chorner

Hey fastharry; thanks for the pic!

So far I've just kept my stock chassis plate on for now. I wonder why they chose not to include a proper mounting location? The pro guys don't use switches? Anybody want a graphite radio tray cheap? :P

Anyways, guys ...

Why am I not allowed to post a negative comment about the NTC3? I OWN IT and plan to run this kit, in place of my MTX3. Whats the problem?

Last time I checked, the thread title didn't resemble "NTC3 praising thread" .... come on now. People should know the little quirks of the kit, it only helps to know in advance if you're new to the kit.

Come on guys; I wasn't bashing you with the post about the screws, don't take it so darn personally You didn't design the kit, and I'm sure the designer can take critisismn about his own kit better than you folks!

You guys wouldn't like to have heftier screws with the kit? ... hummm odd, seeming as though most of you are opting for "The Fix"

Shheesshhh I own the amazing NTC3 too Can I talk about it, or no? ... For better or for worse? hahaha ahh guys guys!

puma1824

Well I own both too...I would have to say I like them both equal. Each one have its good and less than good features (how's that for political)

Don't take the smack too hard, you'd have to understand the NTC3 (I think) has had more criticism then any other car and when any seamingly negative comments arise the fist go up.

Just to reinforce my point here's a snippet from an interview between Barry Baker and Precision RC

Precision RC:
You top qualified the race, so obviously your car must be handling well, tell us abit bout your car?

Barry Baker
It's very good right now, the nitro TC3 I feel is the best nitro car in the world right now and I think we proved that in the World Championships with the TQ and the win, or World Cup actually, every body thinks it’s a World Championship but it's actually a World Cup. I think that the car is very capable of running long runs, every body thinks it's not durable, I got radio interference this weekend in practice and went straight into the end of the straight away, nothing broke on the car.

LINK

Not once was it asked about problems or durability but it was mentioned by Baker anyways.

Let us/me know what you think once you get it running compared to your MTX3.

-Puma

sbmon

i agree with chorner about the point of this is to overcome
weaknesses in the ntc3 (like the earlier post about a soft tank mount for the ntc3 looks like somethin i might try sometime), but poking a little fun now & then
is okay to right
anyway while on the topic of the associated hex screws
they may not seem that great but they are alot better than
the racer's edge stainless ntc3 set out there those things
strip very easily compared to stock and yes i use qaulity tools
carefully and properly just thought yall would like to know

chorner

Well AE themselves have an very snotty attitude. I've noticed this by reading some of the responses to the posts on the B4 thread on rc10.com

They turn a blind to problems, which Is actually smart from a marketing point of view. Other than that though, us guys who don't work for AE have nothing to lose by telling the truth.

Obviously Mr Baker knows there are numerous complaints about the durability. Just feel the thickness of the arms and suspensions components compared to (I won't mention any other kits? haha but its not just one ...) and you can just see that the NTC3 is a little more fragile than the rest.

I've heard so many problems about the diff cases, I went out and bought larger 1/2" screws for the shock towers and some beefier ones for the top half of the case. I don't like the look of the fix, I'll never buy it It just admits to everybody who looks at the kit that either a) you expect to crash hard and/or b) theres a big durability problem haha

Anyways ... I can already see I will love the handling and sheer acceleration of the kit. It rolls even more freely than my Tamiya TG10 kit; now thats impressive

<cough> still looks ugly beside an MTX3 though<cough>

haha

spawn

iTrader: (6)

List of broken parts till date;

3 gearboxes
1 front lower arm
1 bent hinge pin
1 bumper
several bent screws
1 hub bearing (crushed to pieces!)
1 rear hub

That's all, I think it pretty cool! although I hate the design of the shock tower connection. Been in 1 major race so far.

Boomer

When I go walking around the pits and see a NTC3, I automatically look at the shocktowers to see if they have either the Fix or the old-fashioned method. If I see it, I consider that person a decent wrench. If I don't, I generally consider that person a newbie (unless I know better and then I may mention it to them).

It's such an easy fix, so inexpensive (I paid $10/pr) and lasts so long and does such a good job (my original old-method really worked) that it's just common sense, to me anyway.

my two major races with the NTC3 - took 3rd in A with no shock towers broken even though lost receiver pack and went full throt into a wall (thanks to the old-method), qual'd 7th in A and was introduced to Mr. Wall by a numbnut who never made the turn and broke everything UP TO the Fix. . .and nothing inboard of it. . .THAT's a good thing.

jmho

jscamry

iTrader: (5)

Hey all, I was wondering where you guys go to follow the big races as the winter nats, for example. are they any good sites out there??

keep up the great!! thread!!
thanks jason

LakasTama

Thank you Fastharry. one more ? is the centax worth of money coz someone is selling it to me for $60.00 what you yaa think?

Thanks

fastharry™

iTrader: (4)

is it used and whose it made by?....

personally,I don't think Centax clutches are worth the hassle...and I have a Centax on my Impulse(which is THE BEST Centax on the market)....

Since the tc3 is so easy to work on,I've tried not to make it more complicated than it is.....So I went with the aluminum clutch shoes from Crazynuttacing.com........I'm running 2 shoes with Associated HD springs...nice and simple,greab REAL well...

If you must have a Centax..the K factory ones seem to be the best..


