Anyone Want to Sell their YOTA II axles? (specifically the front housing) Save a TF2!

[IronOKie]

**Help me save a trashed TF2!!**

I'm trying to rehab a TF2 Marlin Crawler that I acquired in a partial trade. The previous owner REALLY trashed it. No maintenance performed, mismatched hardware all over, broken end links, damaged and broken leaf springs... The list goes on. All of that is no big deal. In truth I'm really enjoying the process of bringing this rig back to life. That said I have hit a snag and need some help. Rather than use the proper bushings to mount the front steering knuckles, the owner drilled the knuckle holes larger in the axle housing and did a half-assed tap job on them. If that's wasn't bad enough, he used miss-matched screws (literally all 4 are different) to mount the knuckles to the axle. Two of those screws were so long they hit and gouged the CV joints (seriously deep gouges). He said he replaced the motor, now I know why. He must have burned it up grinding grooves into the CV with too-long screws.

Because of this I need to:

Replace the front YOTA II axle housing
Replace both steering knuckles
Replace both CV axles
Acquire the correct bushings for the steering knuckles

It goes without saying, but I need to replace all the bearings as well.


RC4WD has everything I need in stock except the front YOTA II axle housing, which I can't find anywhere. Well that's not true, I found one in Germany on Ebay, but despite listing global shipping he does not ship to the US.

I know about several of the swap options, and have future plans that will take me in that direction. However, This is my first TF2, and I want to run and enjoy it with the stock axles first. I'm hoping someone here, who has done the axle swap, would be willing to part with their stock axles. Or, at least, some of the parts.


I specifically need the front housing, steering knuckles and the bushings, but I'll buy a complete front and rear set if needed in order to get the parts I'm after (spares are always good to have).


I have paypal, shipping would be to 73020.

[Gula]

I believe you may still be able to buy a complete front axle from one of the eBay rc chop shops.

[IronOKie]

Originally Posted by Gula

I believe you may still be able to buy a complete front axle from one of the eBay rc chop shops.

What an interesting business model they have.


I did find one last night from one of those very sellers, thank you for the heads up though! It was overpriced, but that's supply and demand I suppose. The bummer of the whole thing is that I will probably eventually replace these axles with something that supports more varied options for ring and pinion so it's just that extra bit of pain.

[2wheeler]

I just went through this on a truck I just purchased with a nearly identical back story.


https://www.nrchobbyshop.com/rc-car-...-yota-ii-axle/

There is one in stock but I'm not sure what shipping costs look like to get it to you.

[TheLetterJ]

I guess I'm not alone. My son had bought a brand new pair of yota2's and the front axle housing broke the moment we put power to it (due to their improper assembly, an axle pin walked out and snapped the c-hub off on the first revolution.) Rc4wd didn't have housings in stock, but they made me a deal (still more than I wanted to spend, but much cheaper than retail) on another complete axle. I've already had to make use of the extra ring & pinion, and a knuckle, and bearings, and a shaft, so at this point, the cost was a wash. Even with the gears shimmed as tight as possible, they're still too loose for my liking. The front axle has killed 2 sets of standard gears and now has a set of their helical gears in it. They certainly look like they're made of the same material as the stock gears, but hopefully the improved tooth contact of the helical cut helps them live longer.

Whatever route you go, be sure to helicoil the 3mm threads for the kingpins. As you've noticed, these axles are made out of warm butter so anything that can be done to prevent future failures is worth it.

If I were doing it over, I'd have gone with Boom Racing's BRX70 axles. They look like yota's but use ar44 parts so they're MUCH stronger, have lower gearing, sharper steering, knuckle weight options (ar44), and they're even narrower.

[Gula]

I have a new set, front and rear.