Originally Posted by
VegasHB
The ports not being open seems like just an excuse. After reading through this thread it seems there's been parts shortage from day one before all this port silliness has happened.
After putting my kit together this week and looking over the front brace, it really is a weak spot. The plastic is brittle, it's only mounted at 4 unsupported small points and has thin plastic walls on the sides. You take a tumble or a shot from another car in the side of that thing and it'll snap no problem.
When you look at most front ends of 2wd's or some 4wd's the front tower is thick and mounted flush against the front bulkhead. This puppy is a thin walled bridge anchoring at each end, great for supporting the front end like it's designed but not for a wallop in the side or top. Its the Tacoma Narrows Bridge of RC parts :P
This particular reason is why I presented the idea to RPM. They're known to improve upon other plastic pieces (i.e. B44 arms) so why not improve on a known weak point on this buggy? Even if the Hot Bodies factory part came off back-order, I would choose the RPM one over it if it were to become available.
Please makes some noise on RPM's FB page to get their attention if you would like to see this happen. I see that a few guys have already done so.