axial yeti xl review good and bad

[lizzy 4400]

well after two months waiting my yeti xl has at last arrived, got it home and unboxed it only to find that it had been sent out with the complete near side body panel missing plus all the retaining screws , how this got sent out is beyond me ,phoned dealer who was as shocked as me, axial rep to be contacted asap , so far i'm not impressed , this aside it is a nice looking truck with nice detailing the lift up body is a pain as it does not lock up and has a habit of falling down all the time also the battery compartments are a pain to close the pins are very difficult to get in ,but it will take nanotech 7600 mah 2s packs ,  well i ran it on 4s to  get a feel for it, omg what a beast this is , the castle mamba set up is wicked fast so fast in fact that i think 6s would be impossible to control , 4s twisted the thing so much most of the time it carries the offside front wheel 4 inches off the ground and torque steers  and will back flip when it finds enough grip and that caused an end to the first test as it flipped over and hit a curb, not a hard impact but enough to shatter the front shock tower, on inspection this does seem to be more holes than material, a stronger meatier item is needed ,looked to get a replacement stock part these are on back order , so found a carbon aftermarket part in the states looks very nice

Edited February 14, 2015 by lizzy 4400

[Tug]

Vid? A vid would be nice!

[lizzy 4400]

will up load some pics when i get the new carbon shock tower and 20 kg steering servo its a power HD from model sport i have heard good things about these and at

Edited February 19, 2015 by lizzy 4400

[turok007]

is this going to turn into a yeti xl alloy   as the small yeti has a ton of alloy parts being made for it.  to stop it falling apart.

[lizzy 4400]

yes some alloy parts would be nice, will have to see what comes out for it over here ,plus i'm building up a 5T roller and most of my money is being eaten up by that at the moment , but the yeti will get fully upgraded but i don't want it to get to heavy, some more carbon would be nice. should have a spectrum 4s arrive this weekend, so will be changing the radio gear this will give the option for lights and a winch later.is there any body doing any thing to improve their xl  it would be nice to here what else is being done, the power system i  don't think can be bettered

Edited February 14, 2015 by lizzy 4400

[lizzy 4400]

will iron out the weak points first off, the carbon shock tower  has now arrived from xtreme racing USA, nice 5mm thick looks very sturdy and should look good hope to get this fitted at weekend along with new beefed up steering servo and radio gear 

Edited February 19, 2015 by lizzy 4400

[lizzy 4400]

well, carbon shock tower fitted ok and looks the part, went on with the only issue being you need to find 2 m3 nyloc nuts to secure the shocks as the original mounts had internal threads and nyloc's don't come with the carbon tower, also replaced the radio with a spectrum 410 receiver and dx4s trany  , and fitted a stronger steering servo ( hd power 20kg ), you will also need to up grade the servo horn to an alloy part  and the control arm to the servo saver needs a much more ridged item ( the stock parts are so poor in quality any extra torque just twist's the lot out of shape ) like i said before these quality problems should be sorted out at the development stage,  god does any body at axial ever drive there own stuff , it may come with an manic power system but you still need to turn the car ,sorry about the rant but it does p*** you off 

Edited February 21, 2015 by lizzy 4400

[jony nitro]

Yep I dont think they put much thought in to the XL kit, and I think its not very good, not value for money at all.

[smeghead28]

Where are the pictures then

[sean-vrs]

Yep I dont think they put much thought in to the XL kit, and I think its not very good, not value for money at all.

is this the kit or a rtr?

i dont think the kit is in stock yet

[jony nitro]

I meant XL Rtr

[lizzy 4400]

it's the rtr, and your bang on, at the price it's very poor value in quality terms, axial should take a look at the traxxas summit as the build quality and design i feel are exellent and is let down only buy it's motor, i run a twin 700 brushed set up from kershaw designs in mine but i planned to upgrade before buying it . i would have gone for the yeti xl kit had i known it was going to be an option as this has a rear sway bar included and proper 1/8 wheel hubs and not the mickey mouse ones that are fitted to the ready to run version ( check out the pics on model sports add for it ), 

Edited February 21, 2015 by lizzy 4400

[turok007]

from what i have seen them nuts are a joke.  i cannot see what axial was thinking when designing them.

[lizzy 4400]

yes  they look like something you would find on a 1/10 scale, oh also i've found another problem if you move the rear shocks to the rear mount position you can not hinge the body back far enough for it to lock in i suppose i will have to use a stick to prop it up now , lol

[turok007]

is the body supposed to clip into postion.  as i have seen a fey people who have said it wont clip in even with alot of force.

[lizzy 4400]

yes it will sort of clip into position but you have to extend the rear shocks fully to get it up but if you put any weight on the rear shocks it comes down ( a right o'll finger trap) , trust me i found out the painful way, but as i posted earlier if you move the shocks back to the second position it will only lift half way ( not impressed )

[turok007]

so will axial be selling a prop stick upgrade.  lol

[lizzy 4400]

 yes a nice carbon one ,

[Noj]

Ha, reckon that will still undercut the VP HD super prop by

[lizzy 4400]

yes that's the one for me, and i i bet it won't break the first time you use it,lol

Edited February 24, 2015 by lizzy 4400

[turok007]

what sort of run times did you get on the nanotech 7600 packs

Edited February 24, 2015 by turok007

[lizzy 4400]

i have not been able to get out and give it a good run to see but i recon around 40 min plus, i run the same cells in my summit and i run duel brushed 700 motors  with a 65 tooth spur and 17 motor pinions and it's very quick,  if you mix your driving say 50% crawlin 50% raggin the wheels off it 45 mins to an hour also on the axial the battery box will take a longer pack but not width or depth as that's right on the limit , i will have look at what cells above 8000 mah fit, any way if the body panel turns up that axial owe me i will give it a run at the weekend , i want to see if the steering upgrades and suspension adjustments have made a difference 

Edited February 24, 2015 by lizzy 4400

[turok007]

have you changed the servo  as some say the stock one is ok   but the servo horn flexed

[lizzy 4400]

yes i replaced it with a hd power 20 kg servo from model sport i also fitted an alloy servo horn which i had lying around. and yes the standard servo is well under powered and the servo arm  and push rod are made of putty ( i kid you not ) to be honest a car this size could have done with an 1/5 scale servo or a duel set up ( the standard servo 151 ounce = 4.8 kgs that's crap ) 

Edited February 25, 2015 by lizzy 4400

[turok007]

dont sound good   i hope the push rod on the kit is better