I got one of the last batch of releases, and I just finished the build last night. I would of waited to make my first post till I finished but I didn't want to put it together and find out the front gear box had to come out AGAIN. But no problem. A couple of observations:

• My diffs were not bone dry. They weren't as full as I got them either, but they had adequate fluid in them where I'm pretty sure you wouldn't grenade them right out of the box.
  
• My shock shafts all had thread locker on them, and were all full of oil.
  
• No missing parts, no extra parts either!
  
• Gluing tires up is a snap if you use battery strapping tape instead of rubber bands
  
• The stock fan from a Novak GTB fits perfect in the spot formerly occupied by the receiver box if you want to cool the motor. You can only get the top two screws in, the bottom ones are in a mold line and you really can't tap there. The cutout is roughly the size of a quarter, and it's a lot easier to do if you decide you want to add it before you put the truck together, else you have to blow up the truck to get access for making the hole.

A couple of questions for guys racing these, as I haven't ran dirt since 1994 (been racing carpet and concrete oval):

1. How long is the thrust spacer (the one that was mismachined) supposed to be? When I used to set the slipper on my XX and XXT I would tighten the screw untill the spring was crushed, and then back it off two turns. Without adding washers, the stock topshaft doesn't have enough adjustment to allow for that (with the washers it was okay). I'm asking because I don't know if AE updated the part on the later kits.
   
2. What is up with all those little holes on the inside of the wheels? I put a drop of CA in each one of them (because I read somewhere they are added to help glue up the bead) but do they really work or are they just an extra big trap to induce dirt into the tire?
   
3. My truck needed 3mm of outside uptravel limiters to keep the CVAs out of the outdrivers. What did everyone else use?
   
4. Does anybody run the dust boots, like, anywhere or ever?
   
5. Likewise, Mud flaps, yea or neigh?