Vanquish AR60 Brass Knuckle Weight Review

[bilinvic]

Vanquish Products recently released a new pair of machined brass knuckle weights to fit their own AR60 (Wraith/Bomber) knuckles. Note, these do not work with Vanquish scale knuckles.

I immediately ordered up a pair because I wanted to narrow the track width of my DMG Wraith. I was using RC Bros' knuckle weights; these mount on the outside face of the knuckles which results in having to use longer wheels hub to clear. My Wraith was 13.2 inches wide with the RC Bros knuckle weights. By no means I am not knocking the RC Bros system, I have them on other RCs and love how they work. With the VP weights, my Wraith is now at 12.36 inches wide.

Each VP brass knuckle weight weighs in at 3.1oz

The VP weights are beautifully machined from solid brass. The VP knuckle fits inside the brass weight and is "sandwiched" into place by the use of four button head screws. The fit is extremely tight and it took quite a bit of effort to fully seat the knuckles. You have to turn each screw from side to side in small increments to get the knuckle fully seated. The other thing to keep in mind is that brass is a very soft metal and over-tightening the screws could result in stripping the threads, so getting the knuckle fully seated takes a gentle approach.

Assembly onto the C-Hubs is straight forward, no issues. It is a little more difficult to get the tie-rod bolted back onto the Ackerman arms since the brass is directly below the nut, so pliers or a mini 5.5mm wrench must be used to hold the nut while the screw is turned to tighten the assembly. I'm using Incision 1/4 inch SS steering links with Revo link ends and I did have to slightly sand the outside edge of the link end because it was rubbing on the brass knuckle throughout the turning cycle.

There was one major annoyance when re-assembling the 12mm hexes and pins.....the driver's side hex went on without issue, but the passenger side was not so easy. There was no way I could get the pin through the VP VVD axle because of the brass face. I tried pulling the axle out while attempting to insert the pin as well as ensuring the knuckle was fully seated into the brass weight....but it just wasn't going to go in. I had to use a round diamond rotary bit to grind a slot for the pin to sit in so that it could be inserted straight into the axle. I didn't have to remove much material, but nonetheless I shouldn't have had to do any grinding at all, especially with a $50.00 USD price tag for these two knuckles.

Once everything was re-assembled, I checked for any binding or clearance issues and none were found, the brass doesn't even come close to altering the turning radius of the VP C-hubs and knuckles.

I haven't had a chance to test drive yet, but I'm sure their won't be any issues and this additional non-rotating mass will definitely help to keep the nose planted on some crazy steep crawls.












Weight with VP knuckle and bearings:

[bilinvic]

[rngrchad]

Thanks for taking the time to do that write up . It's posts like this that keep me logging into rccrawler.

[SCREAMER]

Those look fantastic, thanks for sharing Bil. I'm loving all these new options for knuckle weights.

[bilinvic]

You're welcome. I hear ya, I have four different types of brass weight systems going on with various rigs, and they all do their job extremely well.

[84yoda]

Nice job. You should do this more often so new people will have a place to reference instead of repeatedly asking the same questions, like how there knuckle weights wont fit or whatever there having trouble with.

[CODYBOY]

Ok, they look great, but I have a question, if they were painted to look like a brake drum, Would they be scale comp legal??

[bilinvic]

I honestly can't answer that question CODYBOY, there aren't any any sanctioning bodies in my neck of the woods. Hopefully someone else could answer this for you.

[dyecocker]

Do you have a set of tires and wheels for taking forum pictures? They are spotless!

Good write-up, I love the DMG chassis

[bilinvic]

Thank you.

The PB tires just happen to be new, although they have been run once for a short while. I don't mind getting my machines dirty, I just can't stand them being dirty when they are on the shelf or when I am working on them.

[Orange peel]

Mine came in yesterday and same issues. I ended up deciding which side I was gonna put each one on and removed the small ear on weights that would be just above each steering arm. I then removed some material on weights so tie rod ends wouldn't contact. The small ear above the knuckle steering arm causes most of the grief because it contacts the arm and its outside retaining screw.

[travis c.]

I just picked up a pair for the FJ45, I had to clearance them a bit to work with the scale clamping Chubs but they are pretty nice. I'll get some pics up later.

[rngrchad]

Hey Bilinvic; I was going to order up those Vanquish knuckle weights(your post inspired me to spend money lol) but it appears there are two different kinds; one for 8degree knuckles and the ones you have which are for 0degree knuckles correct? I went to order but became uncertain which knuckles and chubs worked with which vp knuckle weight .

[Di_Spencer]

Originally Posted by rngrchad

Hey Bilinvic; I was going to order up those Vanquish knuckle weights(your post inspired me to spend money lol) but it appears there are two different kinds; one for 8degree knuckles and the ones you have which are for 0degree knuckles correct? I went to order but became uncertain which knuckles and chubs worked with which vp knuckle weight .

The 8 deg ones are for the vanquish 8 deg scx10 knuckles. The ones bilinvic reviewed are for the vanquish wraith knuckles.

Sent from my SM-G920T using Tapatalk

[bilinvic]

DI_Spencer is absolutely correct. Thanxs for the response.

[snapon boy]

I used them on my shafty and xr10 to help narrow my track width they are a nice product. Thanks Vp and Bill.

149 r/c worx's Team Driver

[snapon boy]

Ask warpig if there legal if painted black.

149 r/c worx's Team Driver

[snapon boy]

Keep stocking them. Bring back the xr10 knuckle weight
/ 149 r/c worx Team Driver

[allanon1965]

Originally Posted by snapon boy

Ask warpig if there legal if painted black.

149 r/c worx's Team Driver

the answer to that is no, knuckle weights in any shape, form or color are illegal...

[snapon boy]

You are correct.