what are your favorite/best manufactured axles?

[Master Basher]

I'm really impressed with the overall quality of the bully 2 axles and I love the aluminum beef tube reinforced ax10 axle with the xr mod. I like the gearset in the berg axles, hate that they are mod gears though. The xr10 axles rub me the wrong way unless you put big big money into them with toppers and other mods. I dont know about other rc4wd axles, but they look stout and well made. What axle sets are your favorites and why?

[axial 4x4 crawler]

VP Currie axles, there solid aluminum and look badass. I have a set for my G6 rig and there in grey. I really like these just for the scale looks and there the toughest axles out there..at least for scalers.

[C*H*U*D]

You have too many different types of fruit in your basket to make a comparison. MOA and Shaft driven axles are apples and oranges.

Also, are you talking about no modifications? You can't compare a stock AX-10 to one with an XR-10 mod.

And when you say "manufactured" are you talking about high volume production models? If so, you are eliminating custom built axles like those from Dlux Fab.

[mammoth]

Kinda hard to narrow down exactly what your looking for. The ax10 with the mod xr axles are the current choice for almost all sportsman and even a lot of scalers now. These are all shaft driven rigs. The bully 2, XR10 and Berg are MOA axles and are for comp rigs. As far as comp rigs go its mostly personnel preference. The xr axles are stronger than given credit for. Only real upgrades needed are gears and bearing/bushing mods and of knuckles for steering (when they were 7-8lbs yes a lot of upgrades were needed). The bully 2's are pretty good out of the box but recently some are breaking axles so I'm sure a fix will be coming for them. For berg the options are more than I know of. Can't go wrong with Dlux version with RC bros gears!

Like I said its personnel preference. My current rigs have:
Sportsman - ax10 with the xr mod
Comp - Dlux berg
Scaler - ax10 xr mod

I still own my xr aswell as a back up rig. Hope this helped!

[axial 4x4 crawler]

Yeah I just realized that there are too many axles out there to compare without narrowing it down a bit. I heard for a MOA
set-up the bully's are good and then for a scaler rig of course the curries without a doubt and then for a basher I guess the ar60's are good but then again if you're looking for custom crawler axles then make yourself some or find a vendor that makes custom axles for a MOA set-up.

[gottorque]

Just to answer your question my favorite axle would be Creepers. I know 99% of you say otherwise but I'm a long time user and for my needs, they are pretty damn awesome. My current set of creepers was under my sporty comp rig several years ago, followed by a few different scale builds and finally under my brushless scx10 baja Jeep.

This hobby is as unique as the people that build them and no two rigs are ever alike.

[Master Basher]

No need to get confused about apples and oranges. This thread is for me to discover what axle sets are nice that I dont know about. I just gave as examples a few axles that I do know about and the make or break that each set offers.

Who makes the "creeper" axle?

[C*H*U*D]

Originally Posted by Master Basher

No need to get confused about apples and oranges. This thread is for me to discover what axle sets are nice that I dont know about. I just gave as examples a few axles that I do know about and the make or break that each set offers.

Who makes the "creeper" axle?

Well you did say "Best"...that kind of narrows it down to just one

The Creeper was made by Venom. The axles are ok, but I wouldn't say they are my favorite. The CVD's gave great turning right out of the box, but were plagued with breakage. I always felt it was a clearance issue with the short side axle shaft. The selectable locker seemed like a good idea on paper, but was too delicate to really work well. Pretty much everyone just fully locked the diff anyway. I wasn't a fan of the steering knuckles on the rear either, and you had to pay attention to the pinion gear being the wrong size. To their credit, Venom replaced these for free but I don't think they do this anymore.

You can check out more on them in the Creeper section here on RCC.

[scale4x4]

GCM metal heads for there simplicity and strength, yes, curries are "strong" but from a maintenance and practicality stand point, they're a nightmare.

[gottorque]

Originally Posted by C*H*U*D

Well you did say "Best"...that kind of narrows it down to just one

The Creeper was made by Venom. The axles are ok, but I wouldn't say they are my favorite. The CVD's gave great turning right out of the box, but were plagued with breakage. I always felt it was a clearance issue with the short side axle shaft. The selectable locker seemed like a good idea on paper, but was too delicate to really work well. Pretty much everyone just fully locked the diff anyway. I wasn't a fan of the steering knuckles on the rear either, and you had to pay attention to the pinion gear being the wrong size. To their credit, Venom replaced these for free but I don't think they do this anymore.

You can check out more on them in the Creeper section here on RCC.

