Is it just me?

[chartdog]

Update see post 26.


New Wraith owners, dad and a 9 year old boy. Bought it at the Axial "booth" at the "King of the Hammers" 21 days ago. So far it has not run more than two days without something breaking, we are at break down #7 as I type this. We had screws fall out of steering parts, servo arm strip the splines, the ESC burn out, spur gears strip (screw fell out of pinion) and now the servo itself is gone.

Yes he is a kid but I have supervised most of the running and I do not think he is abusing it. He has a two year old Losi mini rock crawler that he has beat the crap out of it and it has NEVER broken!

So we spend $400 on what is sold as a top of the line rig and at day 21 we are spending another $100 + for a servo. (warranty on electronics is only 10 days apparently).

Now don't get me wrong, I love upgrading and I know that it is what part of this hobby is. We have a full size rock crawler (been on the Rubicon 30 + years) so I totally get the process and that one can break stuff no matter what and much more without the right upgrades.

But having this thing falling to pieces the first day (that's when it started, we were still at KOH), and to have it down more than it has been up does not make sense. I really liked the Axial staff at KOH, they took care of breaks 1-5 while we were there, but even there it was a joke. They finished one repair and returned the rig to us. My son turned around and started running it on the track that they had set up there for demo's. It breaks again on the second lap.

So what is wrong here? Did I just not get the memo explaining that these rigs are not actually ready to run at all until we finish the long list of upgrades? Why does the community of users seem to just accept this as acceptable?

Just looking for other opinions, we'll get over it and we are prbably in this hobby for the long run, that thing really is cool when it runs.

Thanks!

[JasonInAugusta]

Sorry about your bad luck, but there are hundreds of happy Wraith owners out there for every one story like this.

My son had a Wraith and drove it like a rented mule and never had a problem with it.

With the speed of the Wraith and the natural tendency to drive it fast through/over the rocks, some restraint has to be used as well. I had to tell my son to back off the throttle in the rocks if he wanted to keep driving it because he was going to break something if he kept at it like he was.

Just because you CAN doesn't mean you SHOULD.

[kakachille]

mine just lost some screws but some locktite fixed that

[Jus]

The terrain these things see is tough. For a RTR truck to survive very long without upgrades would be expensive.

It's a little overwhelming for some new people but stay patient and spend time on here reading and asking questions and hang out with locals that are into it (if there are any!?) and you'll get so much more out of this hobby.

[Pita]

My rear axle lockout screws were completely stropped from the factory...still waiting on a new axle housing from Axial...now problem getting one but I was within the 10 Days. Almost lost my driveshaft set screws both of them. Blue Loctite on them now. All kinds of loose screws though, I do have to say assembly seemed hurried so every truck after this one will be gone over with a fine toothed comb !!

[puddin]

I bought mine second hand and the biggest problem I had was the motor burning out. That was my fault though. I have rolled it down a small cliffs and beat it like a las Vegas hobo. Still holding together. Sucks you got a lemon.I know how you feel there.

[BurnLatex]

RCs are high maintanence. Nature of the hobby.

I think anything that comes RTR is shit. It has to be or it would cost way more.

Take every "option part" and put it on it. There, thats the way the designer intended it to be run. But, its too expensive to sell well. Its just a toy. The accountants have a go at cutting some costs, replacing good parts with cheaper ones until its a piece of crap but is affordable. Company wins. They sell RCs and then later get to sell "upgrades".

Customer gets bent over from the get go. But hey, I like playing with toys so I buys them.

[k9popo]

I got my son a RTR wraith a couple weeks ago and we have gone through:

1- chub
1- knuckle
1- servo horn
1- rod end

And multiple screws backing out that I just red loctite back in with no problems... Lucky for us I have loads of spare parts though lol... But alum bits are definitely coming for him...

So your not the only one, I've just been doing it long enough to where I come to expect it...

