Brass weight alternatives ?

[Nightwalker]

Ok so, I've got a TRX-4 Defender (which is no secret for anyone that it's pretty "top heavy") and, even if I removed the spare wheel assembly, I wanna get it sitting on the ground a bit more.

I was planning to go on full STRC, from the portal housings to the knuckles and even the shock mounts... The whole package...

But now, 2 things concerns me:

1) I've read on some other thread that STRC was "worst than Integy"... that they fit good Damm, that's something... I have no experience yet with STRC products... Are they that bad ?

2) I've read on another thread that we should go easy on adding weights to our rigs... Really ? How come ? I mean... as long as I don't add it in the wheels to stress the drivetrain, what harm can it does ? I already know that my electronics will suffer from it, but I also plan to upgrade my combo with a MambaX or a Holmes BLE (didn't decide yet).

Anyway... if I'm not going full-on STRC, what's you experiences with other brands like Yeah Racing, Samix, Hot Racing (and others that I don't know or recall)...

Wouldn't like to invest hundreds of dollars on hop-ups that won't even fit my rig...

Thanks in advance

[mikemcE]

STRC makes some great stuff, I run a fair amount on my slashes(2 &4wd) fit and finish are solid and colors seem to match from batch to batch. Many times better than any Integy. I will mention a quality name with great fit , finish , and price, SSD.
I have wheels and axles from them, great stuff!


Hang up and Drive

[WHITE-TRASH]

Strc is fine.

Put the money where it actually does some good. Quality titanium links, brass portal housings, front overdrive gears etc.

[Nightwalker]

Thanks for the input about STRC. I'll go those, as I'll be able to get them from my LHS, or even that Ontario online retailer I sometimes order from.

Customs are a PITA when I order from Amain and I haven't find a Canadian online retailer that have as many products as they do yet.

Originally Posted by WHITE-TRASH

Strc is fine.

Put the money where it actually does some good. Quality titanium links, brass portal housings, front overdrive gears etc.

Any suggestion on front overdrive gears ?! All I find is SCX10-2 one's...

But, isn't overdriving the front gears also affect the "trailing" abilities of the truck ?

I mean, I do want it to crawl better... But I'm not building the ultimate competition machine (Well, not yet )

[Rekreant]

Ive learned after a few different RC brands and trying all the 3rd party manufacturers that its all a crap shoot. Any manufacturer can produce stuff that is out of spec, its sort of a luck of the draw and also how well the reseller stores / takes care of it. This is why I order most of my parts on Amazon Prime if I can so I can return faulty parts and get replacements as fast as possible. Ive had STRC/SSD/Hot Racing/Vanquish/Integy/random Chinesium stuff that has both been perfect and been out of spec.

[Inspector86]

Originally Posted by Nightwalker

Thanks for the input about STRC. I'll go those, as I'll be able to get them from my LHS, or even that Ontario online retailer I sometimes order from.

Customs are a PITA when I order from Amain and I haven't find a Canadian online retailer that have as many products as they do yet.



Any suggestion on front overdrive gears ?! All I find is SCX10-2 one's...

But, isn't overdriving the front gears also affect the "trailing" abilities of the truck ?

I mean, I do want it to crawl better... But I'm not building the ultimate competition machine (Well, not yet )

Don't put too much thought into the front overdrive gears. If you are primarily trailing, it will hinder performance not help.

[Nightwalker]

Originally Posted by Rekreant

Ive learned after a few different RC brands and trying all the 3rd party manufacturers that its all a crap shoot. Any manufacturer can produce stuff that is out of spec, its sort of a luck of the draw and also how well the reseller stores / takes care of it. This is why I order most of my parts on Amazon Prime if I can so I can return faulty parts and get replacements as fast as possible. Ive had STRC/SSD/Hot Racing/Vanquish/Integy/random Chinesium stuff that has both been perfect and been out of spec.

That's what I was thinking too... Had my fare share of good/bad stuff when I was mainly bashing a few years ago... Getting back to the hobby after a 5 years hiatus (and fairly new to the Crawler/Scaler segment, having bought my first 2 rigs this spring), I'm not that familiar with all the 3rd party manufacturers of the crawling scene (and there are many... with my Traxxas basher background, I had kept myself within Traxxas, RPM and Proline before I discovered those scale rigs)

Originally Posted by Inspector86

Don't put too much thought into the front overdrive gears. If you are primarily trailing, it will hinder performance not help.

That's what I thought... Yes I'm mainly trailing, so crawling is one of the many other things my TRX-4 encounter when I bring it for a ride.
I don't plan on building it into some comp rig or such... (maybe another time, another project...)
The purpose of that one is plainly to be to funniest competent trailer/crawler to bring in the woods

[WHITE-TRASH]

Originally Posted by Inspector86

Don't put too much thought into the front overdrive gears. If you are primarily trailing, it will hinder performance not help.

How will it hinder the ability to drive down a trail? Keep in mind I've done it and not read about someone else doing it and having a bad experience.

[Nightwalker]

Originally Posted by WHITE-TRASH

How will it hinder the ability to drive down a trail? Keep in mind I've done it and not read about someone else doing it and having a bad experience.

What did you use to overdrive the front portal drive of your TRX-4 ?

[WHITE-TRASH]

Originally Posted by Nightwalker

What did you use to overdrive the front portal drive of your TRX-4 ?

I don't own a trx4. The principal is the same across all tire driven rc though.


