My IFS Bomber Build

[*Old*]

For the SLW Hex hubs, I wasn't sure which size to get. I was concerned with clearance issues with the front knuckle and links with a smaller width hub, but in my mind, I wanted the least amount of width possible to reduce the added leverage on the axles.

So, I got both 225 and 350 VP SLW Hex Hubs.
I first installed the 350 and found there was extra room, so I decided to switch to the 225 and it fit perfectly. Just enough clearance.

225 vs 350 hubs


However, while mounting the 350 hubs with the VP SLW Hub Screw kit, one of the screws tore off inside the hub . I was being super careful, but noticed it was getting harder to turn, so I backed it out a little, tried again, and backed out and again and it tore off.
I noticed a couple other screws were giving me a hard time while some went in easily.






After further investigation, it turns out some of the VP screws had a slight bend at the head to it, making it impossible to be screwed in straight. I bought two bags of the SLW screws and looked through the un-opened one and saw a few screws in there with a slight bend to it.
Also, I'm noticing the VP screws are made of a cheaper aluminum grade metal, not sure which, but they are not very strong.




I ended up ordering a set of Team KNK 4-40 stainless steel screws. I got the 5/16" vs 1/4" to add a little more bite in the hubs. The beauty of this is the KNK screws are about 1/4 the price of the VPs!




Here is a photo comparing the KNK screws to the VPs. The VPs are the shorter ones that are not perfectly straight.


I did contact VP about this and after several emails back and forth and a few weeks go by, they asked me to mail the screws and hub back to them and they would send out a replacement, which they did. I still used the Team KNK SS screws instead though. Didn't want to risk it.

[durok]

^^^That's just depressing, seeing crap hardware get shipped out with expensive parts. Stainless hardware is a great way to go in general, of course.

BTW - if you're looking for a great wheel to switch to later, take a look at the GearHead RC wheels - especially the EZ-Loc series.

They are very highly praised, will mount any tire easily, only need 6 screws for the beadlocks, reversible centers to change offsets as well as offering different offset hubs, and can be had with aluminum or Delrin centers.

RPP sells them.

[bilinvic]

I love a "spare no expense" build.....

[bilinvic]

Originally Posted by the DMG

Looking GREAT so far,
nice to see it coming together !

big change coming to the B1B kits coming here soon guys !
keep a eye out for it !!

thx
the DmG

I'm not sure I like the sound of this Jerry!!!

[cmbscx10]

Originally Posted by bilinvic

I'm not sure I like the sound of this Jerry!!!

I do knowing what and how you build. Look forward to the RC Eye Candy bilinvic.

[calcagno45]

Good choice on picking up stainless 4-40 hardware. I did that as well, 100 pack for $8 is much better than the VP screws.


Great build!!

[SCREAMER]

More VP quality control issues

[bilinvic]

Vantegy

[SCREAMER]

Originally Posted by the DMG

Looking GREAT so far,
nice to see it coming together !

big change coming to the B1B kits coming here soon guys !
keep a eye out for it !!

thx
the DmG

When can I order, Jerry? I need to have both No. 001 for V1 and V2

[Lanky]

Originally Posted by SCREAMER

When can I order, Jerry? I need to have both No. 001 for V1 and V2

Think I beat you to it... tracking says tomorrow

[SCREAMER]

Lucky bastard. I'm mildly upset he didn't call me first. Oh well. Maybe I'll get number 2.

[*Old*]

Originally Posted by durok

^^^That's just depressing, seeing crap hardware get shipped out with expensive parts. Stainless hardware is a great way to go in general, of course.

BTW - if you're looking for a great wheel to switch to later, take a look at the GearHead RC wheels - especially the EZ-Loc series.

They are very highly praised, will mount any tire easily, only need 6 screws for the beadlocks, reversible centers to change offsets as well as offering different offset hubs, and can be had with aluminum or Delrin centers.

RPP sells them.

Thanks for the heads up on the GearHead wheels. I'll check em out when I'm ready to upgrade

Originally Posted by the DMG View Post
Looking GREAT so far,
nice to see it coming together !

big change coming to the B1B kits coming here soon guys !
keep a eye out for it !!

thx
the DmG

Originally Posted by bilinvic View Post
I'm not sure I like the sound of this Jerry!!!

You know what would be nice...some awesome turning radius like what the solid axles get
probably not possible though

[*Old*]

Alright yall, moving on to the rear axle.

I went with the SSD Yeti Wide Centered Diamond axle, with their HD shafts and skid. I was reading around that the original shafts that come with the Diamonds has it's limitations to put it lightly. I'll keep the originals for spare. Visibly and physically, I couldn't tell the difference between the HD and original, but I'll take their word for it that it's stronger.
I do like that the Diamond already comes upgraded to use two 5x13x4mm bearings for the pinion rather than the stock 5x11s on the Axial stock.
I also feel the skid should've been included with the axle, but whatever

With the Yeti wide version, it allows me to match the same hub width to the front rather than a really wide one for the rear which would add more leverage and stress on the shafts.

Another cool feature is it comes with Ti hex hubs that fit over the keyed axle shaft. So in theory, the axle shafts should be stronger b/c it doesn't have the 2mm hole to fit pin like most other shafts out there. However, the hubs does not fit tightly on the shafts - it's rather loose. Overtime this could be an issue, but we'll see.




These 5x13 bearings that came with the axles were not press fit like others I'm used to. I had to use a brass punch on both of them to fully seat. I know this will be a beotch to remove when I need to. Any good small RC bearing pullers out there?




