Broken Knuckle and steering issues.

[bustedbinder]

Like the title says I finally broke a steering knuckle so I will be needing to upgrade that. But with this I have always had steering issues. I broke the right knuckle and this truck has always turned sharper left than right. I had adjusted endpoint messed with steering trim adjusted the servo horn everything I could think of or searched for and found I think that the steering arms were binding and only let it push so far that direction because my arm went straight from the servo to that right knuckle. I am looking to buy a new aluminum knuckle and would like to purchase some pre made steering links hoping they wont bind like my home made all thread and brake line links. I was looking at strc knuckles and they have a link kit that says contains steering links but not sure how those would work any help is appreciated.

[Hardline]

Personally I think you're better off with homemade links. You need to be able to adjust and redo things as no two rigs ever come out identical. When setting up your steering remember to always power up the bare servo to get the output shaft centered. The horn however does not have to be centered and you may want to set it off one spline in order to get equal steering both sides. The link angle and geometry changes from side to side, so you may not need even & centered horn movement to get even steering. It's just a matter of messing with things over and over until you understand what will work. Try to shorten up the horn or lengthen the swing of the arms as much as possible to use up all the servo movement you have. That will give you better leverage with more steering force and less heat. IE, make the horn swing +/- 50 degrees. Don't settle for +/- 25 etc. Or to look at it another way...my radio will set EPA's to 120/120. If I mess with the steering enough I can get to where I actually can use 120/120. Perfect

[bustedbinder]

I have set the servo horn off set a tooth both ways and just cannot seem to manage to get it to do what I want possibly just need to mess with it more who knows maybe I do not have something centered properly has been quite a while since I did the links and the servo. Now for knuckle suggestions I like the strc stuff its about half the price of VP I know VP is of the best quality I guess what it is the big difference between them. I know their knuckle have different angles. Is it that much better? And is there a lot of work to mount the VP knuckles or are they direct bolt up?

[bustedbinder]

How about the VP stage one scx-10 kit lockouts c hubs and knuckles?

[Hardline]

I can only speak to what I use. A wide XR steering conversion, splined delrin tubes from CreationFab, Wraith C-hubs & knuckles from VP and DIY steering links. Not cheap, but cheaper than buying something else and then deciding to do an XR conversion.

I recommend using high strength steel 4mm allthread from Mcmaster with no sleeve for prototyping. After you get everything working to your satisfaction, you can cover the threads with heat shrink or build a duplicate fancy link from Ti or something. But really...the allthread works fine. If you continue to have problems setting up the steering maybe post some pics.

[bustedbinder]

Ok thanks for the advise. I don't really have any plans on any big mods to this rig so I will probably just get some steering knuckles for now and toy with my steering to try to get it right. Appreciate the help.

[Crawllife]

Seems like you've made your mind up but the xr steering with creation fab tubes is just sweet. I get bananas steering without modded shafts. Plus you gain ar60 width. Win win

[winnerone23]

Originally Posted by Crawllife

Seems like you've made your mind up but the xr steering with creation fab tubes is just sweet. I get bananas steering without modded shafts. Plus you gain ar60 width. Win win

You Only get XR width.. ar-60's are still wider..
Not to correct you or anything bro..

[Hardline]

Originally Posted by winnerone23

You Only get XR width.. ar-60's are still wider..
Not to correct you or anything bro..

That's true, but only if you also run XR offset wheels. If you run AX offset wheels, it will be significantly wider.

[winnerone23]

The axle would be the same width, no matter what offset one choices to run with their wheels..

[MRCrackhead]

I just spent hours making my steering links work.
More steering left than right with servo horn centered, one cog off right, one cog off left.
Only moving it two cogs would help steer right, but then left turn came up short.

It's a challenge to work out all the angles. Using threaded rod makes it a lot easier to experiment because you can cut it close, then make the link longer or shorter easily. (wish I had some last night...)

If the tie rod (which connects the two tires) isn't hitting anything when you move it by hand, forget about it. It really does nothing once it turns all the way, both tires, by hand (and your wheels are pointed straight, of course).

