Axial SCX10 III without portals

[Topher Builds]

Originally Posted by Panther6834

This is a "scam"...not a scam in the literal sense of the word to but Horizon Hobby scamming their customers. In other words, it's a marketing ploy, cooked up by company executives, for no other purpose than to make more money. I'm not saying that making money is a 'bad' thing...after all, to companies are in business to make money. However, when companies make decisions purely for the purpose of additional profit, and having complete disregard for their customers, that's something I will NEVER agree with.

I'm willing to bet that, before the SCX10-III was ever released...heck, before the build manual was ever written...that the straight axles were already ready. They probably developed them alongside the portal axles...but, when the marketing team & company executives got involved, they realized they could make more money by selling the kits & RTRs with the portal axles, and then, at a later date, offer the straight axle "upgrade" kits.

Think about it - which would make them more money? Selling kits & RTRs with the straight axles, and then offering a portal axle upgrade kit at a later date? Or, selling kits & RTRs with the portal axles, and then offering a straight axle upgrade kit at a later date? The OBVIOUS answer is the second option, as they would have known more people would prefer the straight axles, thus more people would be willing to spend additional money buying the straight axle "upgrade" kit. Such a shame...and a sham.


~ More peace, love, laughter, & kindness would make the world a MUCH better place

A company staggering releases to make money isn’t a scam, they are, after all in it for the money (being a business and all).

$170 for a full set of axles, with shocks and even links is a pretty good deal. Two ring and pinion gear sets plus spools are almost $70 on their own. Add bearings, shafts, and the axle housings themselves it’s not a bad deal at all.

Aside from that, AR45P axles are easy to sell and a person would probably come up on the positive from selling those and the extra set of shocks to swap to this set.

Having a swappable set of portals and straight axles is a pretty neat feature, considering how much trouble people go through to do it on their own with other chassis.

[Phildirt]

Originally Posted by Topher Builds

A company staggering releases to make money isn’t a scam, they are, after all in it for the money (being a business and all).

$170 for a full set of axles, with shocks and even links is a pretty good deal. Two ring and pinion gear sets plus spools are almost $70 on their own. Add bearings, shafts, and the axle housings themselves it’s not a bad deal at all.

Aside from that, AR45P axles are easy to sell and a person would probably come up on the positive from selling those and the extra set of shocks to swap to this set.

Having a swappable set of portals and straight axles is a pretty neat feature, considering how much trouble people go through to do it on their own with other chassis.

I agree with this sentiment. Pretty smart if they did that on purpose really. I think the "here's what you were asking for! No...wait...this is what you were REALLY asking for!!!" model is a tried and true tool of the free market lol. Honestly this is why I'm sort of glad I'm late to this whole crawler party. I get to dig through a zillion threads about what everyone should have built so I can buy that version

[josh9mile]

I was hoping for there not to be a truss on these. Will make it really hard to fit these on a tf2 without cutting those off and probably ruining the axle.

[Growler]

Originally Posted by Topher Builds

$170 for a full set of axles, with shocks and even links is a pretty good deal. Two ring and pinion gear sets plus spools are almost $70 on their own. Add bearings, shafts, and the axle housings themselves it’s not a bad deal at all.

Aside from that, AR45P axles are easy to sell and a person would probably come up on the positive from selling those and the extra set of shocks to swap to this set.

Having a swappable set of portals and straight axles is a pretty neat feature, considering how much trouble people go through to do it on their own with other chassis.

You left out included transmission gears, also very important when you want to do a custom build with another gearbox where these do not fit. 170 $ for two axles if you only need axles is a bad deal and almost 35 for a single gear set plus spool is clearly even worse. Looking at the weakening holes drilled through the links.

[Panther6834]

Originally Posted by Topher Builds

A company staggering releases to make money isn’t a scam, they are, after all in it for the money (being a business and all).

First, I'm not saying anything about the price. Good, bad, or great, it had nothing to do with what I was saying. Additionally, as for businesses being in business to "make money", I already clearly stated that that's what all businesses are in business to do...obviously, they're not in business to lose money. Nevertheless, you, obviously, didn't grasp at what I WAS trying to get across. In order to understand, maybe it works first help to understand 'supply and demand'. There are two models to 'supply and demand'.

The first model...the one that's been around since the beginning of business, and the one the great majority of businesses operate under...is when demand for something happens, to which the business (or businesses) creates something to fulfill that demand. For example, people 'wanted' an updated, less-problematic, version of the Arrma Infraction...so, Arrma (another Horizon Hobby-owned company) developed, to and supplied, the V2. Likewise worth the Losi Super Baja Rey 2.0 & DBXL-E 2.0. This is the "honest" way of going about things.

