So I picked up a battery and charger today, topped off the battery and started playing! It wasn't long before I noticed it had issues. The steering servo wasn't doing much at all, the radio controls were all backwards and after just a little playing, it stopped moving and made some nasty grinding sounds when trying to drive. I did some research and found that the spur gear is plastic and probably the issue. I headed to the local hobby shop, picked up a new spur gear, new steering servo and upgraded metal steering arm. After getting it apart, you could see how the spur gear and the pinion were only setup very poorly and had stripped out the spur gear.
I had a local friend stop by, he knows these things very well, has a couple Bombers himself. With his help, we had it back together! He tuned the receiver and we took a quick trip out to play on some local, rocky hiking trails ... these things are FUN! I'm impressed how capable this thing is, it's a blast to drive!