Originally Posted by
T-BirdJunkie
Since you're fairly new to the hobby...
Experienced RCers have been calling RTRs "Ready to Rebuild" for a long, long time for a reason.
Well no matter how much research you do, you always miss stuff, huh? Hadn't heard that expression...
This is a maintenance-intensive hobby, end of story. Now, if you are upset about having to rebuild a set of shocks after two weeks of ownership, imagine what would be wrong with that $90 knockoff piece of crap you could've bought.
Which is why I didn't even consider it. Yeah, a lot more could be wrong. I know you're trying to school me that I'm thinking about this from the wrong frame of mind. And I appreciate your honesty and experienced viewpoint. Hell, half the reason I got into this was to have something to tinker with. But (and again, you'll probably say I'm wrong here) doesn't having standards mean you actually care how your RTR or Factory Team product functions? It's totally acceptable to me that several months from now after actually racing the crap out of this thing that the shocks might be toast or an a-arm would bust or the screws might fall out. But my ride is basically a brand new car.
You bought a good car. But without knowing what conditions under which you're running, how badly/well you're driving, or how much the car has been run, it's entirely impossible to say whether or not you SHOULD HAVE to rebuild your shocks, and let's not get into the possibility that your car has seen more runtime in the past two weeks than ThunderbirdJunkie's has in the last 3 months...but ALL RTRS REQUIRE A SHOCK REBUILD AS SOON AS THE CAR LEAVES THE BOX
I've run it around the street and park about 40 minutes every other day for the last week and a half. No big crashes or stupidity. No big jumps, unless a driveway or off a curb onto the street is considered big.. After watching some actual races, the amount of punishment I've given the shocks is equivalent to maybe two laps on a decent-sized, good track.
If the RTR shock builds are so crappy that they immediately need to be disassembled, I think AE wouldn't be where they are today. Either that or things have gone way downhill. Or, people have really low expectations. After reading the thoughful, intelligent discussions on this thread, I doubt that thoughful, intelligent people would accept this in a supposedly ready-to-run kit. (Yeah, I realize I'm on the FT thread - please, this is the best place to hang out)
Also, you didn't buy a Porsche, you bought a reasonably priced sporty subcompact. ... If you want Porsche quality, buy a Porsche, not a Civic Si or SVT Focus. There is a method to the madness when an experienced racer drops $300 on a speedo/motor combo, $300 on a car, $100 on parts for said car, $100/ea on batteries, etc...it's not because we're "stupid and could get the same car already built for 1/4 the price".
Granted, not a valid analogy. I'd like to think it was a Golf R32, but that's just me. I guess I didn't mean that a RTR B4.1 is a Porsche, more that AE is, if not the best all-around RC mfr., they're certainly in the top 2 or 3.
Don't ever think I would knock the majority of you guys for parting together your rides. It was never a question of a RTR being even close to a FT with well-picked parts, it's always been about the budget, and what I can get past the wife. I've put more than $400 in this new hobby and I'm still nowhere. I'd love to drop a grand or two (or more) to really sculpt a work of art, but it ain't happening. The couch is NOT comfortable enough for that.