i have built a hopped up rustler and put the sidewinder (short course) system in it. I have had the car for over 4 months and have driven it once. I put a pack on it and drove it up the street and down and not even hard or full throttle. it was on the road for about 10 minutes and I pulled it in and the wires to the esc were HOT!

any solutions please?

im running a venom 3300 mah 35c 3s lipo.

What is the gearing? What connectors if any on the hot wires? Although it appears that combo is only recommended for 2S, might be challenging to keep it cool on 3S.

The Sidewinder can technically handle 3S, but it doesn't do it well. Without a fan, it will definitely overheat quickly. Even with a fan, it'll probably overheat within a couple of minutes.

+1 for now running 3s packs.

Sounds like a bad solder joint. Everytime I've had motor wires get hot it was a poor solder joint on one of the bullets. Crappy solder joint = higher resistance = heat.... I'd check that out first.

Technically it's not the best system for 3s, but I've gotten away with it before, especially in a light 2wd like a Rustler. However 3s in a 4wd SCT is a definite no go.