Kraton RPM a-arms worth it?

[Meffen1023]

are the rpm parts such as the arms really that much better than the stock ones ? The stock ones seem like they’re thicker material .

 

[WoodiE]

Yes without a doubt the RPM parts are well worth the money and much better thank stock. In addition, they are also covered by a lifetime warranty.

 

[Meffen1023]

So if I contact rpm they will replace them ?

 

[slick2500]

So if I contact rpm they will replace them ?

Yeah and I think they have you send in the broken one too, I don't remember though as I have never used their warranty.

 

[WoodiE]

So if I contact rpm they will replace them ?

Yup, that's how warranties work!

 

[RCROD]

Yeah and I think they have you send in the broken one too, I don't remember though as I have never used their warranty.

No doubt, RPM makes some good upgrade parts. I have RPM suspension arms on my RIVAL MT, as the stock arms were a weak point. However, the stock Arrma arms for the Kraton/Talion/Outcast are quite durable and do not necessarily need upgrading. I gather to try and keep the weight down, RPM's design exposes the lower hinge pins, and wonder if this may cause them to rust and corrode even easier? Also not sure if no material protecting the center portion of the pins could cause more damage or stress on the lower hinge pins?

WoodiE. RPM does claim to have the best warranty in the business, but many situations are not covered under RPM's warranty, when you read the fine print. Yes, that damn fine print, as you may be surprised at what is not covered. Here is a link to RPM's warranty:

http://www.rpmrcproducts.com/faq/rpm-warranty-policy/

For domestic warranties, you will be responsible for all shipping costs sending in the damaged part, and all international warranties will also incur return postage fees. Any international customers, RPM no longer covers the costs of international return postage on breakage warranty related claims. RPM will still honor their breakage warranty on their parts, but will require postage fees for return shipments before sending.

For international customers, both the shipping costs to send in the broken part & the shipping costs to receive the replacement part, may be more than the cost of the actual part. Otherwards, even if you break a RPM part, it may not be worthwhile to even make a claim under warranty...

 

[Paultro84]

I've done COUNTLESS cartwheels with those A arms on my Outcast and they handle it awesome.

 

[Meffen1023]

Thank you for the feedback guys . I only replaced the one I broke with the rpm but later this week when my hobby shop gets the T-Bone bumper in that I ordered I’ll install the rest of them .

 

[WoodiE]

WoodiE. RPM does claim to have the best warranty in the business, but many situations are not covered under RPM's warranty, when you read the fine print. Yes, that damn fine print, as you may be surprised at what is not covered. Here is a link to RPM's warranty:

http://www.rpmrcproducts.com/faq/rpm-warranty-policy/

Thanks, but I'm well aware of RPM's warranty as I've used their products for many years now. My question would be this, can you show me the lifetime warranty for Arrma a-arms or any other a-arm manufacture?

Go on, I'll wait.

 

[olds97_lss]

For me, in most cases, the RPM arms are so flexible that they don't break in scenarios that stock arms would break. I've never sent in or used the RPM warranty, but I have broken RPM arms and axle carriers in extreme situations.

I don't have an arrma truck, I'm only on here for research as I do want to get an outcast when the issues with production are resolved. And my bashing buddy doesn't do much research for his talion, other than what his LHS tells him and what he sees on the facebook group. So I'm more here to learn the quirks of arrma vehicles at the moment.

That said, I've run RPM on all my traxxas trucks for years. However, I did just remove them off a savage flux because they flex too much and cause shock ends to snap when running a 4 shock vs 8 shock setup.

For my revo's, RPM arms are a requirement. I've tried running stock arms and I never make it more than one crash without shattering one or more. When they break, they tend to take out other parts with them, like the slider axles and axle carriers. The few times I broke RPM arms on my revo was in severely bad crashes where I'd case a jump at 40mph and the rear arms bend so far that I've snapped them. Also broke one or two in the winter when it was cold.

Considering the extreme effort it takes to break them, I figure I would have gone through hundreds of stock arms over the life of an RPM arm, so I won't use the warranty for that. I'm fully getting my money's worth.

If one shows up and it's not molded properly or something or if they snapped on a very small impact, then I'd use the warranty.

My buddy has put RPM arms on all 4 corners of his talion and that thing has taken a lot of hard cartwheels. I watched him break a few stock arms before getting RPM and it's crashed far harder with the RPM arms and it just sloughs it off and keeps on going. I recently helped him make an upper/center chassis brace locking the towers together as he was bending center shafts, even with alloy chassis braces. His biggest issues now are mostly due to lack of maintenance.

 

[RCROD]

Thanks, but I'm well aware of RPM's warranty as I've used their products for many years now. My question would be this, can you show me the lifetime warranty for Arrma a-arms or any other a-arm manufacture?

Go on, I'll wait.

No problem WoodiE. I have purchased their products for multiple vehicles and agree RPM products are good. I do agree having a Lifetime warranty is a great feature, but this largely depends on what they can reject. I was a bit surprised on the fine print when reading their warranty, and just wanted others to know this.

I have purchased their products for multiple vehicles and agree with olds97 their products are very durable as their composite material (which has more nylon added) is more flexible and will not break/snap as easy. However, in some cases their arms can sometimes have too much flex and cause other problems elsewhere.

I just wanted to make it clear that RPM's warranty does not cover everything and this warranty requires you to pay for the shipping costs to not only send in the damaged part, but for international customers to also pay the shipping costs for the replacement part. If RPM allowed some pictures, etc to be sent to them instead of having to pay shipping costs to send in the damaged part, their warranty would then be much more useful.

