Axial ridgecrest review.

[Nvghostrider]

I've owned my axial ridgecrest for a month now, and here is my review.

What I've liked so far is that it's fun to drive. It's wild, and does pretty good in sand, mud, and over some small jumps. I've had fun bashing it.

Here's what I don't like about the ridgecrest. Let's just say I haven't had problems with the ESC, reciever, transmission, differentials, and the shocks. The transmitter is garbage. It will stick left every now and again, and it's inferiorating. The fasteners on this thing are absolutely terrible. I've replaced all the ones that I had replacements for. They fell out, stripped out, you name it. The servo is junk. It's weakness is tolerable, but after less than a month, the nylon bushing has a lot of slop in it. The motor is just about cooked. I had to reduce the gearing from a 20t to a 18t to keep the heat down.

Overall, I'm disappointed with the ridgecrest as a RTR. I have to replace the radio, servo, and the motor. This is BS in a RTR kit. I could have gotten a wraith kit or scx10 kit for the same or less with most of the upgraded parts I want, and just buy all the electronics I have to replace anyways.

My conclusion is to not buy a ridgecrest. It's poorly built, and the electronics are junk. I just don't think you should have to upgrade fasteners and all the RTR components out of the box.

I'm going to buy an affordable servo, get a traxxas reciever to use with my slash transmitter, and just get a new motor when this one fails. Might as well make it useable since I'm stuck with it.

Aggravation is totally understandable especially with all the issues you've had with this model. Some seems to be a bit on the user but most is definitely QC issues. Gotta love RC!

On a lighter note I just can't read the initial post without chuckling due to the underlined portion of the post. Aside from my wife and her stupid high IQ I'm not sure anything RC related has made me feel inferior, yet.

 

[HARDKNOCKZ]

Yeah, The trend is Axial gets you coming and going.

Here's the thing...having the privelage to hang & drive with some of the Axial boys that design these rigs...I know 1st hand that their hands are pretty much tied. When they designed the XR...they were told to take it back & make the price point BELOW $300. These guys are crawlers & would LOVE to make a $2,000 PLUS RTR but I DO understand where Axial's coming from. How many RTR's do you think will be sold if they were over even $500?

Axial's a company like any other...they're there to make money. That's why they release kits. So those of us that wanna rig that can stand up to more than the occasional bash session during the family's camping trips have something to work with without throwing half of the product away.

I DO understand the frustration & agree that the hardware issue SHOULDN'T have happened but to say that Axial's out to sell shabby product to line their pockets is pretty harsh. Axial's pretty damn good at standing behind their product. I'm sure an email would get ya handled. "thumbsup"

J.D.

 

[chevotafun]

We expect if you want a beefy version that you need to add money. I just think axial should upgrade the screws so they don't fall out. I've had no chassis issues since replacing screws with m3 screws. I think the radio could work a little better though. Glitch free isn't much to ask for.

I agree u should not have to replace the screw or even have to tighten them.
You must of just got a bad one cause i have had none of these issues with mine."thumbsup"

 

[project_mayhem]

Aggravation is totally understandable especially with all the issues you've had with this model. Some seems to be a bit on the user but most is definitely QC issues. Gotta love RC!

On a lighter note I just can't read the initial post without chuckling due to the underlined portion of the post. Aside from my wife and her stupid high IQ I'm not sure anything RC related has made me feel inferior, yet.

iPhone auto-correct is infuriating too.:ror:

 

[SwampDawg]

Samsung Omnia xt9 is also infuriating!
wait.....so is my cellphone provider!! lol

 

[dragginbody]

I agree u should not have to replace the screw or even have to tighten them.
You must of just got a bad one cause i have had none of these issues with mine."thumbsup"

While I agree that some of the issues I've read regarding the screw issue with the Ridgecrest have been what I could call excessive, I would have to say that part of any RC maintenance is to check for loose screws.

 

[project_mayhem]

While I agree that some of the issues I've read regarding the screw issue with the Ridgecrest have been what I could call excessive, I would have to say that part of any RC maintenance is to check for loose screws.

The kicker is that these things are really tough once the screws are upgraded. The m3 x .5 mm screws don't loosen up at all. It's a sweet rig, but the screws are junk. Maybe axial will upgrade them for their next production run.