Help with "Dragging" and "Squeaking" SCX10
 

I ended up with an old RTR SCX10 Trail Honcho and notice that it doesn't freewheel as easily as my son's and daughter's new Deadbolt and G6.

Basically, when I go to roll it back and forth by hand, it seems to move slowly as as if in gear or if the parking break was left on.

Our new deadbolt and G6 move with much more easy by hand.

Is it an issue with the drag brake? How do I adjust? Any advice appreciated.

Also, my Honcho is making a lot of squeaking. So far I've replaced the bearings in the rear axle near the lockouts and in the front axle at the front wheels. What else should I hunt down and replace/lube to get rid of the squeaking?

Re: Help with "Dragging" and "Squeaking" SCX10
 

Driveshafts on mine squeaked alot till i lubed the joints also ck the pinion gear mesh if its to tight you will get binding. The drag brake only works when the truck is on so if its not it should push fine.

Re: Help with "Dragging" and "Squeaking" SCX10
 

Imo i would tear down the transmission and axles check/replace bearings clean and grease all gears its just easier starting fresh and knowing what you have"thumbsup"

Re: Help with "Dragging" and "Squeaking" SCX10
 

For the squeaking, I spray dry film lube on the driveshaft joints. The dry film stuff doesn't attract dust and dirt like oily or greasy lubricants.

Drag brake will only be in use if the motor has power. Is that when it is binding or is it doing it all the time?

Re: Help with "Dragging" and "Squeaking" SCX10
 

Does it have a stock motor or upgraded motor? You could get more resistance with a better motor than you are used to on other stock rigs. As mentioned, making sure the pinion/spur mesh is not too tight would be a good place to start. A too tight mesh can get you a high pitched whine too when running.

Re: Help with "Dragging" and "Squeaking" SCX10
 

Easiest thing to do is a process of elimination. Start by removing the pinion from the motor. Just loosen the set screw and slide it off. No need to loosen the motor mount screws just yet. With the pinion off you should be able to roll your truck back and forth easily. If not and the truck is still binding then the problem is with the trans or axles. Your next step would be to remove the drive shafts. By removing these two parts you should be able to diagnose the problem whether it's within the motor, trans or axles.

Re: Help with "Dragging" and "Squeaking" SCX10
 

what size is the motor..i know with mine I had traxxas 12t 550 it rolled really easy when not power up.but now that i have a replaced it with a 55t motor it is very hard to roll when it's not power up,I really have to push it hard to roll by hand....
As for the squeaks i had the same problem.My drive shafts joints were a little rusty and i used a little marine grease on the joints, squeaks gone now...just put it on the joint roll the drive shaft and use your finger to clean up the job
But hey some times a little squeak is a good thing make sound like a 1:1 truck.."thumbsup"

Re: Help with "Dragging" and "Squeaking" SCX10
 

i second and third the drive shaft joints my new deadbolt squeaked from second day. also since it pushes hard as well but i installed a 55t in it. not sure if it rolled easier before 55t or not.

Re: Help with "Dragging" and "Squeaking" SCX10
 

Thanks for all the replies and suggestions.

This weekend I went through the rig (tore apart the axles and transmission), replaced the bearings, greased everything, set the slipper clutch to two turns out (which was overtightened).

I was feeling pretty proud of myself when I put the rig back together and it "rolled" as easily as my other two rigs.

However... then I reconnected the positive and neg. wires from the motor to the ESC and back to the dragging wheels. When the two wires are plugged in, and I push the rig back and forth the wheels drag as is the brakes are locked.

Note, this is without a battery.

What's this mean and what needs to be replaced? The motor? The ESC? Both are stock from the RTR Honcho.

Re: Help with "Dragging" and "Squeaking" SCX10
 

There is at least one ESC that will power the drag brakes even with the ESC off and (possibly) battery out because the capacitors are still charged feeding the motor. This came up a few/several weeks ago but I can't remember which ESC it was (stock RtR or after-market), you should be able to search for it though.