It's the drag link from the servo to the knuckle that is everything. Keeping it close to level gives you more/better steering since the servo isn't lifting up or pushing down on the knuckle arm during it's cycle.
Look from the top down at your steering. You want the drag link to be square to the servo horn as much as possible for the same reason. If it's at an angle at neutral position, and that angle gets even steeper when steering one way, that could be your issue. That "steepness" is reducing the servo's ability to throw the knuckle.
Bend your drag link so that it's only little crooked all the way right, and the same amount of "crooked" when you go all the way left. Essentially split the difference of the amount of "crooked" because you can't eliminate it. That should help even out your steering amount left/right.
Short tie rods will amplify these angles since it's essentially connecting two "fixed points" that aren't lined up with each other. Long tie rods lessen the angles by drawing a more gradual straight line between two points.
Think about a right triangle 1" tall with a 1" base verses a 1" tall triangle with a 20" base. The triangle with a 20" base will look very gradual, while the smaller triangle will be very steep.

Ok, I'm done blabbering. I swapped on some STRC hubs and Axial knuckles I got from a friend when he upgraded to 8 degree VP. They worked just fine if you're happy with the stock turning radius.
I'd get them instead of spending more on the Vanquish stuff.
I may be wrong, but my guess is you'll be throwing them away someday for better steering and adjustable caster....(may friend now has some VP 8 degree hubs and knuckles for sale.... he's going XR).

[bustedbinder]

Crawllife: what mod exactly are you talking about I understand what your talking about but what all does this mod entail? I am not against upgrading but I am not looking to break the bank with this as its just a toy rig like I said the whole family plays with it so it has to stand up to three year olds and I am really wanting to save up and build a wraith. Sounds like a good mod becasue I desperately need more width on this rig running 3S and 27 turn motor it likes to flip it is way too unstable.

MRCrackhead: I will just have to toy with my steering links once I get this all back together my dad has a ridgecrest and he made two tie rods no drag link and cross tube. Went straight from the servo to each knuckle and it is working well for him does anybody see any issues with that? Is it too much to beat on the servo like that not sure just curious on opinions of that. I have no binding on my links had to put a little bend in the sross tube to clear the diff but no more binding.

[bustedbinder]

Also forgot that I am running AX wheels. Just stock axial plastic bead locks that are weighted so it seems that will affect the XR mod as well as mentioned earlier.

[bustedbinder]

May be a stupid question but are wraith and xr 10 knuckles etc. the same? I am looking at strc parts for this XR 10 upgrade good option for middle of the road budget friendly but a little better quality?

[Crawllife]

Sorry I didn't see your question. And Troy is right. When I read that you didn't have an interest in the xr mod, I took it as you wernt looking to take the rig that far. My bad. The mod I think of when folks say xr mod is going with tubes that take xr chubs and knuckles. I understand ar60's are going to give you the width but then you are potentially faced with narrowing them. Something I don't have an interest in. Creation fab was super reasonable with building my first set and I'm waiting to hear back on his availability to do a second. Stock housings, creation fab tubes, plastic xr chubs and even knuckles if you'd like to save$. I went vp there. Xr universals and the most ridicules steering you could hope for. I'm lucky to be in the boat of folks that have to figure out the steering stops so I don't break anything. If you need any further pics or whatever, hit me up.

[Crawllife]

For bustedbinder, they are not. Xr knuckles have the rear steering arms permanently mounted. On the wraith ones, you screw them on yourself. It makes them a no-brainier because there are cats on here making the arms. You can control alot more that way

[Hardline]

Originally Posted by Crawllife

For bustedbinder, they are not. Xr knuckles have the rear steering arms permanently mounted. On the wraith ones, you screw them on yourself. It makes them a no-brainier because there are cats on here making the arms. You can control alot more that way

That's true of the VP products. I'm not a Wraith guy so I don't know if the Axial Wraith plastics are made the same way. In any event if you wanted to do the XR steering mod the cheapest way you could use XR10 plastic C-Hubs and knuckles which many people have taken off and stuck in a box. For more steering just cut the twin arms off and run tie-rod and draglink off the remaining bolt-on arm location.

[bustedbinder]

I found a thread that had the xr mod parts list and started looking it up and it is way out of my budget for right now. I could go with palstic parts and save a few dollars but if you're going to tear something down for an overhaul why do it twice because you wanted to be cheap the first time just my opinion but thats the dealership mechanic in me. I ordered a set of aluminum strc steering knuckles they will be a slight upgrade. The XR front end will have to wait for now. If I am going to go that far with it I would want to do it right the first time. Appreciate all the help and any opinions on STRC parts never used them before I know they are not VP but hopefully they are at least a little better than the stock plastic stuff.

[bustedbinder]

Got my knuckles in and put on this past week. wafter some playing got my steering issue fixed as well. Now I have equal swing both directions just took some tweaking. As far as the knuckles I havent really got to beat on them yet but for what they are the fit and finish are pretty nice.