This is why you don't buy Traxxas...

[Ed C]

Sure every truck breaks, poop I broke my notorious this morning, But trx forum is FILLED to the BRIM with pissed off people.. Can't say the same about this forum

I tryed to pull up traxxas form n its not available. It must have got taken down

 

[Slick2500]

I tryed to pull up traxxas form n its not available. It must have got taken down

https://forums.traxxas.com/

 

[ground_zero298]

My rtr trx4 bronco caught fire the first time I plugged the battery in. Esc started smoking, battery wires melted through. Got it out side and flipped it over for the battery to fall out. Solder melted right off the posts. House smelled like burnt esc for a week. I called traxxas and they need all the electronics sent back to inspect. I told him that was a whole lot of bs for a faulty esc. He didn’t care. So I’ve never run a stick system from any company since. Then in my maxx it would run no longer than 2 minutes before over heating. Switched that out. I then went on to blow the castle mamba x esc in it. Castle replaced it no questions. I gave that one away and put a monster x instead.

So know I have a bullet proof trx4 and maxx. Unfortunately each rig has over 2k into it. But I got a soft spot for that maxx. She’s a damn beast.

Every kit I’ve ever bought after that day gets new electronics before I even put a battery in it now.

 

[entropy]

One of the funnest racing classes we had at my local track was the stock Slash 2WD on a 1/10 track. I race mine 2x per week (6 races total) for ~ 2 years changing nothing more than motors, pinions, and spur gears. The Slash was bulletproof. I’m don’t recall the others breaking any parts either.

Today we still have two Slash VXL 4WDs, they’ve been put through their paces, nothing has broken to date.

I think YMMV when it comes to how much abuse a vehicle can take.

I’ve broken some big brand race cars through normal use much more than the TRXs. Not a fanboi of them, just saying that breakage is more of a reflection of the use than the vehicle itself.

I can’t believe this thread was started under the premise of a Rustler on a racetrack.

 

[Iowa_dude]

Following

 

[VSK$78]

I've been known to bash Traxxas a little in my threads, but only because of how often I break these money pits trying to pass for "hobby grade" rc cars.
Today was no exception. Took my Rustler to the new indoor carpet track the club I frequent opened up today for practice runs.. I didn't even get through one complete battery pack and it broke not once, but twice. First casualty was a rear shock tower that literally split in half. A buddy had a spare so I tossed that on and kept running. Not 4 laps later... the rear bulkhead where the hinge pin attaches split wide open. This is a small indoor track with some pretty small jumps. Not bashing this thing or launching it 30 ft like Kev Talbot does... it was also pretty warm in there so cold wasn't a factor in making the plastic brittle. I guess I just don't consider a product quality when you have to immediately replace over 3/4 of the parts with RPM or something stronger so this crap doesn't frequently happen.
So far I've had to replace both front steering knuckles, rear axle carriers, servo gears, a complete servo, now a rear shock tower (might as well do both), a gear cover where the plastic split from barely over-tightening, and now a transmission case. Also going to replace the a-arms with rpm as those are bound to go on me as well... I've only had the car since August and haven't run it that often. Not to mention the parts I've had to replace on my Stampede as well which I'm now trying to sell just to get rid of the thing.

EDIT: Make that 3 times in one day. Apparently I also bent the crap out of the cheap shafts on the rear shock as well that day on the Rustler. (Not even on the side that the hinge pin mount broke)

TL;DR Traxxas sucks, do not buy. Don't be a sucker like I was and believe the fanboys who swear by this crap.

View attachment 114075View attachment 114076

Yes got one also I'm a arrma guy. They break easy. Love the vxl motors that's it

 

[JCsRCcar]

There are a few really good things about Traxxas.

They are generally and mostly NOT made in China.
They have huge aftermarket support.
They have huge hobby store support so parts are always easy to get.

 

[pug]

There are a few really good things about Traxxas.

They are generally and mostly NOT made in China.
They have huge aftermarket support.
They have huge hobby store support so parts are always easy to get.

That's true, but they should really fix some of their designs...
I have a Slash 2wd that's sitting in pieces because it broke almost every run, it's almost all RPM now. Their nitro 2wd RCs are much better from what I have experienced so far. My Nitro Rustler is still almost completely stock and it's still pretty durable, it just needed new electronics.

 

[WickedFog]

My Traxxas 3.3 Jato broke every time I ran it. And usually in devastating fashion. The last one was a jump up onto a tabletop where I held the throttle too long, and a couple foot drop onto the rear of the car snapped the shock tower off the transmission, requiring a complete teardown of the rear of the car and a new trans housing. Really shite design. So no, their 2wd Nitro's aren't any more durable. I drove it 7 times, and paid more in repairs than I paid for the whole car. But I still love it

 

[pug]

My Traxxas 3.3 Jato broke every time I ran it. And usually in devastating fashion. The last one was a jump up onto a tabletop where I held the throttle too long, and a couple foot drop onto the rear of the car snapped the shock tower off the transmission, requiring a complete teardown of the rear of the car and a new trans housing. Really shite design. So no, their 2wd Nitro's aren't any more durable. I drove it 7 times, and paid more in repairs than I paid for the whole car. But I still love it

I guess you got unlucky, it seems like the quality of their plastic has gone down, my Nitro Rustler is from the mid 90s when their plastic was actually somewhat decent, it seems way stronger than their modern plastic.

 

[Iowa_dude]

Plastic snaps like peanut brittle here in Iowa. My boots get so hard they self impreganate heffers some times. I can barely restrain them. When you walk outside and it hurts, that's Iowa.

