Wes1

I also have a Hyper 7 brushless(actually a duratrax 835 but a clone of the hyper 7). The Hyper 7 design is very popular and almost identical to some early(and late) Kyosho buggies. Upgrade the hinge pin holders to aluminum and shim the diffs on the Hyper and it should last forever. I've replaced many of the original 835 parts with ofna parts(better plastic). Does well for club racing. Exactly the buggy is fragile to begin with but if precautions are taken it can hold up to 2s on the track and when I overgeared mine on 3s quite entertaining on the road. Buying this buggy for bashing is a mistake.

My advice would be to strip the electronics and sell the parts to someone else willing to tinker with it. It'll frustrate you over and over again but I will say it can be very fast on the track.. Until it breaks. I know i'm in the Vantage thread and could be seen as a troll but if you read my previous posts i've done everything possible with this platform before giving up. It's very very cheap(maybe the cheapest RTR brushless out there) so I understand why people still want to go for it. I'd suggest buying a used empty roller off ebay and installing a cheap brushless system for similar money. Arrma makes a great product.

Just have a history with turnigy/hobbyking and see it coming. Might be wrong but after 8-10 years of buying through them I see a trend. I own a vandal so it's in my best interest to be wrong.

It's been ongoing for years now. I'd bet that Vandal parts will never be restocked.

Backordered big time Problem is that they rip out completely.

zip tied from the shock tower to the top brace on each side and then 1 zip tie around them to hold tension(probably not needed).

Have you had any issue with where it screws to the front diff(2 screws)? If you've owned it for awhile then i'd say its very worthwhile mod. Problem for me is that the carbon top plate isn't readily available(without ordering from the UK). Consider that if something does get in there it cant get out. I took the bottom diff plate off and haven't had any issues. It was catching on some landings at the track and I was more afraid of it deforming back into the spur than the protection it provided. I spent 3 hours @ the track today with my cobbled together buggy and it held up better than ever and I was running it HARD at the track. Zip ties for the win.

I went back on this and decided to repair my vandal and keep running it in a last chance type of mode. After fixing the rear hinge block I noticed my last front diff housing screw broke away(diff housing to top brace). I came this far, I'm out of diff housings, so I decided to get funny with zip ties. In all honesty I bet this holds up better than stock and i'm actually interested in seeing how it runs on the track(runs great bashing around the yard/street). I even beat on it with 3s and 21t pinion(honest 55 mph). Lets just say after tinkering with it for so long yesterday I wasn't nice to it :-). EDIT. After a 3 hour track/bash session it held up better than ever. Zip ties rule. If I bought this buggy again i'd add zip ties to a brand new one just to reinforce the diff screws. I know the carbon fiber top plate would fix this but zip ties are cheap(and cool factor for DIY @ the track).

The closest comparison would be a Redcat Tornado epx. All around better buggy. redcat Caldera 1/10 4wd short course(slightly slower around the track but built way better). Slash 4x4 but a different price bracket. (same) 1/16 E-revo. Actually similar sized but more $$. I like it much better. Used Duratrax 835 but 1/8 scale(although paid $180) Much faster around the track. Otherwise 2wd, nitro, or MT.

I don't like making sweeping statements but here goes. This buggy is a failure(for me). I've modified it every which way and even on 2s it can't make a trip to the track without breaking. I've had over a dozen different types of rc and this has to rank near the top(or at the top) as the most brittle one purchased. Broke the rear hinge pin holder. So far that makes 2 arms, shock tower, diff housing(screws pulled out/cracked) entire chassis, rear hinge pin holder, front hinge pin holder and a top brace. I would say i've put a total of 2 hours on the buggy. I've made it stronger but it just shifts the breakage to another part. This time it was a mild cartwheel that took out the part. I will say that I got it dialed in nearly perfect but even so there's so much slop everywhere it's hard to say if the lap times would be competitive. I'm going to cannibalize the Vandal for the Brushless system, Put it in a ECX Torment I bought for $70, strip down both vandals and sell the parts on ebay rather than hassle with it anymore.

Basically the same setup I have but what i'm thinking is there's some flex left to right(as well as front to back).

Oddly I found the arms to be too rigid vs the flex of the top brace. I boiled my arms to soften them up and haven't had a broken one since. I broke 1 on my first track run and only 1/4 through a battery. I stripped out one spur but it was only because I lost a screw to the motor mount.. Flex did the rest. IMO plastic spurs are a good thing. They are cheap and if the buggy locks up due to a rock in the driveshaft or something you'll strip a spur instead of a diff. I'll go as far as to say I think the chassis flex has caused a few spurs to strip too. If you twist the chassis or bend it the pinion and spur will be affected. I don't think this is the main cause of stripped spurs. I actually think this buggy can be made very durable and that's the only reason i'm still messing with it. Who knows for sure but i've experienced the same issue on a traxxas slash 4x4 and a 1/16 Revo once they get big power. Reinforcing the diffs is a known fix. This is strictly my opinion and i'm wrong about many things. The stress comes from the tires/dogbones twisting the diff housing from each side. If they twist enough the mesh is affected between the diff gears and then... I can say the actual metal diffs are very stout compared to other 1/10 4x4's.. Logically it has to be the housing not holding the mesh. The top brace helps keep the housing from twisting but the top brace that comes as stock is very flexible, runs north and south, and only uses 2 screws into the diff. Both of my front diff housings have a screw hole that is broken/pulled out on one side. That's what helped point me towards twisting housings. Ideally you'd be able to clamp the housing left to right but i'm unaware of how to do this without affecting this diff itself. Another solution might be to drill through the screw holes and use a nut on the back side where possible. I'm having issues with screws stripping/pulling out of the plastic out all over. If i'm wrong it's no harm but if i'm right it'll only cost you a few zip ties and a carbon fiber rod down the middle.

