D40 Axle Problems

[gixonemil]

I have a Trailfinder that I've been running around for about a total of 1 week now. I noticed some metal shavings around the front axle near the dog bone area. Come to find out, the dog bone and axle are nearly chewed off! Are these parts made out of 303 Stainless Steel? Seems sucky that I would need new parts after just a little over a week of use. I didn't even abuse them at all, just some light crawling. This axle needs a CVD type axle upgrade. I hope I don't have to buy new parts every other week just to keep this up. And the steering travel sucks.. I can barely make a turn with these things. Did I do something wrong or these are just defective, like the rear axles that came with the kit (replaced by RC4WD)? I'd like to know soon before I buy new parts. Thanks..

[Racer4Life]

I have a Trailfinder that I've been running around for about a total of 1 week now. I noticed some metal shavings around the front axle near the dog bone area. Come to find out, the dog bone and axle are nearly chewed off! Are these parts made out of 303 Stainless Steel? Seems sucky that I would need new parts after just a little over a week of use. I didn't even abuse them at all, just some light crawling. This axle needs a CVD type axle upgrade. I hope I don't have to buy new parts every other week just to keep this up. And the steering travel sucks.. I can barely make a turn with these things. Did I do something wrong or these are just defective, like the rear axles that came with the kit (replaced by RC4WD)? I'd like to know soon before I buy new parts. Thanks..

Did you mod the output shafts on the front axle before or after this started?

[sloppy]

is this your first set of "locked" axles?

[gixonemil]

Did you mod the output shafts on the front axle before or after this started?


How do you mod the thing in the first place? Mike from RC4wd showed me a thread about a T-REX mod but never quite understood it. I didn't think it applied to the D40. The steering travel is quite unacceptable. I wish it turned more than it does right now. This is my first serious crawler with dog bones and locked diffs. My 3 other CC01 chassis have locked diffs but they have CVD's from TA03's. I wish they had CVD's for this axle, like the TLT's. They are well made but the design is not on par. Don't get me wrong, I had a real blast playing with this rig the short time I have owned it so far. Any helpful tips are greatly appreciated before I drop another $30.00 for parts on top of the $700.00 I have spent so far on this rig..

[ruffryder]

Locked diffs give poor steering anyway.You can try and give it some toe out but it wont make much difference.
If the servo is pushing too far making the cups and shafts bind,then try to adjust the steering throw,or stick a limiter somewhere.You can stick something by the servo arm where you want the servo to stop to limit the travel.Dont hold on full lock for ages though as the servo wont like it.
I found that with the steering behind the axle i get more steering than when its up front.The knuckles hit the shocks when its at the front so the shocks act as a limiter.
The other way to get more steering is to get a Tamiya high lift diff in the front and use it as a diff unlocked.No good for climbing though!

[gixonemil]

Locked diffs give poor steering anyway.You can try and give it some toe out but it wont make much difference.
If the servo is pushing too far making the cups and shafts bind,then try to adjust the steering throw,or stick a limiter somewhere.You can stick something by the servo arm where you want the servo to stop to limit the travel.Dont hold on full lock for ages though as the servo wont like it.
I found that with the steering behind the axle i get more steering than when its up front.The knuckles hit the shocks when its at the front so the shocks act as a limiter.
The other way to get more steering is to get a Tamiya high lift diff in the front and use it as a diff unlocked.No good for climbing though!

I got the steering throw covered since I have endpoint adjustment on my radio. I guess the cups and shafts have been binding and I have not noticed it. But how long are these things supposed to last? A CVD upgrade is really needed..

[Racer4Life]

How do you mod the thing in the first place? Mike from RC4wd showed me a thread about a T-REX mod but never quite understood it. I didn't think it applied to the D40. The steering travel is quite unacceptable. I wish it turned more than it does right now. This is my first serious crawler with dog bones and locked diffs. My 3 other CC01 chassis have locked diffs but they have CVD's from TA03's. I wish they had CVD's for this axle, like the TLT's. They are well made but the design is not on par. Don't get me wrong, I had a real blast playing with this rig the short time I have owned it so far. Any helpful tips are greatly appreciated before I drop another $30.00 for parts on top of the $700.00 I have spent so far on this rig..

