Wanted to see what all the fuss was about, so I figured $299.00? Meh...what could possibly go wrong. My subjective opinion for sure, but I've always liked the Deadbolt body, not fond of the neon green of days past, but the 2018 olive drab green? That hooked me.
After getting everything out of the box I immediately check the gear mesh on any RTR. More folks have issues due to something shaking loose, something binding up during assembly or shipping. Who knows...always a good idea to check things out before that first run. Checked gear mesh and it was surprisingly spot on. Disengaged the pinion and the gearbox seemed smooth enough considering the dried grease would work it's way in after a run or two.
Here's where a quick look pays off. Spinning the drive line in both directions with the pinion off, I noticed a violent notchiness from both axles. The front notchy going forward and the rear when going in reverse. Wow...I would not run it like this. Then the probable issue occurred to me. The one piece locker/ring gear and matching pinion are helical cut, not straight cut. Helical cut ring and pinions will naturally walk the pinion away from the ring gear in one direction and pull it in, in the reverse direction. Disconnected the shafts to confirm...yup, sucks the pinion in one way and pushes it out the other direction. Simple fix: 5x7x0.3mm shim placed between the pinion output shaft and drive shafts. All this does is hold the pinion in a more fixed location so it cannot migrate in on the ring gear. I don't want binding...a wee bit of play is fine, but .75mm is way too much play and would eventually cause excessive wear on both the ring gears and pinions. Don't really care for noisy trucks either, at least not that kind of noise. Also gave the motor bushings on each end a quick drop of high quality bushing oil, just for safe measure.
Got that back together, gave it a spin. Money! Silent and smooth with no binding or slop at all.
https://www.amainhobbies.com/kyosho-5x7mm-shim-set-kyo96643/p4142
Dropped in a 3S 3300maH battery and headed out to the yard. Not much in my backyard that would seriously test this rig, but that wasn't my intent. Just wanted to give it a powered up shakedown before doing any serious crawling. Test the radio, set trims...that kind of stuff. The chassis runs smooth, quiet, precise steering for what it is. I see RTR electronics as throw away to be honest, but those that equip the newest Deadbolt are not bad at all. The servo re-centers well, the ESC ran cool and had excellent low speed control, and the 35T motor cool to the touch. Again, not a challenging run, but impressed as anyone could be with a $299.00 investment.
The Axial plastic and molds are as I remember - not nearly the quality of materials and mold preciseness that you'll find in race quality kits. I dare say the Traxxas TRX-4 kit has excellent material and mold quality, but like every product, has issues of it's own. The transmitter is actually quite livable in my opinion. Large grip, but getting used to it. Might even stick with it rather than use my Airtronics M12. I would like to soften the steering spring just a bit and I don't see that as being too difficult.
The "hard core" guys can turn away now:
I'm in no hurry to replace the stock plastic suspension or steering member links. These RTR plastic links are far, far and away superior to what Axial used to include on the RTR SCX10. You know the ones...like freaking rubber. Look at them and they bend under their own weight. These on the 2018 Deadbolt? I don't know, I kind of dig them. They are black, scaled looking, don't stand out, plenty strong for 99% of this rigs intended use, and dirt cheap to replace. My point being, they are rigid enough to get the job done and resilient enough to flex when needing to protect more valuable equipment like your servo. The stock links are staying until they give me reason otherwise.
Another thing to note is that for those that built SCX10 II kits and aren't fond of the three piece servo mount? The RTR Deadbolt and Honcho have a new one piece unit that is of the same piece mold as the battery tray - provides a much more rigid servo mount. So check it out...AX31590.
https://www.rpphobby.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=AX31590&CartID=8
The RTR tires? Awesome, no complaints at all. In fact they are better than I expected. Plenty soft, reasonable tread...yeah, tires. Same Axial plastic shocks. No leaking when I opened the box and no leaking after a few yard runs. Jury is out but hey, $299.00 RTR...expect Kyosho Velvets?
So...from what I know after poking around this chassis and running a few packs through it? I think it's a more than fair purchase. I'll even go as far to say it's a solid bargain at $299.00. Do what is needed to make sure the drive train is free before running it hard and it should provide a solid platform for years to come. No one has better third party support than Axial for sure.
