New Everest Gen7 Pro Issues and Comments

[daver18qc]

Since this is going south fast, i'll try to rescue this post by posting my observations and comments on my Gen7 Pro :

I have about 9x 5000mah lipos of runtime, been out with it 6 of the last 7 weekends.
I run about 2 hours with a single battery, so about ~15-20 hours of runtime total.

Pros:
-Opinion : i like the look of the body and how the wheels flex inside it like an original VTR Ascender.
-Chassis is great, lot's of options for link mounts and shock positions.
-Stock ESC does the job well (even tried 3s a couple times even though they don't recommend it)
-Opinion : i like the body mounting with velcro and a rear pivot
-If you remove the top spare tire, the CG is actually not bad and can climb steep, thanks to squat link setup in front and anti-squat in the rear.
-Redcat gave the schematics free of charge to anyone who wants to 3D Print more scale details (on Thingiverse)
-Body roll cage allows for big drops without breaking the body
-Battery location is pretty optimal compared to what axial come out with in the past (original scx10)
-Inner fenders keep the inside very clean
-Outer fenders prevent body scratches and along with the roll cage gives a "solid" feel to the body instead of the "plasticky" feel of most other lexan scale bodies
-Opinion : LOVE the tires. The more i use them the more i like them.

Cons:
-My rear driveshaft is now very sloppy at the transmission u-joint. will probably break in a couple of hours.
(driveshaft's been cut a bit so that full flex won't push on the tranny like stock, so this is not due to that)
-Stock motor didn't like water and has now way less torque, replaced it with a Tekin Pro HD 35T a couple of batts ago.
-Stock beadlocks were a bit too loose in retaining the tires, i could pull a bead out with little effort by hand.
(never happened on the trail though, they kept the tires in place)
(could have sanded them a bit but decided to upgrade to metal beadlocks from Gmade, having added benefit of weight)
-Tire foams are craptastic and will suck up any water going in and then you've got REALLY heavy tires.
(it helped me "cheat" on a steep incline once but i replaced them with Proline dual-stage and metal beadlocks after)
-Hated the diff guards under each axle, kept getting "welded" when scratching them on rocks. They bite the rock like duct tape. Removed them.


Other observations :
-If you get mud on the velcro it won't stick back
-No spur cover but available to 3D Print for free IF you still have stock gearing (since i got a 35t i needed a bigger pinion and thus the spur cover won't fit over it)
-Stock servo is adequate, not too strong or fast but gets the job done
-Got the metal tranny gears in the mail but have yet to strip a plastic gear in it. Will wait until i destroy one to switch to metal
-Switched to 32 pitch spur/pinion because i had them already and i like the silence compared to 48p which is noisy
-Switched receiver to sr410 for my DX4C, added some throttle and reverse expo mostly, for smoothness

[ZR2guy]

I was wondering how the foams would do after getting soaked. Before I submarine my Pro, I will just nip it now and get the better inserts. The metal b-locks sound like a good idea as well. Thanks for the real world review.

[CODYBOY]

Originally Posted by ZR2guy

Unlike El poochacabra, I have not touched a Gen 7 but from what has been posted and shown on the internet, it has way more positives than negatives; plus only $279, it's a no toucher, er, I mean no-brainer. Mine arrives Wednesday and I will touch it......a lot.

I would say if that is the attitude your going to take and do some name calling as a Noob I would think you need to develop some thick skin or not venture to far from the Redcat forum if you need help. And yes you can tell the quality of a rig just from picking it up and looking at it. I guess it just comes down to how you would like to spend your money. I don't own one and probably never will, but that just my opinion.
Ernie

[brokemudder]

Hey CodyBoy, gonna make any parts for the gen7?

[CODYBOY]

Originally Posted by ZR2guy

Unlike El poochacabra, I have not touched a Gen 7 but from what has been posted and shown on the internet, it has way more positives than negatives; plus only $279, it's a no toucher, er, I mean no-brainer. Mine arrives Wednesday and I will touch it......a lot.

Originally Posted by brokemudder

Hey CodyBoy, gonna make any parts for the gen7?

What do you think some of your wants would be?
Ernie

[ZR2guy]

Originally Posted by CODYBOY

I would say if that is the attitude your going to take and do some name calling as a Noob I would think you need to develop some thick skin or not venture to far from the Redcat forum if you need help. And yes you can tell the quality of a rig just from picking it up and looking at it. I guess it just comes down to how you would like to spend your money. I don't own one and probably never will, but that just my opinion.
Ernie

No attitude here dude. You may want to go to the mall this weekend; I hear they are having a sale on a sense of humor. You should go get one.
Let me get this straight; I own a Gen 7, you don't and state that you never will. So why are you even posting here? Maybe you shouldn't venture into the Redcat forum, especially since you "probably will never own one", just say'n .... Merry Christmas

[CODYBOY]

Originally Posted by ZR2guy

No attitude here dude. You may want to go to the mall this weekend; I hear they are having a sale on a sense of humor. You should go get one.
Let me get this straight; I own a Gen 7, you don't and state that you never will. So why are you even posting here? Maybe you shouldn't venture into the Redcat forum, especially since you "probably will never own one", just say'n .... Merry Christmas

[ZR2guy]

Now, back to opinions from those that actually own a Gen 7 after the non-value added interruption .
I was surprised to find that the foam tire inserts are not the same between the Sport and the Pro. That is really splitting hairs to save some money. Not like they will produce and sell a million of these trucks.
I have moved the top mount of the shocks down one position to gain more ground clearance. The springs seem to be pretty firm even without any preload placed on them.
Overall, it's a great deal for less than 3 bills.

