Dhawk aluminum front bulkhead!!

[rob4607]

Ok, so I'm trying to figure out the install on this, I also have the dhawk spacer. With 2 shims and tightening the unit together the gears get really notch you and hard to turn, I remove 1 shim and it is a bit better thigh the screws to tighten the boy together are only snug roughly. My question is anyone shimming side to side at all? Seems like a huge pita to fit, take it all apart, then take the diff apart, add a shim, and the reassemble to test fit again with fingers crossed....

Anyway, are there shims that fit that will go over the drive cups to keep from going through all of this?

And biggest question is how smooth and how easy should the driveshaft be to turn for optimal fit? I would think that it should pin pretty easily and be pretty smooth but I can only get it this way by leaving the case screws loose, like barely any pressure to tighten them loose.

And those damn dropper top deals on the diff fluid bottles know just when to pop the f?$& off, looked like I gave a hand job the a yak....

 

[fornowagain]

It should be totally smooth, no hint of a notch. With all the screws done up tight and shimmed so there's no movement of the bearings in their cups.

You can't have shims that will fit over the bearings/cups. For the side to side slop the shim has to sit between the diff body/gear and the bearing. Mine needed a 10x12x0.1mm on the spur gear for 'side to side' and only 1 15x18x0.2mm shim on the pinion gear.

 

[hypnolobster]

And those damn dropper top deals on the diff fluid bottles know just when to pop the f?$& off, looked like I gave a hand job the a yak....

Haha, I glopped half the damn bottle all over my little bin of screws when I was building the diff the first time. Yelled at it a lot.

 

[BobTeagle]

Got mine installed, Easy as butter! No side to side shims needed. I shimmed the pinion as follows: (pinion> 1 shim> bearing> dhawk spacer> bearing> shim> c-clip). With this setup mine was smooth and shimmed proper.

BTW is still could not use my Axial front sway bar. It is still Axials faulty design. The screws to hold in the sway bar in the clamp on the bulkhead just don't hold it in. Got the screws as tight as I could but it would still pop out after a few mins of driving/jumping.

I am so pleased with the Dhawk bulkhead I just don't care about the problem with the Axial swaybar at the moment.

 

[rob4607]

Ok, what I have determined after taking them apart and starting over is that "somehow" there are two different size shims. I do not know if the thicker ones came from the kit or Dhawk. And due to the haste, along with the flooding going on in the area I do not remember which one that I went back together with but either way it is as smooth as butter now. FYI I am also using all AVID bearings, they have the yellow seals I can't remember which level they were but they were supposed to be really good for keeping all of the crap out.

 

[mond]

I picked one of these up and it fits great along with the GPM shock tower. All fits together nicely. The only problem I found is with the Hot Racing diff case I put inside it. The pinion rubs ever so slightly on the diff case if pressure is put on it, not enough to bind but has taken the paint off the diff case.

Trying to figure out how I could use a shim to get rid of this but removing the shim between the bearing and the pinion will just add in some slop. That or sand the edge of the diff case down by a very small amount - we're talking just a little more than the thickness of the paint on it to stop the rubbing.

 

[Natedog]

http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&id=201338318759&alt=web

Just saw this on flea bay. I know people have been waiting for an aluminum upgrade. Anybody going to order one?

Nice, this and the Dhawk pinion spacer/shim are required imo to keep the front ring and pinion alive. Glad to see somebody stepped up and is making these. "thumbsup" Looks very similar to GPM diff gear cases for HPI Savage.

 

[relay1]

Got mine installed, Easy as butter! No side to side shims needed. I shimmed the pinion as follows: (pinion> 1 shim> bearing> dhawk spacer> bearing> shim> c-clip). With this setup mine was smooth and shimmed proper.

BTW is still could not use my Axial front sway bar. It is still Axials faulty design. The screws to hold in the sway bar in the clamp on the bulkhead just don't hold it in. Got the screws as tight as I could but it would still pop out after a few mins of driving/jumping.

I am so pleased with the Dhawk bulkhead I just don't care about the problem with the Axial swaybar at the moment.

