XRAY - Model racing cars

I started building my RX8 2013 this week. I have some issues and was wondering if others have experienced similar issues. If so, how did you guys resolve the issue?

first, the rear assembly does not fit perfectly together. On page 10, the assembly containing 343010 and 343020 does not fit flush with 343050. I am able to tighten the screws on the chassis to get all to fit together. This causes a problem on page 12. The holes for the screws for parts 343080 - Graphite Shock Tower and #343030 - Graphite Rear Brace do not line up with the rest of the rear assembly. I did force the screws to make it work. This of course could be a result of a mistake on my part but tonight i double-checked my work. I took it all a part and checked it against the instructions. I did it exactly as the instructions stated. Has anyone had to do this?

Now, today, I was on page 15 of the manual when i ran into another issue which was with the front suspension. The pin 2.5x12 #980262 does not sit flush inside of Front Wheel Axle - Hudy Spring Steel" #345210. As a result, the Front Wheel Axle cannot fit inside of the bearing. The instructions clearly say to take the pin from bag 04.1 which contains 2 pairs of pins. One set is for the wheels and the other set doesn't sit flush with the Front Wheel Axle. Please the attached pictures which show the pin is not flush with the axle assemble.

I'm a bit frustrated. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you in advanced.

Here is an update for all. I went to my local hobby store and found the same sized pin (2.5 x 12) made by HPI. When i compared the HPI pin to the one in the kit, i found the one in the kit was just slightly longer that it should have been.

For anyone interested in buying this kit, be aware that not everything fits well together such as the front and rear ends with the chassis. Both seem to be a design issue for the composite parts being too thick. I think the problem is with the bushings being too thick. This causes the front and rear ends to be too wide and thus not line up with the chassis. There are literally gaps between the front and rear ends and the chassis. As a result, it is difficult to mount the front and rear ends to the chassis. Once that I got over that part, there was a bigger gap between the front end and the shock tower as well as rear ends and the the graphite braces and shock tower. the holes on the graphite pars do not line up with front and rear ends. Again because of the composite bushings were too thick, the composite bulkheads are too wide to allow the shock towers and brace to fit correctly. For a car that supposedly has so much design and engineering built in, this is disappointing.

Also be aware that the kit do not match the instructions in the kit or the updated one on the website. There are more graphite parts in the kit which is a good thing but the instructions do not show you how and when to install them. Also, the instructions for the shocks differ from the parts included in the kit. As a result, I was looking for parts shown the instructions that do not exists in the kit. Both issues can be easily solved but it is just a pain.

I haven't built a car for awhile so perhaps i could be rusty or perhaps my inexperience with 1/8 scale cars could be the issue. But i swear things were not like this when I was into the 1/10th scale RC cars many years ago.

Did you use with the original manual also the that is included in the kit?

That is indeed something you wouldn't expect from Xray.

My kit is arriving this week, hope i don't have any issues ...

Greetz,
Christoph

Dont' Worry guys with RX8 2013' Building...I just buid mine with NO problem as usual with Xray kits, everything needed is Inside and all supplementary sheets and update sheets are there. Moreother all my friends here with RX8 2013 didn't have any problem as usual

I don't know what happened with mcpc...??? It's a shame but for sure contact Xray and they certainly will help you to achieve you car properly,

Best regards from France,

David W.

Thanks for the info David !

Greetz,
Christoph

Hi guys,

I had the exact same problem as mcpc !!

The pins were too long too. This isn't what i exepct from Xray.
I had to use my Dremel to shave them off a bit to make them fit.

Apart from that the rest of the kit is perfect.

Greetz,
Christoph

i built mine about 2 weeks ago, i only had the problem with the pin, it was very frustrating as I did not expect such thing would happen from xray product. I had to buy some pins from local store in order to finish building the car.

I have the problem with the clutch shoe, it burnt after 4 laps! xray still has not fixed the clutch issue. May be I should put a capricon clutch set or mugen clutch set on instead.

One of the reasons I bought the rx8 was the joy I had when building nt1 2013 and running it. Let me try to put on a new clutch shoe and lossen even more of the preload and it does not work, i will definitely have second thought regarding xray rx8.