 

[WickedFog]

I guess you got unlucky, it seems like the quality of their plastic has gone down, my Nitro Rustler is from the mid 90s when their plastic was actually somewhat decent, it seems way stronger than their modern plastic.

My Jato is as old as dirt.

 

[pug]

My Jato is as old as dirt.

Wow, and they still haven't even attempted to fix their designs... Their 2wd RCs need a redesign ASAP.

 

[XeroMyHero]

I see all brands have failed parts. Sorry to hear you have so many issues with traxxas. I really enjoy my Revo 3.3, Set up as a trail crawler, love hiking in the woods. Each time I take it out I go through at least 5-6 tanks of fuel. I do brake things on it. Stripped out the spur gear, got a steel one. Twisted the axles on the front diff. Got stock Summit axles. I did have lots of battery issues. Never lasted long and was always changing them out for charged ones. Fixed that by putting in a 6 cell 5200 mah nimh battery. Now I get all day on one battery. I did strip out reverse gear on the trans. I took out the opti system (That was junk) and put it in reverse while I was driving it forward. For the life in me I can not figure out why I hit the reverse switch that day. I got other up grades on it not because of brakeage, but because I wanted them. Removed the slipper clutch on the spur. Spools in front and rear diffs. (Got the parts to put in the Summit locker system to have lockers in it. My spring project.) But to the point is that when I go to the trails at the park with the club there is always some one who is having issues with their RC. Most of the time it is batteries. (I hate batteries, why I do nitro now. Screw charging batteries. When you are on a hike there is not an outlet to charge batteries. So you put 6 or more in pockets and take them along. Only thing I take is a fuel bottle that hangs on my side in a water bottle pack.) Never been to a track yet. but I just bought an other Revo 3.3 and plan on making a 2WD speed runner out of it. Wonder how that will work out. lol.

Well I hope every on has better luck on their RC. Just imagen what it would cost you if they was full size cars. LOL.

 

[JCsRCcar]

I gotta say they do tend to break stuff while bashing and jumping especially when they crash, but honestly at least within my experiences I’m surprised they don't break more often. I noticed when they ran stock brushed motors they were generally trouble free but as soon as we put a Castle 3800 kv brushless motor in them then, things broke more often. Jumps went over 6-feet high and speeds doubled, sometimes tripled, and well you know what the laws of physics say about that, lol.

Because we can't leave things stock, or well enough alone, my sons slash has been transformed from a common XL-5 4x4 to basically a super Ultimate Slash and then some, and I gotta say that thing can take a beating and just keep going. We took it to the track and my sons friend drove it (first time ever driving an RC) and all I saw and heard was “crash, smash, bang, flip, tumble, and crunch” and that thing survived it all and it is still going strong. Its got a few more scratches in the body and underside, but generally speaking it never broke. If I had to do it over again I would have just purchased the Ultimate Slash over the XL-5 basic one. Part of the fun in it for my son though is fixing the broken pieces and doing the upgrades so we have no regrets. Hobbies can come and go but the memories and friendships last a long time.

 

[WickedFog]

My Jato was far from stock when I bought it. That may be why I had so many problems with it. It has beefy aluminum shock towers which made it heavier, weak turnbuckles in place of stock steel ones, etc. But besides that, the Jato is so fast, bad things are going to happen if you aren't careful. No RC would hold up to 70+ mph crashes.

 

[tank45]

IDK I have a slash 4X4 currently and to mini revos and have had multiple Traxxas models over the years that I have put through the paces and have crashed pretty hard on and off the track and they all are still going strong. I am not a fanboy by any stretch as I have multiple brands , associated, losi etc, but I think a lot of how they hold up is also how they are cared for. I usually clean mine after a run and after a few runs I usually break them down, rebuild/reoil diffs etc. Just something I enjoy doing but it allows me to usually address minor issues like loose wires, screws, minor stress cracks etc before they become major issues out on a run. I will say that they are a bit overpriced though lol

 

[WickedFog]

IDK I have a slash 4X4 currently and to mini revos and have had multiple Traxxas models over the years that I have put through the paces and have crashed pretty hard on and off the track and they all are still going strong. I am not a fanboy by any stretch as I have multiple brands , associated, losi etc, but I think a lot of how they hold up is also how they are cared for. I usually clean mine after a run and after a few runs I usually break them down, rebuild/reoil diffs etc. Just something I enjoy doing but it allows me to usually address minor issues like loose wires, screws, minor stress cracks etc before they become major issues out on a run. I will say that they are a bit overpriced though lol

All RC's are getting to be overpriced. Traxxas was a lot more overpriced back in the day, but looking at their website lately and they really aren't bad compared to Arrma, Losi, and other mainstream brands. But that is because the greedy folks at Horizon like their money too much. One thing I will say is Traxxas parts are dirt cheap. Just try to buy a front axle for the SCX24. $28 is ridiculous for how small they are.

 

[JCsRCcar]

Well I didn't get much time to do much but test fit some parts today but my son put some nice 6S stickers on the body while I was at work.

 

[Chubaka]

Wow, and they still haven't even attempted to fix their designs... Their 2wd RCs need a redesign ASAP.

Companies make money from parts.

I just looked in my mini parts bin...... 12 ring and pinions at 12.xx a pop. And I tossed out a bag of another 10 or so.

12 gears at 12.50 is $156 !. I paid I think 50 or 80 for the mini slash, and 80 or 100 for the mini summit.