selectable diff lockers...no more

[JSN]

I took the creeper out today for a good long crawl...bout 4 hrs of non stop crawling... it did great up until i was making the crawl back to the jeep... snapped a link end when I bound up the front end and got a little to trigger happy trying to get it un bound fixed it on the spot.

I always PM my rigs after a good days use...thats when i noticed a TON of slop in the rear end...the diff was still locked but it was obvious something was wrong inside. The red ring was missing one pin and the others were bent... the diff housing was chewed up where the pins engage. I gave the selectable diff lockers a good run and they just won't hold up... no matter as I NEVER un lock them anyway. I fixed the diff the only way i know how... MIG welder and a big hammer...Ok... i didn't need the hammer anyway it won't be unlocking anymore the front diff was still in good shape... no matter... its also welded so it won't get a chance to fail

I also noticed the large bearings on both axles are rough... they still spin but I don't think for long... I'll be ordering a set soon.

So far in about 10-12 hours of use I've broke one link end... 3 stubb's...one drive line(up graded to traxxas U's and pede sliders) and welded up the diff's...and will need to replace 4 bearings SOON... not to bad I suppose.

[Tanis]

Originally Posted by JSN

So far in about 10-12 hours of use I've broke one link end... 3 stubb's...one drive line(up graded to traxxas U's and pede sliders) and welded up the diff's...and will need to replace 4 bearings SOON... not to bad I suppose.

for 10-12 hours

[dieselfuel]

you should come out and crawl with us sometime. check out sincityrcrc.com/board, we'd love to have another crawler out there on the rocks with us.

[JSN]

Tanis, I know it sounds bad but if you think about it is really isn’t… this is a BRAND NEW crawler and first production run to boot…I don’t care what company it is there are bound to be problems… couple that with the fact a batch of over hardened part’s(stubs, axles, drive lines) made it into the kits and all the sudden you have what seems to be major problems. I know in my case Venom sent me 3 stubs no questions asked… I’m sure they would have replaced the drive line had I asked… I wanted it fixed NOW so I spent the cash to do so.
One rod end in 10-12 hours of running… that’s not an issue to me… more so because I know I pushed the rod end to failure.
The selectable diff’s are a novel idea that I think would be better suited to a basher that can crawl a bit like say the traxxas summit… they would probably hold up fine if they spent most of the time unlocked. I more or less planned to weld them up if they didn’t work well for ME so no big deal.

The bearings starting to fail… well that’s not expected but also not unexpected… most kits these days have cheap Chinese bearings in them… they just don’t last… I would rather see a good bronze bushing in place of cheap bearings.

My only real bitch is the fact that each rim had the rock rings screwed in place with two screws front and back… EVERY SCREW was over tightened and stripped the plastic threads… Venom… put the darn rings in a bag and let ME strip them holes out!!!!!


Dieselfule,
I’ll be taking you up on your offer soon...BTW any women in the club? My wife LOVES her TLT based truck and MRC… she probably would like coming out more if there were a few other women around instead of just bunch of guy’s.

[gking98]

I was thinking of getting one but what you said scared me, are they worth getting. What are the pro's and con's of this machine.

[dirtman]

Wow! Too many cons for me.

[JSN]

It's a good machine IMHO... venom has admited too and is taking care of the overhardened parts issue... kinda PIA i admit but... I've seen problems like this before where the issue was simply ignored

The bearings going bad are 11.99 for EIGHT on venoms site... I just paid 12.00 for TWO(quality cost money) to replace one that fell apart this afternoon... from what I've seen over the years EVERYONE uses the cheapest bearings in entry level kits and RTR's... you can almost expect bearing failures unless your takling an AE or losi team kit that cost $100-$200 MORE than a creeper... you get what you pay for and most everyone want's things as cheap as possible... so... corners get cut here and there.

The diffs... well what can i say...they didn't work out for me BUT the fix cost me nothing... if you don't have a welder a bit of JB weld...epoxy putty or a center locker from axial as listed above will fix this issue for little money... the diff issue is not a good reason not to buy a creeper IMHO.

I can't compare the creeper to other kits or RTR's as my only other crawlers are TLT based builds or the wifes MRC... I will say the creeper outa the box hand down kills any TLT based rig i've built.

I'll be buying another creeper soon so the wife can have one to run.

[gking98]

Ya I still think I'm going to get one bit to me It sounds like you had so bad luck haha hopeful it doesn't happen to me.
Thanks for the info=)

[dieselfuel]

actually, so far there are no women in our group but she is more than welcome to come out and hang with all of us. hope to see you soon!

wish i could get my wife to try crawling.

[levijenk]

Alright so i am very new to the rc crawler scene and will be buying one soon. Ive been looking at the creeper and im woundering for a rc beginer is it a good truck or is there another crawler kit that would be better for me?

[aaugman]

Originally Posted by levijenk

Alright so i am very new to the rc crawler scene and will be buying one soon. Ive been looking at the creeper and im woundering for a rc beginer is it a good truck or is there another crawler kit that would be better for me?

I'd go with a RTR Axial if your new to rc and rc crawling, Get a truck thats almost ALL ready to go and start modding and learning from there.

[JeepinItReal]

i just put down the newest copy of rc driver not more than ten minutes ago and they tested the creeper this issue and gave it more praises than your local church goers on any given sunday!:-P now im reading on here that theres issues with the lockers? the only reason im im saying anything is that i had my lhs get one in for my sons b-day present. i let him pick out his present this year and thats what he wanted. im hoping that it wasnt a mistake:-(. i guess that we will have to take the good with the bad. his b-day isnt till april so heres to hoping they make upgraded parts before 4-3-09!!

[JSN]

i just put down the newest copy of rc driver not more than ten minutes ago and they tested the creeper this issue and gave it more praises than your local church goers on any given sunday! now im reading on here that theres issues with the lockers? the only reason im im saying anything is that i had my lhs get one in for my sons b-day present. i let him pick out his present this year and thats what he wanted. im hoping that it wasnt a mistake. i guess that we will have to take the good with the bad. his b-day isnt till april so heres to hoping they make upgraded parts before 4-3-09!!

Hopefully you don't get a kit with overhardened parts... if ya do venom will take care of it but your son probably won't be understanding... as for the diff's... will he be using it just for crawling? if so ya may want to just lock um up from the get go... then again you might not have the trouble me and several others have had with the selectable lockers. I think over all your son will be VERY happy with the way the creeper crawls

[paintz2007]

i just ordered my creeper this morning does anyone know the manufacture numbers or whatever they are called of the kits that have been messed up