The second model...one that businesses created in somewhat more recent years, with no other purpose than to "artificially" inflate profits...is to come up with a product, and then figure out a way to create "need" for this product. There are two subsets to this model - 1) products that are created to fill a need in the market that's actually a 'need', even if consumers don't know/realize it yet; 2) products that are created, even though there is no true 'need', and then figuring out a way to "force" that 'need' upon people. The first subset of still an honest way of doing business. Some examples would be the advent of the personal computer, the mobile phone, and even the automobile & motorcycle. However, the second subset is about greed, and nothing more.

While I won't go so far as to call it "dishonest", it certainly isn't "honest", and raises some interesting questions about the morals of the company (in this case, I'm referring more to Horizon Hobby, and considerably less to Axial)...not quite on the verge of being called a 'snake oil' seller, but close. It would have made perfect sense to originally over them with the straight axles...and then, down the road, offer portal axle upgrade kits. They could have even released a postal axle upgrade kit at the same time they released the RTRs. However, what I suspect...and, am probably 100% correct...is that Horizon Hobby knew people would prefer the straight axles more then the portals. As such, in releasing the kits & RTRs with portals, and then releasing straight axle upgrade kits (as opposed to releasing the originals with straight axles, and then offering portal upgrade kits), they knew they stood to make much higher profits...thus, the decision to release the originals with portals, and then release straight axle upgrade kits was PURELY out of greed for more money.

Personally, I did initially want the SCX10-III, but I wasn't happy with the portals, so I decided to hold off, which meant I saved a lot of money, especially considering I've realized I much prefer "going fast", I've "going slow" Now, with this new release, I'll have saved even more, as I won't be buying either. At the same time, I feel bad for all those who bought the original kits, and will now be buying the axle upgrade kits. Yes, they might be able to sell the portal axles, to recoup the cost of the upgrade...but, there's no guarantee.


~ More peace, love, laughter, & kindness would make the world a MUCH better place

[Topher Builds]

Originally Posted by Growler

You left out included transmission gears, also very important when you want to do a custom build with another gearbox where these do not fit. 170 $ for two axles if you only need axles is a bad deal and almost 35 for a single gear set plus spool is clearly even worse. Looking at the weakening holes drilled through the links.

If you just need the axles and aren’t converting a 10.3 then I agree, this isn’t the way tk go. It’d be easier to start with 10.2 axles and just get the offset housing and universals for the front separately.

The inclusion of the 100mm shocks is strange to me, I thought the original 10.3 shocks already had a lot of travel for their size. Seems like we’ll see a good few of those floating around the used market place.

[4RunnerKid]

man... you guys really will bitch and complain about anything

if you don't like it, don't buy it. the scale market was moving to portals, Axial released the 10.3 with portals. now they offer a non-portal option, sold as a kit for either existing 10.3 owners or custom builders wanting a true-to-scale offset front axle. heaven forbid they give us both, because so many other companies are doing that. stop whining, Panther. you should be beyond stoked at all the options we have these days

the longer shocks are to effectively limit up travel since the portals are gone

[OnTheTrail]

Originally Posted by 4runnerkid

man... You guys really will bitch and complain about anything

If you don't like it, don't buy it.

^^^^This^^^^

[Fricker08]

How does a simple release of an axle option turn into such a crappy discussion. This is really getting old around here.. can’t post about anything without getting torn apart.
If you don’t like it.. move along. I just paid $200 for SSD Pro44’s and they’re great but for them to offer all this as a package is a killer marketing strategy.
What put a bad taste in my mouth was the fact they released rtr 10.3’s before fulfilling all their previous kit orders. But we’re in a strange time and with more to come.. we all better just suck it up


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[GA Dawg]

Originally Posted by Growler

Looking at the weakening holes drilled through the links.

Have you seen any links fail due to the holes? I haven't.

[ScaleLifeNewbie]

Originally Posted by Fricker08

How does a simple release of an axle option turn into such a crappy discussion. This is really getting old around here.. can’t post about anything without getting torn apart.
If you don’t like it.. move along.

I know right. People always want to shame if you buy something the don’t like, then they shame if you don’t buy something they do like.