I guess I was refering to this post.

http://www.rc4wdforum.com/showthread.php?t=272

CVD's would help. The recommendations made are the best thing for now. Maybe soon RC4WD will have CVD's that will work with there axles.

[gixonemil]

I guess I was refering to this post.

http://www.rc4wdforum.com/showthread.php?t=272

CVD's would help. The recommendations made are the best thing for now. Maybe soon RC4WD will have CVD's that will work with there axles.

Hi, thanks for the responses guys.. Mike from Rc4wd e-mailed me because I sent him a message. He was very nice to offer to send me some replacement parts :).. I'm hoping I to receive them soon before my axles give out. They looked really bad when I checked last night. There's only about 1/3 left on the tip of the dog bone, where it contacts the cups. I have several pairs of CVD's from the on road cars that I had. The TA04's will probably work. I just don't know a way to weld them to the RC4wd shafts. Really sucks cuz I wanted to run it today in the canyons because the wife is at work and I have a day off :mad:.. And it is too damn windy to ride my motorcycle. The Santa Ana winds are wild here in So Cal this time of the year..

[Zurbz]

Not sure what happened with yours.... Is it possible that the slots on the cups that hold the dog bones are improperly milled (just a touch too small or has a slight bevel)? Maybe file down the edges of the slots on the cups to help a little.

I have had the D40's on my scaler since May without even a hint of wear on the front dog bones, and I do beat on it.

[gixonemil]

Not sure what happened with yours.... Is it possible that the slots on the cups that hold the dog bones are improperly milled (just a touch too small or has a slight bevel)? Maybe file down the edges of the slots on the cups to help a little.

I have had the D40's on my scaler since May without even a hint of wear on the front dog bones, and I do beat on it.

Were you able to improve the steering travel on yours? Yeah, I wish my axles lasted as long as yours. But it is what it is.. I'll probably post pics one of these days..

[stalljustin]

I've also had a few problems with my D40 axle but its only the front left its like the dog bone spun inside the cup and it just bent one of the bones and broke the other one off. Other than that i love my axles they look awesome under my hilux. I also have a junfac 10 mil. shackle lift under mine though.

[MasterShake44]

Can you drill the bent piece out?:eek:

[Zurbz]

Were you able to improve the steering travel on yours? Yeah, I wish my axles lasted as long as yours. But it is what it is.. I'll probably post pics one of these days..


I have the steering maxed from right to left as it was from stock, granted its turning radius isn't great being locked but it never binds up on me. I was looking at mine again and still can't figure out why yours would do that.:confused:

[gixonemil]

I have the steering maxed from right to left as it was from stock, granted its turning radius isn't great being locked but it never binds up on me. I was looking at mine again and still can't figure out why yours would do that.:confused:

Well, don't kill yourself with it ;).. Maybe I just got a bad batch. I'm not really worried about it anymore because they are sending me new ones for free :). I also had to send my rear axle back because the spool and pinion were not meshing right.. then they sent me a new one in return. They got some cool peeps there at RC4WD :D..

[stalljustin]

I had a few problems with my d40 front axles but i emailed rc 4wd and within hours they contacted me back and are replacing them at no cost. So nothing but good feedback from me.:D

[gixonemil]

I had a few problems with my d40 front axles but i emailed rc 4wd and within hours they contacted me back and are replacing them at no cost. So nothing but good feedback from me.:D

Me too ;)...

[stalljustin]

More problems with the d40's so far i love the looks of the axles they perform awesome but for some odd reason i keep stripping out the rear end. its like the splines inside the spool arent strong enough to hold on to the axle shafts if anybody knows a remedy please feel free, i hurtin right know with a limited slip in a hilux.

[scubadaveojr]

also make sure you have the stuff all nice and tight and have the joints nice and smooth be for running it. then take some pics if there are problems. that way we can all see and get a super clear idea of what is going on. lol.