Bad luck or...

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Brent1972Indy

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Location
Indianapolis, IN
I am beginning to think that I don't have time for this hobby. I spend more time working on this thing than playing with it. I understand normal maintenance or repairing due to a wreck but this time it has more to do with bad luck.

After getting my new fhmt wheels and tires put on, I stripped both the pinion and spur gears after running it for 15 minutes or so. I saw a small rock lodged in the spur gear in the teeth that were left. Somehow it found its way there throught my gear cover. Maybe that is what caused it, no big deal. Luckily I had back up gears but I had to go and get new "C" clips because the ones on here were junk and would not spring back to hold the gear on. So after fixing that for an hour with a trip to the hardware store, I was back running again. This time it was for a whole 10 minutes until two screws backed out of the engine mounts and tore up my brake system. One screw is gone but the other only backed out until the brake pads stopped it from going any further. My brake pads/discs are toast and so is my gear support plate from where the pads were forced into the plate melting a huge gouge in it. So after removing the gas tank to loosen the ddm torque pipe so I could raise it out of the way and taking apart the whole driver side of the vehicle to get to the freaking problem, I realized that I was really tired of messing with it and that I pissed away most of my Saturday.

So my question(s)....Why the hell do these 2 screws back out on a fairly new vehicle? Has this happenned to anyone else? It's not like these screws are accessible to check now and then for tightness. I wonder if it is bad luck or maybe some lazy a$$ china man forgot to put thread lock on them? When do I get to run this thing for an hour or two, then put it up and go eat or mow grass,etc then get it back out later and run it for another hour or so without all these freakin' problems? China is stupid.
 

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I am beginning to think that I don't have time for this hobby. I spend more time working on this thing than playing with it. I understand normal maintenance or repairing due to a wreck but this time it has more to do with bad luck.

After getting my new fhmt wheels and tires put on, I stripped both the pinion and spur gears after running it for 15 minutes or so. I saw a small rock lodged in the spur gear in the teeth that were left. Somehow it found its way there throught my gear cover. Maybe that is what caused it, no big deal. Luckily I had back up gears but I had to go and get new "C" clips because the ones on here were junk and would not spring back to hold the gear on. So after fixing that for an hour with a trip to the hardware store, I was back running again. This time it was for a whole 10 minutes until two screws backed out of the engine mounts and tore up my brake system. One screw is gone but the other only backed out until the brake pads stopped it from going any further. My brake pads/discs are toast and so is my gear support plate from where the pads were forced into the plate melting a huge gouge in it. So after removing the gas tank to loosen the ddm torque pipe so I could raise it out of the way and taking apart the whole driver side of the vehicle to get to the freaking problem, I realized that I was really tired of messing with it and that I pissed away most of my Saturday.

So my question(s)....Why the hell do these 2 screws back out on a fairly new vehicle? Has this happenned to anyone else? It's not like these screws are accessible to check now and then for tightness. I wonder if it is bad luck or maybe some lazy a$$ china man forgot to put thread lock on them? When do I get to run this thing for an hour or two, then put it up and go eat or mow grass,etc then get it back out later and run it for another hour or so without all these freakin' problems? China is stupid.

You aren't alone. I had a helluva time with screws backing out of the plastic, it just happens. If you want to reseal the hole, put some CA glue in them then put in the screw. The large engine mount should eventually be changed to the alloy one. I had a rough go with my Firehammer MT initially, but it got better once I replaced some stuff and knew what to look for.

Does yours have the small alloy engine mount? Also, get a steel pinion and steel spur eventually. I hate rocks.

Also, do this fix when you have your truck apart sometime:
(scroll down to pic #9 and #10)
https://www.largescaleforums.com/fg-modellsport-monster-truck/fg-mt-differential-upgrade/


Hang in there! :)
 
You aren't alone. I had a helluva time with screws backing out of the plastic, it just happens. If you want to reseal the hole, put some CA glue in them then put in the screw. The large engine mount should eventually be changed to the alloy one. I had a rough go with my Firehammer MT initially, but it got better once I replaced some stuff and knew what to look for.

Does yours have the small alloy engine mount? Also, get a steel pinion and steel spur eventually. I hate rocks.

Also, do this fix when you have your truck apart sometime:
(scroll down to pic #9 and #10)
https://www.largescaleforums.com/fg-modellsport-monster-truck/fg-mt-differential-upgrade/


Hang in there! :)
I bought the fhmt engine mounts for back up so yes I have the small alloy but I think I still need the large alloy. Do you have a link to it?
 
Hobbythek

These guys are in Germany. They get the part to you in about a week though. The part that sucks: converted from Euros it's 65 bucks. Shipping from Germany runs about 40 bucks. So it's best to get a couple other items from them as well.