After getting everything out of the box I immediately check the gear mesh on any RTR. More folks have issues due to something shaking loose, something binding up during assembly or shipping. Who knows...always a good idea to check things out before that first run. Checked gear mesh and it was surprisingly spot on. Disengaged the pinion and the gearbox seemed smooth enough considering the dried grease would work it's way in after a run or two.
Here's where a quick look pays off. Spinning the drive line in both directions with the pinion off, I noticed a violent notchiness from both axles. The front notchy going forward and the rear when going in reverse. Wow...I would not run it like this. Then the probable issue occurred to me. The one piece locker/ring gear and matching pinion are helical cut, not straight cut. Helical cut ring and pinions will naturally walk the pinion away from the ring gear in one direction and pull it in, in the reverse direction. Disconnected the shafts to confirm...yup, sucks the pinion in one way and pushes it out the other direction. Simple fix: 5x7x0.3mm shim placed between the pinion output shaft and drive shafts. All this does is hold the pinion in a more fixed location so it cannot migrate in on the ring gear. I don't want binding...a wee bit of play is fine, but .75mm is way too much play and would eventually cause excessive wear on both the ring gears and pinions. Don't really care for noisy trucks either, at least not that kind of noise. Also gave the motor bushings on each end a quick drop of high quality bushing oil, just for safe measure.
Got that back together, gave it a spin. Money! Silent and smooth with no binding or slop at all.
https://www.amainhobbies.com/kyosho-5x7mm-shim-set-kyo96643/p4142
Dropped in a 3S 3300maH battery and headed out to the yard. Not much in my backyard that would seriously test this rig, but that wasn't my intent. Just wanted to give it a powered up shakedown before doing any serious crawling. Test the radio, set trims...that kind of stuff. The chassis runs smooth, quiet, precise steering for what it is. I see RTR electronics as throw away to be honest, but those that equip the newest Deadbolt are not bad at all. The servo re-centers well, the ESC ran cool and had excellent low speed control, and the 35T motor cool to the touch. Again, not a challenging run, but impressed as anyone could be with a $299.00 investment.
The Axial plastic and molds are as I remember - not nearly the quality of materials and mold preciseness that you'll find in race quality kits. I dare say the Traxxas TRX-4 kit has excellent material and mold quality, but like every product, has issues of it's own. The transmitter is actually quite livable in my opinion. Large grip, but getting used to it. Might even stick with it rather than use my Airtronics M12. I would like to soften the steering spring just a bit and I don't see that as being too difficult.
The "hard core" guys can turn away now:
I'm in no hurry to replace the stock plastic suspension or steering member links. These RTR plastic links are far, far and away superior to what Axial used to include on the RTR SCX10. You know the ones...like freaking rubber. Look at them and they bend under their own weight. These on the 2018 Deadbolt? I don't know, I kind of dig them. They are black, scaled looking, don't stand out, plenty strong for 99% of this rigs intended use, and dirt cheap to replace. My point being, they are rigid enough to get the job done and resilient enough to flex when needing to protect more valuable equipment like your servo. The stock links are staying until they give me reason otherwise.
Another thing to note is that for those that built SCX10 II kits and aren't fond of the three piece servo mount? The RTR Deadbolt and Honcho have a new one piece unit that is of the same piece mold as the battery tray - provides a much more rigid servo mount. So check it out...AX31590.
https://www.rpphobby.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=AX31590&CartID=8
The RTR tires? Awesome, no complaints at all. In fact they are better than I expected. Plenty soft, reasonable tread...yeah, tires. Same Axial plastic shocks. No leaking when I opened the box and no leaking after a few yard runs. Jury is out but hey, $299.00 RTR...expect Kyosho Velvets?
So...from what I know after poking around this chassis and running a few packs through it? I think it's a more than fair purchase. I'll even go as far to say it's a solid bargain at $299.00. Do what is needed to make sure the drive train is free before running it hard and it should provide a solid platform for years to come. No one has better third party support than Axial for sure.