[CODYBOY]

Originally Posted by ZR2guy

Now, back to opinions from those that actually own a Gen 7 after the non-value added interruption .
I was surprised to find that the foam tire inserts are not the same between the Sport and the Pro. That is really splitting hairs to save some money. Not like they will produce and sell a million of these trucks.
I have moved the top mount of the shocks down one position to gain more ground clearance. The springs seem to be pretty firm even without any preload placed on them.
Overall, it's a great deal for less than 3 bills.

Your just going to keep being a jerk aren't you. If I want to check this site out I will, If I want to give my opinion I will and if you want to keep being a jerk, you probably will but you can't convince me that you don't have a attitude. And if you want to keep saying your just joking your full of it. I visit, read and comment in all the site because I build upgrades. If you don't like me being here that's your problem, but some of your buddies might be glad I'm here! Just saying.
Merry Christmas.
Ernie

[Jim85IROC]

Originally Posted by ZR2guy

Now, back to opinions from those that actually own a Gen 7 after the non-value added interruption .
I was surprised to find that the foam tire inserts are not the same between the Sport and the Pro. That is really splitting hairs to save some money. Not like they will produce and sell a million of these trucks.
I have moved the top mount of the shocks down one position to gain more ground clearance. The springs seem to be pretty firm even without any preload placed on them.
Overall, it's a great deal for less than 3 bills.

I'm not sure the foam differences are a cost saving measure as much as unique tuning. The Pro is top heavy, so I believe those foams are stiffer. I haven't gotten my Sport foams wet so I can't comment on wet performance, but dry I'm quite happy with them. They're firmer than my useless Bomber foams. The tires conform to surfaces, but don't completely collapse. No complaints here!

[ZR2guy]

I have ordered the RC4WD offset rod ends for the steering link. I will remove the "nub" on each of the steering knuckles as well. This should help the steering angle, or more correctly, the lack thereof. At that point, the CVs may not have much more proper operating room anyway. Also looking at moving the front axle back a couple millimeters to center the wheel in the wheel opening. This should also aid in preventing major rub issues with the front tires at full turn and suspension compression. Other than that, just gonna crawl it till some other problem rears its ugly head or something breaks.
Did add some lights I had laying around to replace the awful fake light bar that came on it.

[nightcrawler48]

Just want to thank everyone for their input so far. It's great to see people embracing the Gen7 for what it is, and not what they think it should be.

Haven't had a chance to do any more testing as weather in the Great White North has been too cold and too much snow.

I had shortened the front links a bit but will be taking a bit more off and also found last run I made the rear could stand to be shortened a bit as well. I'll hopefully get at that after Christmas.

Got a set of metal trans gears on order but probably will see how long the stock plastic gears will last.

My idea with this RC was not to spend a huge amount of money on upgrades but to see how it would stand up as a trail truck. So far, other than cheap aluminum beadlocks, all changes have been more time involved than money spent and I like this truck a lot. Yeah, maybe down the road it'll get expensive when things start breaking but I'm not out there trying to break it. Just havin' fun and in my mind, that's what its all about.

[Jim85IROC]

Originally Posted by ZR2guy

I have ordered the RC4WD offset rod ends for the steering link. I will remove the "nub" on each of the steering knuckles as well. This should help the steering angle, or more correctly, the lack thereof. At that point, the CVs may not have much more proper operating room anyway. Also looking at moving the front axle back a couple millimeters to center the wheel in the wheel opening. This should also aid in preventing major rub issues with the front tires at full turn and suspension compression. Other than that, just gonna crawl it till some other problem rears its ugly head or something breaks.
Did add some lights I had laying around to replace the awful fake light bar that came on it.

The CVAs don't have a lot of angle available, but you won't reach their limits until you do more than cutting the stops and using offset links. If you countersink the chub screws and lengthen the servo arm & servo link, then you'll get to the limits of the CVAs... at least that's when I got to them. I see other videos on youtube from guys that got more angle than I did, but I stopped when I could see the front wheels starting to get notchy when they rotated. Other guys seemed to blow right past that, but they're probably going to be complaining that the CVAs don't hold up pretty soon.

Here's my video that shows exactly how far I took the steering, and shows the notchy turning in the front wheels near the end:

[ZR2guy]

On the backside, the springs can become a rub issue as well from what it looks like. I am only going to remove the "nubs" and install the offset rod ends....for now. The countersink idea sounds good.

