Life of one YETI - Tom Frajer's Axial Yeti build log

[TomFrajer]

Unfortunately, I was able to put aluminium rod ends only on one of the titanium links - it was very tight fit, but I was able to screw them on using some force. I was not able to screw them to second link - WTF
I kept one link all metal, second with plastic rod ends and went to the ride on 3S.

After about 30 minutes longer plastic rod end gave up. Steering link hods perfectly and so aluminium rod ends on one of the rear upper links.

Im bit angry because of the rear link problems. This is not good design by Vanquish :( I was also looking where can I get longer rear upper links but did not found anything so I will probably keep changing broken plastic rod ends and that is annoying...

I also bent rear axle shaft once again. I was driving only on asphalt with couple of rollovers and I olways checked my wheels for wobbling after each rollover. Fourth rollover or so and BOOM. Shaft was bent. Now I'm pretty sure that all this is caused by using too wide SLW 850 hubs. I already have 725's on the way, but I'm asking myslef whether this will help or should I go with even shorter hubs?

[magic_yeti]

Maybe it would help to cut Thread in Alu rod end again. some times threading isn't well done on cheap parts, had that on my beeftubes.
Sad to hear your axle bend again, i don't like lockouts... that's why I choose ssd wide axle for the rear. No issues till now with bend ones on Mine . Maybe it will come.

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[Rjohn929]

Don't take this the wrong way but it has to be something you are doing. Nobody else is having such a terrible time with rod ends. Maybe a broken one once in while. I have been using Traxxas ends forever and haven't broke any since my T-Maxx days almost 20 years ago. As for the bent axles, stop rolling over and cart wheeling. You may want to get a wider axle to help mitigate it but it's really all in the driving.


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[TomFrajer]

I try to drive without rollovers (and that is not easy on 3S). Ran 30 minutes on high grip surface (asphalt) with only 2 or 4 unintentional rollovers - that is not bad driving (to my opinion) if you consider how easy it is to flip Yeti going on 3S on asphalt, taking plenty of turns and trying to go fastest possible without actually flipping it

With 850 SLW hubs it is VERY EASY to bend rear axle. I can straighten it, but not every time. Now Im waiting for 725's and 600's to try and see the difference. I also ordered another pair of shafts to have them as reserve.

I really do not want to drive my Yeti walking-speed
I hope I can make it bombproof. Rod ends are OK as they are cheap, but bent shafts must be adressed for sure!

Originally Posted by Rjohn929

Don't take this the wrong way but it has to be something you are doing. Nobody else is having such a terrible time with rod ends. Maybe a broken one once in while. I have been using Traxxas ends forever and haven't broke any since my T-Maxx days almost 20 years ago. As for the bent axles, stop rolling over and cart wheeling. You may want to get a wider axle to help mitigate it but it's really all in the driving.


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[TomFrajer]

Originally Posted by magic_yeti

Maybe it would help to cut Thread in Alu rod end again. some times threading isn't well done on cheap parts, had that on my beeftubes.
Sad to hear your axle bend again, i don't like lockouts... that's why I choose ssd wide axle for the rear. No issues till now with bend ones on Mine . Maybe it will come.

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I can try this but I need to buy the cutting tool first.

Another thought that came to my mind right now is to try to cut longer RPM plastic ends to 25mm and use same length on both ends of the titanium link. This seems to be much easier amd maybe sufficient solution to my problem... at least I have more options to try.

[shiftauto]

It is kind of crazy how often your breaking rod ends. Is there a reason you mainly drive on asphalt? The rig is made for rock racing and lower traction surfaces. You haven't really built it to be a street machine either. You may want to look into your shock setup and tires if the plan is to keep it on the pavement. I have yet to break a rod end on mine and it's been jump over my head, taken nasty rollovers, & cartwheeled a solid 20-30 feet @ speed. I'd be trying different upper links as well or calling VP

[TomFrajer]

Originally Posted by shiftauto

It is kind of crazy how often your breaking rod ends. Is there a reason you mainly drive on asphalt? The rig is made for rock racing and lower traction surfaces. You haven't really built it to be a street machine either. You may want to look into your shock setup and tires if the plan is to keep it on the pavement. I have yet to break a rod end on mine and it's been jump over my head, taken nasty rollovers, & cartwheeled a solid 20-30 feet @ speed. I'd be trying different upper links as well or calling VP

Yes, I will try different set of rear upper links - I already ordered them. I also think that putting longer rod ends on the body side helps alot. I will try shorten long RPM rod ends to 25mm and put them on both sides. This should improve durability.

Why driving on asphalt? Because I usualy finish my work on the car late at night and there are good lights on the street near my home

I have few nice dusty places near but they are dark in the night. Another thing is that I want to focus on my problema, solve them on the asphalt and then be happy Once everything will be OK I will drive it in the rocks and dust over weekends. Now I need it to hold up at least 5 packs without damage on asphalt :-D Thats the goal!

[DeviledEggs]

Please PM Dlux about longer links. Your rod end problem will be solved. Trust me.

[TomFrajer]

Last missing piece from Vanquish.

[TomFrajer]

Originally Posted by DeviledEggs

Please PM Dlux about longer links. Your rod end problem will be solved. Trust me.

Thanks, I will keep that in my mind and do it if my last experiments fail.

[magic_yeti]

Originally Posted by TomFrajer

Unfortunately, I was able to put aluminium rod ends only on one of the titanium links - it was very tight fit, but I was able to screw them on using some force. I was not able to screw them to second link - WTF
I kept one link all metal, second with plastic rod ends and went to the ride on 3S.

