So who here thinks their Avante is arrogant and hates them?

[Pintopower 1456]

I for one do. Here is why.

I bought mine on ebay as a new build will very little run time on it. It was like new. I took it out to the track and carefully ran it around. I fell in love with how well it tracked, jumped and handled.

Five minutes later, the center diff went loose and that was the end of driving it.

The next outing the front diff went loose after a minute.

Outing after that, the front shock fell off after 4 laps.

Next outing I tightened all the loose screws and then the other front shock fell off on lap 2.

Next time the rear diff went loose after a lap.

Next time center diff went loose as the front tire fell off not having completed a lap.

These events were 6 separate trips to the track.

So, I think the issue is that the person who built it did so with out any thread lock. either that or that beautiful chassis just wants to sit on a shelf like a super model lounging on a beach. Don't get me wrong, I love to look at it but I don't have shelf cars. I have toys. The fact that this butt head will not run greater than 5 minutes has gotten very old. I am used to Hornets (which never, ever, ever, ever need maintenance and RC10's which are as reliable as an old shopping trolley.

Any tips from you Avante hard core owners would be great. I have no intention of being mean to this car nor to I plan on running anything more than a stock brushed motor. Mine is a rere but I imagine most of the tips would be congruent between the two.

I just want to pretend for a minute that this car is not making fun of me.

Thanks!

[Grastens 2795]

I thought this was an opinion poll... My Avante has been a diva relative to my other runners, but it has still managed to go more than 5 minutes without breaking things! Your Avante's maladies sound like a lack of threadlock and maybe some anti-wear grease for the loose differentials (I trust you are running ball types?).

Did you use threadlock after retightening all the screws? I notice the ones threading into plastic tend to shred if one is not careful, but having everything falling apart again sounds either like a lack of it or just terrible luck!

[Pintopower 1456]

I thought this was an opinion poll... My Avante has been a diva relative to my other runners, but it has still managed to go more than 5 minutes without breaking things! Your Avante's maladies sound like a lack of threadlock and maybe some anti-wear grease for the loose differentials (I trust you are running ball types?).

Did you use threadlock after retightening all the screws? I notice the ones threading into plastic tend to shred if one is not careful, but having everything falling apart again sounds either like a lack of it or just terrible luck!

Sorry I did make it sound like a poll. Everything that has come apart has been thread locked back together. As for the diffs, they are ball type but I did not ever thread lock those. I've never thread locked the diff before but I think you're probably right, a bit of thread lock on the nut should prevent this in the future. I think overall the problems that this car has have to do with the fact that it was built as a shelter and not a driver.

[Tamiya1/10 382]

That is why i don't like RTR as i don't know if the builder did it with TLC or just slam bang thank you mam. I also go over all the nuts and bolts before and after each run, kind of like a pilot doing a walk around the aircraft before airborne.

I guess is always good, if possible, to take the model apart and put it back together to see no parts were missing, properly tighten, right parts used etc, plus you will know the model better.

[Gruntfuggly 562]

Sounds like a very good reason to strip it completely and re assemble it yourself - that's half the fun for me anyway!

[GregM 1109]

Yay +1 on reassembly. It makes fun and you may end up with finding the causes for the faults. At least it did for me when I purchased a runner F-150 Blackfoot and Baja Champ - they looked decent enough on the outside, but they had some nasty secrets hidden inside.

[kontemax 1725]

I believe that the model has been badly assembled.

Simply.

I never, and I say never, had all these problems with my Avantes or Egresses.

I used center ball diff on all my Avante chassies, on the Egress also, and never had a problem.

I used powerfull brushed motors like 11 turns with 8.4V batteries, so plenty of torque, speed and power.

I believe than many issues could depend also by your driving style maybe.

Max

[Terz1 745]

The avante was my childhood buggy , I still appreciate getting bought it to this day as it's never been a cheap kit. It got sold along the the way though which is something I still regret.

Anyway as for them being weak and troublesome it's something I never found with mine. It took loads of abuse and always came back for more.

As others have mentioned. Strip it completely down and reassemble it so you know everything is done right. I've just stripped down a second hand original blackfoot and the screws they used! I think they just went to b&q and shoved what ever fit in the hole in some places.

Actually ignore everything I've said. The avante is a rubbish buggy! Sell it to me!

[kontemax 1725]

Why sell the Avante to Terz1 when you can donate it to me?

Max

The avante is a rubbish buggy! Sell it to me!

