MotoGod
Hardcore RCTalk User
OK so here's the scoop. I picked up a used Warhead that looks pretty decent. I got it fired up, everything works great so far. My problem? The previous owner is either a moron, or just never used Loctite on ANYTHING on this truck.
So I drove it twice, and both times I have had a bolt loosen and cause failure. First one was a spur gear bolt. It backed out and hit the clutch bell and of course killed all forward motion. I made sure I checked ALL the spur gears bolts and tightened them all down. Only the one that backed out needed it.
So I ran the truck again this morning. I made it @ 5 laps around the yard just bashing around and getting the hang of things when the truck started to slow down like ti dropped an anchor. I brought it back over to me and when I slowed down it stalled. Upon further inspection, all 6 bolts from the spur gear were now MISSING and the metal spur gear was ground down a fair amount (no more blue anodized finish left) and the clutch bell had some damage as well.
So now I'm thinking I really can't trust most of the assembly done on this truck prior to what I have done. So my real question is what do you guys do when you buy used vehicles? What kind of prep work needs to go into them to ensure they stay running and moving beyond the obvious put gas in it and charge the batteries. Also what kinds of spare parts are typical with most RC vehicles that will help in the event of a failure?
Brand new guy here, and when I was racing motocross....we would tear down new "used" bikes to ensure everything was greased and not destroyed before even throwing a leg over it. A bit more of a safety issue with an MX bike, but I'd like to be able to run this thing for more than 5 minutes without some needed part popping off.
So what kinds of things should I inspect on this truck before I get it back out and run it next time? No shops near me stock parts, so I don't want to be down 4 days for every 5 min I run it ;-)
One final question as well. After I saw the problem, I obviously didn't drive the truck anymore, but the motor almost sounded like it was boiling fuel (kinda sounded like a radiator dumping excess pressure) when I got it back on my truck tailgate. I know it has some increased load from the spur gear and the clutch bell rubbing together, but is that a normal sound from these little Nitro motors after being run? I wasn't going nuts, but I made a few passes in the front yard wide open for 100yds or so each right before it quit.
So I drove it twice, and both times I have had a bolt loosen and cause failure. First one was a spur gear bolt. It backed out and hit the clutch bell and of course killed all forward motion. I made sure I checked ALL the spur gears bolts and tightened them all down. Only the one that backed out needed it.
So I ran the truck again this morning. I made it @ 5 laps around the yard just bashing around and getting the hang of things when the truck started to slow down like ti dropped an anchor. I brought it back over to me and when I slowed down it stalled. Upon further inspection, all 6 bolts from the spur gear were now MISSING and the metal spur gear was ground down a fair amount (no more blue anodized finish left) and the clutch bell had some damage as well.
So now I'm thinking I really can't trust most of the assembly done on this truck prior to what I have done. So my real question is what do you guys do when you buy used vehicles? What kind of prep work needs to go into them to ensure they stay running and moving beyond the obvious put gas in it and charge the batteries. Also what kinds of spare parts are typical with most RC vehicles that will help in the event of a failure?
Brand new guy here, and when I was racing motocross....we would tear down new "used" bikes to ensure everything was greased and not destroyed before even throwing a leg over it. A bit more of a safety issue with an MX bike, but I'd like to be able to run this thing for more than 5 minutes without some needed part popping off.
So what kinds of things should I inspect on this truck before I get it back out and run it next time? No shops near me stock parts, so I don't want to be down 4 days for every 5 min I run it ;-)
One final question as well. After I saw the problem, I obviously didn't drive the truck anymore, but the motor almost sounded like it was boiling fuel (kinda sounded like a radiator dumping excess pressure) when I got it back on my truck tailgate. I know it has some increased load from the spur gear and the clutch bell rubbing together, but is that a normal sound from these little Nitro motors after being run? I wasn't going nuts, but I made a few passes in the front yard wide open for 100yds or so each right before it quit.