Re: Help with "Dragging" and "Squeaking" SCX10
 

i would say rtr because my deadbolt is same way and i havent checked but breaks must be set %100 because it slides tires stopping when i let off throttle.

Re: Help with "Dragging" and "Squeaking" SCX10
 

That's what I'm thinking, but I'm trying to find the older thread to confirm.

Re: Help with "Dragging" and "Squeaking" SCX10
 

If the Honcho is stock it will not have the same ESC as a Deadbolt. Honcho is AE-2, Deadbolt is AE-5.

Re: Help with "Dragging" and "Squeaking" SCX10
 

well let see.What size is the motor,and what are you using for esc..And you said it rolls.Was the pinion and spur already on when you were rolling it with ease....
maybe when you put it back together you put the front a rear diffs backwards or upside down this time....
and if the drag brake is set at 100% it will stop midway up the hill without it rolling backwards.

Re: Help with "Dragging" and "Squeaking" SCX10
 

After a half-dozen searches and scrolling through 13 pages of Electronics, I found it on page 9 of the SCX10 forum. A thread posted by jeff22 regarding his stock Trail Honcho, it seems it's a Castle/RtR ESC trait.

http://www.rccrawler.com/forum/axial...motor-esc.html

Re: Help with "Dragging" and "Squeaking" SCX10
 

well i guess problem solved,way to go eric for doing all the hard work.I was just as curious as you.So now we know if this happens to us next time.....
Maybe KellyC can try this same test that jeff22 did to comfirm that this is what going on...

Re: Help with "Dragging" and "Squeaking" SCX10
 

Just saw this post thanks for doing the search Eric. Kellyc the easiest way to check this is to let it sit a long time. More than a few hours or better yet overnight. I bet it will push smoothly. If you read through the thread in the link I had the same problem and confirmed that it is normal operation for the ae2 esc.

Re: Help with "Dragging" and "Squeaking" SCX10
 

That sounds like the problem with the exception being that it never really frees up. It could be hours, or days and the rig still pushes hard.

The best test I can run that concludes this is the same problem is simply unplugging the two wires from the motor to the ESC... When I do that, the rig freewheels just as easily as my other two when pushed by hand.
When I plug in the two wires, it goes back to that feeling like there's extra resistance.

So the next "newb" question I would have is, does this affect the trucks performance or put extra strain on the motor when the battery is in and the truck is being driven? Is it fighting unseeded drag from the ESC while in movement?
If that's the case, I assume the only answer is to replace the ESC.


Thanks Eric for digging the thread up. Thanks Jeff for jumping into the thread. Thanks to everyone for helping along the way. This site is the best!

Re: Help with "Dragging" and "Squeaking" SCX10
 

Not sure if you read this part........

he reply was: "This is completely normal. It takes a long time for the capacitors to discharge when you unplug them during which time the ESC brakes the motor. If this did not occur you would have a problem in that the capacitors would have to be damaged for the motor to turn easily when the ESC is unplugged."

and if it has AE-2 RX you may have full drag brake on you might need castle link to set it...

Re: Help with "Dragging" and "Squeaking" SCX10
 

Mine was doing the same thing, hard to push with motor connected to esc easy to push with motor wire disconnected. Mine frees up over time I don't know how long exactly it takes but if it sits overnight the next morning it's easy to push again. I have been running mine a lot since I noticed this "issue" and have not seen any negative performance.

You don't need the castle link program to program your esc. Here is a link with instructions on how to do it manually just using your remote and following a sequence of beeps. It took me a couple tries to figure it out but it is pretty easy once you understand the beep sequences.

Axial Racing - Axial AE-2 ESC Set-up and Programming

I have mine set like this:

Cutoff Voltage: setting 2 (auto/lipo) even though I run NIMH never had an issue and get an hour or so run time on a 5000mah pack.

Drag Brake: setting 5 (50% drag brake). I tried setting 6 for 100% drag brake but it slams to a stop at medium or high speed, 50% is a little more gentle but still holds pretty well on hills.

Break/Reverse type: setting 3 (forward/brake/reverse)