You also might try Powerslideracing. They are about $69 usd.....you will probably have to e-mail them for a shipping quote. You also have to make certain you get the correct mount (I would ask the user Powerslideracing on this board). The Firehammer and the Firehammer MT have different mounts (the FHMT=Smartech Bigfoot=Carson Comanche). I'm not aware of anyone in the U.S. that carries the part (what a frickin surprise huh?).
 
I can relate.. I think I spend more time wrenching than running. But to me, wrenching is half to fun!
 
It's not bad luck brother....the TQ trucks suck arse (Aussie spelling) big time!

I have got one that I have replaced everything on it with either Duratrax parts or Carson alloy parts. It now is great...but it took time and money.

It has frustrated me so much that I bought a Baja yesterday...what a difference!

You have to weigh up how much time, frustration and money you are prepared to put in before you either get it up to your desired standard/purchase a different large scale vehicle/or leave the hobby.

I was spending 75-80% of my time fixing my TQ/FHMT...and 15-20% of my time actually being able to drive the thing.

I feel really bad telling you this mate...but that is my experience with this brand.
 
Hobbythek

These guys are in Germany. They get the part to you in about a week though. The part that sucks: converted from Euros it's 65 bucks. Shipping from Germany runs about 40 bucks. So it's best to get a couple other items from them as well.

You also might try Powerslideracing. They are about $69 usd.....you will probably have to e-mail them for a shipping quote. You also have to make certain you get the correct mount (I would ask the user Powerslideracing on this board). The Firehammer and the Firehammer MT have different mounts (the FHMT=Smartech Bigfoot=Carson Comanche). I'm not aware of anyone in the U.S. that carries the part (what a frickin surprise huh?).

Powerslide is "not shipping to my region at this time"
I wonder if it is really worth the time and money to get the large alloy or if having the fhmt backup is good enough?
 
I don't know which way to tell you to go on the alloy mount. The issue I had with the mounts were them coming loose on the bottom of the chassis and moving around so my diff and diff drive gear weren't aligned correctly.

My FHMT has been running great..although they all have some sort of problems (the HPI Baja to a lesser degree, but it has its weaknesses as well). My biggest problem was snapping dogbones so I ended up buying the ball drive unit.

Overall, my HPI Baja has been less of a problem than my FHMT, but running the two, I like them both about equally.
 
I got what I payed for. If I had it to do again I would have got the hpi baja. But real soon my china clone will be almost all converted to fhmt parts or better. I am currently at $1250 invested in this truck but only 565 of that was original shipped cost.
 
My advice (for what its worth), would be "Don't invest anymore money in it"

I invested more $$$$ than you. Upgrdades included:

HITEC SERVOS
OUTERWEARS
CARSON ALLOY ENGINE MOUNTS
ALLOY GEAR MOUNT
29CC CY ENGINE WITH 2MM STUFFED CRANK
WT-813 CARB
VELOCITY STACK
UNI FILTER
DDM DOMINATOR TORQUE PIPE
NEW SHOCKS
STEEL CLUTCH BELL PINION
ELCON SPUR GEAR
RE-ENFORCED FG DOGBONES
FG DIFF INCLUDING GEAR
FG MT SHELL
3600 mah HUMP PACK
FAIL SAFE
WHEELIE BAR
REPLACED ALL THE TQ PARTS WITH DURATRAX PLASTICS
And there are probably more....I am finding it hard to think without another coffee:clown:

For all this effort and expense...guess how much I sold it for this morning?

Note: I loved the truck, and did not really want to sell it...it was a forced sale due to lack of storage room...and the fact that I just bought my Baja (wives a great!)
 
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My advice (for what its worth), would be "Don't invest anymore money in it"

I invested more $$$$ than you. Upgrdades included:

HITEC SERVOS
OUTERWEARS
CARSON ALLOY ENGINE MOUNTS
ALLOY GEAR MOUNT
29CC CY ENGINE WITH 2MM STUFFED CRANK
WT-813 CARB
VELOCITY STACK
UNI FILTER
DDM DOMINATOR TORQUE PIPE
NEW SHOCKS
STEEL CLUTCH BELL PINION
ELCON SPUR GEAR
RE-ENFORCED FG DOGBONES
FG DIFF INCLUDING GEAR
FG MT SHELL
3600 mah HUMP PACK
FAIL SAFE
WHEELIE BAR
REPLACED ALL THE TQ PARTS WITH DURATRAX PLASTICS
And there are probably more....I am finding it hard to think without another coffee:clown:

For all this effort and expense...guess how much I sold it for this morning?

I probably don't want to know...$750?
 
$500.

Like I said, I loved my truck. But that was probably because it was my first large scale RC, and probably because I felt I needed to justify in my head all the $$$ I was putting in to repair it.

Put it on eBay...with more buyers in the US, you should be able to get more for it than I got for mine, and if you really want a Baja...get it.

When you have the 2 side by side and see the quality difference, you will be amazed.
 
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