alucard13

Got a wierd problem. You may have already seen my other post regarding the clanking sound comming from the flywheel. But now i got a wierd one. I have an hpi rs4 rtr3 on road car. Last night I unscrewed the fuel tank to clean it off and the part of the chassis where it sits on top of. Well, while doing all of this the pressure line came off so to plug that back into the exhaust i had to remove the plastic part that the fuel tank hooks up to. Once i got the line back into the exhuast i screwed everything in, the plasic piece that the tank screws into, the fuel tank and the carrying handle. After i did that i put the car on the ground and tried to push it. It would go about an inch and then stop abruptly. So what i did was lossen the 4 screws on the bottom of the chassis that hold the engine in place and tried to re align the spur gear and the flywheel. I worked on it for about an hour trying to get it right (even with the paper trick) and i got it to roll with no problem but now it sounds like the gears are hitting each other. Why would me taking off the fuel tank and the plastic piece effect the flywheel and spur gear so drastically? I never even touched those screws. I finally had everything perfect but now i'm afriad that the gears will strip or something if the noise keeps up. Could i possible have a bent chassis? It has filpped over a couple times. I know the only way to fnd out is to take everything off, but i'm afraid i wont get it back together again...heheh sounds like humpty dumpty eh? Sorry for the rambling but its wierd how the fuel tank screws would have such an effect of the flywheel and spur gear.

popsracer

alucard13;

Place a Straight edge (Ruler) on the bottom of the chassis Front to Back. It should be perfectly flat (ideally) with little of no light showing under the Ruler. If the chassis is NOT bent, try to find the cause of the gear binding before running the car again. It may be as simple as readjusting the gear mesh.

alucard13

thanx. when you say re adjusting, you mean re alighing the two gears or is thier an actual adjustment knob on the gears?

alucard13

i did what you said and everything is straight excpet the area where the engine sits. the chassis is bent up a little. hope my lhs has one since i want to race on sunday. thanx for the help popsracer.

one more question, since the chassis does seem to be bent, what else should i check for? Cause when i get the new chassis i want to make sure everything sits correctly. what else could have bent?

buggyman81

i upgraded my chassis to the HPI racing option part chassis for the rtr 3 and it helps the cars handling so i recomend upgrading if you have the money

popsracer

alucard13;

What you describe is VERY common after a hard Frontal impact. The chassis stops, but the Engine mass wants to keep going. I once saw a RC10GT chassis actually bent up 90 degrees from a Curb hit.
Chances are nothing else will need to be replaced, unless some screw holes in the plastic got ripped out. There is a Hop-up Chassis, but they can be expensive. Best to stick with HPI parts as they always come with all the screws and hardware needed to install a option part.

alucard13

not sure if you know the answer to this, but when i switch to the new chassis, can i just unscrew all the screws from the bottom, take off the chassis, put the new chassis on and screw everything back in? Or will i have to take everything apart and start from scratch?

i havent hit anything really hard i dont think, but i keep flipping the car because of the stupid reflector thingies on my street. on one flip the top heat sink bent in a little. At my lhs there was a car and the front of the chassis bent completley in, all four wheels were broken. all i can say is i'm glad r/c cars dont require real drivers to be inside.

i finallly got a hold of my R/C mag. On Page 69 of the May issue of R/C car there is a picture and the caption reads "Team R/C Car's sweet pit area. That's "Pops Racer," i.e., Shreks dad in action." any relation?

buggyman81

well you wont have to start from scratch but just basically move the front end over first, rear end second if you want to do it that way and everything else last i did mine that way and it took about 25 minutes

alucard13

sweet! do you have an hpi car or another model?

buggyman81

i have a fully hopped up rs4 rtr 3,racer 2, coming soon pro 3, micro rs4 and a nitro mt

alucard13

good lord man, your stacked!!

buggyman81

i have quite a collection just like fastharry but i dont have 70, i have 23 and its a pain to keep them all running

corvettecrazy

well if 23 is too many you can always donate some to the less fortinate(me, I only have 1)

alucard13

until i get the new chassis i found a temporary fix. I screw in the right side screws more than the left side ones. i just use alot of thread lock, but not too much that it will ruin the screw.