Went with UD 43/13 gears from Axial and the Locked Up RC FI spool.



greased gears with some old automotive Hitemp bearing grease I have laying around.



Wanted to point out that the SSD Diamond axle did not come with any shock brackets, so I went with VPs aluminum triple shock mount which will allow me an added option to attach the sway bar link.







I'm impressed with the overall quality and look of the axle. I like how it has the 3rd member which reminds me of the old Ford 9".

[SCREAMER]

Biggest difference on the SSD shafts is no through pin for the hex and no hole in the stub shaft. That's where 90% of the failures were.

[*Old*]

As I mentioned earlier, my failed attempt at making my own Ti links forced me to go with some VP Ti Wraith upper links.
Also added in the Supershafty JEC Wraith length trailing arms and the VP Currie Sway bar.


I had to add the Jato rod ends on one end of the Wraith links to get the pinion angle a little better.


VP sway bar - I've received some advice and also read some reviews about these sway bars, and the most common complaint is they can never get the grub screw on tight enough and even with red locktite, it will still work itself lose.
I found this to be true as I also used red loctite on the grubs and just messing around with it and wrenching other areas of the truck and twisting, etc, one of the grubs ended up falling off . Didn't even run it yet.
So anyway, I ended up using the blue gel that comes with the MIP shafts on the grubs instead to lock it in place. I've heard "if you don't ever plan on removing something, to use this gel." So far so good, and will report back on this.



These are the grub screws I'm referring to that keeps jarring loose. There are two on each bar, top and bottom.




SS JEC Wraith lenght trailing arms - I really like how the rod ends are protected within the trailing arms. These are slightly pricier than others out there, but I feel it's worth it.

[*Old*]

Originally Posted by SCREAMER

Biggest difference on the SSD shafts is no through pin for the hex and no hole in the stub shaft. That's where 90% of the failures were.

Thanks Screamer,

I'll have to look again, but I thought the standard shafts that came with the Diamond did not have the hole and it came with essentially the same hex.
Are you saying the stock shafts that came with your Diamond had the hole in it for the pin?
I will check tonight and confirm.

Edit - Confirming that my SSD Yeti Wide did come with the HD shafts that does not have the hole for the pin.

[SCREAMER]

So much of your build is similar to my build. At one time I had the exact same rear axle except in gray. The included shafts that I got had no hexes and a through hole for the pin same as stock. After bending both shafts I upgraded to SSD newly released HD shafts and had no more issues. There was talk for a while of SSD including those HD shafts from now on but I don't know if that ever came about. Be really cool if they did that. I'd get another axle from them for sure.

[*Old*]

Originally Posted by SCREAMER

So much of your build is similar to my build. At one time I had the exact same rear axle except in gray. The included shafts that I got had no hexes and a through hole for the pin same as stock. After bending both shafts I upgraded to SSD newly released HD shafts and had no more issues. There was talk for a while of SSD including those HD shafts from now on but I don't know if that ever came about. Be really cool if they did that. I'd get another axle from them for sure.

Wow man, your rig looks amazing! Yours and bilinvic was an inspiration to me and is what helped me make the decision to go with the B1B as my first build. Great work

I seem to recall your rig using a modded out Axial AR60 with some Dlux goodies right? Or did you switch from that to the SSDs?

And I'll confirm tonight when I take look at the axle shafts that came with the Yeti again. Would be awesome if those are the HDs so now I have HD spares

[SCREAMER]

Thank you very much. Yes I did switch from the SSD axle to a fully modded DLux axle housing and truss with beef tubes and Axial's full width kit. I knew I would be beating the hell out of this truck and I felt like I needed more bracing on the rear axle for all the bouncing, jumping, and crashing I would inevitably be doing. The SSD never gave me any problems after swapping out the shafts it was just a personal choice.

I apologize if I thread jacked or got us off topic.

[*Old*]

Now onto the shocks.

Went with Gmade XD piggybacks 93mm for the front and 103mm for the rear. I do have a set of the new Pro-Line Ultra Reservoir 105mm shocks on order, that I ordered late Nov or Early Dec when there was the big sale on them, but they are still on backorder since then. Because of that, I had to get the 103s to hold me over till then.

The Gmades went together really easy, a little messy, but bleeding this thing was much easier than the stock Axial ones that came with the Bomber and Wraith, although those are pretty simple too.
I love the "infinite" adjustability with these shocks too. A simple turn of the set screw allows you to stiffen or soften them as needed.

At first, i went with 35wt upfront and 30wt in the back with 2 hole piston. Way too soft. The front couldn't even hold itself up. The rear was ok, but felt like it could be better. So i went with 45wt front and rear with 4 piston.

this is how it comes out of the bag.


Interesting find for the rear.

The Gmade shocks come with this oversized plastic rod end for the top of the shock mount. This thing is too large to fit into the Bombers upper shock mount.

Here is a pic showing the Gmade shock ball too wide to fit in.
hoop

So I'm looking at some other options I have on hand, which are Traxxas rod end ball, Proline plastic shock and the Axial.

Here is a photo comparing them.
From left to right: Traxxas, Gmade, Pro-line and Axial

You can see how the Gmade is so much taller and wider than the others.





The problem with going with one of the other ball ends, is they don't fit in the shock hoop as snug as the Gmade one b/c their diameter is much smaller.
here are comparison photos:

Gmade - see how it fills the hole nicely, as it should.


Pro-line - see how much gap there is

traxxas - this one goes all the way through the hole, as it doesn't have a larger end to stop it like the Pro-line. ball

Axial - same as traxxas, will fall through it, as their larger end is smaller than the hoop.