You can not use a different brand clutchbell, the gears will not come in line with the gearbox gears. I know there was a guy in the US who has made engine mounts with the right offset for the engine to use mugen clutches and a driver over here in Holland is uding the Mugen clutchbell with a Mugen gearbox.

As for the pins in the front wheel axles, this is strange, but i think this was a small error in packaging. We still are all human and some of us do make some mistakes..... if you have this problem and will conatct Xray i'm suren they will find an correct solution.

As for the clutch problems that patrickmclo has.

I can say that Xray has fixed the problem with the clutch with the new bell and spring that is included in the 2013 kit. What kind of clutch gap and end play are u using.

If you use 0,7mm clutch gap with 0,7mm preload spring tension (measured from the top the the flywheel nut to the top of the adjustment nut) the clutch will work fine. you can then "fine" tune the clutch on the track too tighten it more to fit the track and your needs. but this would be your starting point.

end-play should be arround 0,1mm - 0,2mm just enough too let the clutch bell rotate freeley.

XRAY found that it was a small mistake in the packing of the last batch, XRAY will send to all distributors the correct pins who received such kits will longer pins and they will send the replacement. Only a few kits has this problem, XRAY feel sorry for such troubles.

Hi All,

Sorry for the late reply. I haven't looked at this until today.

Brano Bulko: No I did not see the supplementary sheet until all of you mentioned it now, so that is my bad. However, i was able to figure out how to put everything together based upon the parts available… just put 2 and 2 together. The only one that I didn't figure out was the graphite for the steering block. I will put that on soon.

Christoph_VDP and patrickmclo: Sorry to hear about that. I feel your pain. It sux huh! It is like when you go any buy a new Mercedez Benz. Then when you have a flat tire, you find out the dealership gave you a spare rim and tire that doesn't fit your new car. Then when you complain about it, their reply is that everyone makes mistakes.

I have a new problem that could not be answered by looking at the original instructions or the supplemental sheet or googling it.

I've only ran the car on three separate days… Wednesday, Saturday and today (Sunday). I've just been breaking in the engine at the Rose Bowl parking lot so I am not driving crazy. Today was the first time i went full throttle briefly here and there. This was after I was almost done with a quart of fuel. On all three days, I lost the rear left pivot pin and 2mm composite caster clip for the rear left upper a-arm. When I lost it on Wednesday, I immediately ordered a new set from amainhobbies. It came on FRiday. Then I installed the first one in the pair on Saturday. I ran it for one and a half hours and then it fell out a second time. I installed the second one that came in the new set. I ran the car for another hour or so without any issues. Then today, I ran the car over a 5 hour period. on the 5th hour, the 3rd one fell out again.

Do any of you have this issue? Any suggestions? What am i doing wrong?

shoot! i just realized what happened with the pin. I forgot to tighten the allen screw in the upper a-arm. This screw is what holds the pin in place. This is also why only this pin fell out. I'm a d-u-m-b-a-$-$. Excuse my french.

Haha Mcpc,

Good one
So, the car is good now ?

Greetz,
Christoph

Yes it should be fine once I get a replacement pin which is on back order at amainhobbies. Also Xray xshop does not have the part on their website for some strange reason. Then I just have to install the graphite on the steering, then check the clearances on the clutch, and then tune the car to my liking.

I still had the problem with the clutch. I have changed the entire clutch set including flywheel and pinions to Mugen and the car is running fine. I may try again the X-ray clutch set later, but for now, Mugen clutch set!

Hey patrickmclo, I just ordered an mrx5 clutch set too to try out. Are the gap and endplay settings the same as the rx8?

Also in case anyone was wondering, I found out the reason why the car wouldn't roll smoothly. I mixed up the bushings for the uprights and the bulkheads. They looked the same to me. I didn't realize it until I tore the car a part for maintenance. That's when I noticed the flat bushings vs the rounded-edge ones. The rounded ones for the bulkhead are thinner. Because I put the thicker ones in, the holes for the graphite braces did not line up for the bulkheads. I guess the car isn't me proof.