Lower controll arm design EVO III - problem fixed, read whole thread!

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Clubin

Clubin

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I broke both lower controll arms on the rear my EVO III the shock mounts tear out of the lower controll arm. The fronts also are starting to do the same thing. I only had 2 spare controll arms so it is sitting on the shelf. I have notified http://www.innovativehobby.com/ but I have not heard back from them yet.

For a r/c in that price range the way the arms are designed is very sub standard. Plus the weight of the car would dictate that part be stronger than it is. I would rather rip out a shock fork than a controll arm.

Get with the program MCD!

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hi clubin sorry to hear the bad news but the good news is that their more victims of this problem so you are not alone ill give a call to the mod on mcdrc see if he can get in touch with mcd and see if they can address this problem fingers crossed
 
Any chance you could cut two pieces of sheet metal and install them on both sides of the part that is failing? Install screws in the other two unused holes and the shock bolt in the third this would have 3 times the strength and it would have to take out all three before just the one?

Make sence?
 
Bigger the Better said:
Any chance you could cut two pieces of sheet metal and install them on both sides of the part that is failing? Install screws in the other two unused holes and the shock bolt in the third this would have 3 times the strength and it would have to take out all three before just the one?

Make sence?
Click to expand...

Yes, all of what you have said is correct BUT, on a 1500.00 dollar roller should I have to do that?

I should hopefully hear from Innovative this week, maybe MCD has their own "FIX" for the problem, they must be well aware of it by now.

On a 25+ lb R/C that controll arm design is just not good enough.

People with the EVO II's did not have these problems did they?
 
We have the first EVO3 to ever be in the U.S. still here as a demo. This car has been through almost everything I can think of & it's never broken. What kind of driving is causing these to break ? If it involves a crash of any kind, what would anyone expect. ? Ours has been flipped & rolled & jumped & generally bashed with no issues. We as well as MCD are real inerested in what is causing this problem. Any input on what was happening at the time of arm failure would be greatly appreciated.
 
hi looker2756 you are also a member on mcdrc and they are talking about it their to

check it out clubin is not the only one i believe mono is having these problems also a few others
http://www.mcdrc.com/forum/index.php?topic=203.15

and if you can do something about it i think they and the rest of us would be grateful

oh please don't misunderstand me its sound like that you have missed that thread over their

peace out :)
 
Driving on your 1/8th track that is not complete no jumping honestly you don't want to crash one of these things "not what they are made for" The droop settings on the lower controll arms weren't set-I set mine after the rear ones started working them selves out. Looker, I would be curious to know if your EVO III has them set properly.

I am running the shock mounts in the center position, where are yours set? I bet they are in the outer position.
If you look at how mine broke out if maybe there was another ball in the empty hole for the 3rd mounting position that might also eliminate the failures.

They did not rip out all at once they get loose and hammer and then eventually rip out.

Sickboy-I am Clubin over there too.
 
Clubin, not sure what you mean by set properly ? Ours gets set for every different situation we drive in. Not that we change shock mounting locations all the time. I will definitely check ours & let everyone know, I do see what you talking about.

We will definitely be on this issue. The problem is we first need to determine what is causing it. Like I said before we have tested our pretty thouroughly with no issues of this kind. I will also tell you out of every place I have drove my MCD, an 1/8th scale track is the first place to break my truck. Other than that time, the only time I have seen failures, is in serious crashes. Anyone with these issue please help us with your best information on what caused, or what slowly happened to cause these problems. My Baja1000 is a Gen 1 so mine don't count in this discussion. Out of our group we have all 3 ( gen 1, EVO2 & EVO 3 ) to compare. Take a look at this video. I can personally tell you, other models will take some of this action, but not nearly what this MCD has. This video is several months old & this Racerunner is still in action with no breakage from day 1. You can also see by this video, it has not been kept from serious action either.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HNzz-NbcDMk

Thanks Sickboy, I'll get some info there as well. If there is a design problem we want to get it figured out. We just don't understand why we've not seen it. Believe me we break alot of 1/5 scale models in testing. Nice to know where the limits are.
 
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In talking with MCD & many chats on other forums. I believe we have collectively figured out the problems. The issue seems to be changing the ride height & not using the suspension limiters. One of the main functions of the limiters is keeping the shocks from complete full travel. By allowing the limiters to catch the suspension, the strain is removed from the shock forks & lower control arms. Another huge factor in this is keeping the vehicle on it's wheels as designed. The first EVO3 to be in the U.S. is still in use today & has been driven by many different people. I must add Crashed by many people as well, meaning rolled / flipped ( Not hitting an immovable object ). Being as it has never seen the first problem, I would say this is the issue with the arms. I as well as MCD don't see a design flaw at all with this suspension as long as it is set correctly. Hope this helps anyone with this problem !
 
Hi there

Hi ,

Yes this makes sense for sure the limiters MUST BE SET .

Shocks cant be unloaded at all the times the chassis is lifted off the ground.

However having said that MCD should add some more meat into that part of the arm for sure.

Look at other arms and they are beefier in that area.

Pull the shock out on the bottom only ,

make sure the set screw will limit the arm travel just a bit higher than the fully extended shock ( this will give you some extra security) .
mount the bottom of the shock and done.

MCD needs a good diet that is true.

The axels are over kill yes ,

Look at the German technology MCD.

LOOK CLOSELY PLEASE

Hope this helps.

cheers
 
Well then I take full responsability, the droop limiters are set. I will have it out this weekend if I break it again, I'll be back.

My order from Innovatiive should be here Thursday. I want to fill the empty holes for the lower shock mounts-that seems like a major issue, I bought 2 packs of lower shock mount balls.

I hope you are rite looker.
 
From what I hear the MCD is the bet and nothing will go wrong on it. It seems that the arms are a week point and will fail sooner or later.
Shaim on you MCD.
 
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