Pinion bushings

[DrewHammer]

Hey y'all, question,

My HPI B072's finally showed up for my pinon bushings, however, these are just plain oilite not iron. Has this ever happened to anyone else? Did I not order the right number? I was fairly certain the bearings vs. bushings thread gave that specific part number, maybe I am wrong.

Any help greatly appreciated.

[Devil Inc]

Yeah, I'm pretty sure HPI replaced the Super-Oilites (Iron) ones with the plain Oilites similar to the Traxxas ones. Probably a cost vs. performance/longevity thing. I really hope we see the VP option released here soon. I'm replacing bushings just about every 2 hours of runtime I put on my rig.

[DrewHammer]

This is exactly what I was scared of. Oh well, it's not worth the shipping returning them. I'll try ordering through someone else, hopefully someone has some old stock laying around. If vanquish doesn't have the bushings for sale in the next week I'm going to crank out a set myself, it's not rocket science.

I'm only currently getting about 30-45 mins of run time out of the traxxas bushings, I was hoping the iron B072's would fix it up.

[evan03]

Its not rocket science unless you don't have the prop per tools.


I'd love to see you crank out a bushing with a true center

[DrewHammer]

Originally Posted by evan03

Its not rocket science unless you don't have the prop per tools.


I'd love to see you crank out a bushing with a true center

I've got a Birmingham YCL-2280 lathe and a Bridgeport mill in my shop, bushings are a non issue other than buying a $50 5mm ream to make $5 in parts. It may not be best to make assumptions about someone if you don't know them. You know what they say about assuming...

[evan03]

I actually assumed you had the propper tools.

My assumption is more that the bushings won't turn out true

[Calderwood]

Originally Posted by evan03

I actually assumed you had the propper tools.

My assumption is more that the bushings won't turn out true

Why would you assume that?

[Harley]

Originally Posted by DrewHammer

bushings are a non issue other than buying a $50 5mm ream to make $5 in parts.

Isn't that always the case with these damn trucks?! I seem to make a habit out of spending way more than I should on something worth much less...

Still working on the VP bearings. A couple guys had issues with theirs however mine are still good. I have close to 20 hours on these bushings and they are still in great shape. However 2 others had them lock up on their pinion shaft. VP doesn't want to release something like that until we can figure out why mine are still running and thier's is not.

[Calderwood]

Originally Posted by Harley

Isn't that always the case with these damn trucks?! I seem to make a habit out of spending way more than I should on something worth much less...

Still working on the VP bearings. A couple guys had issues with theirs however mine are still good. I have close to 20 hours on these bushings and they are still in great shape. However 2 others had them lock up on their pinion shaft. VP doesn't want to release something like that until we can figure out why mine are still running and thier's is not.

Are you guys using different lube?

[DrewHammer]

Thanks Harley, I understand why VP is taking so long, I just wish they had started sooner lol.

I'm with Nigel on this, inadequate lube or lube type would be my initial thought. I'm sure it was VP's also.

The industry I'm in uses a lot of brass based gear alloys in the gearboxes and they all require very specific lubricants otherwise the gears will gall. I wouldn't be surprised to find this true with these bushings as well.

[Harley]

Originally Posted by DrewHammer

Thanks Harley, I understand why VP is taking so long, I just wish they had started sooner lol.

I'm with Nigel on this, inadequate lube or lube type would be my initial thought. I'm sure it was VP's also.

The industry I'm in uses a lot of brass based gear alloys in the gearboxes and they all require very specific lubricants otherwise the gears will gall. I wouldn't be surprised to find this true with these bushings as well.

I am using a standard bearing grease in mine, I am not sure what they were using.

[KRAWL]

What esc/motor/gearing and driving style are you guys using to destroy bushings. Ya'll got me worried now. Have a rtr Wraith mainly for my daughters to use and decided to build a Wraith kit for me. Only waiting for MIPs. It has a MMP,3,300kv Pro4,32p 60/12 spur & pinion on 2s for now. Should I be ready for this? Will be used all round(crawling,trailriding,hillclimbing).

[Devil Inc]

Originally Posted by KRAWL

What esc/motor/gearing and driving style are you guys using to destroy bushings. Ya'll got me worried now. Have a rtr Wraith mainly for my daughters to use and decided to build a Wraith kit for me. Only waiting for MIPs. It has a MMP,3,300kv Pro4,32p 60/12 spur & pinion on 2s for now. Should I be ready for this? Will be used all round(crawling,trailriding,hillclimbing).

You're creeping into the 'danger zone' you're geared a bit lower than I run mine (56/12) but I'm on 3S. I think it's something you'll want to keep an eye on. You can check the play by wiggling the driveshaft & pinion, without the need to teardown the axle. There are other factors that determine the longevity of the bushings, like the pinion angles and how you drive the rig.

[Harley]

Originally Posted by KRAWL

What esc/motor/gearing and driving style are you guys using to destroy bushings. Ya'll got me worried now. Have a rtr Wraith mainly for my daughters to use and decided to build a Wraith kit for me. Only waiting for MIPs. It has a MMP,3,300kv Pro4,32p 60/12 spur & pinion on 2s for now. Should I be ready for this? Will be used all round(crawling,trailriding,hillclimbing).

Running 2s lipo may be your best chance at survivability of the stock bearings.

Keeping your rotating weight lower also helps, running VP SLW's or similarly light weight scale wheels helps. Some of the heavier wheels can start causing more issues.

[KRAWL]

Thanks gentlemen, I feel better now.

[DrewHammer]

Originally Posted by KRAWL

Thanks gentlemen, I feel better now.

Follow Harley's suggestions and you should be alright. As far as my driving style that's killing bushings.... I do mostly terra-x style driving. I'll go out and find a cool location to do a circuit type run with rocks to navigate through quickly. There aren't enough rock piles around me to make it worth while crawling and I grew tired of rock bouncing pretty quick. I'm also running a Novak 4.5T ballistic 550 in mine. So, big power + big sticky tires + a heavy truck = pinion bushing problems.

[evan03]

Because everyone with a lathe and mill would be making there own bushings.

That just isn't the case. Drew may be more then capable but in reality is easier said then done

[DrewHammer]

Originally Posted by evan03

Because everyone with a lathe and mill would be making there own bushings.

That just isn't the case. Drew may be more then capable but in reality is easier said then done

This is very true. TBH, it's more just being lazy and working 60+ hr weeks that makes me not want to go fire up the equipment. If I had a boring bar small enough I'd bore the holes rather than ream, either way I'm probably going to be buying tools. I should probably just bit the bullet and order up some 1/2" round bar of a few different bearing grade bronze alloys such as manganese bronze just so I can prototype my own set if Vanquish's don't work out.

+10 years in the high precision 1:1 automotive aftermarket world before I got in to my current industry has given me great respect for tolerance and quality, but these are afterall just bushings on an RC truck. It's not like they're bearing races for the space shuttle.

Hopefully this new order of B072's arriving in a few hours will let me drive this weekend.

[DrewHammer]

Well, new order of B072's are oilite as well. I'm going to throw them in now and just plan on going through these. Hopefully a little more adjustability with new links will get everything squared away. I skipped the link mount flipping on the stock axles since the links were flexing a lot and should have put the pinion angles back on track with pinion "climb".

So, since I have now hemmoraged $75 on bushings I didn't want and shipping for them I have decided to make my own. If they turn out well I'll become a vendor here and start selling them. I'm sure one of the 3 alloys I've chosen from will make decent bushings.