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Wondering if there is any benefit vs the cash outlay of going through my RC8Be this winter and rebuilding it with new bearings. I was going to refreshen it anyway with some new parts to replace worn areas, so while I'm in there.... I thought I'd consider new bearings.

How good (or bad) are bearings that come with kits these days? My assumption would be that they use the cheapest possible to advertise that the kit comes with full bearings but knowing the rearl die-hards will go purchase something higher quality.

I'm not a racer, just a basher, so the value proposition for me is very different vs an Associated team driver competing at championship races. Still I appreciate high quality parts so I'm interested in opinions. Maybe compared to the high end ceramic bearings from Avid and also something mid-tier with rubber seals from Avid that doesn't have ceramic internals?

You're probably right about the original bearings being on the cheaper end of the spectrum. Those 1/8 scale cars are so big and powerful I would definitely replace the bearings if it's been a while. In the axles at the very least. I personally could never justify buying any of the high end bearings, but that's certainly not up to me. I just can't imagine them making a very big difference except at maybe the highest levels of racing. You know what they say about opinions though...

I bought a complete B4 set from Acer that are the high end ceramics. Pretty pricey, but they seem very nice. Probably won't help me out any being a once in awhile runner, but what the heck!

It really depends on the brand. I know from experience that Mugen supplies in the longer the longest lasting bearings I could afford for instance. When the stock mbx6's started wearing out I replaced them with other brands only to find out they blew up even faster... so I went back to stock Mugens and they started lasting longer. Xray's are the same too.

My B4 and B4.1's bearings have treated me nicely.

No idea about the RC8's to be honest.

Good luck,
Paul

just check them for wear. they are like full size car bearings, when they are worn out, replace them. if they wiggle too much or have a really rough operation after cleaning, they are toast.

cheap vs not cheap, you are just paying for material(hardened steel vs ceramic vs whatever) or tolerance. The processes to make bearings these days are so mature, you get decent bearings at cheap prices. as a matter of fact, if the balls are true and the tolerances are a bit on the loose side, that makes for a faster car

let's face it, for an RC (toy) car, that is made of plastic and aluminum, really good high accuracy bearings that cost $$$$ are really like putting lipstick on a pig. at the scale these cars are, you care more about efficiency/friction than accuracy.

jwscab wrote:like putting lipstick on a pig.

I woke up next to her one morning in my past life...

Hah, ok thanks guys, that helps a lot. As much as I err on the side of "dunn right" sometimes that leaves me scratching my head saying "how did I blow my budget again?".

From my experiences the bearings that come with most decent kits are ok, you can expect a good life out of them. Just replace them when they start to get crunchy.

The ones you really have to watch out for are the cheap $1 bearings.

I too was leary about spending good money on a set of ceramic bearings, I eventually did and must say they are some of the smoothest and tightest (no play) bearings I've used. I wouldn't go out and buy a set for my new cars unless most of them needed replacing anyways.