After about 30 minutes longer plastic rod end gave up. Steering link hods perfectly and so aluminium rod ends on one of the rear upper links.

Im bit angry because of the rear link problems. This is not good design by Vanquish :( I was also looking where can I get longer rear upper links but did not found anything so I will probably keep changing broken plastic rod ends and that is annoying...

I also bent rear axle shaft once again. I was driving only on asphalt with couple of rollovers and I olways checked my wheels for wobbling after each rollover. Fourth rollover or so and BOOM. Shaft was bent. Now I'm pretty sure that all this is caused by using too wide SLW 850 hubs. I already have 725's on the way, but I'm asking myslef whether this will help or should I go with even shorter hubs?

what just came in my mind. could it be that the tread on the vanquish links are non metric?
we wouldn't mention this if using plastic rod ends.

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[Rdkill]

Yeah VP have SAE thread not metric. Should have saved yourself some money and grief and got the wide SSD.

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[Fanatic]

Originally Posted by TomFrajer

Last missing piece from Vanquish.

have a feeling some of your rod end woes will end with a stiffer sway bar like the currie there, hopefully anyways.
On the 850s, i had to upsize to the 850 just to clear the rear fenders on the baja body ,not sure what the currie vp width is but i needed extra length to not have the tires tearing off the body at full compression, using ar60 , beef tubes, vp lock outs , keys and vp methods/ voodoo u4s length side to side is.. 8 1/2" inside tire to tire for reference.
Have a friend here with similar yeti woes, breaks a rod end almost every pack, using 750s currie axle ans vp upper links. bends an axle every 3 or 4. after Currrie sway bar and stiffened up rears shocks it happens less frequently but still carries extra ends in pocket every single practice session.
waiting for titanium axles also.
watching ,hoping you find a good answer to copy for him.

[baggg]

Hey, I've enjoyed this thread and build.

One little Noob question - are there any aluminium hex brands to be avoided? Are the lower cost ones stripable on 2s?

Cheers

[TomFrajer]

Originally Posted by baggg

Hey, I've enjoyed this thread and build.

One little Noob question - are there any aluminium hex brands to be avoided? Are the lower cost ones stripable on 2s?

Cheers

I'm using stock Axial hexes and they still look pretty good after many runs on 2S and 3S. Now I also have GPM hexes and some noname chineese hexes from Aliexpress and also pair of Vanquish hexes. All of these I will have to try yet. I will post my experience here.

[magic_yeti]

Originally Posted by TomFrajer

I'm using stock Axial hexes and they still look pretty good after many runs on 2S and 3S. Now I also have GPM hexes and some noname chineese hexes from Aliexpress and also pair of Vanquish hexes. All of these I will have to try yet. I will post my experience here.

maybe that's your axle bending issue..
If i remember right in a thread here, there was mentioned that using vanquish slw with non vanguish hexes will cause slop in this connection.

[TomFrajer]

Originally Posted by magic_yeti

maybe that's your axle bending issue..
If i remember right in a thread here, there was mentioned that using vanquish slw with non vanguish hexes will cause slop in this connection.

I dont think so. There is no slop vertical to the axle and torque (spinnig) slop does anything to do with bending problem. I use non Vanquish hexes on the front wheels also and they are not bending. I have 475 hubs on the front. My rear is just too wide I think. Anyway, I have pair of Vanquish hexes (last piece available on the shop I was ordering from) so I will put these to the rear for sure. Now just waiting for 600 hubs to arrive - sometime next week.

[TomFrajer]

Currie Antirock swaybar installed:

[TomFrajer]

Very sorry that I must say this, but Vanquish customer support SUCKS!

I never imagined something like this can happen with such a company, but...

Couple of weeks ago I placed $1000 order, few days later they canceled my order and refunded me saying that they are not able to guarantee safe delivery of such a big order to Czech Republic. There was $50 transaction fee on my side for nothing so they gave me $50 store credit and allowed $350 order that was delivered in less than a week. I ordered rest of the Vanquish parts on RCMART based in Hong Kong.

Once I received my parts I found that one of the C Block is bad. There was hole for the pin missing. I posted photo here sometime before (it is here: Life of one YETI - Tom Frajer's Axial Yeti build log).

It was very nice to receive replacement C Block from Vanquish, but it took time and couple of emails from me asking whether they sent it or not. After few reminders they did.

To my surprise, when I opened the box, there was left C Block but I clearly wrote that I need RIGHT C Block. Okay, mistakes can happen. I wrote another email telling them they sent me wrong side and asking for right C Block. Two days, no answer. Writing another mail, again, couple of days, still no answer...

Should I buy new pair of C Blocks in Hong Kong or should I be more patient? Is this normal with Vanquish? What is your experience with them?

[TomFrajer]

Regarding bent rear axle shafts... I studied this problem a bit and found this:

1, There is lot of people with same problem.
2, SSD shafts are bending too, also CBRB Titanium shafts are bending (but takes more).
3, Weak point is the pin hole - this is the place where axle bends mot of the time.
4, One good thing to try is open rear diff: Bent my first SSD axle today....disappointed

Here is good thread with lot of info on this topic: Bent my first SSD axle today....disappointed

So my conclusion - and hopefully solution - to this problem is:
1, Using stronger titanium shafts from CBRB.
2, Going down to 600's SLW hubs.
3, Using Vanquish hexes for rear wheels.
4, Unlocking rear differential - will put 500.000 oil there and use aluminium diff case. Here is some info on how to do it: Unlock rear diff