CNC machined ebay front axle Install/review

[Smokin' Joe]

I decided to upgrade the steering on my son's Everest 10. This review is specific to the Everest 10, but my guess is it should also largely apply to the Gen 7 as well. I found one of the cheaper ways to accomplish this was to replace the front axle. It should also add some weight and durability (hopefully) as well.

I bought an unbranded CNC machined front axle off of ebay. It was $49. My initial impression is good. It is fully aluminum and came with the entire axle assembly (including an aluminum servo horn). Screws are stainless internal hex screws. The gears came with ample lube and there even appears to be thread lock on some of the screws. It has a huge increase in steering angle over stock due to using high clearance knuckles and CVDs.

Installation was fairly straight forward. It was plug and play apart from the drive shaft connection. It uses a pin through style attachment for the drive shaft. The drive shaft on my E10 was a set screw style. I drilled a hole through my drive shaft and then used a traxxas pin (TRA5145) to attach it (I already had modified one of my drive shafts for a prior project so this part of the project was already done). I also had to grind off the front lip of my driveshaft to get it to fit properly. It is possible you could get around some of these issues by replacing the gears with the ones from your stock axle, but I didn't try this. The only other issue was that the track width seemed to be slightly narrower than the stock width. Because of this and its increased steering angle, I added wheel wideners to increase the front track and keep the wheels from hitting the shocks on full lock.

I haven't had a chance to run it yet as I've been busy with other things and I also need to fix an issue with the esc before the rig is functional. I'll add impressions once we've had a chance to run it. I'll also add pictures in a post below.

[TheLetterJ]

Do you have a link to the specific axle you bought? Do the gears appear to be hardened steel? What is the locker/spool made out of?

[gen7crawler]

Originally Posted by Smokin' Joe

I decided to upgrade the steering on my son's Everest 10. This review is specific to the Everest 10, but my guess is it should also largely apply to the Gen 7 as well. I found one of the cheaper ways to accomplish this was to replace the front axle. It should also add some weight and durability (hopefully) as well.

I bought an unbranded CNC machined front axle off of ebay. It was $49. My initial impression is good. It is fully aluminum and came with the entire axle assembly (including an aluminum servo horn). Screws are stainless internal hex screws. The gears came with ample lube and there even appears to be thread lock on some of the screws. It has a huge increase in steering angle over stock due to using high clearance knuckles and CVDs.

Installation was fairly straight forward. It was plug and play apart from the drive shaft connection. It uses a pin through style attachment for the drive shaft. The drive shaft on my E10 was a set screw style. I drilled a hole through my drive shaft and then used a traxxas pin (TRA5145) to attach it (I already had modified one of my drive shafts for a prior project so this part of the project was already done). I also had to grind off the front lip of my driveshaft to get it to fit properly. It is possible you could get around some of these issues by replacing the gears with the ones from your stock axle, but I didn't try this. The only other issue was that the track width seemed to be slightly narrower than the stock width. Because of this and its increased steering angle, I added wheel wideners to increase the front track and keep the wheels from hitting the shocks on full lock.

I haven't had a chance to run it yet as I've been busy with other things and I also need to fix an issue with the esc before the rig is functional. I'll add impressions once we've had a chance to run it. I'll also add pictures in a post below.

Pics please

Sent from my Z982 using Tapatalk

[Smokin' Joe]

Here are some pictures of the axle prior to installation.



Sent from my XT1030 using Tapatalk

[Smokin' Joe]

Here is a picture after installation. The red wheel wideners were not included.



Sent from my XT1030 using Tapatalk

[Smokin' Joe]

Here are some pictures comparing the max steering angles achieved. The old setup had modified knuckles and dog bone cups to achieve greater steering angle than stock.



Sent from my XT1030 using Tapatalk

[gen7crawler]

Ok so I purchased some off eBay but they haven't arrived yet are these the same. I was thinking of sending them back I signed up for Redcat portal axles and really wasn't sure how they performed. They look good.

Sent from my Z982 using Tapatalk

[Smokin' Joe]

Originally Posted by TheLetterJ

Do you have a link to the specific axle you bought? Do the gears appear to be hardened steel? What is the locker/spool made out of?

Here is a link I found to what I bought. Hopefully it works because it looks like the listing has ended.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...=1503482782014

[Smokin' Joe]

Originally Posted by gen7crawler

Ok so I purchased some off eBay but they haven't arrived yet are these the same. I was thinking of sending them back I signed up for Redcat portal axles and really wasn't sure how they performed. They look good.

Sent from my Z982 using Tapatalk

From the one view you listed, they look basically the same apart from color, except the drag link looks different.

[gen7crawler]

Originally Posted by Smokin' Joe

From the one view you listed, they look basically the same apart from color, except the drag link looks different.

Ok cool let me know how performance is whenever u get a chance

Sent from my Z982 using Tapatalk

[the_law_man01]

I have the regular SCX10 version of the Xtra Speed axles. They are great. I bet you won't have problems with these.

On the SCX10 version, the internals of the rear axle are not compatible with other SCX10 parts. If anything in that axle breaks, I'll have to buy all rear axle parts, but I font thing they'll break.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using Tapatalk

[Jdubmkii]

Just installed mine, definetly achieves a LCOG due to the extra weight, now I just have to decide do I get an AX10 trans and driveshafts or alter this setup?

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1eMX...w?usp=drivesdk

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1d-X...w?usp=drivesdk

[the_law_man01]

Very nice looking. Can you tell? Are the internal parts compatible with Axial branded parts?

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using Tapatalk

[Jdubmkii]

Don't know if internals are the same, hey Law Man are the holes on your skid plate drilled to accommodate the ax10 trans?

[the_law_man01]

Originally Posted by Jdubmkii

Don't know if internals are the same, hey Law Man are the holes on your skid plate drilled to accommodate the ax10 trans?

It can easily be done. It simply involves moving two of the holes closer together.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using Tapatalk

[Stangman66$]

How do you happen to know how wide the axles are

[Smokin' Joe]

Here is an update on this after some use. The performance upgrade was noticeable due to the better steering angle and more weight over the front axle. So far we have broken two parts on it. The drag link snapped (replaced it with the old stock drag link without issue) and one of the CVDs broke. The CVD broke when my brother-in-law was driving it and was treating it like a basher. I ordered a CVD that appears to be quite similar for less than $10 off ebay and am just waiting for it to arrive.

[Stangman66$]

So do you have to use the wheel widened or will it pose a problem if their not used

[Smokin' Joe]

Originally Posted by Stangman66$

So do you have to use the wheel widened or will it pose a problem if their not used

You don't have to, but you may not be able to get as much steering angle as you would otherwise (if your tires hit your springs).

[Smokin' Joe]

Next update: the tie rod has also broken now. Will probably replace it with the stock one, though I may need to shorten it a bit to get the proper toe.