rear axle bent/warped

[tcochuck]

Hi folks,
I have a question to go with my observation..
Is it normal when looking at the rear axle from the side to be able to see the axle itself, and the plastic housing that contains the axle, pinion, and ring gear to wobble as though the axle within is bent??? It seems more pronounced on the left rear than the right side but either way I can easily see the plastic axle housing bending as I give it throttle and the axle rotates..
Has anyone else had this issue, and/or have found a solution?? Or am I inline for some new parts..
I have not torn the axles apart as of yet, I have only ran 15 or 20 minutes of light puttering around my back yard to break them in and see that it works.. Any thoughts folks??
Thanks,
Chuck

[paystin]

Doesn't sound normal to me. Mine definately does not do that. Contact Rich Trujillo and let him know what's going on.

[Robbob]

nothing like that here. probably a good idea to tear the axle apart though and see if you can diagnose a possible problem.

maybe the axle isnt seated correctly in the spool ..... maybe its a simple axle thats bent ...... check the bearings and sleeve in the outer axle piece/lockout ...... possibly a wheel hex got twisted or bent from some light backyard running and tumbling ..... ?

good luck

[tcochuck]

Well after playing with it today and noticing the rear axle getting warmer than the front (not hot mind you), and with the twisty bendy thing I mentioned earlier still going on it was time for exploratory surgery.

After tearing it down I found the square holes that are "broached" into worm gear(spool) losa3174 ends to be not true to the center line of the part. Or the squared ends of the driveshafts are milled crooked a teensy bit. Causing the rear axles losa3184 to wobble at the ends. I did roll the axle on a mirror to check for bent axles,and nothing appeared out of whack to my eyes..

Found 2 shims per side on the spool mentioned above, one shim on 1 side was bent a little causing a slight drag. After removing 1 per side it spins much more freely and still has negligible side play. There are 3 on each end of the pinion gear-shaft, will check for end-play and fit upon reassembly. May remove 1 total from that shaft if binding/dragging at all, we shall see.

I also found the square drive ends of the axles to have burrs on them, accentuating the issue. I lightly deburred the axle ends and polished them with 600 sand paper. Seems better now but still not what it should be..

Also had to attack 2 of the center drive shaft yokes set screws with a dremel as the loctite on there from the factory held those set screws thru a dynamite wrench, a thorpe wrench and of course the cheap wrench that came with the kit.. Hmm wonder what more I'll find lol..
When it did not come right out at first and before the setscrew got chitty I tried heating it with my soldering iron to help.. Nope that's not it either.. Dremel to the rescue, hope the replacements are indeed on the way as I was told when I found this issue with the setscrews Friday as now there's no turning back..
Will attack front end later today also after the sun comes up.. lol.
Surprised at #3465 to still see old style cvd's on this beast..
Will again call Losi after the sun comes up in California later today, we will get the bugs worked out of this thing..
hagn folks, ttfn
Chuck