The new Fiorini''s from GSracing are a joke..

dvargas

I love my NTC3. i have had it for a couple of months, and i just love it to death. i have only broken: Lower A arm, 2 bent ball cups, 1 rim dented from a circle to a D, and a ball joint, and bent a drive shaft.

I have added, the new micro ofna failsafe, hardcore titanium upper deck, carbon A arms, Aluminum drive shaft.

I would recommend this car to anyone that loves rc, and wants a car that is easy to tune, fun to run, and handles well, on top of that nice speed.

fastharry™

iTrader: (4)

If you think Associated has a bad attititude,you shoul see traxxas....Accorcing to them, they've NEVER had a problem with anything,and you were the first one...

You have to remember..alot of people use these cars and trucks(from every mfg) WAY harder than they were intended to be used....(trust me on this,I work next door to my hobby shop)....and they don't maintain the cars.

I'll give you an example...

2 of the newbies we race with have stripped the one way bearings in their tc3(in the 2 sp)..

now last year,10 of us ran these cars with RB 5 port turbos....(I ran 3 gallons myself)...we never broke 1 one way..

so I ask these guys..how many runs you have on the car....he says close to 150.....I ask him"ever clean and lube the one way bearing?"...NOPE..well there ya go....

Now if he called Associated,they would tell him there is NO problem with teh one ways..and you know what?....there isn't..


but these ar nitro powered cars...I stand back some times and watch us race...Personally,I'm AMAZED these cars even stay together...Ever watch them go through a corner or sweeper almost flat out?.....ON THE GAS?..sliding through?....thast pretty good stuff...



the arms may look weak..but they are beefy,not to worry....

as far as the diff cases and gears...I think they could have been beefier..but Associated,when you get right down to it,went for a design parameter of a racer who never hits anything,and maintains a car,rather than the typical HPI user who hits everything and just about cleans the car,...Everything is designed in that car for seemless power output..and fast acceleration..thats why theres no metal gears..only those NON friction Gleason cut gears....your TGX(and my HPI SS) might be more durable,but drive the HPI shaft car....there is NO WAY that car runs,handles,or is as fast as a tc3...and you could put tWICE the motor in the SS...but with those metal gears in the HPI?..no gear problems..NO performance either..


as far as "the fix"....and admitting theirs a problem?....

hop on the Mugen forum..When I see a TOTALLY revamped MTX 3 in the pits,or on the thread,THATS when I worry...

2 screws that help hold a shock tower on?.....thats showin people how smart you are..

Like Apollo Creed said in Rocky..

Be a thinker,not a stinker......

AreCee

iTrader: (1)

Well, I guess you would think I'm a newbie . I've been racing these for many years now.

The only parts I've managed to break after going through about 2 gallons were:

One rear hub (caught it on a board seam with the wheel nut)
Two bumpers (we do crash a lot every time a track is reconfigured)
One exhaust manifold (the result of a very nasty T-Bone)
And one very beat up Stratus body

The "fix" I'm using is the one that AE recommends in their FAQ on the NTC3 which is to use 1/2" screws in place of the 3/8" and not to over tighten them. It still loosens up a little but not enough to cause any problems that I can notice. Total cost was less than $1.00.

Overall I'm glad I switched to the NTC3.

TweakRacer

What's up guys?!
How's it goin' Fastharry! Been a long time since I been on any boards... aah, the HPI boards....
Finally started checkin out Sgrid, myTSN, Team Orion, and this forum again.
Glad to see your doin' fine with the ole' NTC3.
I just got a digicam, finally (maybe now I can start sellin' off my collection of cars, still a lil less than half the size of yours... your CAR COLLECTION okay! )... and now to show you how I butchered my poor little NTC3...
http://www.rctech.net/forum/showthre...threadid=20475
Check it out! Hehehehe!!!
Besides the occasional runs of whichever of my MRX-3's happens to be runnin' at the time... I been playin' with this monster around my house! Actually with that huge pinion and the foams (in the pictures), it ran okay at Revelation Raceway. But with other ideas in the works... well... I'll keep ya updated. TTYL

chorner

I do agree, that most newbies do NOT properly care for their car .. and even alot of not so newbiews don't take the time to properly care for the kit. I for one, rebuild my kit entirely after every race weekend. Trust me, this is one of the reason I switched to the NTC3 ... ease of use. I can see this thing takes less than half the time it did to properly maintain my MTX3.
Even after the 40th run on my MTX3, at the track the guys were still joking around asking if I had even run my car yet Thats how well I personally like to maintain my kits.

I think I may not maintain this kit as much .. or the screw heads my catch on fire haha (btw, I never had a screw on my MTX3 even losen up using my Hudy wrenches ... thats after taking it apart numerous times)

Big fallback to the belts; its such a pain in the rear to get at everything. I Love the open-design of this NTC3. May not look as pretty, but darn functional.

As for durability; are you guys still areguing about that? lol my Mugen could take far more of a beating than any stock NTC3 out there even with "the Fix" (which is quite funny, theres actually a coined phrase which relates to the NTC3)

Boomer

"The Fix" is the "brand" that is on the product. I think he came up with it when many were creating their own versions from brass/alum tubing. We didn't come up with a good name for it other than, perhaps, shock tower brace, diff case locker, nah, those don't really describe it - wait, it's TheFix! Yeah, that works.

Anyway, I did speak in generalities when I said that I look at a NTC3 without the FIX in some incarnation and see a newbie - please excuse the overgeneralization!