Jump to content
Illogical

Fixing other peoples blunders

Recommended Posts

What have you got your hands on that someone else built to then find they somehow managed to completely mess it up?

Here's what I've found on a newly built CR-01 Rock Socker from Ebay:

1. They don't appear to have used any thread lock anywhere. Result = everything gets loose and falls apart.

2. The rear springs were on the front, and the fronts on the rear. Result = not much difference to be fair.

3. The front and rear hub carriers and knuckles are secured on the output ends of both front and rear axles with 10mm screws instead of 8mm screws. Result: the screws make contact with the steel axle shaft. Swarfe city inside the axles and a nice groove on the shafts. Every one of them...where did the 8mm screws get used instead? Who knows...

4. The front stabilizer rod must have been forgotten during the build - never mind just stuff it in later. Result = rod bent like a banana.

5. Can't get your spanner on those ball nuts to hold them while tightening the srew? Why not just grip them with pliers instead. Result = scratched up ball connectors.

6. Put the ball sockets on the front servo plate in the wrong place. Result = fouls the back of the servo, pushing it forward and the servo saver fouling the protection bars.

7. Put the front suspension mounts on the axles upside down. Result = the axle link arms foul the mounts and suspension travel is reduced to about 1cm.

8. Loose a 22mm screw for attaching the damper to the chassis? Just use a 28mm screw instead.

9. Put spacers on the link arms on one side but not the other.

For now I've given up taking the model apart further as there were no ball bearings fitted so I've ordered a set...there's no point thread locking anything until they arrive.

I also got another newly built CC-01 lately - this seller did a much better job but still managed to put washers on the wrong side of a ball joint. Still nothing like the mistakes made on the CR-01.

Let's hear your stories!

 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

nothing much, bought a King Blackfoot that someone had fitted the front shock to the wrong side of the wishbone.  So every time you cornered the shock fouled the tyre jamming it and causing the truck to flip.  Everything else has either been so damaged that you can't actually tell what is damage and  incompetence.  I have had some with some interesting engineering but it actually repaired some damage and allowed the car to still be used as designed

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Usually when I get my hands on well used Tamiyas, there are wood screws all over the place where once plastic self tappers used to be.

  • Like 1

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Bought a mad bull for peanuts sold on ebay for spares or repairs. When I got the gearbox was very tight, and the car looked like it was hardly run. Took it apart and found the diff was incorrectly assembled, and I think the  motor has been attached with the wrong screw holes being used. Re-assembled it correctly and it ran a treat. Also had a similar thing with a clod, where the washers had been replaced on the axles with non standard ones, causing the transmission to pinch when the gearboxes were tightened up. Replaced the washer with the correct items and I had a nearly mint clod for a bargain price.

I won't mention the horror stories, which have fortunately been few.

 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I've only ever bought 2 rigs used.

CC-01 bought last Christmas.  The original owner built it perfectly and exactly to manual specifications.  The body was completely untouched with all accessories included in the box along with empty sprues and extra bits.  So that was a win.

Losi Ten SCTE recently purchased for my son.  There were a number of wrong screws used, the most significant of which are:

  • on the bell crank = sloppy steering on the left
  • on the front suspension arm = stripped holes and minor interference of range of motion

He also inexplicably decided to cut out the center of the shock diaphragms so they're now donuts.  :blink:  I have no idea what the purpose of that would be.  Other than some wear items that I need to replace it was ok.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

1. I wouldn't start calling people incompetent public forum.

2. You've clearly got issues with the way this model has been assembled by another person.

3. YOUR experience may be a lot more than the original model builder's.

This doesn't mean they are incompetent in the slightest, your standards are clearly much higher than someone else's.

 

Personally I don't always locktite screws in my RCs does that make me incompetent ? 

 

Yes the model may have had some issues, you don't know the story behind the maker, he/she could have an issue which means they don't follow instructions too well despite the pictures.

 

So my advise, get off your high horse, take the time to enjoy rebuilding this model and stop *****ing about it.

  • Like 1

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I doubt whoever built the CR-01 is on this forum, I've not named anyone - also it was supposed to be more a lighthearted look back on things experienced where you just can't believe how someone can mess up something so bad or recount bizarre fixes which may or may not work.

I'm actually happy no thread lock was used in this case - I'd feel sorry for someone though if they purchased a freshly built model then go out to use it and it falls apart on them. I've spent 30 minutes looking for screws and washers in the grass myself, because I didn't use threadlock.

I suppose incompetence is a harsh word, but I couldn't think of any other at the time - I'll edit it if I can think of one.