My creepers have HR knuckles, chubs, lockouts, RMDW pin lox and custom CVD pins with FLM spools....never had an issue but Axial axles can be built far stronger. They are a niche axle for sure

[Bogncrawl]

I'd have to say my GCM metal heads are pretty tough, I've been beating on mine for a while and they have held up great. And very easy to work on.

[sickcivic95]

I can only give input on shaftys, no moa experience here... IMO Rc4wd makes so many axle types some good and strong some not so much, VP makes the oh so sought after curries-- great and sexy axles but a pain in the arse to work on. The GCM metal heads are strong reliable and look good with ease of maintenance but still a bit pricey for some. So there are tons of options for you and it will vary depending on what style and look you want.

This will be a somewhat surprising factor for some, but for me one of the better built sets are the rc4wd d35 or d40 axles, their a replacement for the Tamiya high-lift axles and I've beat the snot out of them with minimal issue and they offer super easy maintenance. They are a 1/3 the cost of curries, cheaper than metal heads and you can cross internals with multiple other manufacturers. I've had them on trail rigs 6x6 rig and a few scale builds and they just keep working.... They aren't the prettiest axles but they work and that's what matters the most, I've never been stranded on a trail run with a bent or broken shaft or snapped knuckle etc.

--Dan

[wings_of_fire]

The ones that I build for myself are my favorite.

[WHITE-TRASH]

AR60's since all the good stuff is built using the features and/or parts directly from them.

[C*H*U*D]

Originally Posted by WHITE-TRASH

AR60's since all the good stuff is built using the features and/or parts directly from them.

If I had to narrow it down to one axle, I would also say AR60's for the same reasons. Even my "XR-10 mod" AX axles use AR60 parts....I guess it's really an "XR-60 mod" I was really hoping to see a center pumpkin on the Yeti just for one more option, but oh well.

[badhoopty]

gcm metalheads are pretty nice. very simple design that lets you get to the pinion without having to take everything apart like most other axles.

really though, imho bang for your buck you cant beat a set of stock scx axles with beef tubes.

[joeyf]

my favorite axle is the twin forces. they are a easy axle to mod, you could narrow it to mini width or wide as 14'' with just the stock housing.

the knuckles, diff and pinion bearings are all 8x16.

[GraniteBandit]

My fav is the Losi Comp Crawler axles. I have an SCX10 built on them. The worm drive works great for rock crawling and as a drag brake. Also the pumpkin is low profile and the pinion is up high which is great for ground clearance.

My second favorite are the narrow Worminator axles from RC4WD. They bolt right up to the Trail Finder chassis. These are worm drive axles as well. Super slow - not for everyone though.

[beomagi]

I started with AX10 axles, and since I was making faster vehicles, I quickly found them unable to survive impacts. I upgraded to aluminum and love the result, both aesthetics and durability.

Original:
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0Byn3...syQWRkMFNGaWM/

RC4WD CNC Housings (discontinued):
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0Byn3...pJU3Nlb203N1E/


I have made another buggy using aluminum ax10 housings from Golden Horizon - I understand that they are close to intecrap in quality normally, but I think the axles are quite sturdy. Only downside, is some grinding may be required to get the differential to fit and spin perfectly.
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0Byn3...ZHZlNGd1N1cXM/

It worked out well enough that I bought yet another pair (it was on clearance with a lot of other parts, so I think I had to) Still building this one - based on whatever was on sale at a offer I couldn't refuse... Haven't made up my mind yet, but I may make this my first true crawler.
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0Byn3...lUZDZVR3o1NHM/

I was attracted again to AX10 because there's so many aftermarket parts. Stock diff, 3rd party diff from integy, hotracing, the wheely king diff, gear options at the diff, multiple housing options from integy, GH, Hot Racing. Various knuckles and shafts etc.

The weak flaw I've found with AX10 based axles, is working on them. You need to take everything apart to get at them. If I do damage an axle at some point, I'll probably upgrade to these:
Hot Racing Axial AX-10 Scorpion Crawler RC Car upgrades and Hop-ups



That said I picked up some cast bully axles ($60 for complete fronts? Awsum!) and REALLY like the quality. The drivetrain is smooth - I guess smoother than any of the ax10s I've built. Plus, once you figure out your links to clear the motor, it's simpler than building shaft based setups (can be said for any MOA). I haven't run these yet, but I'm expecting it to be excellent for crawling. I think for the price, they can't be beat.

[Jaketheone46]

I love my scx 10 axles just wish they were more scale looking..I just was introduced to the hot racing scx axles reading this thread and there awesome looking..