Two new TMAXX 3.3

[mpsully2013]

Hello all... my son and I just purchased two new 3.3s Well we finally had the weather to get them broke in and took them out last weekend. Saturday was a hit WE HAD A BLAST! Sunday well not so much! My son hit a curb, he said he he lost control and it hit.. his left front tire came clean off, needless to say he was pretty upset due to he spent his savings on the truck. Later that afternoon I brought mine out to run around just to burn off the gas left from earlier and the right front of the truck just dropped.... broken a-arm.I didnt hit a thing with mine! We hadnt had these two weeks. UGH! So here are my questions being brand new to this hobby!
1 - are these typically breaking all the time? Are they going to be repaired more often then driven?
2- Are the aluminum suspension parts worth the cash? (A-arms , bulk heads ect..)

Any advice to the newbie would be greatly apprciated

 

[SchrodeMode]

Welcome to an expensive BUT addictive hobby, as well as the best RC forum out there. You made a good decision to start with name brand vehicles, some people learn the hard way that you get what you pay for. The breaking:running ratio will vary on driving styles/experience, but for the most part these things are pretty durable. Every now and then you'll get a fluke, some good, in your case bad. Traxxas has a reputation for great customer service, so you could contact them and they'll probably send a replacement arm for your's. I would recommend using this time to upgrade to RPM arms, most of the time you'll want to stay away from aluminum when it comes to arms (everything if it's Integy). I haven't done too much digging into what's good in aluminum on the T-Maxx, for the most part though, bulkheads, braces and bearing carriers are okay to swap over. Some of the T-Maxx Gurus will be able to give some more advice on what parts are better in aluminum vs stock, as well as what brands to use. 99% of the people on here will recommend the RPM arms though, they can take some serious abuse and are backed by a lifetime warranty, plus they are just a little more than stock replacement part.

 

[Childresshunt]

to the site +1 on it being the best site out there you picked a good one. I am also on a couple other forums and this one is by far my favorite. The hobby can be very expensive just depends on how you are on your truck and the type of upkeep you do on your truck. Everytime i finish running for the day i turn on the air compressor and blow my truck off with air and use a paintbrush to help get excess dirt off. Also a good ideal to just look the truck over for loose screws after a few runs especially if they are new. A good wreck will always cost a little money just depends on how much you break. I give another +1 on staying away from integy. beer cans hold up better. Stay away from aluminum arms unless your building a shelf queen. Rpm is the way to go on the arms they are made of a nylon material thats much more durable than plastic and flexes instead of bending like aluminum. With nitro trucks you gotta pay to play. I'm assuming yall broke the trucks in properly and did a little reading about tuning?

 

[Nealy587]

I'm gonna add to childress hunts well put advice by saying make sure things are loctited..its not much for a small bottle and goes a long ways.. especially your motor mount bolts.

 

[Childresshunt]

+1 on the loctite and use the blue not the red. Using red causes you to go thru bolts bc of messing up the heads