New idea?

[DimeBag]

i posted this idea on a few of the other boards and a few people said they had seen it done before, after a few years of being in the clod scene i havent seen it so i figured i would post the buildup info.




heres the write up.


what you need is:
*4/40 blind nuts (pick them up at your favorite hobby establishment, i used DuBro ones)
*a 9/64 drill bit with a drill to spin it
*clod gearbox halves
*some JB weld or epoxy
*dremmel with a grinding wheel




first off, take the blind nuts and grind down the little "teeth" they have around their flange. dont completly grind them off just take them down to little nubs, you will want the nubs there to bite into the gearbox but if you leave the full length they will just bend.

once thats done take the 9/64 drill bit and open on the 4 holes around where the axle tube mates to the gearbox. you may need to open the hole up a bit more with a body reamer inside the gearbox to help fit the blind nut in.. you want it to be a tight fit though.



next take your blind nuts and apply a TINY but of your selected adhesive onto the surface that will be applied to the gearbox. be extremely careful not to get and in the inner threaded portion of the blind nut or you will never be able to get the screw in. now for the kind of tricky, but not that tricky part. take a 4/40 bolt and slide a large sturdy washer over it. then take the blind nut with the adhesive on it and push it into one of the holes you enlarged in the gearbox from the inside. you may need to grind back some internal bracing to make room for the blind nuts in the deeper half of the gearbox push it in as far as you can with your finger then take the bolt you placed the washer on, and thread it in from the opposite (oustside) side of the gearbox and start tightening it till the washer is pressed up against the oustide of the gearbox then keep tightening. this will pull the blind nut into the hole in the gearbox and secure it there. tighten this till the blind nut is fully pressed in and then take the screw out and repeat 15 times on the rest of the axle tubes!




all you have left to do is install the axle tubes with some 4/40 hardware of your choice and you are set.


this makes axle tube swaps/installs super easy as you dont need to open the gearbox to get to the screws or nuts and you can use threadlock since its now basically a metal insert. i like this method more than using the 6/32 bolt tapped into the gearbox because it is much more forgiving to being miss threaded and just feels more secure.


so has anyone here seen or done this? any other variations?

[TeamDeweyRacing]

ive never seen that but should you really need to be ripping open your gear box that much i dont think i will but im still pretty new

[SVEN]

Huh, that's a pretty cool idea. I've haven't seen that before. It does seem like a lot of work though.

Have you had any problems with cracking around the blind nuts?

[DimeBag]

havent got a chance to run it yet but i dont see there being any issues with it cracking. your removing just a few shavings of plastic from the inside of the hole to make space for the threaded tube portion of the blind nut and the big flat back surface of the blind nut distributes the load evenly just like the screw head or nut would. as for the nubs that dig into the plastic, they are ground down to the point that they are just little burs. they only dig into the surface of the plastic so as not to spin, you dont leave the full length spike on.


it is a bit of work, but i would say its worth it for the ability to change an axle tube in 5 minutes or less.

the plastic in that area is super thick as it is.


as for tearing into the gearbox, you dont need to that often, but with the old method of securing the axle tube the only way to remove it was to open up the gearbox to either get to the nut or screw head. this method lets you take the tubes off without opening the gearbox.

[CPE MT]

If you 1st run a tap through the axle tubes and gearbox housing, 6-32 x 3/8" socket head cap screws fit perfectly. The Clod racing guys have been doing this for a while as broken axle tubes are quite common.

Having the actual nut to thread into may be a little better than just threading directly into the plastic gearboxs though. Good idea!

[DimeBag]

yeah brett, i used to use the screw into plastic method but i found that it i was in a hurry and didnt pay close close attention to the way i had the tube pressed against the gearbox the threads wouldnt line up and they would strip. then your stuck with needing a new gearbox. the chance of these stripping is much less and when it comes to installing the tube, its even faster than the old method.

[Double J]

Great idea and it would have helped me out about a mount or so back. I broke part of my gear case and didn't want to take apart the leafs and all I had mounted to the axle tubes. This would have been a lot quicker then splitting the case and taking out everything. Even though I still had to swap the gears to the new gear box it would have saved a load of time.

Great job and nice write up with details pics.

[DimeBag]

thanks double J, im glad you guys like the idea. spread the word! i think all the guys out there who have suffered haing to repair axle tube after axle tube would appreciate the idea.

i know my 30 some posts doesnt give this mod much credibility but i have been racing clods and beating for some 4 years now and this setup is 10 times more solid and beefy than anything else i have used.

[4stAir]

this is a good mod... i have seen him kill a truck, he knows how to make it stronger.

i will be doing this next time i tear mine down.

[Mnster]

I've done the same thing only without the nuts.

Step 1, Toss old screws in the garbage

Step 2, Find some 6-32 screws to tap into the plastic.

[DimeBag]

read the whole post.


this method is more forgiving then tapping into the plastic, and sturdier. i have done the 6/32 bolt or 4mm bolt trick for years now, and this feels 100 times better.

[4stAir]

i only felt 96 times better...