Weak spots on trx4

[crazee horse]

So ok we're all raving at the new traxxas trx4 but are there any weak points that everyone is having an issue with ? And I don't mean servos. In my eyes they are almost a consumable I've been through so many. I'm about to take the plunge when they arrive in the UK which is July 10th not that I'm counting days !!!!!
Also are the stock tyres compatible with beadlocks? I know the stock runs aren't beadlock bit didnt know if on removal theyd fit ok.

[Mountainsofbeer]

Well there is the fact that the lights both front and rear don't have ready to go buckets like my Yeti Trophy Truck has. So fitting LEDs into the stock scale looking lights requires some work (but absolutely doable).

I have both a Proline light bar mounted on the roll cage where it goes across the top of the windshield and a rear light bar mounted on the back of the roof rack but I have not connected either of them because I'm scared to poke a hole in the body. It's that nice that I'm hesitant to do it lol. They still look cool mounted up though. I was thinking about putting a power source inside the roof rack, because there is plenty of room to do it and then I could keep my wires external and just keep them tight against the roll cage and roof rack and it would look OK but then I'd have even more weight way up high. I'm still looking at other peoples TRX-4s to get ideas.

Certain Wheels/Rims can rub against the portals on the inside of the rim so initially some folks had issue with that but there is a whole thread here just about what fits and what doesn't. So that isn't really an issue anymore.

Quite surprisingly there is no one that I'm aware of (on this site) has lunched a transmission or esc yet. The motor also seems to be reliable even on 3s which is awesome, and honestly those Titan motors are so cheap if mine breaks I won't even care.

[dittohead]

I've seen a few guys post on fb that they broke the front cvd/top portal gear but I honestly think it's an issue of the end points on the radio not being set correctly, allowing too much steering angle which in turn stresses the cvd.
The issue I have with that situation is they want you to buy an add on link device to make programming the radio easy and unlock more features. I think that is bs. You should be able to set simple things like endpoints without diving into a chart where you have to count the flashes from the esc. That is a major disappointment in my mind. The radio feels like it belongs to a Walmart toy so I REALLY don't want to invest any money into it just to make a simple adjustment that can cause a front axle failure if left


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[new2rocks]

Check out the guide that I've posted in this section. Thus far, the biggest weak points are the stock servo (woefully underpowered, but what else is new for an RTR, lol) and some trucks being shipped with poor pinion alignment and pinion/spur mesh (which are very easy to fix). It's too early to tell whether the handful of CVD breakages are operator error or a design issue. It's also too early to tell how well the diff lockers and 2-speed tranny will hold up. Re the stock tires, I've seen a few people take them off and remount them to beadlocks. But overall, I like the platform a lot and haven't (yet) had any issues on mine.

[Perkul8r]

So far I haven't had a breakage while running the truck. I did however replace the stock steering servo as soon as I got the truck. It showed how weak it was just playing outside in my yard.

The only thing that has broke so far is one of the Servo's for the locking diffs. I was attempting to remove the servo saver and it broke the gears in the servo. I wasn't even wrenching on it that hard or anything. From what I read on facebook I am not the only one that this did it to. But this time it was my error I believe.

I did take the stock tires off and put them on some Ebay beadlocks for now. I was pretty happy with how the tires worked in my area so I wanted to keep them.

[crazee horse]

Everyone says about the servos. Providing your wheels are turning even slightly the stress on the servo is an awful lot less. I'm in 2 minds wether to have a week off or buy a Trx4. Probably end up doing both. Good to see theyre arent any apparent major issues, mind with a leading company the size of traxxas and 2 years in the making it was expected to be very very good, which clearly it is.

[JohnRobHolmes]

Originally Posted by dittohead

I've seen a few guys post on fb that they broke the front cvd/top portal gear but I honestly think it's an issue of the end points on the radio not being set correctly, allowing too much steering angle which in turn stresses the cvd.
The issue I have with that situation is they want you to buy an add on link device to make programming the radio easy and unlock more features. I think that is bs. You should be able to set simple things like endpoints without diving into a chart where you have to count the flashes from the esc. That is a major disappointment in my mind. The radio feels like it belongs to a Walmart toy so I REALLY don't want to invest any money into it just to make a simple adjustment that can cause a front axle failure if left


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Name any other rtr that has endpoint adjustment at all. You are calling BS on a feaute that would be a whole new radio on anything else. It's not much more cost than a castle link to open up easier phone programming.

[binaryterror]

Originally Posted by dittohead

The issue I have with that situation is they want you to buy an add on link device to make programming the radio easy and unlock more features. I think that is bs. You should be able to set simple things like endpoints without diving into a chart where you have to count the flashes from the esc.

I just set my end points when I installed my 8711 servo....I never bought the WIFI link. It's very straight forward to count a few flashes or follow simple diagrams. I mean if you can't follow that diagram for end points, maybe crayons and paper is a better hobby for your skill set.

[Mountainsofbeer]

Here is the flow-chart (stolen from the other thread in "Traxxas Scale Crawler Forums"

So I am going to try this myself if this is really an issue. Too bad though I really liked the tight turning radius although it will still be good.

So I am going to first turn the wheel all the way to the right before I go into the menu and make a mark or something on the floor and then when I go to set the end point I will just make sure I stop short of the mark I made. How much shorter I guess I will have to eyeball.

I have a nice gaming computer but an old flip phone. People make fun of me or think I'm a drug dealer and call it a burner. Its nice though, I won't talk to someone if they try and have a conversation with me while staring at their stupid phone.

Anyway here is the chart

[JSterrett]

+1 on "the flowchart's not hard to use"... I plan on buying the link module but I couldn't find one locally, so I fell back on the flow chart... works fine...

Baked my stock tires off and mounted them in some Gmade beadlocks. Bead didn't really wanna sit straight, but a little effort got them mounted straight....

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[Mountainsofbeer]

Originally Posted by JSterrett

+1 on "the flowchart's not hard to use"... I plan on buying the link module but I couldn't find one locally, so I fell back on the flow chart... works fine...

Baked my stock tires off and mounted them in some Gmade beadlocks. Bead didn't really wanna sit straight, but a little effort got them mounted straight

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Looks.. really good, I think those rims and the ones that look similar but are all white are my favorite.

I never noticed it says Traxxas there.. I thought you put a sticker on the frame and was going to tell you thats a weird place to put a sticker but then I saw mine has it too

So I've never had a set of beadlocks, but I have glued a few sets together for my Yeti. Once you put them together they are as secure as glued tires? There is no glue at all with those right? don't make me post in the Noob forum haha

[JSterrett]

If you have a good set of beadlocks and you get the bead in the right spot, then they should be as good as or better than glue-ons.

Mine seem to be holding well, but it's not like this thing does 60mph, lol. They've held fine for trailing/crawling.

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[Yeti.stealth]

Originally Posted by JohnRobHolmes

Name any other rtr that has endpoint adjustment at all. You are calling BS on a feaute that would be a whole new radio on anything else. It's not much more cost than a castle link to open up easier phone programming.

Vaterra Ascender RTR's!

They come with a Spektrum dx2e radio, and you can adjust both steering servo and throttle end points, instructions on how to are in the instruction manual.

RTR servo and servo arm won't give you enough travel to max out the steering angle though.....

I have always wanted throttle expo on the Radio, they are a bit touchy. I see the TRX4 radio has adjustable throttle expo, another great feature and a must have for a crawler I believe.

Great job Traxxis, your crawler is jammed packed with cool features!

[Evo93]

Anyone else have their spare tire mount strip out just trying to get the tire off. The stud molded into the plastic just rotates. Luckily traxxas sent me a new one.

[Mountainsofbeer]

^ Thanks for the warning I'll be careful if I ever take it off.. can you put channel locks or something on the inside to hold it from spinning if you havn't stripped it out yet? well why am I asking you I can look myself later lol.
While we are giving tips

We have all read about not parking the truck while its running with the steering not-centered to keep the servo from over loading but I have noticed that if you engage either locking diff without the truck rolling those micro servos will do the same thing. So it's not far fetched to think that if you flipped the switch with the truck parked and then left it sitting there the lockers would not be engaged and the servos would be working until you roll the truck either way to let the locker engage. I didn't notice this as frequently with the gear selector but its possible same situation there as well. Who knows how long it would take to burn them out in those in between stages of engagement but probably 15minutes or so like Mr. Holmes mentioned he did to the steering servo. just guessing. this doesn't seem like an issue while running the truck just in a random situation when you try to engage the locker but for some reason do not move the truck and leave it on.

this truck is such a beast I drove over some obstacles yesterday I couldn't believe what I was seeing lol. being new to trail driving and crawling this is easily as satisfying as bashing my Yeti if not more. I actually went to buy an SCX10 II RTR but the hobby shop did not seem confident they were going to get one anytime soon for some reason.. a week later they said I could buy their demo model TRX and here I am wooo!

[colbynobo]

Originally Posted by Mountainsofbeer

if you engage either locking diff without the truck rolling those micro servos will do the same thing. So it's not far fetched to think that if you flipped the switch with the truck parked and then left it sitting there the lockers would not be engaged and the servos would be working until you roll the truck either way to let the locker engage.

I'm glad that you have mentioned this since I noticed the other day, just after a run, when I removed the body that the differential servos were buzzing when I flipped them to the unlock position. I was concerned whether this was going to burn the servos out. I didn't try flipping the locks and then driving it forward for a foot to see if the servos would then become quiet. I'll have to test this out. I have an Axial Yeti Jr. TT that wound up burning up 3 mini servos in quick succession, so you can understand why I'm wary of mini servos.

[crazee horse]

I know the axles are allegedly waterproof but I wonder how much they will actually let in ? An awful lot of bearings and other bits to replace for us regular deep murders. Bad enough stripping down the scx10 axles regularly !

[new2rocks]

Originally Posted by crazee horse

I know the axles are allegedly waterproof but I wonder how much they will actually let in ? An awful lot of bearings and other bits to replace for us regular deep murders. Bad enough stripping down the scx10 axles regularly !

One look at Harley's axle disassembly tutorial should be enough to dissuade anyone from extended mud action with these axles, lol.

[JSterrett]

Or just disassemble/clean them after extended mud or water action. Not really all that hard to remove and disassemble. Took me less than 2 hours total the first time to remove/disassemble/regrease/reassemble both axles and the transmission...

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[crazee horse]

Yeah but my point is does any water or dirt get in ?