briandye

So today were getting hammered with snow, so I was excited to take this thing out and tear the snow up.

I got it out on my porch, and it wouldnt even move, only the back wheels spin (Low or high RPM, doesnt matter).

If I lift it up, all 4 wheels will spin, but its like the fronts dont with any sort of friction or whatever.

I am completely new to the RC world, I had an E-Maxx 10+ years ago, but never had to work on it at all, I barely used it before I sold it.

I love this truck, tuned it up last night so its running like a top, but I want to address this issue, and hopefully its able to be fixed without ordering parts, since I was looking forward to driving it today.

Thanks in advance, any diagrams, pictures, etc helps a ton, because I am not familiar with these little machines!

roadrashracing2

Im not the best with nitro, but I would start by checking you clutch and slipper are ok, sound like it might be slipping somewhere in there.

sec1083

iTrader: (29)

You say the back wheels spin under power right? I would start by checking to see if you lost a pin in one of the drive shafts

briandye

I cant really seem to find anything online about my problem, seems as if people have issues with only one wheel, or the REAR wheels not getting power. Mines currently just a RWD 4x4 lol.

I have no idea what im doing, or looking for which is why im so hesitant to tear it apart and look at it. Was hoping maybe this was a common problem and someone could say oh just tighten this or loosen that, but looks like ill have to bite the bullet and just tear it apart.

What I don't get is that they DO spin when the truck is lifted off the ground, but when its on the ground, they don't.

briandye

Yeah the truck drives great, but its basically just RWD right now. Where might the pin be located? I just gave it a look over and everything visually seemed OK, but theres alot of the driveshafts hidden through other parts surrounding them. And like I mentioned above, they spin fine when the truck is lifted off the ground, but when its on the ground, its only the back that move. (The fronts spin fine, but theres no power from the engine to them)

sec1083

iTrader: (29)

There are cross pins in each drive shaft where they connect to the transmission and diffs.

Is there any binding or rough spots while spinning the front or the front diff?

sec1083

iTrader: (29)

Also check for a missing pin on the hex hub or stripped wheel. Thats really the only simple but not obvious stuff I can think of.

briandye

Well I figured the issue out, drivetrain is completely fine (After dissasembling the whole front end, and finding ZERO issues, everything "reacted" as it should to various motions of the other wheels, so I put it back together and figured out that one of the rims is rounded out, where that plastic "nut" thing that spins the wheel sits in.

Its not "completely" rounded out, so it wasnt obvious, but since thats the wheel with less force against it, the diff is putting all the front end power to it, so the other wheel gets no power. Hence the reason it would spin in 4x4 when it was off the ground.

Is there any temporary fix for this (That can get me driving again today) short of buying a new set of wheels, which I would assume isnt gonna be cheap? I was thinking some super glue maybe, or JB-Weld, but I feel like in the long run im gonna have to replace that whole little assembly?

sec1083

iTrader: (29)

Super glue or jb weld will hold temporarly. Take the plastic hub off the alxe and glue it into the wheel but hey look at it this way you have an excuse to buy something aftermarket for it.

briandye

Well great, another problem. Really not liking this "Work on it for an hour to run it for 5 minutes" gig its on.

Got the wheel temporarily fixed, wrapped some aluminum foil around the hex and put the wheel back on, it does the job, but now it seems like my steering is shot. It will kind of turn to the right, but when I turn left (Holding it up in the air, of course) it kind of turns slightly then clicks like the gears are broke inside. I put it on the ground and it only turns right for a few moments while driving then it doesnt turn either way.

I doubt its the batteries, since I dont think they would cause it to make some weird click noise.

Also, if I turn it off, and "turn" them by hand, they make the normal (I have no idea how to describe it) noise, like the gears are still turning it, but to the right they click and then its like its freely moving.

briandye

After some searching it seems as if the servo gears are toast.

Don't know why, haven't "beat" on it, maybe the previous owner did. Flipped it a couple times in the snow, but don't think that would have really hurt it.

Do they make a higher quality replacement? I just don't get why they'd put such a temperamental part on a big beefy truck.

Might look into trading this thing for an E-Maxx. I ran that thing exactly how I run this T-Maxx and never had issues with it, just putzing around in the yard. Would be nice to be able to run for more than a little to avoid annoying the neighbors too.

Hmmmm....Still gotta fix this one either way.