:hammer: I had my spool in for 2 days and busted my rear axle after about 6 runs:rolleyes:

The thing just twisted itself in half just behind the axle u-joint. You can see the twisted splines:eek:

I have only been running the truck on loose gravel and a bit of rock crawling on river rock. Nothing with a lot of traction. Oh, and a bit of jumping as I built a 2 foot ramp today...

Anyway, it's just an excuse to upgrade the shafts to something beefy! I can get a set of four for $50. Back to the hobby shop tomorrow...

BTW, the spool is coming out, it's great for rock crawling, but it makes it more difficult to steer and I think that it will lead to a lot more busted parts.

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i have had my spool a long time.... havent done any damage to the axles... i did snap an MIP CVD but that is becuase i had too much travel and it binded to the point that the dogbone rubbed away/grooved at the steel shaft until a hard hit snapped it off...and we know how i drive my toys :smoke:

Man, no wonder there are so many cool aftermarket parts for these things--it seems that the stock parts just plain suck. There's no reason that you should have had to drop $500 for the damn truck, just to turn around 3 days later to buy $50 worth of "decent" axles. Do I really still want one of these things?? :confused:

ha....full cvd axles run 150 for the whole truck... there are 6 of them.....but other companies now make cheaper versions...i think duratrax does

Well, I dropped $320 for the truck, the rest was on batteries and chargers.

The axles would have been fine without the spool, that is REALLY hard on them and other things, the drive shaft tranny etc. I am not putting the spool back in and for $50 I'm getting 4 metal axles, not sure of the material... The stock pieces are actually quite inexpensive... A new axle from Traxxas is $8.00.

BTW, the gravel in my yard is very abusive to the axles and yokes the gravel fits right in there and chews away at the plastic. You can see that in the photo on the bottom. If it was running in dirt or grass that wouldn't be a problem.

Yeah, the axles did look a little chewed up. Is that beacause the gravel got stuck next to the axle and chewed it up?? I'll bet the metal ones will last a lot longer anyway.

Originally posted by Stephen S
Do I really still want one of these things?? :confused:
Ahh, of course you do! Breaking stuff and fixing it is all part of the hobby. :D Most of the time, I actually find it fun to tear into my truck to find the problem (when it's not obvious) and then put new, better parts in to fix it. Just be aware that you will need to have time and a bit of money available to truly enjoy your truck.

Still, the fun you'll have should outweigh the negatives...

http://www.fototime.com/64DDC0392BD556C/standard.jpg

Originally posted by Stephen S
Yeah, the axles did look a little chewed up. Is that beacause the gravel got stuck next to the axle and chewed it up?? I'll bet the metal ones will last a lot longer anyway.

The gravel gets stuck between the A-arms and the axles and just grinds away. We have 3/4- gravel which means that the gravel chunks are 3/4" and less, just the right size to fit into little nooks and crannies.

Now everytime I flip it, I check for gravel and shake it out real good.

I've got about 25 runs on my truck now and my axles are in fine shape... But then again I'm not playing in the gravel though...

Rick: if you want to get a bit of a posi feeling in the back w/o the spool you can pack it with heavier grease... It should also help so that your truck dosen't push so much in the turns... At least thats what I've been reading...

Originally posted by mmpc

Ahh, of course you do! Breaking stuff and fixing it is all part of the hobby. :D Most of the time, I actually find it fun to tear into my truck to find the problem (when it's not obvious) and then put new, better parts in to fix it. Just be aware that you will need to have time and a bit of money available to truly enjoy your truck.


Ok ok, you've twisted my arm...:D I think I too would like ripping into my truck to fix problems and stuff that I break. I'm a tinkerer by nature. :) It'll probably be a little hard to get over dropping all the $$$ I'll need to fix what I am inevitably going to break! :hammer: And you can't just put stock parts back on it, you gotta get the beefier ones that don't break so easy. I'm still gonna get one. :cool:

Got the new MIP axles installed... They were $50 a pair.. not for 4 as I originally thought. I also got a three piece skid plate set from RPM.

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Looking good Rick. Not wasting any time with the mods are you?? :) Those axles look a lot thinner than the stock ones. Skid plates look cool too.

RPM makes great plastic parts,,,looking good rick...those cvds are a lot thinner than the stockers but are made of steel and not plastic..... check out the t-maxx forum at www.t-maxx.comunder the forum button....a lot of the t and e max tips are interchangeable......i just put in a new MIP performance clutch..too bad i set it soft instead of hard..it wont shift out of 1st...time to remove it again and change it...

So Jim how long do you give Rick before he snaps an a lower a arm and has to get some RPM ones???

yo Rick. having withdrawl from the x being in the shop? needed a toy i see. you know that BOLINK makes a Explorer body do you not? very good looking, 24 bucks. how nice would that be to have an E that looks just like your X? you could paint it orange (same shade as yours) and have it say E-X on the hood. muahaha. they also make a pimp looking sport trac body which looks very very nice.

wow, i just noticed this forum thanks to steve.

Rick, how do i get into contact with you about becoming a moderator in this forum?

Brian already is a mod for this forum... sorry.

Is that a 2 door or a 4 door Ex??? I've seen a 2 and a Sport Trac, but no 4 doors.

Rick

rick... its a 4 door i believe. its pretty tight.

but but but but... i brought the whole rc thing up.. :(

maybe i could talk to brian...?

Protecting my Forum :shoot: :nono: