Few ?'s before I buy a WK

[lowblueranger]

I have wanted a solid axle trail/basher for some time. I was going for the F-350 but the high cost steered me away. Now I see the new 4x4 Wheely King coming out for a little more than 200 and that seems to be the perfect base for my needs. Something to mess with in small rock piles, and a little mud/dirt.

I plan on using the stock chassis, and trans, so what all will I need to do to stretch the WB? What are you guys doing for relocating the battery? Are there any weak points that I should know about now, so I can upgrade once I get it?

[JIA's Dad]

DO a little reading and searching and the light will shine on you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[RivBlueNoma]

How do the WK axle parts hold up compared to TLT axle parts? Constant TLT repairs are getting expensive and annoying. WK is being considered.....

[JIA's Dad]

WK is bigger, stronger as far as I can tell. I've only broke the bell crank on my steering. And I have two rigs both Wheely Kings

[clarkrw3]

diffs are much stronger. actually everything is stronger than the tlt but I think the weak link will end up being the dog bones but CVD's will be out sometime soon I am sure.

[Kranberry]

the bell crank is the only weak spot as i know of:roll: other then the motors pretty weak(27T)"thumbsup"

[lowblueranger]

I've done tons of searching and reading, trust me I know how to use the search feature. I have the 4x4 version ordered from tower, cant wait to get started.

I've read alot about people breaking bell cranks and that seems to be the weak link.

[themerc64]

Here is a fix for the bellcrank...

[Crawln Coles]

I still use the stock chassis. It's stretched , has some metal links and a maxx arm 4 the rear 3-link. I also made a servo mount out of carbon fiber.

I haven't broke anything, except for breaking the stock steering arm taking it off. But I haven't ran it much either!

[patatron]

My only regret is the weakness of the axle dogbones. I broke one on my first run, and I wasn't even driving it that harsh at all. Plus HPI does not have these parts currently available for sale, so once you break, you are dead in the water! I contacted HPI on the matter, and they have no interest in helping me get my truck fixed. HPI would rather make sure that they have parts to make new trucks to sell you, rather than offer any support for their kits. It really sucks too, because the truck seems to be really well designed other than the un-available axle shafts. I would have never bought this truck if I knew it was gonna be like this, I just remember the availability of parts that were available for my RS4 pro that I had many years ago, and assumed it would be the same. You live, you learn.

[JIA's Dad]

MY guess on that is they are pushing to put all axles into the new 4x4 at this time. And I feel your pain I have four empty axles waiting on parts setting in front of me on my shelf. Thats 2 more builds on hold. And hey I'm in the Wheely King article for RC Driver May issue and I'm waiting on parts also. SO I understand what your saying. But at least you haven't bought 4 Wheely Kings to build 2 rigs. With 4 empty axles laying waiting on parts, You just waiting on one. I got 4 sets on order. And no discounts:roll:

[lowblueranger]

I'm just waiting on my 4x4 WK to come in. I couldnt see myself buying 2 trucks to build 1 at 180 each. I have issue of RCdriver and I really like the 2 crawlers you and your son made.

I plan on using the stock chassis, with longer links, different shocks, and some moabs. I just hope somebody comes out with a crawler chassis made for the WK.

Tower says early april and I ordered it last week, so it should ship out in a week or two unless they are way backed up on backorders.

[patatron]

MY guess on that is they are pushing to put all axles into the new 4x4 at this time. And I feel your pain I have four empty axles waiting on parts setting in front of me on my shelf. Thats 2 more builds on hold. And hey I'm in the Wheely King article for RC Driver May issue and I'm waiting on parts also. SO I understand what your saying. But at least you haven't bought 4 Wheely Kings to build 2 rigs. With 4 empty axles laying waiting on parts, You just waiting on one. I got 4 sets on order. And no discounts:roll:

I bought 2 WK's to make mine 4wd, and then ended up with a 3WD. I ordered all the 4wd convesion parts (X2) to put the second truck back together as a 4WD for my brother, and then found out that HPI is more concerned with making money then helping out its customers. Big mistake, I thought they were better than that.

[JIA's Dad]

LBR, you will be happy. The WK is catching on fast. There are pics of my latest WK crawler attempt in the Boyer tuber thread last page and the photo thread check it out.

[lowblueranger]

I can tell it will be a matter of time before the aftermarket parts start popping up everywhere once the trucks become more available.

I'll be sure to check out your Boyer build.

[slobin3d]

I can tell it will be a matter of time before the aftermarket parts start popping up everywhere once the trucks become more available.

I'll be sure to check out your Boyer build.depends on how well the truck sells with the general public, as it is right now there are some good upgrades that work on the WK because there hold over parts from the rs4mt which is what the drivetrain is derived from, like the hardened ring and pinion"thumbsup"

[Natedog]

Here is a fix for the bellcrank...

I was thinking about the HPI Svage aluminum throttle bellcrank as a replacement...here's Integy's version but there is a couple other companies that make the same piece before Integy...such as GPM:

http://integy.automated-shops.com/cgi-bin/webc.cgi/st_prod.html?p_prodid=4453&p_catid=59&sid=4wSJJh1k07UAALf-27107047466.7a

[patatron]

One of the aftermarket companies needs to make some axles that look like this:

http://i3.tinypic.com/2u4oh1k.jpg

Then people could buy these for their conversion (Or to fix broken axles like me), and swap the rear axles to the front since most of the stress is on the back, and most aren't running 4WS, the non-narrowed area (No narrowing needed on a non-steering axle) at the end of the dogbone would be much stronger, and would probably eliminate breakage!

[swhenrik]

One of the aftermarket companies needs to make some axles that look like this:


How about like this? http://www.rccrawler.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=25318&d=1167842021

[ksully]

lowblueranger where did you buy your wheely king, Tower hobbies cause i thought there price was around 209 dollars. not 180 just wondering cause i have been looking around to see who has them the cheapest.

[Natedog]

How about like this? http://www.rccrawler.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=25318&d=1167842021

Nice MT2 and home made axle setup! "thumbsup" I prefer the WK type axle to diff engagement...you can use the WK or the HD steel version of the spider gears in that diff so that you can grind the flats on the axle instead of cross-drilling and using drive pins.

[TonkaYota]

:flipoff:I can tell the Tamiya guys are gonna hate me, the HPI WK is far superior to a clod or tamiya tlt in every way possible basically, stock that is, theyre plastic isnt cheap like tamiyas is.

[lowblueranger]

lowblueranger where did you buy your wheely king, Tower hobbies cause i thought there price was around 209 dollars. not 180 just wondering cause i have been looking around to see who has them the cheapest.


I was talking about buying 2 of the 2wd's for 180.00 each to build a single truck. That would be to expensive for me. I payed 209.99 and tower and saved 20 bucks for spending over 125.00.

[patatron]

I was talking about buying 2 of the 2wd's for 180.00 each to build a single truck. That would be to expensive for me. I payed 209.99 and tower and saved 20 bucks for spending over 125.00.

I chose their $25 off deal instead. Came to $193 shipped I think.

[lowblueranger]

Yeah, the new special discount is 25, I ordered it last week when it was only 20 off. Cant wait, it shipped out today.

[swhenrik]

Nice MT2 and home made axle setup! "thumbsup" I prefer the WK type axle to diff engagement...you can use the WK or the HD steel version of the spider gears in that diff so that you can grind the flats on the axle instead of cross-drilling and using drive pins.

Not sure what you meant for sure, but I'm just clarifying for anyone that might not know.... NMT1, NMT2, WK axles, all engage into the spiders the same, including all the HD gears.

I'm thinking the drive cups are a much better quality of steel, or at least hardened better, then the typical axle shaft. And definitely better then most people's homemade shafts will be. A standard drill bit won't do anything to these drive cups. If building stronger axles, the flats on the shaft engaging into the spiders I'd think would be the next weak point. Having the hard cups should eliminate that weak link.

Using the cup makes it REALLY easy to make a homemade shaft, you don't have to worry about getting the shaft diameter perfect to fit into the diff housing and then filing those flats, it's all done for you. The homemade dogbone size is then not critical, I just used some 1/4" rod (I think that's what it was), which is quite beefy (oversized) compared to the stock axles. The cross drilling accuracy isn't that critical either, I drilled mine with a cordless drill! The cross pins I used are hardened steel and available everywhere for R/C. So, a nice mix of simplicty and durability.

The only reason I took this setup out was because I added rear steer.

If someone were to make an aftermarket axle targeted as "non-steering axle only" aimed at crawlers, I'd think it would be a solid shaft all the way front wheel nut to wheel nut, a flange to bolt to the ring gear to make it like a locker, the correct size to hold the non-ring side diff support bearing, all in one piece. Now THAT would be a nice upgrade for the WK axles.

[Natedog]

Swhenrik,

I was pointing out where the parts came from in case others didn't know and complimenting you on your work. The stock WK style drive flats are more time consuming and difficult to make properly...but slide out of the axle easier than the dogbone style end. Not saying yours is bad, just another way to get it done. :)

[swhenrik]

Swhenrik,

I was pointing out where the parts came from in case others didn't know and complimenting you on your work. The stock WK style drive flats are more time consuming and difficult to make properly...but slide out of the axle easier than the dogbone style end. Not saying yours is bad, just another way to get it done. :)

Yeah, didn't figure it was a put down.... so I was careful wording to not sound like I put you down either :lol:

With the correct length pins on the dogbone, they actually will fit out of the housing without disassembly. Of course they won't fit through the end bearing, but you actually can't use the end bearing with my design (which I forgot til now) kind of a downfall as there's nothing to keep dirt out of the housing.

[swhenrik]

Copied my post from tips and procedures:

An idea I threw together for an all in one spool/locker/rear steer eliminator.... The red could be all one piece from axle nut to axle nut. The center section "spool" could also be the same piece, or seperate. It would bolt directly to ring gear.

32319

Of course Nickrummy gets credit for the axle housing.

[swhenrik]

From this thread: http://www.rccrawler.com/forum/showthread.php?t=51121 figured I'd answer here to keep it together.....

do you think if you could have had the end of the 1/4" rod machined to fit in to the diff like the stock axles do, it would be better??... or do you feel your setup is stronger?... I ask this because if machining it would be better I would do so at a friends machine shop.... whats your opinion??

Some of this I mentioned already.... and I'm "guessing" it's stronger because of the hardened drive cups.

[Natedog]

....An idea I threw together for an all in one spool/locker/rear steer eliminator.... The red could be all one piece from axle nut to axle nut. The center section "spool" could also be the same piece, or seperate. It would bolt directly to ring gear.

Of course Nickrummy gets credit for the axle housing.

No problem bud! 8) Anyways great idea with the one piece axle/spool too!

From this thread: http://www.rccrawler.com/forum/showthread.php?t=51121 figured I'd answer here to keep it together.....

Some of this I mentioned already.... and I'm "guessing" it's stronger because of the hardened drive cups.

I'm using the HD hardened steel spider gears in my WK build so these should help with the double flat stock WK setup...not sure which is stronger though.

[HauntFreaks.com]

oops....

[swhenrik]

do you think if you could have had the end of the 1/4" rod machined to fit in to the diff like the stock axles do, it would be better??... or do you feel your setup is stronger?... I ask this because if machining it would be better I would do so at a friends machine shop.... whats your opinion??

If you could get one machined, it would fit together more like stock, and help keep dirt out by being able to retain the bearing, and you wouldn't have to buy the drive cups. But unless you find some hard/high strength steel for the shaft, I'd worry about the strength when cut down to look like the stock shaft. I was able to get by with softer steel with my setup because it's so large.

[camaro67]

If you guys got a grinder, drill and a wrist pin available. make it yourself. i got tired of waiting so i went to home depot and dot the same size rod and made it. took a little time, but work good and probably stronger than O.E.
Just use your shaft as a template.

[HauntFreaks.com]

I used swhenrik's idea to use 1/4" steel round stock when using a MT diff and cups...
I got mine from lowes... I used .078 music wire to make the pins for the bones...

here is the 1/4" round stock cut to size....
the MT cups can except the 1/4" stock but the WK axle cups can not (there a hair to small) so I cut the ends od the shaft down to .23...
then drilled the holes for the pins
http://hauntnet.com/rc/wk/wk_axle_03.jpg
Music wire pins installed...
http://hauntnet.com/rc/wk/wk_axle_04.jpg
here are the dimentions...
http://hauntnet.com/rc/wk/wx_bone.jpg
stock shaft installed...
http://hauntnet.com/rc/wk/wk_axle_01.jpg
new rear shaft installed...
http://hauntnet.com/rc/wk/wk_axle_05.jpg

[Milotronics]

"thumbsup" :idea:

Hey guys I think I found a replacement part for the DIY shafts for the WK when useing the RS4 MT diff with the drive cups. The replacement shafs are from duratrax for the maximum bx part number dtxc9662 they come in a pair for under 9 bucks. take a look

http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXTP77&P=M

[swhenrik]

I used swhenrik's idea to use 1/4" steel round stock when using a MT diff and cups...here is the 1/4" round stock cut to size....
the MT cups can except the 1/4" stock but the WK axle cups can not (there a hair to small) so I cut the ends od the shaft down to .23...
then drilled the holes for the pins

Sorry about that... I must have used 3/8"??? I didn't measure it, I just found a piece that fit snug and used it.

For the cross pins... the WK comes with an extra set of wheel pins that are the correct diameter. I used Maxx/Savage size pins, and had to file flats on them to get them to fit into the drive cup. That also helped correct for the fact that I didn't get the holes drilled perfectly centered, just trial and error until I got them to fit snug.