  • Like 1

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

The bladders have most likely been cut to convert them into emulsion type shocks, a lot of high end race tackle use them because it apparently gives a much better feel and are easier to get right (avoids hydro locking etc). Another benefit is that the emulsion shock doesn’t get stiffer during repeated compressions or towards the end of the shock stroke. This makes the performance of the shock feel smoother on the track. My race buggies (associated B5m and DEX 410) run them so I'd be tempted to leave the Losi shocks cut since an off roader needs the suppleness that emulsion can give. 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I don't buy used vehicles, so if there is a blunder, it's all my fault lol. :lol:

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Bought a mint condition TA03R-S off ebay a while back and when it arrived it was indeed mint everything was like brand new. But it didn't roll, no motor in it and it was so hard to push along the carpet, opening up the gearboxes, explained why. They had used some sort of thick heavy car grease and just filled the gearboxes with the stuff :( Why do people do that? You wouldn't believe how long it took to clean it all out and off all the gears too.

James

:)

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

We all have different standards when it comes to building our RC's, I have certainly had my fair share of second hand wood screwed and all manner of things done to an RC I have bought, but who's to say even my builds are perfect? I remember (not going to mention names), another member filing and sanding down sprue flashes so they were a polished finish like the rest of the plastic, Imagine if you had sold your second hand rc to someone more meticulous and they thought your builds were substandard?

Don't forget, as a kid with limited funds most of us were trying to find whatever we could to keep our beloved cars running. And even nowadays, I find with every build,I am lifting my standards, and I bet you all are too.

We have all got to start somewhere...

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

A couple of the screws in the Hotshot I have just received are definitely NOT the ones shown in the manual but judging the state of the vehicle, I'd say it was a 'running repair' rather than a blunder. They certainly add character!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Maybe let's turn this on its head, and ask what terrible bodges you've done in the past?

I've had my share of used vintage cars with wood screws holding them together.  But when you're a kid with no budget, your favourite toy is dead, and the only spares are what you can find in your dad's tool shed, you make do with what you can.  I did some very odd repairs on my Tamiyas when I was younger, including using a selection of cheap Meccano-imitation stuff and the shock absorber from a Hilux to repair a broken shock tower on a Grasshopper.  Oddly enough it never handled very well after that :D

Also I was a terribly lazy kid - if the tool I needed was in the shed and I was in the house, I'd use what I had to hand instead of going to get what I needed.  Pliers if I didn't have a spanner, scissors if I didn't have pliers.

My parents once bought me a Lego pneumatic set that could build 3 or 4 different models.  It came with a great long roll of rubber pneumatic tube that had to be cut to certain lengths.  Building one of the models, I needed a length that I should already have had, but I couldn't be bothered to hunt through the parts to find it, so I cut another length of the remains of the roll.  Then I got to the final page of the instructions and needed a long length of rubber tube to complete the model.  I'd just cut the last long length.  I was too embarrassed to tell my parents, so I never did finish building that model.

Even now I've made errors putting stuff together.  Sometimes I get the wrong screw by mistake and don't notice until later in the build, when I don't have the screws I need.  I'm sure I had to dismantle half my TT02 because I'd put the wrong screws in somewhere.

  • Like 1

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
11 hours ago, Effigy3 said:

He also inexplicably decided to cut out the center of the shock diaphragms so they're now donuts.  :blink:  

I can hear the thought process now! 

"These lousy expensive Losi rubbish...They havent even punched out the O-Rings properly...Do i have to fix EVERYTHING!"

  • Like 1

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
30 minutes ago, Mad Ax said:

Maybe let's turn this on its head, and ask what terrible bodges you've done in the past?

Not a bodge but an error. 

Just finished building my MF-01X Jimny and set it off to crash straight into the wall whilst turning. Turns out (see my other post about it) that i have a reversed direction servo. I thought ALL servos just worked the same direction and never bothered checking it. I also never understood the need for a servo tester...until now. 

Anyone thats build the MF-01X will know a servo swap isnt exactly as simple as removing it from a grasshopper chassis...Its a pretty major disassembly job.

NOW i understand the use of a servo tester :D

 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Sometimes it can work to your advantage...

A couple of years ago I bought a used TXT-1. It was in good condition, had hardly been used but the guy was selling it because it wasn't running right. The seller was very open about the problem and the price was very good so I took a chance.

It came with a 4-channel radio so front and rear could be steered independently - that all worked fine. But it wouldn't reach full speed (using the kit MSC). The reason? The radio he'd used was really an aero set and for whatever reason only allowed 2/3 servo travel on the channel he'd used for the throttle. A little tinkering and soon everything was working as it should. That truck has been one of our most-used runners ever since.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
20 minutes ago, IBIFTKH said:

It came with a 4-channel radio so front and rear could be steered independently - that all worked fine. But it wouldn't reach full speed (using the kit MSC). The reason? The radio he'd used was really an aero set and for whatever reason only allowed 2/3 servo travel on the channel he'd used for the throttle. A little tinkering and soon everything was working as it should. That truck has been one of our most-used runners ever since.

