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Are you more concerned about cosmetic breakages or mechanical failures?

You've got beasts like the Bruiser which are big heavy and fragile... they don't last long if you trash it like an RC model. 

Clodbuster & Grasshopper, they'll keep running fine long after their hard bodies are cracked to shreds. 

WR02 & CW01, they're hopeless handlers & they seem to survive a beating... but after a while their plastics suddenly show their tiredness. 

Always amazed at how rugged the CC01 is though.

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I'm sure the Mad Bull deserves an honourable mention in the "Strong" category. It is one of the most commonly-recommended beginners' cars because of its ruggedness. Sure, the hardbody can crack, but the chassis is one of the toughest out there.

 

I am also pretty impressed with the toughness of my F103. It has survived numerous crashes into solid objects at full race speeds, with nothing more than cosmetic marks to show for it. And on the occasions that I haven't finished last, it has been because my car has carried on going where other more modern and expensive ones have broken and had to retire.

 

In the "Weak" category, possibly the Hotshot deserves a mention? I don't own one, but my mate has let me have a go with all of his cars apart from his Hotshot, because he is apparently worried that I might break it.

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Most durable of the ones I have experience of are the Hornet and TB-01. Both seem bullet-proof.

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CC01 for sure. Mine is on about it's fourth "lifetime" and has had more stripped screw holes fixed than any other car, but it just keeps chugging along.

TL01 deserves a mention as well, as long as you avoid the "lightweight" chassis (probably hard to find these days anyway). Those things were tanks.

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5 minutes ago, markbt73 said:

CC01 for sure. Mine is on about it's fourth "lifetime" and has had more stripped screw holes fixed than any other car, but it just keeps chugging along.

TL01 deserves a mention as well, as long as you avoid the "lightweight" chassis (probably hard to find these days anyway). Those things were tanks.

Any trick on how to fix stripped screw holes?

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1 hour ago, TurnipJF said:

In the "Weak" category, possibly the Hotshot deserves a mention? I don't own one, but my mate has let me have a go with all of his cars apart from his Hotshot, because he is apparently worried that I might break it.

Nah, IMHO Hotshot drivertrain is pretty tough. Mine's done serious mileage since 1987 & it's still surviving. MantaRay is hardy too but the one in between Thundershot feels weaker.

TB01 was engineered off gasser TG10, it's chunky. Later TBs were lighter-build so they're less of a tank. TL01 & M03 don't have much issues apart from impact-related but the TT01, even if it's all plastic, is pretty hard to kill.

 

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8 minutes ago, Rb4276 said:

Any trick on how to fix stripped screw holes?

Super glue, toothpick, machine screw, oversized wood screw, some combination of those. I just do whatever works, unless it's a vintage car, and then I replace the part if I can.

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2 hours ago, WillyChang said:

Are you more concerned about cosmetic breakages or mechanical failures?

You've got beasts like the Bruiser which are big heavy and fragile... they don't last long if you trash it like an RC model. 

Clodbuster & Grasshopper, they'll keep running fine long after their hard bodies are cracked to shreds. 

WR02 & CW01, they're hopeless handlers & they seem to survive a beating... but after a while their plastics suddenly show their tiredness. 

Always amazed at how rugged the CC01 is though.

Mechanical for me.

I had a blizter stadium truck years ago that I remember being solid and a Hummer Tamiya which I think is the CC01 and never had an serious issues.... the wheels kept falling off in the beginning for some reason though.

I will say for durability my HPI Blitz with gear diff has been unbreakable.  Gone through several bodies already and a few sets of tires.

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19 minutes ago, markbt73 said:

Super glue, toothpick, machine screw, oversized wood screw, some combination of those. I just do whatever works, unless it's a vintage car, and then I replace the part if I can.

This might sound dumb but let the super glue harden first right? I just want to make sure lol

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T Hummer is a TA01/2 hybrid for longer wheelbase; its guts are same as MantaRay mentioned earlier.

my Blitz broke its gear diff case! :blink: took such a long slog to find a spare, I guess I must be 'special'... just like when I broke an HPI RS4 shock shaft.

