c0bra’s axial exo teardown and rebuild.

[c0bra]

I’ve been looking to get an axial exo ever since I cut my last one up to make an ifs wraith. For years it was on the back burner to get until this one popped up in the classified section.

I’ve seen exo’s sell on eBay that need work for a lot more than this one, even ones missing part of the cage!

Anyways back to my exo. It was ran hard by the previous owners kid and was in need of tlc to bring it back to life. They weren’t joking, this thing needs bearings and at least a brand new front diff but I won’t know for sure until I rip it apart.

The plan isn’t just to rebuild it, I figure wile it’s already apart I might as well through all the upgrades I can find into it to turn this things hard life around.

Sellers pic:

I already have an strc chassis, f/r chassis braces and a few other mostly exo specific parts here for it already. I’ll go more into detail on what I have when it gets to that point.

But first I need to tear the thing completely down and see what all needs replaced


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[OSRC]

I was eyeing that up as well..congrats on the purchase!

All these Exo posts lately are getting me motivated to fix up mine - after the last bash session, the wheels are all going in different directions (but it was still running!)

 

[Ballistic17]

Subbed. Can't wait to see this overhaul.

 

[c0bra]

I was eyeing that up as well..congrats on the purchase!

All these Exo posts lately are getting me motivated to fix up mine - after the last bash session, the wheels are all going in different directions (but it was still running!)

I blame ballistic17 for his exo thread. If I didn’t see the thread, I would’ve let this one go.


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[c0bra]

Small update for you guys. I checked the strc parts I already have with the parts that are available on rc recycler and ordered the last of the exo upgrades that strc makes. I did not order the parts though that will work for the yeti though. Those will all be vanquish except for the diff cases

Also I talked to a fellow rcc member about what parts I am looking to get for this thing in order to fix it up. I mentioned that I was looking for clear panels and they sent me a link to some clear team blue groove panels! So I have clear panels coming now but I did not order the interior as I probably won’t use it anyway


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[c0bra]

Ok I was able to get about 80 percent of the exo torn down. Meaning the entire cage is in pieces, the entire center section but most of the front and rear diffs are still there.

Nothing really unexpected however I did investigate the right rear wheel to see why it wobbled so much. Turns out that BOTH bearings in the hub were completely gone.

Based on what I’m seeing for some of it, i believe that this thing began life as a kit version. As there have been multiple places were the parts weren’t cut all the way off, or that too much of it was cut.

I didn’t take the center diff apart yet as it seemed ok for now, however it will be before it goes back in. The rear diff feels ok and I’m guessing it has either a thick fluid or grease in it. The front diff feels like the ring and pinion are both stripped.


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[OSRC]

STRC used to sell Exo hop ups in a lot on Ebay - not sure if they still do that or not. Used to be crazy deals. I won one that was pretty much every part they made for $75 or so. All I really wanted was the chassis and motor mount, but the other stuff was nice too.

TBG makes body panels eh? - good to know.

 

[c0bra]

STRC used to sell Exo hop ups in a lot on Ebay - not sure if they still do that or not. Used to be crazy deals. I won one that was pretty much every part they made for $75 or so. All I really wanted was the chassis and motor mount, but the other stuff was nice too.

TBG makes body panels eh? - good to know.

There still are large strc lots on eBay however I didn’t notice it until after I already ordered most of the stuff from rc recycler.

The only issue is that I don’t think TBG makes the sticker sheets for any of the bodies they make.


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[c0bra]

I was able to open up the diff housings on the exo. The rear didn’t look that bad so I didn’t take it apart. On a side note it has a vp rear upper link mount!

The front....... well that’s another story. I was greeted by a TON of metal shavings

There were more shavings on the diff and on the other side of the housing. It was so bad that I just tossed the entire thing. I figure if the ring and pinion are this bad, the spider gears are going to be absolutely destroyed so I might as well just replace all of it.

I also received a large order of m3 hardware for this, although I ordered way more than this thing will ever need in its entire life

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[c0bra]

I was going to go to my lhs to hopefully add another rc to the fleet, but instead I did the smart thing!

With the exo currently completely ripped apart and the diffs that came it with just thrown in the trash (they were TERRIBLE), I’ve placed a fairly large order at Amain instead. Basically just about every stock part that needed to be replaced. I do need some more stock parts but they were out of stock.

Unfortunately the order won’t be here for almost 2 weeks (boo!!!) as some are arriving soon.

There are still plenty of upgrades needed to still get for this however but this order was meant to get a lot of the stock parts that are needed.


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[c0bra]

Even with all those brand new parts I was able to put so little of the exo together that I didn’t even touch it.

After a few weeks of searching for in stock diff outdrives I finally came across the dlux versions. Which I would’ve been ordering in a few weeks. However on Friday I decided to check and see if the outdrives were in stock at Amain. They were! So I ordered the 3 sets that I need for this. Unfortunately they weren’t actually in stock as Amain had listed that they had a 7-8 day ship time, but at least they were getting them!

I also went on feebay and ordered a set of center drive shafts as well so I can finally mount all 3 diffs to the chassis.


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[c0bra]

The diff outdrives are finally on there way! So I can hopefully start getting this thing back up and running on Thursday or Friday!

 

[c0bra]

I finally started the rebuild process!

I was hoping to be able to get the diffs built and mounted on the chassis, but I’m still missing parts. This time I made a list and will be going to the lhs after work.

But I was able to get the cage most of the way put back together!


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[c0bra]

I have an update! And there are parts together!!

The other day I finally put the exo cage together. Most of it is all original to the kit and wasn’t replaced. The rear inner shock mounts were replaced with new plastic (for now). I’ve got a new rear light bezel and a new radiator and fans to go in it but they need painted first. Ive also added the front light bezel. It doesn’t have one of the supports on and they aren’t mounted to the roof, as I still need to paint the panels and get the screws for the panels

Now for the update I’ve been waiting to give! I finally got all of the diff parts in! So I was able to get all 3 diffs built with all brand new parts, I’m starting out with 10/20/10 diff fluid and a 50t spur. There were 2 new 50t included so why not start there?

Anyways other notable parts are the vanquish motor mount and upper link mount, which along with the rock guard for the spur gear are actually the only original parts currently on the new gunmetal strc chassis. Its also got a black strc rear chassis brace.

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