Axial's front swaybar mount design truly is quite poor. It has to be an embarrassment to at least one person at axial who's reading this thread. Please, guys, please, fix the mounting solution. Add support between the bulkhead and bumper like the hot racing solution, or something, for the love of all things engineering!

 

[cmbscx10]

Axial's front swaybar mount design truly is quite poor. It has to be an embarrassment to at least one person at axial who's reading this thread. Please, guys, please, fix the mounting solution. Add support between the bulkhead and bumper like the hot racing solution, or something, for the love of all things engineering!

Agreed. Unless they change the plastic composition it won't do any good to revise it. If they did, the bulkhead issue would likely be a non issue but why do that like most companies do. There was a huge issue with the Yeti 380 bulkhead and they fixed the problem areas but not the plastics. It helped but was not really an upgrade.

 

[djjiz]

Messaged Dhawk asking if they have any plans for updating the design and if he will offer other colors.
This was his reply.

 

[Fordfreak95]

And Hot racing removed the bulkhead link from their site. The Dhawk is the only option and not for long it seems. The Dhawk bulkhead works very well. I don't have a front sway bar. Just big losi xxl 2 shocks with 45wght oil and RC raven springs. I don't feel I need swaybars.

 

[BobTeagle]

Yes, I removed the front sway bar and forgot about it. It really wasn't doing. Much anyway.

Sounds like the Dhawk bulkhead supplies are limited. I highly recommend getting one while you can.

 

[djjiz]

Got 2 coming and am working out a deal on some blems. Don't wanna be "that guy" but when they become unavailable it sure would be nice to sell a few.

 

[cmbscx10]

Got 2 coming and am working out a deal on some blems. Don't wanna be "that guy" but when they become unavailable it sure would be nice to sell a few.

He did say "Maybe" he would not make them. Tough to make or not the demand is not there for him to continue at his current selling price. We have all said this is stupid cheap for what you get. Even if he increased his price a little bit it wouldn't matter due to the demand.

 

[djjiz]

I suggested he upped the price $80 plus shipping and offer them only in raw aluminum. Also mentioned that hot racing took them off their site.
Hopefully he continues making these. I would gladly pay that price to know these rigs are reliable.

 

[cmbscx10]

I suggested he upped the price $80 plus shipping and offer them only in raw aluminum. Also mentioned that hot racing took them off their site.
Hopefully he continues making these. I would gladly pay that price to know these rigs are reliable.

That would be an agreeable price IMO.

Colors are nice but if that is one of the reasons to keep it out of production then yes offer them in raw and put that expense into his profit.

 

[mxhead69]

He must still be making these, since I ordered one on September 15th and its in San Francisco today, the 19th. Hopefully I'll get it in Nor cal on Monday. And hopefully this sucker fixes my front diff issues! Running my XL on 4S with a Castle 2200kv motor and Mamba Monster X ESC, I've destroyed the front gears and a bearing in two sets of batteries! Can't imagine this truck on 6S, must be insane! But I'm gonna try it anyway...

 

[mond]

I suggested he upped the price $80 plus shipping and offer them only in raw aluminum. Also mentioned that hot racing took them off their site.
Hopefully he continues making these. I would gladly pay that price to know these rigs are reliable.

I'd actually pay more if the grade of aluminium was higher.

 

[relay1]

Not sure what everyone else's experiences have been with the dhawk bulkhead. Mine has held up really well. But yesterday my front left output shaft bearing blew and the diff cup was wobbling inside the casing and scraped up the inside of the bulkhead and broke up the diff cup. I think it's to be expected. I wonder if a new bearing and diff cup will work OK as is or I should get another bulkhead. Any suggestions? Good news is the ring and pinion are in tact and don't look damaged at all.

IMG_0951

IMG_0952

 

[Fordfreak95]

Mine is going strong with MANY 6s packs through it. I use Boca HD chromoly bearings on my Yeti XL. Ive had Boca bearings in a Maxx for three years and they are still gong strong. I would clean the bulk up nice and put it all back together and see if you have play. If you do then shell out another $68 and get a new bulk.