[frdtrkguy]

Both my boys, 8 and 10, have had their Wraiths for about 2 years. They both have metal trans gears and maxx shafts. Those rigs have taken an unbelievable amount of punishment from trails and probably a half dozen g6 events. Very reliable rigs. They were both kits and have upgraded electronics though.

A few well placed upgrades go a long ways..

[savage wraith]

i did a lot of research before i bought mine and seen stuff about the RTR being put together and having loose screws so right when i opened mine i took it apart and made sure everything was there and snug. and my wife looked at me like i was insane and asked why i just spent $400 to get it home and take it apart. but just like all cars some are lemons and need to be fixed right off the lot. hope your luck gets better with this one.

[Jeepfixer1]

I bought mine around ten months ago and in ten minutes the knuckle to c hub screw backed out. I bought aluminum upgrades. Everything else held up fine for a while. After a month or so i stripped out the servo gears after installing metal links but was figuring that would happen. For a twenty dollar servo it held up well. I guess I went into it expecting worse since my first RC was a Blackfoot and it had countless axle issues. That was before the Internet and I didn't know what to do. All in all my rtr wraith was pretty good, not much stock now by choice, but compared to 20 yrs ago I was tickled. I think you just got a bad one built on Friday afternoon before Chritmas vacation after a couple egg nogs ;) I hope it gets better.

[trwelds]

My buddy just got his, broke a knuckle so upgrade now screws fall out, stripped spur gear, steering servo is on its last legs. So its def no.t just you!

[evan03]

i bet if you where sitting in the cockpit of plane you built you sure as hell wouldnt let the screws fall out

[TiMe_1]

Don't feel to bad I bought a RTR on Saturday and fresh out of the box the knuckle to chub screws on the right side were stripped, won't even tighten down. Waiting for the new part to show up at the LHS, they are replacing it for free. It sucks spending that kinda money only to have it be broken. Upgrades will be ordered soon. I think I'm gonna take advantage of the deals going in at VP right now and buy some parts and hold onto them until the stock shit breaks again.

At least you got to play with yours!!!

[evan03]

i watched a bone stock wraith make it through 2.5 hours of a scale comp yesterday with no screws falling out and no damage. my wraith also has all stock plastic parts and made it through the comp with no damage and man she did cartwheel more then ounce

[tripsix]

I bought my wraith 11 days ago, withing 24 hours I had broke my c-hub. I have to admit i'm hard on my vehicles when i get them, runnin and gunin knowing that i shouldn't...i just cant help it. I upgraded to aluminum c-hubs and steering knuckles. I also purchased the aluminum suspension links.
I took it on my first real crawl jamboree this weekend and beat it up pretty bad, more due to my inexperience, it took an 8 foot fall right on to its front end an stripped an aluminum link from its plastic end, fortunatly i had my stock ones with me for quick replacement. I also stripped my servo horn, and one of the guys out there with us gave me his old aluminum one(made a huuuuge difference). There were 3 other wraiths out there with us and most were tricked out, but there was one more stock than mine and was just tearing up the lines and cruising along...i'll post some links to the videos shortly(i'm the one thats constantly upside down)
I know it may seem like you got burned, but RTRs needs some TLC at first and patience, until its got some upgrades I suggest not pushing it too hard...unless you are like me and like spending more time doing repairs...i can't take it apart enough...its just fun

[tripsix]

Celtic Customs Rc - YouTube first video - my son has the SCX10 Honcho
Celtic Customs Rc - YouTube second part of the run

[trig n tahoe]

Bro you know how it is till you KNOW you rig, its just tryin to get to you and your son

[BentMetaL]

Sounds like a lot people here bought a Wraith for a basher. That's not what their made for. These are well built "Rock Racers". That does mean hauling ass over rocks. With TLC and regular maintenance they will last for ever. "If you want to bash, buy a Slash"

[trig n tahoe]

Know rig is what you want it to be till you make it that way. We are just up the road if you need some help. We run fordyce all the time. Some great stuff back there.