Pinion gear

[metalry101]

I toasted my front pinion over the weekend on the maiden run. I was on the third battery pack when it let go. It wasn't bound hard at all...just got high centered on a rock and used a little reverse to get it off and it popped. Other than the broken pinion the truck was phenomenal. The steering was amazing, the tires worked very well, and overall it was just a mountain goat. I hope this is just a bad batch of parts because I'm thrilled with the truck otherwise.

[fatam]

Mine was in well manicured grass with a 35t brushed motor. The rear diff just locked up. The pinion had half of its teeth missing.

[dextan22]

grass is deadly to our drivetrain. i hate grass.

[Duuuuuuuude]

Originally Posted by Ty@Tekin

Easy now, no need for that. Full on recall isn't necessary at all. I understand your frustration, but I'm sure a gear solution will be available soon.

I work on rv's that cost anywhere from $50k to $750k, and they rarely come from the factory without issues of one kind or another that can cost hundreds or sometimes thousands to make right. Watching people have shit fits over a $10 part in their $300 toy trucks is both amusing and maddening.

This is a brand new platform with brand new parts. Failures are going to happen. Give the manufacturers time to deal with them. If they don't or won't, then you are free to go on a crusade.

I placed my Ascender order this evening, and I can't wait for it to get here.

[metalry101]

Originally Posted by Duuuuuuuude

I work on rv's that cost anywhere from $50k to $750k, and they rarely come from the factory without issues of one kind or another that can cost hundreds or sometimes thousands to make right. Watching people have shit fits over a $10 part in their $300 toy trucks is both amusing and maddening.

This is a brand new platform with brand new parts. Failures are going to happen. Give the manufacturers time to deal with them. If they don't or won't, then you are free to go on a crusade.

I placed my Ascender order this evening, and I can't wait for it to get here.

While I can appreciate someone not overreacting and calling for heads to roll for this, I think this is a bit of understatement. This isn't a couple hundred dollar fix on a 50K RV. It costs about 7% of the purchase price to repair, or about 15% if both fail. That's ~8 grand on a 50K RV or 100 large on a 750K RV. It isn't insignificant. It is a toy car, but it is an expensive toy car, and this is an issue that shouldn't happen. You can laugh all you'd like, and frankly, I will join you over some people's reactions, but buying something that doesn't work the way it should SUCKS. I look forward to the next batch of gears and/or hardened aftermarket replacements because other than this issue, the truck is awesome, but a crawler isn't very useful in 2WD, and there seem to be a fair amount of people out there with 2WD Ascenders right now.

[Duuuuuuuude]

Originally Posted by metalry101

...buying something that doesn't work the way it should SUCKS.

Of course it does, and I'm not arguing that point. I'm arguing that it is completely unreasonable to go ballistic over an issue on something brand spanking new in every respect without giving the manufacturer a chance to take care of it, especially when that something is not life threatening, and is in fact a toy that you willingly purchased as soon as it became available for sale without waiting to see what its weak points were. I would also not consider it "expensive". IMO its pretty reasonably priced considering the market. RC is expensive in general, if you can't afford it you should be doing it.

Every product available to man, no matter who makes it or what it is, has a certain percentage of failure out of the box, or within a short amount of time. No one is immune from this, even the best of the best. Those that cannot understand this, or find it unacceptable, clearly have a delusional view of reality.

[SilmarilS]

It's just that it is so easy to make factory hardened gears..
Why can 3rd party companies can comes with hardened gears but not a big company like Horizon Hobby.

In the racing world, when you buy "kits" like Losi TLR or Associated Factory Team, they are pretty bullet proof out of the box.
I can understand a RTR with some cheap parts to make a price point for newbies, but when you go all the way to a "kit" you should have these upgrades already on it. And have a good drivetrain.
Not bullet proof, but better than shredding diff gears in short grass on in a pracking lot on the 3rd battery pack!

[metalry101]

Originally Posted by Duuuuuuuude

Of course it does, and I'm not arguing that point. I'm arguing that it is completely unreasonable to go ballistic over an issue on something brand spanking new in every respect without giving the manufacturer a chance to take care of it, especially when that something is not life threatening, and is in fact a toy that you willingly purchased as soon as it became available for sale without waiting to see what its weak points were. I would also not consider it "expensive". IMO its pretty reasonably priced considering the market. RC is expensive in general, if you can't afford it you should be doing it.

Every product available to man, no matter who makes it or what it is, has a certain percentage of failure out of the box, or within a short amount of time. No one is immune from this, even the best of the best. Those that cannot understand this, or find it unacceptable, clearly have a delusional view of reality.

I completely agree that many people are going overboard w/ their complaints. Being upset and disappointed is reasonable. Anything beyond that isn't, because as you say, it's a toy truck. It may be an expensive toy truck, but it is a toy, and if it is such a serious matter in your life that it makes you that upset, there are deeper issues. I think we both agree on that.

I agree 100% about it being reasonably priced given the market. I'd call it a better value than the SCX-10 kits given the better equipment level and adaptability out of the box. Good value doesn't mean free though...a $300 toy is still $300 that isn't doing what it's advertised to do is still a frustrating $300 purchase until that situation is remedied. Luckily, Horizon has enough ring and pinions in stock to take care of everyone so far. Hopefully it is just a manufacturing issue that has already been taken care of and this will all just fade away given a little time, because the rest of the truck is ready to kick a stock SCX-10's ass and start to steal some of its considerable market share.

[metalry101]

Originally Posted by SilmarilS

It's just that it is so easy to make factory hardened gears..
Why can 3rd party companies can comes with hardened gears but not a big company like Horizon Hobby.