 

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I've found Hornet's are fairly bullet proof.

A Frog's gearbox on the other hand..

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So far the mad bull has shown a few design issues but TBH very simple fixes all to do with the steering.

The TT-01 is OK but shouldn't be classed as a basher - purely because it's ground clearance is poor and within a day of doing a few small jumps in my garden I was able to crack the top of gear casing. Ended up having to drill through the tops and putting holding bolts as the screw threads had been stripped.

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TB01 is basically indestructable.

Frog / Brat / Lanca / Blackfoot etc all have pathetic gearboxes, the steering bends easily and the chassis is pretty easy to break. They handle poorly and the centre of gravity is too high. I have 3... love them!

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TB01. Bomb proof. Been running mine with various motors and setups since 2000. Only thing ive broke is a shock tower from a full speed head on crash with a TL01. Playing chicken and both turned the same way.

 

The madbull is a tank. And would probably right off a Volvo in a crash.

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20 hours ago, njmlondon said:

TB01 is basically indestructable.

Frog / Brat / Lanca / Blackfoot etc all have pathetic gearboxes, the steering bends easily and the chassis is pretty easy to break. They handle poorly and the centre of gravity is too high. I have 3... love them!

Steering rods bend or something else?

Also, what cracks on the chassis and anyway to prevent?

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The stock rods on the Lancia and Brat are pretty thin and bend easily. Not too hard to beef them up though.

It may just be old plastic but I have cracked a couple by overtightening screws, even though I was pretty careful. Certainly not as strong as modern plastics in XV01 or TB01 chassis.

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If you replace the A5 part I think the Thundershot chassis cars are pretty tough. Been impressed with my DT03 too with a couple of choice aluminium part replacements. The lunchbox does seem to be completely bombproof though.

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On 18.4.2017 at 8:27 PM, WillyChang said:

Nah, IMHO Hotshot drivertrain is pretty tough. Mine's done serious mileage since 1987 & it's still surviving. MantaRay is hardy too but the one in between Thundershot feels weaker.

 

I am with WillyChang. The Hotshot/Boomerang etc. drivetrain can take a beating. I got a Super Sabre that was used and abused a lot, it was even ran over by a real car and still no damage to the chassis. Meanwhile only the front arms show some cracks and have to be replaced, but the thing is > 30 years old ;).

Furthermore, the MadBull is a car you cant destroy, solid chassis, bulletproof gearbox, big tires that function as bumpers and shock absorbers - the full package.

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16 hours ago, njmlondon said:

The stock rods on the Lancia and Brat are pretty thin and bend easily. Not too hard to beef them up though.

It may just be old plastic but I have cracked a couple by overtightening screws, even though I was pretty careful. Certainly not as strong as modern plastics in XV01 or TB01 chassis.

I wonder if you heated the screws or plastic slightly before tightening. Maybe that could prevent cracking????

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On 18/04/2017 at 9:32 PM, Wooders28 said:

I've found Hornet's are fairly bullet proof.

A Frog's gearbox on the other hand..

Yeah I'll agree with you on them two with the small problem with the hornet! If it goes over them front spring mounts might aswell be made out of cardboard!, The amount of new chassis i bought because of flipped over hornets that have had there front spring mounts ripped off:(! Relatively cheap chassis to buy though!

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Not sure if this will count but the strongest r/c car I ever owned was the Tamtech GB02. The front end on that thing was nigh on indestructible. I only ever broke a rear chassis plate in years of racing every week and that only broke when someone stood on it.

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On 20/04/2017 at 1:57 PM, magnumb said:

I wonder if you heated the screws or plastic slightly before tightening. Maybe that could prevent cracking????

Heating screws won't prevent cracking! Brittle plastic, over tightening and too large screws cause cracking on assembly. 

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