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PRP Swift

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Jose and Cameron, you guys rock too!!!
:wasted: :hi:

Didn't mean to leave you guys out... my bad. Yeah... what is up with PRP and Happytimehobby and the rest... you explained but can you give some more detail? PRP is ___ and does ___ and is based out of ___. Happytimehobby is ___ and does___ and is based out of ___. UK? What are the companies involved out there? Any other countries or anything? :shrug:
 
Originally posted by Savage_SAVAGE
Hi again!

Very good news to report..........:cheerful:

Have just received an email from Shumacher in the UK, less than 6 hours after I emailed them, which I reckon is good service!

I don't think they'd mind me singing their praises and copying part of it here.............
Click to expand...
That is indeed good news. I have only had occasion to speak to Schumacher once so far, but the guy I spoke to (Richard Bland) dealt with my "complaint" in a very understanding manner and shipped my replacement parts to me on the same day. Can't complain at that.
 
Power Racing is the product name for everything that comes out of China, no matter where it goes around the world.

Happytime Hobby is the name of the distributor in the United States. Roger, myself, and a few others work in Santa Clara, California. We sell directly to hobby shops only, and not through the larger distributors.

Schumacher sells the Swift and some other parts through their distribution unit in the UK (I forget what it is called). I'm not sure how they package everything, whether they use Power Racing hang tags or Schumacher. The car is the same except that it is purple. And it sounds like they have an excellent support team over there, too.

There is no connection between Happytime in the U.S. and Schumacher in the U.K., other than the fact we sell pretty much the same products from China. RCNitroTalk just happens to be the place where we can all get together no matter where we are....I have no problem helping out the guys from UK.

If you really want to tangle the web even further, I used to race for Schumacher back in 1999 and 2000 when electric used to be fun, and we remain in close contact to this day. The R/C world is a small one.

They have less control over the Swift than we do...most of the problems have been translation issues more than anything else. I personally have made 4 trips to China over the past year (and will be leaving yet again tomorrow!) to try and get things straight over there. In August of last year, I spent almost a month there showing them how to build the car...and that included putting loctite on everything! While I'm not that good of an off-road racer, I do consider myself fairly knowledgeable when it comes to assembly of these cars...I've probably built about 80 that I have owned, and also worked at a large hobby shop for a few years.

Classic case of lack of translation: I put the diffs together with shims originally in August...unfortunately, it bound really badly. Took the diff apart, and found that the shims were almost 1mm thick...the bevel gears were being smashed together. So, I told the production manager we needed thinner shims. You can probably guess what that got translated into.

Things are getting a lot better though, as the Swift was the first R/C car a lot of people have seen at the factory, let alone that part of China. A friend of mine transplanted from America is running the production line for the Raptor, and will probably be working on our Concept X touring car as well. The Swift manager is now an accomplished racer from Taiwan. We yell at him all the time. just kidding!

Savage savage, there is also a little section at happytimehobby.com->swift->building tips that will help you out with the diffs. Sorry that the Swift got to you that way. It's been a headache for us on both sides of the Atlantic, but like I said, things are changing.

Thanks for reading.
 
WA2FAST: PRP is ___ and does ___ and is based out of ___. Happytimehobby is ___ and does___ and is based out of ___.

1. Manufacturer
2. The Swift
3. China
4. a distributor
5. sells a bunch of useful products
6. California
 
:LoL: HAHA Jose... nice explanation. Like the old game Mad libs... ever heard of that? Funny. Thanx for the detailed explanation guys. Glad your mess got straightened out btw... or is in the process of getting straightened out Savage savage... did you really mean to type in savage twice? Just wondering.
 
I called my local hobby shop today where I bought my Swift ( the only place in my area that sells the car ) and told them about the issues that have been occuring with the car..


I told the manager of the shop ( one of my race sponsors and good friend ) that he needs to pass on some info about the Swift car to the customers that are interested in buying one.. I told him that a couple hours of work need to be spent working on the car to prevent problems from occuring so that the customer doesn't spend his hard earned cash on the car, drive it right out of the box, loose or destroy parts, and then hate the car..


All the info was passed to just let people know what they are getting.. I haven't had any problems with my diffs and universals since I did all the shared info from PRP.. All though I have gone through a full set ( frt and rear ) of outdrives because they were to soft and universal dog bones because the outdrives being knotched it wore out the pin on the dog bone.. I know from the VERY FRIENDLY staff at PRP that they're working on hardened outdrives to revise the problem, but they have been very helpful replacing the soft worn out ones..


