axle housing fix

[Legweg]

Yeah, I broke an axle housing today, it fell from 5 feet high right on the ground, heard a "crack"...

So I ordered a new axle housing, but sometimes it can take a while for parts to get up here in Canada, so I decided to try a temporary fix. I took the diff apart and glued the broken parts with CA glue, you can still see the crack on that pic (sorry for the blurry pics, I used my phone to take those pics...)



Then I started looking around in the garage to try and find something to strenghten the repair, and found out taht a piece of 1/2" CPVC plumbing pipe fits right inside the housing, like it was made to go there, and there enough space for the stb axle to spin freely

[Legweg]

And for the outside of the housing, a piece of 3/4" CPVC pipe is perfect



So I took a piece of sandpaper to rough up everywhere I will be putting glue, then used two part epoxy abd glued the pieces of pipes in place

[Legweg]

A quick flat black spray to try to hide the hideous repair



And re-assembled everything



I tried it in the garage and it runs as good as new. But will it hold together in the trails and on the rocks, time will tell...<

I only hope it will hold until I get the new housing

[JoelTGM]

Nice! What's CA glue?

[TheLetterJ]

You just missed a golden opportunity to put 3/4oz of wheel weights next to the ring gear! I'm a bit surprised that the housing broke first, I broke a knuckle from a fall, then later a wheel, but not a housing yet.

[Legweg]

Originally Posted by JoelTGM

Nice! What's CA glue?

Cyanoacrylate glue, also called super glue

[JoelTGM]

Originally Posted by Legweg

Cyanoacrylate glue, also called super glue

Oooh. Well now I know.

[bmxbryant09]

Originally Posted by TheLetterJ

You just missed a golden opportunity to put 3/4oz of wheel weights next to the ring gear! I'm a bit surprised that the housing broke first, I broke a knuckle from a fall, then later a wheel, but not a housing yet.

How did you put the weight next to the ring gear? I just boke my inner c on the axle. I guess its time to upgrade to aluminum.

[TheLetterJ]

I took (3) 1/4oz wheel weights and gave them a quick tap with a hammer over the back of my vise (to give them a little curve) and glued them to the bottom of the housing, under the spool, next to the ring gear. It's a tight fit, but no trimming was necessary. I have an 850mah 3s battery mounted on the front axle too, with another 3/4 oz of weight under the mount, and another 1/2oz on each side of the front servo. You've got to get creative with these cars! I've seen on this site where someone even formed lead to fit in the axle tubes under the shaft, I couldn't do that because the o.d. of my sleeved universal joint/rs10 axleshaft was too big. Removing weight from the rear helps nearly as much as adding to the front, a set of ax10 beadlock rings can shave more than an ounce off the rear wheels.

Where have you seen aluminum housings for these, I've only seen them for the "super crawler"? I finally had one of the knuckle bolt holes strip, but I'll likely just buy another stock redcat housing if it really bothers me.

[Legweg]

Update

I received my new axle a month ago, but decided to wait and see how long my fix will last, well I have not installed the new one yet, my repair is still holding strong

So if anyone breaks an axle housing just like I did, this seems like a good way to fix it