Had similar myself.  Built a new WR02 last year, and the steering was awful.  I used a new model memory on my DX3C handset, centralised the trim, but the supplied servo saver was either too far right or too far left on the servo splines.  I had to have the trim wound fully over one way to get it to steer straight. Then, I could get full steering in one direction but only partial in the other.  It was a pig.  I stripped it down and tried again, this time fitting the servo saver the other way.  Now it was the other way around.  I adjusted the endpoints, steering rates, expos, everything I could think of, a million times.  It was so bad it wasn't really driveable.  At the Revival, 20 minutes before the Wheelie Race, I bought a new cheap servo from the shop on site, figuring it had to be a badly-made servo.  15 minutes of swapping and the new one was in.  And, hey presto, trimmed to dead centre, the servo horn wouldn't fit straight.  GAAAH!!

To be honest, I totally forgot about it until the Revival this year.  I hadn't really used the Monster Mini at all (due to this very problem) but I was entered in the Wheelie Race and I had to do something, so I tried something I've never done before.  I hit "reset" on my DX3C handset.

Et, voila!  Centralised steering and full travel restored!

I have no idea what the underlying issue was, all I can assume is that I'd either been testing on that model memory before (but never set the name, so I assumed it was an empty slot) and had put in some really odd settings, or somehow the base setting has become corrupted and no amount of adjustment was ever going to fix it.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
15 hours ago, Illogical said:

What have you got your hands on that someone else built to then find they somehow managed to completely mess it up?

Here's what I've found on a newly built CR-01 Rock Socker from Ebay:

1. They don't appear to have used any thread lock anywhere. Result = everything gets loose and falls apart.

2. The rear springs were on the front, and the fronts on the rear. Result = not much difference to be fair.

3. The front and rear hub carriers and knuckles are secured on the output ends of both front and rear axles with 10mm screws instead of 8mm screws. Result: the screws make contact with the steel axle shaft. Swarfe city inside the axles and a nice groove on the shafts. Every one of them...where did the 8mm screws get used instead? Who knows...

4. The front stabilizer rod must have been forgotten during the build - never mind just stuff it in later. Result = rod bent like a banana.

5. Can't get your spanner on those ball nuts to hold them while tightening the srew? Why not just grip them with pliers instead. Result = scratched up ball connectors.

6. Put the ball sockets on the front servo plate in the wrong place. Result = fouls the back of the servo, pushing it forward and the servo saver fouling the protection bars.

7. Put the front suspension mounts on the axles upside down. Result = the axle link arms foul the mounts and suspension travel is reduced to about 1cm.

8. Loose a 22mm screw for attaching the damper to the chassis? Just use a 28mm screw instead.

9. Put spacers on the link arms on one side but not the other.

I told you not to buy my CR-01. Real men don't use manuals! ;)

  • Like 2

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

LOL!

One thing I'll say though - the CR-01 build isn't that easy as it's sort of a symettrical vehicle you have to do lots of things four times with maybe just small variations - front and rear diagrams look almost identical right next to each other too, look at the wrong one and you'll make mistakes or get quite confused. And how many screw holes are there? The options for building them a little different to the manual are endless.

 Just add beer to the equation and you probably would end up with something similar to mine.

Still I really like the model - it's certainly very heavy on nuts and bolts! Although some sort of center differential or slipper would have been good, I think big jumps are out of the question unfortunately.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

So far my experience of used Tamiyas consists of a F103, and the only blunder I came across was that it had been built exactly according to the manual, even down to the plastic and bronze bushings. Surely everyone knows that they should be replaced with bearings at the outset? :)

 

  • Like 1

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Umm, when I was young (teens) I used to knock up bits for my hornet to keep it going out of anything that was lying around.

For example, bushes for the front wheels out of lego.

Most of my cars have been put together by others, though I've usually stripped them al the way down then put them back together. Can't think of anything that I'd call incompetence or blunders. There have been things that I didn't agree with and subsequently changed/replaced.

Yeah most of the blunders have been my own I'm afraid.
I've owned a TRF 501x for years now. I was quite fastidious in the way I put it together. It ran well. Recently I took it down and refurbished it a bit. I had no idea until I'd done this just how wrong I'd set up/constructed the drive train on it. It was a miracle it didn't destroy itself.

It's kind of strange when you have to quiz yourself on what the badword you were thinking back when you built it.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

And speaking of my own blunders,

I got impatient trying to clean paint off a DF-03 body shell using brake fluid.
So I tried using paint thinners. After many on here said don't, it'll make the shell brittle.
It literally fell to bits in my hands.
Really should listen to people sometimes.

  • Like 1

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now

×
×
  • Create New...