The Slash Report – 3 Make It Tough

Last week I cover the weak links of the Traxxas Slash. All though few; the Slash has them. Last week I talked only about the shocks, because it’s the one thing that needs to be fixed right out of the box. They will pop off just tooling around the drive way. All of the items that I am going to talk about in this report are things that don’t have to be replaced; unless you plan on strapping in tons of brushless/lipo horsepower.

The c-hubs, steering knuckles, and axle carries are all a point of interest and can be fixed in the same way. The strongest option is of course aluminum. The aluminum will keep these areas from breaking as long as it doesn’t get run over buy a car.  There are two problems with the aluminum. First is of-course price. With the aluminum parts ranging from $20 to $30 it’s not really worth it. Second is that they are so stiff that they will make other parts break. The one other option that you can consider other than just keeping spares is RPM products. RPM parts use a very flexible nylon plastic that will bend, but not break. With the parts running about $9 they are a lot cheaper than the aluminum parts and week links won’t be created down the line. Only problem that might end up happening is that some tracks won’t allow the aluminum or the RPM parts. So be sure to check the rules at your track.

One other problem only happens in really dusty conditions or really high horsepower. The spur gear in the Slash is a really tough chunk of plastic, but it can be destroyed. In dusty conditions the huge hole in the stock spur gear cover allows a lot of dirt to eat up the spur gear. The cheap fix is just a simple little piece of tape. This works good, but you’ll need to replace it often, because it will fall off. A more permanent set-up is the RPM gear cover. The RPM gear cover has no hole and is made of the same nylon plastic as their arms, axle carriers, c-hubs, ect. So you know that it can take a beating. When running brushless and lipo the will even get pushed past its limits. To keep from striping the teeth right off the gear just simply loosen the slipper clutches nut till the slipper will slip for about a foot or two. If you have enough power it should pull a nice little wheelie and keep your spur gear intact.

All of these points don’t really need to be hopped up. Its all about how hard you are going to drive your Slash. If your just tooling around your drive-way then you may never break anything. However; if you plan on strapping in tons of power and getting 25 feet of air at I-Hobby. You’re going to want to a little bit of modifying. Till next time. Keep it rolling.

Jason Annis