Q: Why are then no Steel axle casings?

[o0wiz0o]

Just wondered as non rotating weight is best and this would help in that area and be tougher than Aluminum.

[RaceMod]

I'm guessing that it would be too heavy, rust like crazy, and too difficult to machine.

[o0wiz0o]

I wouldn't mind the rust. Have to under-seal the axles like a 1:1. You maybe right about the weight. I have no idea how much they would weigh in comparison to what is currently available.

[madtinner]

Gcm used to make steel axle housings. But good luck finding them.

[Crank]

I would say manufacturing cost is the biggest issue.

[JohnRobHolmes]

Yes, cost to manufacture is a big hurdle. It would take two to three times longer than milling out aluminum, hence two to three times the price.

[Harley]

Plus that is a lot of unsprung weight. While keeping rotating mass down is a good thing, you also want to be conscience of how much unsprung weight you have if you are looking for handling at any sort of speed.

[o0wiz0o]

That's interesting. If rotating mass and unsprung weight are not ideal where would the optimal place to weight be? I'd guess around the stock servo area.

Thanks for the input folks.

[Harley]

Originally Posted by o0wiz0o

That's interesting. If rotating mass and unsprung weight are not ideal where would the optimal place to weight be? I'd guess around the stock servo area.

Thanks for the input folks.

It's all a balance. As you know, keeping the weight low for COG reasons is very important as well. A light axle is going to be better at reacting to bumps as it has less resistance to movement. However if we move all the weight off the axle/wheels/tires then as you know it will be more difficult to get the desired COG or weight bias.

The number I had always heard before was 1 pound of unsprung weight made the suspension react as if you added 7 pounds of sprung weight. Now that was a scale of magnitude more appropriate for full size cars and I don't know if that linearly scales to 1:10 or if it's exponential.

All just food for thought. You can find some interesting reading on the topic if you are truely interested.

[badhoopty]

i got steel gcm ar60 axles on my scaleready wraith. i also have a set of their steel scx axles on my c2 comp scaler, and i very much like the added weight down low for most things. i do however see instances where a light weight rig will basically walk up something i have to try a little harder at, but in other instances the heavy weight down low helps.

biggest reason i like the steel gcm axles is how dam easy they are to open up, and they are virtually indestructable.

[Harley]

I would want them to be able to weld shock and link tabs on in any place I wanted! I wouldn't mind just steel tubes for my Currie axles or something.