[ZR2guy]

Originally Posted by nightcrawler48

Just want to thank everyone for their input so far. It's great to see people embracing the Gen7 for what it is, and not what they think it should be.

Haven't had a chance to do any more testing as weather in the Great White North has been too cold and too much snow.

I had shortened the front links a bit but will be taking a bit more off and also found last run I made the rear could stand to be shortened a bit as well. I'll hopefully get at that after Christmas.

Got a set of metal trans gears on order but probably will see how long the stock plastic gears will last.

My idea with this RC was not to spend a huge amount of money on upgrades but to see how it would stand up as a trail truck. So far, other than cheap aluminum beadlocks, all changes have been more time involved than money spent and I like this truck a lot. Yeah, maybe down the road it'll get expensive when things start breaking but I'm not out there trying to break it. Just havin' fun and in my mind, that's what its all about.

Did you shorten both front and back rod ends of the outer links? I was thinking that i may only shorten the rod ends on the frame end of the links. Wouldn't shortening them on the angled down (front diff) ends tilt the front diff downward? I thought that by just shortening the straight (frame) ends would do more to bring the front diff straight back. Maybe do the same on the inner links as well? Tilting the front diff downward (negative caster) will take away lateral steering angle.Am I even making sense here?

[nightcrawler48]

Originally Posted by ZR2guy

Did you shorten both front and back rod ends of the outer links? I was thinking that i may only shorten the rod ends on the frame end of the links. Wouldn't shortening them on the angled down (front diff) ends tilt the front diff downward? I thought that by just shortening the straight (frame) ends would do more to bring the front diff straight back. Maybe do the same on the inner links as well? Tilting the front diff downward (negative caster) will take away lateral steering angle.Am I even making sense here?

Actually, I didn't modify the stock links, I made new links from 1/4" aluminum round bar. Tried to match the short length of the bent part of the rod and cut back on the long length. The curved upper links I just made straight. Not sure what the purpose of the curve is anyway. Made the lower links first and then the upper links. Just kept taking a bit off the upper link until I was happy with the axle pinion shaft angle (basically parallel to the ground or just slightly pointing up a degree or two by eyeballing). Re-used the stock rod eyes. Should mention I guess, once you set the length of either the upper or lower, then the length of the other will determine the pinion angle. So by me doing the lower first, if my upper links are too long the pinion shaft will point up and if they are too short the pinion shaft will point down. Play with it a bit and you'll see what I mean.

Never have the pinion shaft tilted down. If the driveshaft doesn't bind when the pinion is tilted down, it will at least be really hard on the drive components. In the 1:1 world, the ideal situation is the transfer case shafts and the pinion shafts parallel to each other. In extreme cases the 1:1 guys will tilt the axles so the pinion shafts are up. But, then those guys are constantly checking for worn components and replacing as required. Or at least they should be. Just my experience working on the 1:1 stuff many years ago.

[RoverTom]

My quick unboxing review.

Purchased the Gen7 Pro yesterday (12/27/2017). The fellow at the local hobby store, who sells at "street price" so I didn't feel ripped off, was kind enough to let me unbox it there and do a quick once-over.

Bringing it to my office and opening it all up for real, I was impressed with the body rigidity, overall solidity and weight. It felt good. The velcro body closing mechanism works well, and the interior "kickstand" is convenient and let me do most of my visual inspection without having to continually move the model around.

I saw no damage, incorrect wiring, incorrect assembly, loose or missing screws. Their QC sticker was legit. *

The battery charging was complete, as I had left it overnight. This slow charger was predictably cool and safe, but slow as...Christmas. Still, nice to have a charger, which came included along with a 3000 mAh NiMH, the 2.4 GHz radio system and a baggie with misc parts including posts (for fitting different bodies?). The ESC and radio setup went quickly and easily.

Gripes: Very slight and few.
1. There were absolutely no tools included. So no little hex wrenches. I could sure use some to experiment with repositioning stuff. (I gave mine away before moving.)
2. There is an included semi-hard antenna tube which seems a little on the long side. Not sure how to use it; I gently bent mine backwards so it presses against the inside of the body, which might help with radio reception. I suppose I could cut it down to fit.

Now: Waiting for the temperature to rise above freezing, and for the ground to absorb the melted slush so my first time out can be a little less of a mudfest.


* HOLD THE PRESSES...driving test indoors revealed an incorrect assembly issue...will elaborate in a new post, as this one is "old but new" (disappeared before mods could look it over).

[Jacobdw]

so far we've done some free steering mods to improve radius, replaced plastic lockers, replaced servo horn and servo, and trimmed the body and bumper to make room for the flexed tires.

good rig, just needs some tweaks

[brokemudder]

Finally got my Sport in. Did the "free" steering mods and drove it. Imma slow convert now lol. What do yall think about the aluminum upgrades redcat is offering?

Edit: Since the free steering mods, the stock axles are binding. Is there a fix for this?

[ZR2guy]

I think the aluminum upgrade parts from Redcat look good and it appears they have listened to the Gen 7 owners with the addition of the curved drag link and high steering knuckles. I may just order that kit plus the steel trans gears.