Not very long but i've put hours into it over the past few weeks. I've modified quite a few trucks, planes and quadcopters. No issue with the diffs and based on what i've seen the diffs are very strong.. It's the housings that are weak and flex. Reinforce the chassis to keep the housings from flexing enough to keep the diffs in good order. The whole buggy is connected/built through the diff housings through a top brace that is made of very very flimsy plastic. Loosen those couple screws and see how much flex there is.. You'll be extremely surprised. More than anything else I feel the weakness of the Vantage is the plastic top brace. The arms aren't great either. Strengthen the top brace and protect the arms(good bumper) and you'd be hard pressed to break it on 2s power.

Lost a couple screws on my Vantage/Vandal and stripped a spur gear. I have to say that the spur was holding up very well. The front diff/top brace seems to take a major beating so I simply zip tied a piece of aluminum tube across the top brace to help with the flex. It was flexing and pulling the screws out of the top diff casing. The idea of making a brace across the shock towers is a good one IMO. Flex is good on certain parts but IMO this brand has too much flex in the middle causing screws to pull out and leaving it up to the bottom chassis to brace everything and causing it to break(happened to me right down the middle). After the mod I spent all day running with the 1/8 buggies at my local track and makes other 1/10 Short Course trucks look silly. I run on 3s at the track for the extra power to correct attitude in air and make easy jumps.. Other than on the straights the 3s doesn't really make any real difference in laptimes. My race mod suggestions. I'm sure it's been covered but it's almost up to 200 pages now. Short course/truck bumper from Carnage/desert fox Make a top brace or upgrade to a stiffer one. stock Upper plate Upgraded plate I personally would just reinforce the stock plate. Get creative but a carbon fiber tube and zip ties will do the trick. You can get solid carbon fiber rods at your local hobby shop or online for dirt cheap. Taller gearing. I run a 21t pinion but that's a bit much for 3s. 19t would be good for 3s if you keep it within reason. 45w shock oil/remove preload completely/add if needed The shock shafts are prone to bend. If you remove them, heat them up and quench them in water they wont bend anymore. The hotter the better. Better tires(I run generic amazon tires for dirt cheap) Amazon tires Stock servo is passable but of course digital metal gear servo's are better. I upgraded to a cheap digital chinese one for under $20. Consider ordering a H-king Vantage roller for under €70 and strip it down for backup parts. I don't think the carbon fiber shock tower or aluminum arms is needed and since i've fitted the different bumper i've not broken another arm.

Does anyone know if the Carnage chassis and the Vantage chassis are the same? I'm going to have to order from UK ebay to USA so want to make sure.

I've noticed. I suppose in a pinch I could order them from the UK but shipping would probably be too expensive. Hard to beat hobbyking pricing though. The bumper was just over $2. After fitting the bumper I went to the track today and for the first time I didn't break anything. I even ran 3s but used the power conservatively. Also these tires are cheap, wheels don't hold mud as easily and provide much better grip for the track. If you're going to spend time on the track I highly recommend swapping the tires. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01DU78IYE/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03__o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 As another positive the bumper doesn't "catch" when you come nose down.

New member from the United States Found a huge upgrade that fits as stock. Short course bumper from the H-king desert fox/FTX Carnage fits like a glove(helps that they are basically the same vehicle). I'm sure somewhere in 190+ pages someone figured it out(only read through 120 so far). Should help protect the arms, shocks and as a bonus I feel like it really reinforces the diff/chassis and tower. https://hobbyking.com/en_us/desert-fox-bumper-1set.html The arms are really weak/brittle on this vehicle and parts are VERY hard to find in the states. As a tip Hobbyking sells a Vandal kit for around $70 that can be stripped and used for spares. I bought the ARR version with the brushless system for $85 so I can use the system in another 1/10 vehicle. So far i've broke a chassis in half, broken an arm, bent a shock and lost a dogbone pin. I cut a hex key/allen key and pressed it back through. It's worth putting red loctite on all the dogbone pins(they come out easy). I race at a local track with it and in the right hands(not mine) it's competitive. Modifications done. 45w shock oil, stick on weights for balance(nose heavy), 20t pinion(undergeared stock,Bumper, and Tire uprgrade. Future upgrade Heat treat the shock shafts(get them glowing hot and quench them in water). Supposed to resist bending/make them stronger. Reinforce parts with aluminum(cut, drill and brace). Heavier diff oil Boil plastic parts(makes them softer/less likely to fracture)