New to rc, Ruckus $188 shipped to door

[Erik]

Your rear wheel can come loose and cause that. The blue ones are the hex shaped pcs. that you just trashed. Sounds like you better get the whole axle kit in which they are included. The blue ones don't have pins but instead have 2 allen screws that lock against flat surfaces on the new axle stubs. Use loctite on them and the wheel nut.

Don't forget to put the silver crush sleeves "in between" the rear wheel bearings...

 

[rendnb]

Don't forget to put the silver crush sleeves "in between" the rear wheel bearings...

Figured I'd chime in... this OP reminds me of me when I first got a Ruckus lol. Got mine and within 2 days I was like "hmm what are the upgrades?". At least now there are a ton of options; there weren't many 4 years ago. I just got back into the hobby with my son a month ago, and whipped out the Ruckus as I didn't want to deal with my 1/8th truck.

The MIP steel drive shaft conversion I did held for a while but then one of the axles literally ripped itself apart. Found the Hot Racing ones that were posted, put them on and they're working out a lot nicer. The MIP conversion compromised a little shock travel, but the Hot Racings give me full travel. Also, a very nice touch was the hexes that came with the drive shafts... saves you an upgrade right there, and as Erik pointed out, use loctite on those set screws, and don't forget to put the silver "crush" washer between the rear bearings..

Some other tips I'd like to throw in:

• ECX makes replacement aluminum parts for: the front steering blocks and castors, shock towers, rear steering hubs
• There are also aluminum A-arms, but I'd advise on the A arms that RPM makes.
• While there are aluminum steering blocks, I'd advise on the RPM steering blocks and hubs (you can find all the RPM products here)
• Keep in mind if you do go with the RPM parts, you'll have to get new bearings (they take an 11mm bearing as opposed to the 10mm bearing that's stock). While I've purchased the aluminum steering blocks for the front, I'm planning on going with the RPM heavy duty plastic versions as they're cheaper to replace, and plastic flexes when you need it to.
• Replace as much as you can with metal and use plastic where it makes sense. I replaced all my tie rods with metal versions vs the plastic stock ones that were on there. This will also allow you to adjust the camber of the tires
• For a lipo, I wouldn't go 3s, I'd hang around 2s and at 25 - 30c discharge rate. Anything over that, especially if you go 3s, you're liable to start ripping things apart. *EDIT* I stand corrected. Browsing the forums, I see some are using 3s lipos with no issues after upgrades.... Hmmmm lol might have to try that myself.
• Finally, if you ever want to replace that stock body, look at the 1/8th monster truck bodies. The Ruckus is interesting in that its a 1/10 scale truck but is almost the length of a 1/8th scale truck (my son's Traxxas Grave Digger is shorter by 3 or so inches). I went with the Proline F-250 body for a Traxxas E-Maxx/Revo and it fit nicely, just had to trim up the wheel wells a bit.

Whew! that's all I have for now. Other than that keep having fun! Keep us posted on your upgrades and progress!