Cmon people, grow up.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Phildirt]

Originally Posted by Fricker08

How does a simple release of an axle option turn into such a crappy discussion. This is really getting old around here.. can’t post about anything without getting torn apart.
If you don’t like it.. move along. I just paid $200 for SSD Pro44’s and they’re great but for them to offer all this as a package is a killer marketing strategy.
What put a bad taste in my mouth was the fact they released rtr 10.3’s before fulfilling all their previous kit orders. But we’re in a strange time and with more to come.. we all better just suck it up


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I mean one guy complained...that’s not bad. Honestly I like a devils advocate because it introduces information that may not have been shared if we all agreed all the time

[Fricker08]

Originally Posted by Phildirt

I mean one guy complained...that’s not bad. Honestly I like a devils advocate because it introduces information that may not have been shared if we all agreed all the time

Yea true story I guess. Things could definitely be worse. I like my 10.3, it’s got a high cog and I won’t be buying these axles for it because that’s me. But I did opt for non-portals on my new lcg build to try something new. Can’t eat plain vanilla all the time gotta spice it up once In a while


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[NABeast]

The price is about what I figured it would be, maybe a bit on the higher side. But considering all the stuff it comes with and assembled with gears, shocks, and the links, it’s fair. My question is why does it come with the longer shocks, i mean i know why, but I figured you could just lower the shock mounting position on the tower to get the clearance back if you wanted. I figure most people wanting straight axles want it lower CG, but alot of people love the monster truck look. Also, are these the same as capra shocks? They state 100mm, and the capra is 97mm? Are they the same or did they make 2 shocks that are that close to one another in size?

[B-MOW71]

Originally Posted by Topher Builds

A company staggering releases to make money isn’t a scam, they are, after all in it for the money (being a business and all).

$170 for a full set of axles, with shocks and even links is a pretty good deal. Two ring and pinion gear sets plus spools are almost $70 on their own. Add bearings, shafts, and the axle housings themselves it’s not a bad deal at all.

Aside from that, AR45P axles are easy to sell and a person would probably come up on the positive from selling those and the extra set of shocks to swap to this set.

Having a swappable set of portals and straight axles is a pretty neat feature, considering how much trouble people go through to do it on their own with other chassis.

Agree!

Originally Posted by Phildirt

I agree with this sentiment. Pretty smart if they did that on purpose really. I think the "here's what you were asking for! No...wait...this is what you were REALLY asking for!!!" model is a tried and true tool of the free market lol. Honestly this is why I'm sort of glad I'm late to this whole crawler party. I get to dig through a zillion threads about what everyone should have built so I can buy that version

Originally Posted by 4RunnerKid

man... you guys really will bitch and complain about anything

if you don't like it, don't buy it. the scale market was moving to portals, Axial released the 10.3 with portals. now they offer a non-portal option, sold as a kit for either existing 10.3 owners or custom builders wanting a true-to-scale offset front axle. heaven forbid they give us both, because so many other companies are doing that. stop whining, Panther. you should be beyond stoked at all the options we have these days

the longer shocks are to effectively limit up travel since the portals are gone

Right on!

The bitching and complaining that has been going on here lately in RCC is getting old! I'm just happy that we have so many options to build our rigs the way we want to!

Originally Posted by OnTheTrail

^^^^This^^^^

Originally Posted by Fricker08

How does a simple release of an axle option turn into such a crappy discussion. This is really getting old around here.. can’t post about anything without getting torn apart.
If you don’t like it.. move along. I just paid $200 for SSD Pro44’s and they’re great but for them to offer all this as a package is a killer marketing strategy.
What put a bad taste in my mouth was the fact they released rtr 10.3’s before fulfilling all their previous kit orders. But we’re in a strange time and with more to come.. we all better just suck it up

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Agree!



I am glad to see this option and WILL be picking up this kit. The price seems great for what is included. I'm still undecided if I will install this kit on my 10.3. I've been happy with how it performs with the portals so far. Down the road I may swap in the axles to give it more of a scale look.

My plan for this kit is to add these to my VP Chassis Kit that I have had for awhile now. I'll be curious to see how these axles work with the VP VFD trans.

[myjrbear]

Am curious to see how these axles work with the Scx-2 frame rails, Wanting to build a mud truck with 100m shocks using the rails

[Growler]

Originally Posted by Fricker08

How does a simple release of an axle option turn into such a crappy discussion. This is really getting old around here.. can’t post about anything without getting torn apart.
If you don’t like it.. move along. I just paid $200 for SSD Pro44’s and they’re great but for them to offer all this as a package is a killer marketing strategy.

Not just a simple product release, but another drop of tar in a honeypot with a long history. How does complaints about how a company conducts business translate into attacking the fanbase, well it does not. Although I do have a small problem with selective scale realism around here. People keep repeating that offset axle is more scale, like a mantra while completely disregarding something like holes in the links. I have moved along, for 16 years, this time Horizon Hobby caught along. I did some reading on their webpage, here is one quote under History: "When Horizon opened its doors, the existing RC market was relatively small and consisted almost entirely of expert customers who were devoted to a single niche of the hobby. Few people had enough time for RC hobbies because the struggle-to-fun ratio was so high." and little later "Finding innovative new ways to lower the struggle-to-fun ratio in RC flight became job number one for the Horizon Hobby product development team." They did not do much good for scratch builders when they did not give any specs for components, they were just listed as spare parts for this or that product. I did not buy anything from them or other proprietary businesses like them.

