radcore
Newbie
So after upgrading the power of my 1/24 crawler I have battled with a constantly breaking drivetrain. At first I drilled out the balls in the driveshaft and pinned them, which worked for a while, but upon upgrading tyre size and weight, they were no longer strong enough and snapped again. I also tried to use metal universal joints, but couldn't find small enough ones.
A while ago on a thread I can't find, someone suggested using fuel line for driveshafts. The concept was that the fuel line would be able to bend and thus negate the need for universal joints. There were calls for pics, but the guy didnt have access to the car as his kids had it and as far as I know the guy didn't return. I planned to find the thread to reference it but can't seem to track it down. (so if anyone remembers it let me know)
I was skeptical about it working, but as I had the parts lying around I gave it ago anyway. It didnt work... Well it worked, but it greatly reduced articulation. The problem was that the fuel line was too rigid.
The original poster of the fuel line idea mentioned that the fuel line would only twist a couple of times before the motor stalled. I figure that either he was using the thinnest fuel line ever, or he was referring to a 1:18 scale car as there is no way that the motor in the 1:24 would have enough power to twist the ones I made (and I used the fuel line without reinforcement). Perhaps he was using that fishtank type hose.
The problem with articulation ruined this mod for me, but I really wanted a strong drivetrain so I fiddled around for a bit to solve the problem. Then I came up with a solution to the articulation problem that resulted in more suspension travel than before the driveshaft mod.
Here is a brief DIY
Remove the driveshafts from the crawler.
Remove the yoke from the driveshaft
Put a dab of hot glue between the fork of the yoke.
Cut a piece of fuel line to size (you will need to work out the size that works best depending on the linkages you have used on your truck)
apply some glue to the inside of the fuel line towards the ends. Then insert the yoke into the fuel line like so
Do the same to the other end.
You will need to sand the ends of the new driveshafts a bit thinner to stop them fouling in the gearbox and servo mounts.
Then install back into the truck
About now is when you will notice the lack of articulation.
The mod I worked out to fix it is easy and free.
Simply remove the upper links. As the driveshaft is now solid, it can act as a link itself, and it does so rather well.
CONS:
- Drivetrain is not quite as smooth - the truck jumps a tiny bit as it drives - this effect is minimised by using the correct length driveshaft. The longer it is, the jumpier it gets. Not a huge problem
- Looks less scale than stock
- Steering is probably more affected by acceleration now - but again not a huge issue
PROS:
- Driveshaft doesn't break
- More articulation
- Driveshaft doesn't keep breaking!
Overall the improvements far outweigh the disadvantages in my opinion.
My truck is now taking on lines that it never had a chance on before.
A while ago on a thread I can't find, someone suggested using fuel line for driveshafts. The concept was that the fuel line would be able to bend and thus negate the need for universal joints. There were calls for pics, but the guy didnt have access to the car as his kids had it and as far as I know the guy didn't return. I planned to find the thread to reference it but can't seem to track it down. (so if anyone remembers it let me know)
I was skeptical about it working, but as I had the parts lying around I gave it ago anyway. It didnt work... Well it worked, but it greatly reduced articulation. The problem was that the fuel line was too rigid.
The original poster of the fuel line idea mentioned that the fuel line would only twist a couple of times before the motor stalled. I figure that either he was using the thinnest fuel line ever, or he was referring to a 1:18 scale car as there is no way that the motor in the 1:24 would have enough power to twist the ones I made (and I used the fuel line without reinforcement). Perhaps he was using that fishtank type hose.
The problem with articulation ruined this mod for me, but I really wanted a strong drivetrain so I fiddled around for a bit to solve the problem. Then I came up with a solution to the articulation problem that resulted in more suspension travel than before the driveshaft mod.
Here is a brief DIY
Remove the driveshafts from the crawler.
Remove the yoke from the driveshaft
Put a dab of hot glue between the fork of the yoke.
Cut a piece of fuel line to size (you will need to work out the size that works best depending on the linkages you have used on your truck)
apply some glue to the inside of the fuel line towards the ends. Then insert the yoke into the fuel line like so
Do the same to the other end.
You will need to sand the ends of the new driveshafts a bit thinner to stop them fouling in the gearbox and servo mounts.
Then install back into the truck
About now is when you will notice the lack of articulation.
The mod I worked out to fix it is easy and free.
Simply remove the upper links. As the driveshaft is now solid, it can act as a link itself, and it does so rather well.
CONS:
- Drivetrain is not quite as smooth - the truck jumps a tiny bit as it drives - this effect is minimised by using the correct length driveshaft. The longer it is, the jumpier it gets. Not a huge problem
- Looks less scale than stock
- Steering is probably more affected by acceleration now - but again not a huge issue
PROS:
- Driveshaft doesn't break
- More articulation
- Driveshaft doesn't keep breaking!
Overall the improvements far outweigh the disadvantages in my opinion.
My truck is now taking on lines that it never had a chance on before.
