RC4WD Extreme Duty XVDS for Clodbuster and TXT review
 

Here's a quick installation review of the RC4WD Extreme Duty XVD for the Clodbuster.

Just some quick notes about my experience:

-CV joint action is pretty smooth. My TTR CVDs are smoother but that may be because they are broken in.
-parts are not directly interchangeable between the TTR version, that includes the hexes. This important as the RC4WD kit includes 14mm hexes and not 12mm hexes.
-loctite the set screws for the CV pins, they are loose from the factory.
-I needed to use the thinner 3.5mm bearings(as used on the TTR CVDs) instead of the included 4mm wide bearings for the inside of the knuckles.
-check to make sure the bearings will slide onto the outer shafts. Mine had issues and i had to grind one shaft a little.
-when installed correctly, the XVDs feel solid, no unnecessary slop.

Here's the XVD set as I received it, mostly assembled, with outer bearings, 14mm hex assemblies(hexes. pins. o-ring retainers), and two different length wheel bolts.

http://i209.photobucket.com/albums/b...ps6b31310c.jpg

Comparison with the ThunderTech/MIP shafts:

The TTR shaft is on top, the RC4WD on the bottom. The shafts are the same length but due to the difference with the hex design the RC4WD shafts setup up just a hair wider. There is more angle on the RC4WD version but the CV action gets notchy at extreme angles. In practical application you would have to do serious modifications to take advantage of the extra throw. In the Clod and TXT axles I installed them in, with the "normal" steering mods for racing, they both provided the same amount of throw.

http://i209.photobucket.com/albums/b...ps257d9971.jpg

The "long" side inner shaft on the RC4WD version has the joint pin molded into it, unlike the TTR shaft which has a separate pin. What this means is there is a specific long shaft and a different short shaft whereas the shafts on the TTR version are interchangeable left or right.

http://i209.photobucket.com/albums/b...ps328dea4e.jpg

Both use 8mm thick outer shafts. The pins for the CV joints is thicker on the RC4WD version. There's more taper on the RC4WD outer shafts to achieve the greater angles. How that plays out as far as durability remains to be seen, but the shaft is still thick in that area.

http://i209.photobucket.com/albums/b...ps81658c71.jpg

The RC4WD hexes use a larger drive pin so they are not interchangeable with TTR shafts unless you drill the TTR shafts out. The hex portion also carries all the way to the edge of the outer shaft so the width, from hex to hex, is slightly wider than the TTRs.

http://i209.photobucket.com/albums/b...ps77471b3b.jpg

Installation: TXT axle

I first installed the set into a TXT axle and ran into a few problems. First off, the outer bearings were a pain to get on. I was able to get one side on with some tapping, but the other side required some grinding. Oddly when I was tapping the bearings on the CV joint fell apart as the set screws backed out and the pin fell out. I applied loctite to both set screws on each CV joint for both shafts.

http://i209.photobucket.com/albums/b...ps4ce3917f.jpg

The second problem proved more troublesome. I could not get the kingpin screws to go in straight so there was binding. I fiddled with it for a long time until I remembered the TTR shafts use a slightly thinner 3.5mm wide 8X16 bearing instead of the 4mm wide bearing (as included with the RC4WD kit). I swapped in a set of the thinner bearings and it all went together perfectly. I notified our team leader, who installed a set himself with no problems, so I'm not sure if this is a wide spread problem. But seeing as how these are cast parts I would think they are all the same, for the most part. Any way it is something future customers should be aware of.

But once I sorted everything out the assembly went well. The CV action is smooth and I can achieve the maximum steering throw in this TXT setup.

http://i209.photobucket.com/albums/b...ps3a478ba6.jpg

Installation: Clodbuster axles

I had initially thought I would do a quick install of the TXT axle and then install them in the test truck which is a race Clod. After running into problems with the TXT installation and knowing there might be problems with the race Clod because it has aluminum tubes and knuckles (I had to fidget around with them to get the TTR CVDs to work smoothly) I decided to try a more stock Clod axle to see if the knuckle issue was till present, it was.

I still had to use the 3.5mm bearings on the inside of the knuckles and I also had to tap on the Clod brass collars(the ones that are part of the differential assembly). I didn't have any issues with the TXT diffs but the brass collars took some effort to get on and off. In the end the axle came together and the XVDs operated as smoothly as they did in the TXT axle.

http://i209.photobucket.com/albums/b...ps72108193.jpg


still more to come as I install the XVDs in my Clod race truck for durability test.....

Re: RC4WD Extreme Duty XVDS for Clodbuster and TXT review
 

Thanks for the review, it was very informative. I was curious to see how these would look!

Re: RC4WD Extreme Duty XVDS for Clodbuster and TXT review
 

I also liked the review. I have a set of TTR cvd axles and stopped using them because the plastic hexes kept stipping, rounding. I thought about getting a set of rc4wd cvd axles but I found a place that make 12mm & 14mm aluminum hexes for the TTR axles. go here and take a look Hesse Machine he make other clod & txt1 parts.

Re: RC4WD Extreme Duty XVDS for Clodbuster and TXT review
 

Thanks!

Mike Hesse's products are all high quality, a lot of us use his parts on our trucks. He carries a good selection of custom Clod parts and I highly recommend them all.

Re: RC4WD Extreme Duty XVDS for Clodbuster and TXT review
 

Thanks for the review