Breaking An Axle After 8 Plus Years
You can never pick what is going to go wrong when you first start your Nitro gas car and give it a hit after 8 plus years of sitting on a shelf lifeless from any activity.
Boredom sometimes gets the better of you and you often venture into the family garage and wonder what it is you can do to keep yourself busy. How about repairing a broken RC axle or repairing a gearbox
I love my gas cars so my boredom is fast eliminated when I grab one of these. So you pick up a Traxxas Stampede that should have been gone long ago. Yet, it is still there waiting for life to kick back into it again and kick back into it it did.
With parts sitting around for years, you can expect anything to either come loose or actually break while having fun. The Stampede actually started quite easily after a few pulls but was running rather rich.
After having gradually leaned it of a few turns and a few goes, the old girl was starting to skate her ass on the pavement. Was quite a bit of fun actually.
The engine tune was pretty much on the limit with lubrication and performance and she was launching real well without struggling for lubrication.
Breaking An Axle After 8Plus Years
Nothing more frustrating than having fun and then this happens, a busted axle. Considering this car has been sitting on the shelf for nearly ten years in a shed through all seasons, it can only be expected that plastics and metals alike will deteriorate.
Car parts deteriorate even when your gas car sits still. It is almost like you can win. You race and it breaks and if it sits around for years, it still deteriorates.
In this case, the right side axle decided to give up the ghost and break the uni or input uni shaft. Unlike the Flying point Pizazz which broke the week before, The Stampede was not that much of an issue to remove.
Realistically speaking, when a gas car is sitting around for a significant period of time, before running quite a few checks should be made before running the vehicle, in particular with the radio equipment.
The last thing anyone needs is a run away car that will not respond to radio. This here was nothing to worry about except a broken axle which we replaced quite easily. Rc car repairs can be avoided at the track if you do some basic checks. Just remember that the most noticebale things to take note of is your radio gear and ensuring compnonenets of your driveline are up to scractch.
In this case here, the uni was a little worn and combined together with near ten years of heat and cold in a colourbond workshop, this also contributed to weakening plastics which did not help. Also, remember to check your main spur gear for clearance to ensure no binding is taking place. With most plastic spur gears, stripping of gear teeth will take place if not checked from having too big a clearance, especially with a strong motor. These are RC car repairs that can be easily avoided with some simple at home checks before you leave for the race track