Later when vendors from Hong Kong etc stepped in, scale Warbirds became very popular. Enter a certain vocal group within the scale crowd. People started requesting more scale detail out of the box, models became increasingly pricey and harder to customize. That killed the scale warbird market for me and I moved along. Still have scratch building though.

I have always been interested in RC cars as well, especially offroading. At some point arrived to crawlers. I became fascinated with what people did with their Axial models, especially driveline builds where they mixed parts from different vehicles. Compatibility was a big selling point for me. Enter a certain vocal group within the scale crowd, people started requesting for more performance and detail out of the box. Got my SCX10 G6 kit before they went out of stock. Watched some reviews before buying, everyone were talking about how great the truck is and how good it looks, nobody touched the fact that in stock setup steering links contacted frame parts during suspension actuation. Later I watched reviews before buying the SMT10, again nobody talked about driveshaft contacting the link at full articulation.

The first time I heard about Horizon Hobby taking over Axial I got cold chills down my spine. I had never dealt with HH and a certain vocal group within the scale crowd at the same time. So I tried to prepare for the apocalypse and future proof my hobby as much as I could, buying some models as they were all discontinued during AR60 axle Ragnarok.

Quote from Vaterra F-100 product description: "Even in the world of extreme off-road enthusiasts, there are varying degrees of devotion. For most, it’s enough to take an SUV or pickup off the streets, lift it, drop in a big-bore engine and hit the trails. Then there are the builders – guys with vision and a blow torch. Not content with the status quo, they cut, weld and create thoroughly unique off-road machines that are as much art as they are feats of engineering. This incredibly scale recreation of a customized, 1972 K10 pickup is a tribute to these visionaries." Another quote from HH webpage under Values: "INTEGRITY We are honest, trustworthy, and fair. We do the right thing and deliver what we promise." For example was including that one part with the servo and not within Capra kit in spirit of previously quoted? Did it help visionary builders and was it fair?

I think the following quote from HH webpage under history sums it up best: "As Horizon got bigger, so did its cost base. Price wars between competitors and tightening margins on distributed products didn’t help. It soon became apparent that Horizon needed more exclusive products if it was going to maintain the kind of healthy profit margins that were so vital to its growth and that of its retail partners. With this goal in mind, Horizon Hobby purchased Hobby Dynamics in 1992 and secured the exclusive distribution rights to brands such as JR radios and Saito engines, among others." Exclusive is what I see when I look at this new axle kit and the packaging it comes with, not the guys with vision and a blow torch. I could deal with some increased cost that comes with an offset straight axle although I am satisfied with a centre pumpkin. But the additional stuff...

[Topher Builds]

If you want just the front axle to be offset you can do that to a set of 10.2 axles by just replacing the axle housing and the universals up front with the parts from these, it’s all available separate. Everything else should be the same, might need the chub and knuckles too but they’re all like $8 a piece.

[Phildirt]

Originally Posted by Topher Builds

If you want just the front axle to be offset you can do that to a set of 10.2 axles by just replacing the axle housing and the universals up front with the parts from these, it’s all available separate. Everything else should be the same, might need the chub and knuckles too but they’re all like $8 a piece.

I was wondering about that. The more I read up on this the more it sounds like a cool option. My noobness made me not realize the 10.2 is different in that it’s not offset in the front (among other things). Just for the scale coolness I would want that. Maybe a 10.3 builder kit with this package, save the portals for a side project...my short list of Christmas presents to me crawlers just got longer lol. I had ruled out Axial because if I had to settle for portals I at least wanted a k5 body (so trx4). They are in the same ballpark once you add it all up I think.

[twade984]

Originally Posted by Phildirt

my short list of Christmas presents to me crawlers just got longer

I feel you. I’ve been on a tight budget for over a year saving for a house. My list of future projects is growing at an alarming rate.

I just traded for a 10.3 a few months ago due to extreme curiosity for the platform. After owning a couple, I’m not very impressed with the 10.2’s. The 10.3 however quickly become one of my favorite vehicles.... except for the portals. They did so much right for a scale truck but the portals killed me on a JL. I ended up selling it to explore some different vehicles, but it is definitely on my short list now that this kit came out. And having a nice set of portals will make a great base for a future flat rail chassis build.