All my props go out to Roger over at PRP for being right on the ball for handling all my Swift issues and I rate them #1 in the nation for tech support.. You couldn't ask for a more friendly staff and I just wanna say don't hesitate to call them if you have a problem..


My first big race for the MGR ( MICHIGAN GAS RACERS ) series is this weekend, and I'll let ya all know how the Swift performs..


L8R

Originally posted by wagnerov


I personally have made 4 trips to China over the past year (and will be leaving yet again tomorrow!) to try and get things straight over there. In August of last year, I spent almost a month there showing them how to build the car...and that included putting loctite on everything!

Click to expand...



So did you learn to speak the Chinese Language??!!!! LOL:p:

Originally posted by xxxzayas
WA2Fast: It is a bumper from a GS Storm. It requires some dremeling but nothing to bad, once you get it just match itto your existing one.


JZ
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Yo Jose.. Do you have a part # for that GS Storm front bumper??

Thanks bro
 
Yeah... BTW, my storm bumper is all fitted up and installed now. Thanx again for that tip. It took some work, but it fits awesome. The bumper from the MBX5 looks to fit directly, but the part that the screws need to go through just isn't quite long enough, so that one wouldn't work. Thanx again. Sorry Jay, I am not at home so I don't have the part number... when I get home, I'll post it for you.
 
Gixer: I don't have the part number with me, I will see when I get home if WA2FAST doesn't beat me to it.

JZ
 
Originally posted by wagnerov
Schumacher sells the Swift and some other parts through their distribution unit in the UK (I forget what it is called). I'm not sure how they package everything, whether they use Power Racing hang tags or Schumacher. The car is the same except that it is purple. And it sounds like they have an excellent support team over there, too.
Click to expand...

The driveshaft parts that arrived today and the fuel bottle and 5-way wrench that came with the car were all bagged up in Power Racing hanging bags.

I get the impression that for the time being Schumacher are happy to be seen as a distributor for Power Racing Products rather than passing the Swift of as one of their own products. I guess if the Swift turns out to be a lemon (I'm sure it won't!) then it's easier for them to distance themselves.

Schumacher have been in business for a long time and I'm sure they wouldn't do anything to tarnish their hard fought reputation.

I'm going to drop them a line recommending that they monitor this forum as closely as the HappyTime guys do. In the meantime I'm sure I speak for all the UK Swift owners when I say that we very much appreciate the time and effort the HappyTime crew spend in contributing to this forum. Thank you.
 
I honestly have been looking for the cardboard hanger piece for that bumper with the part number for a half hour. I can not find it. Trash day was today here, so I think it made it to the curb unfortunately. I do however have a couple of pics that I just took of it so that you can see for yourself how well it fits. Let me know if you want more... I think I am going to upload a few pictures of the car now that it's pretty much set up the way I want it, but let me know if you want any more pics of it.

4688Front_Bumper_2.webp


4688Front_Bumper_1.webp


4688Front_1.webp


BTW, can you guys help me here... you talk about shocks... tell me what to do with them. I have already put in heavier fluid, but I know that is just a bandaid, I need to re-do them with new internals and springs.

Can someone please tell me what to get along with part numbers? I would really appreciate that. I know that Kyosho light blue springs or something grays are the ones to get... just don't know part numbers, also... what about internals and shock oil weight? Thanx guys.



I also added a bunch of pictures of my Swift (with the street tires on) in my gallery, go check em' out. I just finished doing some last minute things and adding all of the decals.
 
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sounds like this buggy sounds awesome. But i've never seen it anywhere:loser: didnt even here about before this. i will be buying another rc soon. JUst not sure if its going to be a on road, Stadium truck or a buggy. So help will be appreciated.





Frank
 
Very nice Roger... very nice. Did you check mine out?

How about the shocks? What is the secret? What do you guys do to your shocks? Please help me here... this is definitely my next thing on the list that needs to be done. Help please.
 
Originally posted by WA2FAST
Very nice Roger... very nice. Did you check mine out?

How about the shocks? What is the secret? What do you guys do to your shocks? Please help me here... this is definitely my next thing on the list that needs to be done. Help please.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I checked it out. Pretty nice. How does it handle with the on-road tires ?

As for the shocks, I have GS 1.3mm pistons. Weight is set at 30front/25rear. I also changed out the bladder to a kyosho black bladder. Its a little thicker than the stock ones that come with the kit. That's it, no secret :shy:
 
drkman07, this is the beauty of 1/8th buggies, they are so versatile, they can be anything.

Slap on some slicks, slam it and you've got a tarmac beastie (and they handle great too due to the enormous width - remember the days before tourers :) )
 

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