Locker question?

[Clarkie]

Hi guy my hammer was setup for crawling when I brought it 2nd hand and both front and rear diffs are locked and my question is are any of them locked as standard?

I am using it for bashing and speed jumps and off road etc and both diffs locked isn't really working for me an it just flips and wheelies everywhere.

And also I don't have any spare parts for the diffs either so if I remove the lockers is there internals that are removed to fit the locker or will I just be able to remove the lockers and still use the car?

I know the front doesn't come locked as standard but not sure about the rear axle.

Any help appreciated.

[Drail]

the rear is locked from the factory. as for the front..ya you need a gear set. #VTR232019 RPP hobby has em in stock for $6.99. Drail

[Clarkie]

Is there a way of unlocking the rear? Does the front diff rebuild kit fit the rear? I'd imagine the locker for the rear is much the same as the front???

[Drail]

i havent been in the rear locker yet. im thinken that if you get 2 set's and gut the rear it shuld work..the diff housing it the same F/R so im gonna say yes get 2 sets and maby two for these. Vaterra Front/Rear Diff Housing: TWH #VTR232015 in case the cup's are stretched or jb weld was used in the front??

if you dont know how the front was locked id get 2 gear sets 2 diff housings and a set of front out drives #VTR232005

all parts in stock at RPP hobby gonna run ya $31.95+shipping
hope it helps.
Drail

[toyotatrucks83]

If the front diff does work in the rear please say something. I would love to open the rear diff on mine.

[Erin]

Originally Posted by Drail

i havent been in the rear locker yet. im thinken that if you get 2 set's and gut the rear it shuld work..the diff housing it the same F/R so im gonna say yes get 2 sets and maby two for these. Vaterra Front/Rear Diff Housing: TWH #VTR232015 in case the cup's are stretched or jb weld was used in the front??

if you dont know how the front was locked id get 2 gear sets 2 diff housings and a set of front out drives #VTR232005

all parts in stock at RPP hobby gonna run ya $31.95+shipping
hope it helps.
Drail

The diff housings are the same, but the rear axles have no hole to be able to pin on the outside sun gears like the front outputs are

[toyotatrucks83]

Ahhhh so opening the rear diff would require some machine work on the axles them self. That is a bummer.
I was thinking that since vaterra is a horizon hobbies product that there had to be some other vehicle that had an open diff that would work. (And it sounds like there is) but the axles are twin hammer specific part. I don't think Losi, ECX, or tlr have any other solid axle vehicles.

[toyotatrucks83]

Originally Posted by Erin

The diff housings are the same, but the rear axles have no hole to be able to pin on the outside sun gears like the front outputs are

Ok. So I opened up the rear axle housing to get a look at this. I also bought a front diff gear set. I posting up some pictures in hopes someone with some one with machining skill and or a blue star will pick up on this. I'll try to explain the best I can.
Here is the rear diff housing and rear axle coming trough the housing.

Here is the axle with the diff side gear on it. You can see the axle would need to be trimmed off about 3mm.

Top view.

In this picture you can see where the o-ring fits and you can also see where I attempted to drill holes so the side gear can be pinned to the axle. My drill bit broke. The axle is hardened steel. So I need better bits as well as this should be done in a machine shop anyways.

[toyotatrucks83]

I took some measurements because I had some concern if this will even be strong enough if I do manage to get a hole through the axle shaft and have the diff work properly.
Here is how thick the pin is that needs to go through the axle and sit inside the side gear.

This is how thick the square shank is on the end of the axle. After drilling a 2mm hole through it there would only be about .75mm of axle metal around the pin on either side! This is where durability is concerning me.

Then I though what if the pin is drilled in diagonally. There is more axle metal on either side of the pin technically.

Also being that the shaft where the side gear would rest on would be square instead of round, I don't know if this would cause side gear wobble that would create binding. I'm thinking since theses are toys and not precision 1:1 race vehicles it should be fine. But I don't know.
Any input would be appreciated. I'm thinking I will try and find a local machine shop and get these holes drilled and find out if this is even doable.

[Bl-air]

Looks like an idea for an aftermarket part to me... For sure.

[Ballistic17]

Good info

[toyotatrucks83]

Thanks. I was noticing when my son and I were out doing the g6 that his made it over everything mine did. And his front is diff is open with heavy oil and mine is silly putty locked. His lines were cleaner being that the diff allowed proper diff action to where mine just kind of forced its way through sections. So seeing this I think an open heavy oiled rear diff may allow even cleaner lines. As well as it should make high speed handling better as well. Just a theory I'm willing to attempt.

[toyotatrucks83]

Just wanted to post a quick update. I got a cobalt drill bit from my Mac guy today. I spent 20 minutes trying to drill the hole you can see that I already started with crappy bits. I'm about .5mm through. This is crazy. I don't know how hard this hardened steel is, but I don't think I'll be making it through with this bit either.

[biggamehunter]

maybe brazing the hole in the gear up , cleaning it all back to leave a solid gear,then re cutting a square profile hole in the now solid gear to fit the square axle end and doing away with the pin is an easier option ?? are you drilling with a machine shop slow speed pillar drill and cutting oil with cobalt bits ? how far did you get please?

[toyotatrucks83]

Filling in the side gears and then cutting a square into it sounds good. But I don't know how you would cut the square. I used cutting oil and a drill press. Never got more thank .5m. Through. Kind of gave up.

[biggamehunter]

should be starting the unlocking job on the weekend toyo i got 50 cobalt bits here , just waiting on the diff gears and axle shafts , should be here tomorrow

[biggamehunter]

done !!!!! details and step by step with pics here
my twin hammers , starting an upgrade