 

[Servo Killer]

I upgraded my Outcast to all RPM arms after breaking a front one.First battery pack out I broke a rear RPM arm due to a bad landing.The hinge pin sliced through it.I sent it in to RPM along with some wing mounts..We'll see how good the warranty is.

 

[ThatDrewGuy]

I upgraded my Outcast to all RPM arms after breaking a front one.First battery pack out I broke a rear RPM arm due to a bad landing.The hinge pin sliced through it.I sent it in to RPM along with some wing mounts..We'll see how good the warranty is.

Let us know what happens!

 

[RCROD]

I upgraded my Outcast to all RPM arms after breaking a front one.First battery pack out I broke a rear RPM arm due to a bad landing.The hinge pin sliced through it.I sent it in to RPM along with some wing mounts..We'll see how good the warranty is.

Wow, 1st battery pack and broken RPM arm? Like I said earlier, the stock arms are quite durable, and I really wonder if the RPM arms are in fact much better? Did you break a RPM wing mount on the 1st battery pack also?

WoodiE, so I do not sound too negative on my last post, I do respect any company that offers a LIFETIME WARRANTY, and a company does have to be confident with the durability of their parts to even think of offering this kind of warranty.

I'm also interested in the outcome. Please let us know how it goes with RPM's warranty. I've been in discussion with RPM before, and their customer service does seem to be ok.

 

[Primarrma]

I've been running RPM A-Arms on my Kraton for a while, never had any breakages. I did find that the screw holes strip very easily, though the screws haven't backed themselves out. My stock arms didn't break either, but the pillow ball end kept coming loose after a huge single front wheel landing from 70ft. That was why I've changed mine out and I'm happy so far. I did put the wing mount on too, can't really give much feedback on that as it's only been on for two batteries. It seems ok and holding the wing straighter than my stock one, which must be an unusually good one as I've not broken it, just bent it.

I run RPM on my Slash also(A-Arms, bumpers, rod ends, ect), they have been brilliant not even a rod end failure or anything else has gone wrong(I wish I could say the same about the rest of the car).

 

[RCROD]

I've been running RPM A-Arms on my Kraton for a while, never had any breakages. I did find that the screw holes strip very easily, though the screws haven't backed themselves out. My stock arms didn't break either, but the pillow ball end kept coming loose after a huge single front wheel landing from 70ft. That was why I've changed mine out and I'm happy so far. I did put the wing mount on too, can't really give much feedback on that as it's only been on for two batteries. It seems ok and holding the wing straighter than my stock one, which must be an unusually good one as I've not broken it, just bent it.

I run RPM on my Slash also(A-Arms, bumpers, rod ends, ect), they have been brilliant not even a rod end failure or anything else has gone wrong(I wish I could say the same about the rest of the car).

I broke a couple of arms on my Rival MT (definite weak point), so I did change to RPM arms and no problems since. I have not broken an arm on my Kraton or Talion, so they seem to be quite durable. I also had a problem with the bottom pivot balls loosening off, so I just used some plumbers (teflon) tape, and problem fixed.

 

[Primarrma]

I broke a couple of arms on my Rival MT (definite weak point), so I did change to RPM arms and no problems since. I have not broken an arm on my Kraton or Talion, so they seem to be quite durable. I also had a problem with the bottom pivot balls loosening off, so I just used some plumbers (teflon) tape, and problem fixed.

I did try the plumbers tape and it works well, it's really great idea(I might have got the idea from you a few months ago). I think my stock arm was so damaged it would come loose again on heavy landings.

 

[RCROD]

I did try the plumbers tape and it works well, it's really great idea(I might have got the idea from you a few months ago). I think my stock arm was so damaged it would come loose again on heavy landings.

Cool, I'm sure you wrapped the teflon tape in the correct direction (direction of the threads). I wonder if 2 wraps of the tape may have worked, if the threads in the arm are too worn are even possibly manufactured too loose of a fit by Arrma? Another option is to maybe try some (plastic safe) silicone on the pivot ball threads, as you should not have to remove the pillowball from the lower arm for any reason, other than replacing a broken arm, and the silicone is still removable if needed?

Anyways, this could be an option later if you break a RPM arm and need to use your stock arms again?

Quick video for anyone that may want to wrap their lower pivot ball threads with teflon tape:

 

[WoodiE]

WoodiE, so I do not sound too negative on my last post, I do respect any company that offers a LIFETIME WARRANTY, and a company does have to be confident with the durability of their parts to even think of offering this kind of warranty.

I didn't take it negative in the least. We're all "mostly adults" here and we're all here to learn and share our experiences. There isn't a single rule that says we have to all agree and certainly not always agree with me.

That said I'm a big fan of RPM products. If RPM makes a-arms for any of my RC's then I'm more often than not, replacing stock and putting on the RPM. I've had nothing but good success with their products and their warranty is pretty much unheard of in this hobby. The closest I know if the Tekno warranty where you can buy replacement parts for 50% off.

If stock is working for you then great, keep using them. If aluminum is working for you (I wouldn't run them, but I digress) then good deal. End of the day all that matters is that all of us are out there enjoying this hobby.

 

[chevys10zr2003]

We're all "mostly adults" here and we're all here to learn and share our experiences. There isn't a single rule that says we have to all agree and certainly not always agree with me.

Was this directed at me?? I will have you know that I am legally considered an adult. My wife says otherwise but the law overrules her.

I agree though that RPM makes great products. When I break a Kraton arm I will replace all four with RPMs and hopefully by the next time I need arms for my Senton or Typhon, RPM will be making them for those.