Clod Axle Widening

[Rockcrawler]

Great idea and design. The only thing I see is that I wouldn't want mine wider. It already catches too many rocks as it is. You guys have been in this alot longer than I have so you probably know something I dont. I am not trying to put this down in any way, just wondering what I am missing. ;-)

 

[ClodMonster]

hey can i get some drawings to :twisted:

 

[chafey]

aahhh come on ace. what about grizz's idea where is it huh where is it

 

[Ace]

Wow, it's been a while since Griz told me. I think he was going to somehow mate maxx hubs to the clod axles. Can't remember his scheme for "dogbones".


I need to make up them drawings for the axles... I've put a lot of miles on mine w/o a failure so I'm pretty confident in them. I have drawings but made some changes when making them so I'd have to remember what I did. Or I could just post them with disclamier " check dims for yourself"

 

[chafey]

i played around with savage hubs and axles wouldnt be to hard

 

[mulchman]

Hey Ace, I would like a set of drawingsto if you make some up. Heck, I would even pay for them. Have you given any more thought to making the spacers, axles as a kit to buy and how much they would be. I have a Harbor Freight Lathe and could probably make the spacers. It,s the axles I would have a problem with.

 

[Ace]

Axles aren't that hard, just very time consuming. You need to turn a ball on the end for the dogbone... I used a radius turning attachment (that I made for the job) but you could do it NC. (Numeric control) The technique is to manually turn the cross-slide and compound to cut the ball. Easiest way is to layout an excel spreadsheet and for every say .005" in x then feed the appropriate in y to make the ball. Then at the end you use a file to blend the ball in.

 

[BultacoJim]

It's the axles I would have a problem with.

When I did this, I just used another set of Clod axles cut down to the proper length.
Here’s a diagram of how I lengthened the axle:




A picture of all the parts on my coffee table:



The axle with the spacers added.

 

[Ace]

Great idea and design. The only thing I see is that I wouldn't want mine wider. It already catches too many rocks as it is. You guys have been in this alot longer than I have so you probably know something I dont. I am not trying to put this down in any way, just wondering what I am missing. ;-)

Ahh, but that's the beauty of the design, it doesn't widen the axle. It moves the steering axis out and reduces the scrub radius when turning.

Works good to, cause I can run servo savers front and back no problem. Before with savers the rear would "flop" overpowering the servo saver on steep climbs.

Easier on servos, and the rig turns better.

 

[BultacoJim]

Rockcrawler:

Ace made his spacers 0.980” long.
Therefore his axles are close to the same width as people who run ¾” axle wideners to keep their tires from hitting their lower links.
Like Ace said, steering is much better with the spacers vs the wideners.

But….
My spacers are 1.500” long. This additional width makes my “pumpkin” hit more rocks.
I like the additional width, since the additional width will give me a place to mount my battery packs.
My present setup is just for testing purposes to see if the additional width has any other advantages.
I’m planning on making aluminum axle tubes with portals for additional clearance for my “extra” wide axles. :lol:
A winter project. :lol:

 

[Ace]

.980"

Don't tell anyone but I was shooting for 1.000

Measured them all and one was .980

Still don't know how that happened! So they all got trimmed to .980 :mrgreen:

 

[BultacoJim]

.980"

So they all got trimmed to .980 :mrgreen:

Roger that.
The dimensioning on my drawings are final after I make the part. :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[mulchman]

Many, Many Thanks

I wish my mind worked like yours BultacoJim. I just happen to have a set of clod axles on the shelf. Will get to work on this project right now. Again many thanks for the quick reply and info.

 

[chafey]

i think the one dude dont get it because noone has mentioned running rims with no offset or wideners on the wide axles. but seriously some one has to sell these things!!!!