Don't get me wrong this thing is a really cool kit, but. . .
I am getting close to my yeti XL kit being assembled and I am starting to lose interest in this kit. Between the random screw lengths all 2mm driver and the flimsy design in places I have started to give up on this build.
My first beef was the diffs. The diff seems wide, every diff I have put together in recent memory has used a set of 6 gears with 4 cross gears and two output gears. The output gears have always sat flush against a washer and the diff case. With the yxl the diff output gears run a raised cross instead of a recessed slot. This seems to make the diff wider than necessary and looks like something that may cause grief under the stress of 1/8 rc power. And why is there a drain plug on my diff, one more little screw to loosen off and grenade everything around it.
Beef number two. The diff ring and pinion. I have seen a lot of people having issues with the ring pinion setup on this thing. I would spend money on a lower gear ratio in the diff even if it was weaker than stock. Lower diff ratio means less torque twist under power.
Beef number three. The 2.5mm screws that secure the pinion gear in the diff housing. Come on. Really. I stripped the first one and immediately asked wtf who wouldn't use a bigger set of 3 screws or even some small plate to secure this gear so that it does not slide onto the diff causing all kinds if problems.
Number four. Steering, what is this flimsy bit if plastic here for? Look at any well built 1/8 kit. You will see a steering bellcrank with a spring on a larger round post with a threaded nut against it for a servo saver. Not some bunk two little screws holding down a spring that are turning some very large rc tires. Then there is the steering link which from what I have seen is smaller on the xl then on the 1/10 yeti.
Fifth. Hinge pins. What were you thinking. 3mm bolts as a hinge pin may pass on a 1/10 buggy, but this is almost 1/5 scale. This thing should at least run some proper 3.5 hinge pins which might hold up to some hardcore bashers, the little outer hinge pins look like they will rip through the suspension arms at the lightest wobble.
Six. Inner hinge pins. The front inner pins are tougher than the outer, but omg wtf. I had to use a screw driver pried against the plastic housing to tighten them. Hopefully they snap when it crashes because I can't imagine how much of a pain it will be to try take those hinge pins out when the pins are bent and the nuts are in such a stupid location that I can't put a pliers on them.
Seven. Rear suspension arm mounts. Why can the arms not just mount to the chassis. They mount to mounting brackets which do not bolt flat onto anything. The uppers share bolts that run through the complicated rear shock tower and the lower help hold the battery doors on. 14 bolts in total hold the 4 arms to the chassis. Where if the mounts were moulded in it would be 4.
Number eight. Complicated front bulkhead. Took me a few hours to get this thing attached to the chassis. So many screws, and why do they need to be so long. I have seen truggies clip a steel pole at 30mph and bounce off where all that is holding the entire front end on is 4 screws through a bulkhead. This crazy thing uses like 16, 3 mm screws of many different lengths to hold the several pieced front bulkhead together.
Number Nine. Weird screw lengths and unnecessarily complicated assemblies. Why not use the same sized screws on the whole body, there are a few random ones that are longer and some that are shorter and every hole is only moulded deep enough for a specific screw. Frustration over load for me 15, 18, and 20mm screw are all pretty close and I had to take things apart more than once to find the shorter screw. I lost a few in the rear axle, lost two on the body, lost one in the rear shock tower, and I have yet to figure out why the rear arms all have different 3mm nuts.
Number 10. The rear suspension arm aluminium braces. I don't think they are any tougher than the stock plastic ones that actually wrap around the arm. I initially thought the aluminium braces were an addition to the stock two piece arms. But they were not. The upper arms were also exceedingly complicated with two braces and a bunch of extra screws and nuts holding them together.
Number 11. Plastic motor mount. I haven't seen one of these since I used to run a cheap brushed onroad car. This thing is large, bigger than an e revo 1/10 and even they run an aluminium motor mount. Why is it plastic?
I am getting close to my yeti XL kit being assembled and I am starting to lose interest in this kit. Between the random screw lengths all 2mm driver and the flimsy design in places I have started to give up on this build.
My first beef was the diffs. The diff seems wide, every diff I have put together in recent memory has used a set of 6 gears with 4 cross gears and two output gears. The output gears have always sat flush against a washer and the diff case. With the yxl the diff output gears run a raised cross instead of a recessed slot. This seems to make the diff wider than necessary and looks like something that may cause grief under the stress of 1/8 rc power. And why is there a drain plug on my diff, one more little screw to loosen off and grenade everything around it.
Beef number two. The diff ring and pinion. I have seen a lot of people having issues with the ring pinion setup on this thing. I would spend money on a lower gear ratio in the diff even if it was weaker than stock. Lower diff ratio means less torque twist under power.
Beef number three. The 2.5mm screws that secure the pinion gear in the diff housing. Come on. Really. I stripped the first one and immediately asked wtf who wouldn't use a bigger set of 3 screws or even some small plate to secure this gear so that it does not slide onto the diff causing all kinds if problems.
Number four. Steering, what is this flimsy bit if plastic here for? Look at any well built 1/8 kit. You will see a steering bellcrank with a spring on a larger round post with a threaded nut against it for a servo saver. Not some bunk two little screws holding down a spring that are turning some very large rc tires. Then there is the steering link which from what I have seen is smaller on the xl then on the 1/10 yeti.
Fifth. Hinge pins. What were you thinking. 3mm bolts as a hinge pin may pass on a 1/10 buggy, but this is almost 1/5 scale. This thing should at least run some proper 3.5 hinge pins which might hold up to some hardcore bashers, the little outer hinge pins look like they will rip through the suspension arms at the lightest wobble.
Six. Inner hinge pins. The front inner pins are tougher than the outer, but omg wtf. I had to use a screw driver pried against the plastic housing to tighten them. Hopefully they snap when it crashes because I can't imagine how much of a pain it will be to try take those hinge pins out when the pins are bent and the nuts are in such a stupid location that I can't put a pliers on them.
Seven. Rear suspension arm mounts. Why can the arms not just mount to the chassis. They mount to mounting brackets which do not bolt flat onto anything. The uppers share bolts that run through the complicated rear shock tower and the lower help hold the battery doors on. 14 bolts in total hold the 4 arms to the chassis. Where if the mounts were moulded in it would be 4.
Number eight. Complicated front bulkhead. Took me a few hours to get this thing attached to the chassis. So many screws, and why do they need to be so long. I have seen truggies clip a steel pole at 30mph and bounce off where all that is holding the entire front end on is 4 screws through a bulkhead. This crazy thing uses like 16, 3 mm screws of many different lengths to hold the several pieced front bulkhead together.
Number Nine. Weird screw lengths and unnecessarily complicated assemblies. Why not use the same sized screws on the whole body, there are a few random ones that are longer and some that are shorter and every hole is only moulded deep enough for a specific screw. Frustration over load for me 15, 18, and 20mm screw are all pretty close and I had to take things apart more than once to find the shorter screw. I lost a few in the rear axle, lost two on the body, lost one in the rear shock tower, and I have yet to figure out why the rear arms all have different 3mm nuts.
Number 10. The rear suspension arm aluminium braces. I don't think they are any tougher than the stock plastic ones that actually wrap around the arm. I initially thought the aluminium braces were an addition to the stock two piece arms. But they were not. The upper arms were also exceedingly complicated with two braces and a bunch of extra screws and nuts holding them together.
Number 11. Plastic motor mount. I haven't seen one of these since I used to run a cheap brushed onroad car. This thing is large, bigger than an e revo 1/10 and even they run an aluminium motor mount. Why is it plastic?
