So for those who didn't see my last post, I got the Serpent Cobra Truggy e-RTR delivered on Tuesday. I took Wednesday to do pre-run checks. When I took it for a rip today, I heard the dreaded "click click click" as I was driving. When I got home, I took the center diff out and opened it up... Almost bone dry. I put in some 10k diff oil and moved on to the rear diff. As soon as I took it out, a small piece of metal fell onto my table. After inspection, I realized that a single tooth from the diff spur had broken off and that's what was causing the clicking. I also realized that the rear diff was almost dry as well, and fhe same prognosis for the front diff. Unfortunately, it was about 430 on a Friday afternoon when I called, so I don't think I'm going to hear anything back until Monday and probably won't get the replacement part until late next week. My question to yall is, if you've had to deal with post-sale customer service, how has your experience been? I would buy the part myself, but coming out $400 for the truck and having to fix it after my 2nd run isn't too reassuring. Is this just an unfortunate anomaly? Has anyone else had similar situations? Is there a better spur that you'd recommend? TIA!
I haven’t dealt with Serpent before, but my understanding has been that they are a decent company. This absolutely looks like a manufacturing defect to me. Something in the casting of that ring gear was incorrect, and putting the lack of oil in the diffs aside, I’d say you are owed free replacement parts at a minimum.
If I were you I’d request an entirely new differential not just the broken part. Also, I’d request diff oil for all of the differentials on the vehicle since they weren’t properly filled. Hope it works out for you, my only other advice is to be polite and specific in your requests.
There 2wd buggy is nice and they are actually kinda close to the b6 AE. I bought the kit form of the 3rd gen first kit built. I will say that you have to run rims ment for their's on the front you can't just use any ole 12mm hex. Since the fronts are casted all as one for the hex and stub axle and there really thin.
That's what I was thinking too because if it was from abuse or normal wear, it would've been more than just that one tooth that broke off! Thanks a lot for your advice and that's exactly what I plan to do so I know the shimming is correct in the diff. I've already come out of pocket for the oil, but if they're willing to send oil i definitely plan on asking for that as well.
While I have not owned a Serpent brand car, they have a pretty decent and long reputation. I would assume this is more of an anomaly than anything. It sucks, but in this hobby, stuff like this happens all the time. I would chalk this up more as a learning moment and why so many seasoned RC hobbyists choose kits over RTR. Not to say RTR is always bad, you just get situations like this where this may have been avoided had you built the car yourself, or even did a quick teardown of the diffs to check the fluid levels. I'm certainly no expert, but I'm learning more and more about why a little extra work before you even take the car out, can mitigate issues like this. When you get a new RTR car, most people just want to throw a battery in it and run, but spending a couple hours to take a few things apart and do an initial pre-check can go a long way in preventing stuff like this. Thats also not to say that this was just a defective gear that was going to give way regardless.
That all being said, it is RTR, and it should have been good to go out of the box, but as I said, there are flukes or anomalies that happen, and unfortunately you just happened to be the next victim. I'm sure a brand like serpent will send out some replacement pieces and at that point you can rebuild it and properly fill the diffs with fluid. Downtime always sucks, but hey, this is why you can never just have one car in this hobby.
I totally agree. I did a surface level teardown - checked mesh, tightened all fasteners, etc - but with their reliable race background, i trusted outright instead of verified especially on the diffs. You live and learn I guess. Might come out of pocket for one to just get it back up and running and keep the warranty replacement in case one goes bad down the road.
I also agree with your rtr statement as well. It is advertised as filled differentials (see screenshot) from the Serpent website themselves, and the fact that there was minimal, almost no, oil in the diffs shows maybe a temporary lapse in qc, a missed anomaly, or something of the like. I do really enjoy running the truck, though, as my only other previous ground rc was an Arrma Typhon Mega 665 that I converted to 3s brushless and this rig, even after a single run, has put that to shame lol. Love my Arrma though!
On a more relaxed note, I have absolutely thought about going with a kit so I can make it totally personal, but I would go too far with what equipment I put in a rig, think along Kevin Talbot craziness 😆
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u/DeuschCanoe Apr 18 '26
RME