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guess its a good time to see about rpm's lifetime warranty...

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ausher

ausher

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Location
north east iowa
RC Driving Style
  1. Bashing
  2. Racing
Oops!
2013-03-03_15-53-00_737_zps12ca41be.webp

Bent my push rod, piped out the pillow ball and broke an upper a arm....

Was out of my sight and I thought there was enough room to get by my Durango parked in the street, but ran it right under it probably going maybe 7 MPH....

Notice the bumper is unscathed... :\
 
Lol. Parked cars are RC magnets! Only 7mph???


Sent from my Pipboy-3000 in the Capital Wasteland.
 
It says it covers "road hazards" I would say a parked car is a road hazard.....
I straightened out the pushrods best I could...
Upon further inspection I broke the other one too and the a arm pin....
2013-03-03_16-42-49_845_zps290ad40d.webp

Well was going to put the stock ones on, but one is cracked....
 
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Wow! This is actually the first time I've seen broken RPM arms. I've hit stuff wide open with the tmaxx and my old revo and not broken mine yet. I still manage to wack a tree on occasion.
 
I have also never actually seen a broken RPM arm. I have nailed some stuff at pretty high speeds with my revo and never broken an arm.
 
I was surprised it broke at such a low speed... I cartwheeled it, hit snow banks, curbs, trees and other parked cars at full speed and never broke an rpm a arm.
Now it was only 30° but it wasn't even out.of.the house for more than 5 minutes and I was just doing a warm up pass down the street. I've crashed it.hard when it was cold like this.before with less damage or none at all...

The aluminum pushrods bent easy, but bending it back was a pita. I pounded on it with a 5 pound hammer to get it semi straight...
 
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thats some carnage for going under 10 mph if your arms have been in some nasty crashes b4 maybe they were weakened and thats y they broke
 
So, you hit a parked 5,000lbs real SUV, with your toy car, when the plastic was cold and brittle, and you wan't it covered under warranty? Come on now, this is clearly on you, and has nothing to do with RPM parts failing under normal conditions. The part didn't fail, it was smashed.

EDIT: Let me explain what I'm getting at. If I go down to the Chevrolet place and buy a new Corvette drive one mile down the road and hit a parked car, should I expect Chevrolet to give me a new Corvette under warranty? No, either my insurance company or I one have to cover the cost of repair / replacement. The responsibility to not hit immovable objects (not a road hazard BTW) is solely upon me.
 
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Well it won't hurt to find out. I tell them exactly what happened and send them this link. I'll buy a new set and send these off. Their warranty says normal driving conditions which driving in the street in the cold which is something a lot of people normally do and hitting a parked car is a common occurrence. Does it really matter what's in the road? I consider anything in the road a road hazard... their warranty states it doesn't cover crushed or bent till it breaks.

Nothing was cracked or pre broke before I took it out. I went over it several times beforehand. And I doubt it was out long enough for the cold to make it brittle. It was in the 30's but above freezing.

Your corvette analogy doesn't really apply since GMC doesn't have the same warranty as rpm.

Its up to rpm to decide if they will warrant this or not. Guess I'll find out....
 
I could understand trying to get it replaced if it broke off a Jump, but hitting a parked car and trying to get them replaced, Thats just taking advantage of RPM's Warranty, they will most likely replace it because the Customer service they offer is great, I myself would'nt feel right about trying to get them replaced, but to each his own.
 
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Taken straight from RPM's web page on what their warranty covers;

(1) RPM refers to "normal operating conditions" as normal use of a vehicle for an average user with an unmodified, stock vehicle. RPM parts that are damaged due to excessively tall jumps (or high falls), abnormally fast (or heavily modified) vehicles / runaway vehicles, or run-ins with full sized vehicles are not considered used under "normal operating conditions" and may not be covered under RPM warranty provisions, nor will RPM cover damage inflicted upon an RPM part due to the failure of other products not produced by RPM such as bent or broken hinge pins, shock shafts or axles, etc. Additionally, BMX Tracks, Skate Parks and other such areas dedicated to non-R/C related hobbies are not considered normal operating environments and any RPM parts broken in those types of locations may not be covered. Intentionally damaged parts will never be covered under warranty protection (don't do it - we know what we are looking at and we will check). If in doubt, please ask.

My analogy does indeed apply. Both are guaranteed that their parts will last a reasonable amount of time under normal operating conditons. Neither warranty covers neglect, abuse, lack of attention on the part of the driver, modifying original parts, etc.
 
my mistake. I didn't read the finer print at the bottom of the page, but it doesn't say it won't cover the parts under warranty. It says "may" not cover. It is no cost to them if I send the parts to see if they may replace them.... the way they make their warranty sound, they don't cover bashers.... more or less people who run their toys on a dedicated rc track....

https://www.rcnitrotalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=9331
I'm not the only one who has broke an arm... Google's others who may broke an arm to see how it was handled for them...

My intention is not to take advantage of their warranty. Just simply see if they will cover it. If they do that's great and explains why their cs is excellent. If not I understand.

And I don't know of any auto manufacturer who has a warranty like rpm. If I wreck a full size car I know the manufacturer won't replace a single thing. Rpm states they may....

Sorry guys.. didn't realize this would be so morally conflicting...

Rpm offers a warranty why not try to use it. I'm not going to lie about what happened.
 
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You broke the part and you should pay to fix it. It is stupid crap like this that makes that part more expensive for everyone else out there buying them. Every warranty replacement RPM does gets rolled right back into the price of a new part. Just the same as you making a ton of insurance claim on your 1:1 car makes my rates go up.

You crashed your rig and broke a part, Man up and pay for it. I dont care of RPM covers it or not it was not fault of theirs or their manufacturing process that caused it.
 
Whoa! Calm down! Sorry about your insurance rates. I assure you it wasn't because of me.... I only made one claim in my life 20 years ago when I tipped my truck over and my rates went up too... I doubt if I send rpm the arms, they will jack their prices up. :\

And I did order replacements because I like them to be here by the end of the week....
 
It is a touchy subject for most business owners! We get crap like this all them time and no matter what we lose.

If they refuse the warranty you come on here and say they refused it and they get some bad publicity. I know people on here wont think bad about them but anyone searching google and finds this thread will read it as a negative against RPM.

If they approve it and send you a new set of arms that is profit away from their bottom line. They are going to have to make up for that profit some how and that will mean a higher cost for future products.

It may just be because I am in a bad mood today but as a business owner I hate seeing crap like this!

---------- Post added at 10:20 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:19 PM ----------

Also I realize this a really small scale and these parts prolly cost them pennies to make but it is the principal .... and I am in a bad mood!
 
rpm is great and everyone that has ever read anything aout them or has owned one of there parts knows that. if they dont take a part on warranty its only because they dont cover it and i think everyone know that happens. this post would never change anyones mind about the quality of there product. and i am sorry but it really seems like you are in a bad mood! :p: just messing with you!
 

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