watch out for stamped aluminum parts from china
 
Keep in mind a lot of the things you see people replacing are not because they are broken, but because like all RC rigs they get upgradeitis. For the Baja, the only things I think are a must are a kill switch, RPM bumpers, and suspension limit straps.
 
Keep in mind a lot of the things you see people replacing are not because they are broken, but because like all RC rigs they get upgradeitis. For the Baja, the only things I think are a must are a kill switch, RPM bumpers, and suspension limit straps.

I agree on that!

I only have three items on my KM baja that is made in USA ,an that's the upper front a-arms & shock tower in
which they were replaced because I stoled them for 20 bucks from an E-bay auction ,not because the stock
ones broke ,none of my parts ever broke on the baja!

However ,I think some of the plastic may break do to age after the plastic gets brittle ,that is what I ran across
on my A.E. Mgt. in which was replaced with RPM's!,,,,:cool:
 
if you are wanting to be fabricating parts for your rig as they break down, i see no problem with going the start cheaper route personally. but as they guys did say alot of people upgrade parts before necessary. i know on my T-Maxx back in the day i took the more conservative method and only replaced what i broke. in the end, the only parts that broke was the OW bearing, front A-Arm (broke one side but came in a kit and would look weird only having one side RPM one not), bumper mounts and Bumper, bulkheads (that was when i learned my power switch was faulty...) and the driveshafts. (didn't actually upgrade those though). yet we are always seeing people replacing brand new parts with hop ups.
that said, excede's (had the infinitive brushless) are a bit cheaper construction (not a whole lot tho) so parts do break a little more often. but once you upgrade/redesign them with fabbed parts not much will be stock either way. i guess the biggest reason not to go the cheaper route is power plant/controls. kind of like a home special chainsaw vs a stihl, been through 10 homelites, still have the same stihl. but if the engine/servos would be in the works for replacement anyway, you are already factoring that in. if not do factor that.
if you do take this route i definitely want to see the progress as you go!
 
Everyone poo-poos knock off 1/5 kits like redcat, excede, hobbyking etc b/c of cheap parts. Yet if you look through the losi 5ive or hpi baja threads, those guys are replacing axles, axle stubs, shock towers, chassis braces, gears, engines, engine parts, etc etc. So why wouldn't I start out w/ the cheap knock off kit if in the end I'll be fabricating all my own parts anyway? Please don't turn this into a 'support USA' or 'China vs. USA' thread.

@Dacohas I'll start by commenting where you stopped. So you want an answer to your question but you don't want all the answers? To say don't turn this into a China vs USA thread is simply silly and I suppose your own way to not wanting to hear an answer. Regardless if you want to hear it or not that is ONE reason for some people. When the Baja 5B was first released HPI WAS a USA company.

That said as mentioned by @HPIguy most of the "quality" models/brands are pretty rock solid out of the box. I would also agree that ALL large scale RC's should have a kill switch - that applies to the big brands and the "clones". While there are tons of upgrades and you see many people using them - most are not a required upgrade. Many are upgrading just to upgrade, to something bigger, badder, and/or stronger.

Lets again use the HPI Baja 5B for example. The buggy is pretty fast out of the box now, but of course people always want to go faster. Thus they add bigger engines (not because they need to but want too). Sometimes when adding a bigger engine with lots more horse power other parts will need to be upgraded such as axles, gearing, etc.

On the flip side lets take the Redcat brand. When they was first released the entire RC needed help. The plastic parts was brittle and broke easily. Granted today the models are in much better shape, all but the engine. I run the RedcatRampageForum as well and it's full of people, even today, complaining about their engines. Right out of the box the engines are still iffy at best and usually the first thing those guys HAVE to replace. Not because they want to but because they have to, the engines are just not built like the better engines.

Just like the big brand name guys there are certainly differing levels of quality within the cheaper brands. I'd take a Redcat 10 out of 10 days if given a choice between them or an Exceed. I wouldn't own an Exceed if you gave it to me.
 
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