Hobbies – boy, is this fun …

H

… and expensive.

I knew what I was getting in to, and I don’t regret it. Alas, it is going to add up both short term and long term.

After my first weekend of running my new Losi 8ight 4wd 1/8th scale buggy, I wanted to clean the grass clippings I got into the components. I also wanted to partially disassemble the front end, so that:

  1. I would know more of how it works, and this be better prepared for maintenance
  2. Follow the sage advice that RTR doesn’t mean ready to run, but ready to reassemble.

At first, I found some loose hardware, so I figured that partial disassembly and reassembly was a wise choice.

Then I tried to remove the steering yoke. Holy hell, that was on tight, and alas, the bad thing happened. Even with a very high quality hex driver, it stripped. Turns out that often the assembly that is done at the factory for the RTR’s uses too much or the wrong type of thread locker.

This is what many people advised. Now I know.

So, I tried the usual remedies, using cyanoacrylate glue to bond the bit to the screw.

Negative.

Then pounding in a one size larger torx bit

Negative.

It appears that the choice is to buy a screw removal tool, the recommendation being the Micro Grabit. It is ordered, and will arrive tomorrow, so I will give that a throw. But in the interim, I have ordered a couple of replacement steering bearing posts, so if I have to go nuclear, I will be able to get it back together.

I also ordered a couple of new tires and wheels, knowing that I am wearing out the stock ones pretty quickly.

They said it would be fun.

(They were right, but boy, it is not for poor people)

About the author

gander

Product Manager in Tech. Guitar player. Bicycle Rider. Dog rescuer. Techie.

By gander

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