XRAY - Model racing cars

I have a theory I would like to share. My theory is that Xray knows there is a problem with the diff bulkheads, bearings on pinion gears, and diff bevel gears on the 808. Here in the states, these parts are getting pretty hard to come by.

I would like to here from people across the pond to see if there is a parts shortage there also. I don't know if there is or not, but my opinion is that there is. Everyone is breaking these parts.

The bearing outer race spins inside the bulkhead, both front and rear. I understand that certain people are having trouble with bottoming out the drive shaft into the center diff cups, but after researching the issue, I think that EVERYONE that has had a failure ultimately comes down to one common problem. That problem is the bearings spinning inside the bulkhead. The bearing outer races spin against the bulkhead, which melts the case a little. This in turn oblongs the case where the 2 bearings sit, which then puts the pinion gear at a bad angle against the bevel gear, and also puts a bind on the bearings. All this not only improperly wears parts, but also puts extra heat into the diff case, etc.

The reason I have come to this conclusion is because as an experiment, I raced my 808 on an extremely smooth dirt oval, and still had the failures everyone has thoroughly described on this message board. This ruled out alot of things that I have seen listed here. I am not hitting any jumps, tiles, etc. I simply ran it around an oval track, which in no way puts un-due stress on any of the parts that failed.

Mario, or someone at Xray needs to admit to there is a design problem, and find a cure that will both satisfy us as consumers, and Xray as a company. There has to be a simple solution to the problem. I like the idea I read on one of the threads about a spacer that goes between the two bearings on the pinion gear to prevent them from spinning, as well as from getting turned putting a bind on the bearings. Honestly, if this is the cure, how much could a spacer cost. I wouldn't even mind paying for the fix, if it is a spacer that is needed, even though alot of other companies fix design/reliability problems free of charge.

All of us die-hard Xray owners are very proud of the products we have bought from Xray over the years. Alot of these same people have posted negative comments about other competitors of Xray, especially about how they don't compare to the Xray quality and durability. To Mario----what do you think these same loyal Xray owners are saying AWAY from this message board? Worse yet, what are your / our competitors saying about all these failures? As a club racer here in the U.S., I can tell you this is starting to tarnish the excellent reputation of Xray.

Someone please address this problem.

Back to the original question.... Are these parts becoming hard to find in Europe, Australia, and Asia also?

I have also ran a Losi 8B and 8T and have to say that the bearings in those cars also suffer from a similar problem and that is due the heat build up on the bearings going into the rear gear box that when the bearing gets too hot it starts to melt the plastic gearbox casing leading to a pinion and ring gear failure. I have now got some alloy rings to put into my 808 and will be testing this this weekend. During rebuilding the gear boxes I did notice that the rubber seal on the outer bearing in the front gear box had rotated and had welded itself to the gear box case. I am not sure if this was due to the outer part of the race rotating but I have used the cotton bud and some tyre glue to make sure that the bearings are a much better friction fit.

Yep well put as i said on another thread there will obviously be a Truggy due out next year so this should be addressed then if they use the 808 as a base starting point as they used the EC as a starting point in the XT8 truggy.....