In the racing world, when you buy "kits" like Losi TLR or Associated Factory Team, they are pretty bullet proof out of the box.
I can understand a RTR with some cheap parts to make a price point for newbies, but when you go all the way to a "kit" you should have these upgrades already on it. And have a good drivetrain.
Not bullet proof, but better than shredding diff gears in short grass on in a pracking lot on the 3rd battery pack!

I would disagree with some of that actually. Race cars actually usually aren't that durable. They're just usually driven by competent drivers and spend more time being torn apart and rebuilt than being driven. I would consider the full aluminum links, CV front axles, CMS, servo winch option, and steel tranny gears of the Ascender to be awesome "upgrades" that no version of the SCX-10 comes with. These are things people have been asking Axial to do for years now. Someone listened to us...it just wasn't Axial. The gear problem is annoying and Vaterra can be called out on it, but give credit where it is due on the things they got right.

[Peaker]

I would not worry about this when Rich T is on top of it, as a LCC owner i can only say that Rich took real good care of me and my LCC when we hit the wall.

[Duuuuuuuude]

Originally Posted by SilmarilS

It's just that it is so easy to make factory hardened gears..

Not nearly as easy as it is to make sintered gears.

Originally Posted by SilmarilS

In the racing world, when you buy "kits" like Losi TLR or Associated Factory Team, they are pretty bullet proof out of the box.

Not always, and when they are, they are usually more expensive and most often are proven platforms.

[dextan22]

Originally Posted by Duuuuuuuude

Not always, and when they are, they are usually more expensive and most often are proven platforms.

I agree. Andd it most probably is the Nth version of that platform fixing all the problems of the earlier versions.

[Rich Trujillo]

Hi All,
Please note that i'm watching the forums and keeping an eye on this while looking into some options but there is one thing i will share with all of you.

I checked with our Product Support team and we've had a total of 5 phone calls regarding the Pinion gears. We have a data base and software to document every call we receive. We've had more calls about duplicated parts (ie bumper mounts, getting 2 of one side) which i'm addressing with our vendor.

Again, i'm not trying to disregard the info on the forum but with social media being what it is, some issues can be blown out of proportion easily.

If you have an issue with any of our products, PLEASE call our customer support, i promise you they offer you great customer service and in the mean time we're always looking at ways to improve our products.

Thanks,
Rich

[Jimbow]

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[BadWagon]

Given Rich's consistent replies and the quick response by Horizon to those who've had issues, I'll be ordering an Ascender as my next truck.

Acting like pissy little children when the company and it's representatives are obviously addressing the issue, taking care of those who've had failures is a sure fire way to push them away from offering new products, and this level of customer service.

Does it suck that some have had failures? You bet.

Should they recall all of them over a few failures? No, you're silly.

This kit has more bang for the buck than 95% of the ones on the market, and a few issues with a brand new kit is to be expected.

Take a deep breath and relax. Fixing an issue such as this takes time and is more complicated than you may think. If they weren't acknowledging the issue or saying it's not a problem, sure then you could get angry. But that's just not the case here.

I applaud Rich and Horizon's commitment to customer service, design and follow through.

[Hogass83]

I'm not sure I believe Jimbow. Your OP in this thread from your "first" broken pinion and your repost of the "second" one that you posted on facebook are the same exact picture. The one in the video looks like it could be the very same gear as well.

[cykb4117]

I wonder how many have sold? 100? 500? Let's say 1000 have been sold... .5% have reported a problem. Let's say 100 sold... 5%. So 95% at the low end have not had this problem! That's pretty dam good imo.

(I hope my math isn't off or I'm going to look like a dumbass)

[joe122]

Gotta throw my two cents in.....My wife is leasing a new Escape, SIX recalls! Point of the story is this. I am considering selling one of my SCX10's to make room for a second Ascender. Look at the difference in the two trucks, and don't get me wrong as I have three Axial products. The level of build and engineering quality is very good, i.e., steel trans gears, floating battery tray, very high quality "standard shocks", the shock supports with the horizontal ties to mention a few and oh the adjustable frame! Pretty awesome. I love that there is a real competitor out there, and give me a break, first release, do you with the pinion failures really think this was going to be bullet proof right out of the box? And BTW, I haven't been able to drive mine as my brand new Castle SV3 was defective right out of the box!

___________________________
SCX10 Hilux "Trugy"
SCX10 - Gmade axled F350
Wraith - tuber, love that truck!
And the newbee - the Ascender - Go'in Topless

[Jimbow]

Originally Posted by Hogass83

I'm not sure I believe Jimbow. Your OP in this thread from your "first" broken pinion and your repost of the "second" one that you posted on facebook are the same exact picture. The one in the video looks like it could be the very same gear as well.

Yeah you're right. I'm lying about breaking gears. It was the same pic. Who cares. I'll take a pic of all the broken gears for you. If it will make you feel better.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[jhauf]

I Know this thread is about Pinions, but as I built my K-5 I found that the only turn off for me was the shocks. I noticed someone said, "very high quality "standard shocks", but I have to disagree. I have built many kits and although this is my first crawler build, I was not impressed with the shocks. The instructions left me scratching my head at some points. I completely overlooked the upper front third link. The center mount that the trans mounts to was tight on the right side rail. Given all that I am the first in our crawler group to own a k-5 and I love it. With the exception of the shocks, Vaterra did a great job on the truck. You cant compare Vaterra to Losi or associated because these brands have been at the game for a long time. They have the foresight to know what to look for in their vehicles as far as defects go. When I read this post about the pinions I got worried that I made a hasty purchase. When I saw Rich post about Horizons customer service, all my worries went away. I will be sending my finished Vaterra to my LHS for display to promote this vehicle. Just my thoughts. Great job Horizon