Poor quality?

[V-Rossi]

Has anyone here noticed any quality issues concerning Associated products? A lot of people here driving the B4, X-6, S2, so cars using the Associated front end, are breaking a lot of wishbones front and rear (except for the X-6, only front).
These breakages weren't caused by big crashes, but by landing not 100% right, hitting the edges of the track,... things like that. The fitting of the parts isn't as good as usual anymore as well.

[Danosborne6661]

Could just be that its winter! The cold makes the plastic that much more brittle

[i4n]

What might be happening is you're seeing the crash that breaks them (which is the small bump) but what you haven't seen is the massive full speed smash 3 weeks earlier that has severely weakened the arm etc.

I've done similar with my Losi, massive crash and then several weeks later you catch a track marker and the arm snaps.

[Mike Hudson]

never broken a rear b4 wishbone or b44 rear! Not had a problem with fronts either, only broke 2 oneyear old abused fronts wishbones last season American plastic quality seems to have fallen abit since the beginning of last year, it's little softer but not by much.

[Belsten]

Originally Posted by Mike Hudson

never broken a rear b4 wishbone or b44 rear! Not had a problem with fronts either, only broke 2 oneyear old abused fronts wishbones last season American plastic quality seems to have fallen abit since the beginning of last year, it's little softer but not by much.

I have All my fault though. Its not made in america any more though is it ?

[Southwell]

Originally Posted by Belsten

I have All my fault though. Its not made in america any more though is it ?

Nope, China i think.

Before i switched i saw a noticeable difference in the quality of parts (i.e. wishbones and shock towers breaking in crashes which they never did before production moved.

[V-Rossi]

During the winter I'm racing indoor, so temperature isn't the issue here, and indeed some wishbones might have had a few crashes which damaged the wishbone and continued doing this, but certainly not all.
British drivers don't have this problem, they can drive

Production moving to China was indeed a big difference, maybe cheaper to make for AE, but more expensive for the drivers as the quality is below standards.

[Chrislong]

I go through phases, and I think it is me rather than the wishbones - but I can go for months and months and not break one. Then go through loads at one event, such as Stotfold national last year, think I did 5 between 2 cars.

I consider them to have a sweet spot - where if caught at a particular angle they'll go with little force, whereas othertimes I can cartwheel for miles, or nose dive from a jump and it keep on going - unweakened.

Also same with towers, can have some large crashs and it'll be fine, then on a relatively lame roll the familiar crack noise brings a broken shock tower.

Perhaps it is the phantom noise that breaks the plastic rather than the crash.

[V-Rossi]

Or we can use the 501X wishbones, then the car will look like Grübers little tank (but stronger)
Anyone tried boiling the wishbones?

[Belsten]

I would have thought boiling them would weaken them, maybe not
I saw someone with some alloy wishbones on the back of their b44 yesterday

[Northy]

I had a pair of front wishbones on my X-6 all last season, and probably longer on the B4 that became the donar I decided to put new ones on for the EOS finals at Eastrax. Apart from the flashing that I had to clean off theonly thing I realised was that one snapped VERY easily after a small tumble over a jump. The previous pair had obviously lasted a VERY long time Good job I didn't throw them away

G

[enfieldbanana]

I've been running the B44 since April time and have to admitt that I am very satisfied with the durability of the parts and the car as a whole. I have since a small reduction in the quality of Associated parts since they moved their production to China, but not that much.

The only things that let down the quality of the car are my THUMBS!!!! Oh....and those walls that I keep clipping on a Thursday night.

If you crash and don't break anything then you're lucky but if you come away with a broken wishbone.....thats racing. Got to take the rough with the smooth.

I think Associated have done a very fine job on the B44!!!!

[christoffo88o]

Originally Posted by Belsten

I would have thought boiling them would weaken them, maybe not
I saw someone with some alloy wishbones on the back of their b44 yesterday

the alley wishbones were on my b44, ive had it since april last year and not broke any wishbones at all yet, only bought them one day when i was bored

[Doomanic]

Originally Posted by Belsten

I would have thought boiling them would weaken them, maybe not
I saw someone with some alloy wishbones on the back of their b44 yesterday

Boiling may soften the plastic, but not weaken it. It used to be a necessity in the good ole days of white nylon but shouldn't be required with the newer engineering plastics employed today.
It certainly won't hurt to try though.

Ally is potentially a bad idea. Any impact will be passed on the next weakest part which may be more expensive or difficult to change. If it does bend it won't return to it's original shape. The extra weight may also make the car harder to set up.

[Belsten]

I would personally prefer to break a wishbone

[christoffo88o]

Originally Posted by Doomanic

Boiling may soften the plastic, but not weaken it. It used to be a necessity in the good ole days of white nylon but shouldn't be required with the newer engineering plastics employed today.
It certainly won't hurt to try though.

Ally is potentially a bad idea. Any impact will be passed on the next weakest part which may be more expensive or difficult to change. If it does bend it won't return to it's original shape. The extra weight may also make the car harder to set up.

ally is a bad idea, i can see what your saying, but most of the back end of my b44 is ally (shock tower, rear hubs and rear chassis plate) and hinge pins are titanium so apart from ripping the whole back end off (with my luck thats quite possible!) it should hold out quite well. as for the weight issue, that was the idea in the first place. i use trakpower lipo's so rather than stuffing tons of lead under the top deck i just bought an alley rear end. lead weights are much cheaper tho. not ran the car like this for long but if i do rip it in half il let you all know straight away

[jcb]

Originally Posted by Northy

I decided to put new ones on for the EOS finals at Eastrax. Apart from the flashing that I had to clean off theonly thing I realised was that one snapped VERY easily after a small tumble over a jump.
G

Thats not a wishbone problem, it's the track. I have some of the most minor tumbles over the jumps and snapped most things at some time or another.

I don't think Associated's quality is as good as it was two years back, I don't really know what it is either although I did have a pack of screws with no threads, and some wishbones where the hinge pins wouldn't slide through

All I do know is that my current B4 is not as good as the previous one, and generates no where near the same amount of grip, yet it is built to exactly the same specification

[Chris Doughty]

your probably putting twice as much power through this one than you did with your one 2 years ago though?

[V-Rossi]

That's not it I think, 3 months ago I sold my previous B4, which was a 2 year old, pre China car, and its part fitting and build quality were better.
Reading the post of jcb, grip is indeed less good now...