I knew there was something out there but its rear underdrive not front overdrive. The effect is the same.
https://www.amainhobbies.com/traxxas...BoCy-8QAvD_BwE

[B-MOW71]

I went the Samix route for all of the brass upgrades for my TRX-4. Really good quality and I like the look of them. All black in color with the edges in brass.

Just installed the underdrive gears in the rear axle last night. I think it will work just fine.

Here is a couple pics of the front portal with the Samix brass.

[Rekreant]

Originally Posted by WHITE-TRASH

How will it hinder the ability to drive down a trail? Keep in mind I've done it and not read about someone else doing it and having a bad experience.

Its common sense. When you have two sets of wheels attached to the same piece of metal, and one spins faster than the other, you are creating strain. What else do you need to know lol?

[WHITE-TRASH]

Originally Posted by Rekreant

Its common sense. When you have two sets of wheels attached to the same piece of metal, and one spins faster than the other, you are creating strain. What else do you need to know lol?

What we get away with in 1:10 surely doesn't always translate to 1:1. Even the most billy bad ass Dana 60 axles out there would puke their guts all over the pavement if you spooled both diffs and locked the t case into 4x4 before turning in a paved lot. But in 1:10 we can run locked diffs all decade long without any problems at all.

Physics and gravity are a funny thing when weight and scale come into play.

[Rekreant]

Originally Posted by WHITE-TRASH

What we get away with in 1:10 surely doesn't always translate to 1:1. Even the most billy bad ass Dana 60 axles out there would puke their guts all over the pavement if you spooled both diffs and locked the t case into 4x4 before turning in a paved lot. But in 1:10 we can run locked diffs all decade long without any problems at all.

Physics and gravity are a funny thing when weight and scale come into play.

Surely there is more wear on the gears and drivetrain in the overdrive situation though. I have chewed up bevel gears with the same gearing and snapped driveshafts even on my diffed Slash. I get the whole scale vs 1:1 debate, but part of the scale thing is smaller parts and thus lesser durability as a result. These bevel gears we run are so small and the teeth are shallow enough that its easy to chew them up; going faster or slower MUST create a difference in physical resistance right?

[WHITE-TRASH]

In theory yes but in practice, nope. Every rig I own runs different ratios front & rear except my berg but it doesn't count anyway.

I run under drive gears in the rear of both bombers with stock up front. They get the absolute shit beat out of them and the gears are fine the ratio split helps them pull through the corners. My sportsman has stock 2.93:1 HD in the ar60 up front and an ar44 rear axle which has 3.75:1 and it has hours and hours on it.

Just trust a guy that's been doing this since the late 80's when I say it's fine.

[Rekreant]

Originally Posted by WHITE-TRASH

In theory yes but in practice, nope. Every rig I own runs different ratios front & rear except my berg but it doesn't count anyway.

I run under drive gears in the rear of both bombers with stock up front. They get the absolute shit beat out of them and the gears are fine the ratio split helps them pull through the corners. My sportsman has stock 2.93:1 HD in the ar60 up front and an ar44 rear axle which has 3.75:1 and it has hours and hours on it.

Just trust a guy that's been doing this since the late 80's when I say it's fine.

Well maybe you can help me figure out why the hell I keep eating up bevel gears lol. If I think it out logically my own experience would say more things would break under those conditions. But if its not breaking for others, what causes those gears to strip? When you say you beat them up I imagine that to mean that they get bound down and you use throttle to get them out of it. I want to understand why thats happening to me so others can avoid it happening.

[mikemcE]

I will say here, it all starts with proper fit of the gears. Shimming is the normal reason that bevels fail as heat shouldn’t be an issue. I will tell you to turn the axles using the driveshaft in both directions by hand. Should be equal if not shim until it is.

WT is the king of destruction, as he’s already done that and fixed it

Hang up and Drive

[Rekreant]

Originally Posted by mikemcE

I will say here, it all starts with proper fit of the gears. Shimming is the normal reason that bevels fail as heat shouldn’t be an issue. I will tell you to turn the axles using the driveshaft in both directions by hand. Should be equal if not shim until it is.

WT is the king of destruction, as he’s already done that and fixed it

Hang up and Drive

Problem is I just replaced a whole bunch of bearings and parts and now it feels smooth as budder lol. I wonder if maybe my angles were off, or maybe bearings were shot. First world problems I guess.

[the Jeffro]

I run overdrive in two of my 10.2s and have no issues, mainly crawling on granite here in Georgia. My Class One is a 10 pounder on brushless and I have shown no mercy to the drivetrain crawling. She is always ready for a little side line drag race too lol.

I agree with mikemcE, shimming is really important especially on the hypoid ring and pinion that the 10.2 runs.

[WHITE-TRASH]

Originally Posted by Rekreant

Well maybe you can help me figure out why the hell I keep eating up bevel gears lol. If I think it out logically my own experience would say more things would break under those conditions. But if its not breaking for others, what causes those gears to strip? When you say you beat them up I imagine that to mean that they get bound down and you use throttle to get them out of it. I want to understand why thats happening to me so others can avoid it happening.

What axle are you having issues with and what gears? Something like a stock pot metal ar60 ring & pinion gets killed in an hour easily but the machined steel HD version will last years.

Absolutely agree about shimming. I usually end up with a shim between the head of the pinion and the inner bearing to tighten it up. As odd as it is coming from an automotive background the rc gears last longer if they're set up too tight from the start.