[Tamiya1/10 382]

Most able body with available time will likely take apart RTR or New build to make sure all is well, but those few with limitation may not be able to do a full strip down. i guess the only solution is to find someone willing to do it for a fee or as,a friend. Maybe TC can provide this service to members with limitation?

[Scorpn 18]

Yay +1 on reassembly. It makes fun and you may end up with finding the causes for the faults. At least it did for me when I purchased a runner F-150 Blackfoot and Baja Champ - they looked decent enough on the outside, but they had some nasty secrets hidden inside.

I strip, clean and reassemble all the cars I buy now unless I built them new, like Greg I had some very nasty surprises and some odd things like a Sandmaster missing one diff bearing - My AvanteI built my self and it tended to break the suspension bits - May have had something to do with my driving into things

[GTodd 1346]

Sorry you're having issues. I built my Black almost two years ago and it have been very reliable, with brushless power!!! New Ball diffs slip and will need to be tighten afte a few runs, maybe yours was a shelfer. The other issues sound like nothing a little hobby grade red loctite wont fix. Good luck.

[Pintopower 1456]

You're not using threadlock on screws which go into plastic, are you? Threadlock tends to eat plastic...

If the diff nut is a nylock type you shouldn't use thread lock on that either. It'll go floppy and nobody wants that.

Dorvack.

Nope, no thread lock into plastic. Only metal to metal.

What I have done was strip the thing down and rebuild it. Now everything metal has thread lock and the car seems to feel more solid. This could very well be all in my head.

I believe that the model has been badly assembled.

Simply.

I never, and I say never, had all these problems with my Avantes or Egresses.

I used center ball diff on all my Avante chassies, on the Egress also, and never had a problem.

I used powerfull brushed motors like 11 turns with 8.4V batteries, so plenty of torque, speed and power.

I believe than many issues could depend also by your driving style maybe.

Max

I agree on the driving style, some people are crazy with their cars. I will tell you this, the car has never been rolled over and has jumped a handful of times. I enjoy driving it but I have no desire to break it. Most of the times the car falls apart is going down a straight path. I hope now that the car has been rebuilt by someone who cares (that isn't fair to the original builder, I am sure he/she wanted a display piece).

Maybe now the car will be happy.

[94eg! 834]

This car should not require any thread-lock. The problem is the assembly quality is poor. The builder didn't know how to properly torque the screws. Especially screws plastic into serrated lock nuts. I had the same problem way back when I first assembled my Vanquish. I was a novice coming from simple cars like Hornets & Kyosho Raiders. These race cars are a whole new world.

The F&R ball-diff screws already have blue thread-lock on them from the factory. The reason they are loosening is because they are running in. This is normal with any adjustable ball diff. You will always need to re-adjust during or after the 1st few runs. Set your front diff so the wheels only make 3/4 of a turn with a spin from your open palm. Set the rear so it makes 1 full turn. It will require some trial & error.

For the center diff, it wasn't assembled correctly. The screw in the center diff should be torqued down like any screw into metal. The center diff is not adjustable and just has one setting. It should be very difficult to turn by hand, and will even spin over a pretty strong brushed motor. It's only meant to allow a little give between the front & rear gearboxes.

[Pintopower 1456]

This car should not require any thread-lock. The problem is the assembly quality is poor. The builder didn't know how to properly torque the screws. Especially screws plastic into serrated lock nuts. I had the same problem way back when I first assembled my Vanquish. I was a novice coming from simple cars like Hornets & Kyosho Raiders. These race cars are a whole new world.

The F&R ball-diff screws already have blue thread-lock on them from the factory. The reason they are loosening is because they are running in. This is normal with any adjustable ball diff. You will always need to re-adjust during or after the 1st few runs. Set your front diff so the wheels only make 3/4 of a turn with a spin from your open palm. Set the rear so it makes 1 full turn. It will require some trial & error.

For the center diff, it wasn't assembled correctly. The screw in the center diff should be torqued down like any screw into metal. The center diff is not adjustable and just has one setting. It should be very difficult to turn by hand, and will even spin over a pretty strong brushed motor. It's only meant to allow a little give between the front & rear gearboxes.

Thank you very much for the information. I will re-assess the diffs when I get home. I am looking forward to it running well.

[RichieRich 685]

Yeah, I definitely recommend a complete disassembly/reassembly of used car purchases. I can't tell you how many times I've run across incorrect builds where someone has used a left part on the right side, massively over-tightened screws or just completely left off parts.