Leaf Sprung AxialFest Honcho

[Armistice]

Like to use AF to change things up, so this time I'm going to run some leaf springs

Also had another person ask about them and seems people want to know about running leafs on Honchos

Started things off with the 66' Ford F100 body from Proline

Paint time!

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Bought some D60 axle housings from SSD. AxialFest is allowing non-Axial housings, but must have Axial gears. My Scale Yota Axles won't allow that, so got the D60's. I think they look more Ford-esque than the stock Honcho axle housings

Leafs and hangers/ shackles from RC4WD for their Trail Finder

Replaced all axle housing bushings with Traxxas bushings. Regreased gears with Peak high temp red grease

Then it was time to start mocking up and installing the leafs

Teardown of the rear

Difference between the D60 (top) and Scale Yota Axles (bottom). Seems to be about 5mm's

Drilled out the forward hole for the shock hoop, and drilled a new hole for the front hangers. Rear hole I drilled out, but ended up drilling one in the actual bumper support for the shackle (which you will see in another photo). All holes at 1/8" drill bit

This shows where I had to drill in the bumper support. Also, the middle hole in the leaf is smaller than the 2 outer ones, so drilled the center out to 1/8". (I mangled one of the smaller leafs when the bit caught and tore it out of my hand, so be very careful, otherwise you'll have to prob buy another set for $30)

Could've stood to have drilled the hole a few mm's forward, but was too late, haha. It still cycles just fine. Only one leaf will be used in the rear

How it sits

Due to the amount of flex, the tires are able to laterally shift, but will just deal with it for now and fix if it becomes a problem

Shocks are RC4WD Superlift 100mm shocks. 90mm limit straps are from RPP. I took out the internal spring, drained the oil, and refilled with 30w Axial Honcho oil. It works. The rear doesn't bounce all over now

Teardown of the front! Due to the weight, I will run 2 leafs

Front install and hole drilling did not go as well as I had hoped, but did go better than previously thought when I did some quick eyeballing after finishing the rear

Was able to use the forward most hole for the shackle. However, my bumper crossmember is a bit in the way, and thus the leafs wouldn't cycle, so to counter that, I had to move the hanger rearward. Ended up working out ok, but positioning is not ideal

With my order of SSD D60 axle housings, I also bought the rear lockouts, cHubs, and knuckles. The knuckles are high clearance and are very high. Works great for coilovers, no so much for leafs...

Flipped them over, but they are pretty low. Can bend up the steering links for clearance. Due to articulation, it seems that keeping them high will have problems with the leafs getting in the way. I will evaluate this during testing

SSD makes pumpkin covers that look like the stock one(HD cover), but nothing in the grey to match my knuckles. Went with their solid angled version in grey, but turns out to be a bronze color. Might leave it... might paint it... Not sure. Also, supplied button heads didn't fit, so used the original cap head bolts

I wanted to know if 2 leafs in the front hurt my articulation. I can swing them out of the way and found that I gain no more than 1/16"... maybe a bit less when using 1 leaf. However, because my leaf is set up more flat than the rear, I'll prob keep the 2 just so I don't overstress the leaf. I'll post some articulation pics later

Steering servo is pretty far forward, so may spin the horn around 180º and set my Tx to reverse steering

Need to make up steering linkage. Found a pack of Revo rod ends and some 8-32 all thread and my taps. Might do those tomorrow

Need to get another set of shocks

 

[honchojoe]

Thanks for posting this. I had a thought about your steering. What if you ran BTA steering and bent it up out of the way. Would that be allowed in your comp?

 

[Armistice]

I Wonder if the other style of ssd knuckles would work they look more like stock axail knuckle the tie arm is more in middle of knuckle

I'll see if they have something else

It's possible I could leave them flipped and cut off the bottom ear... but that's last resort

 

[Armistice]

Found this problem while working on steering linkage mock up. I'm running the stock Axial wheels and beadlocks

Cap heads hit the knuckle. Even button heads would still hit. Took a file to them and knocked a good 1/32" off them

I think I have the steering link issue situated. I'll run the main one off the lower ear. I'll run the servo link off the top ear

 

[rustneversleeps]

great job on the leafs...i don't have a leaf spring rig yet and great pics for reference helps... those blocks that hold the leafs on the axles are they made or bought... "thumbsup"

 

[1beatjeep]

Found this problem while working on steering linkage mock up. I'm running the stock Axial wheels and beadlocks

Cap heads hit the knuckle. Even button heads would still hit. Took a file to them and knocked a good 1/32" off them

I think I have the steering link issue situated. I'll run the main one off the lower ear. I'll run the servo link off the top ear

Nice job on this.Run a bigger hex or a differnt set of rim.

 

[Armistice]

great job on the leafs...i don't have a leaf spring rig yet and great pics for reference helps... those blocks that hold the leafs on the axles are they made or bought... "thumbsup"

Just some stainless flatbar from work. I plan on something else that will be more rigid that mounts into that same hole as well as off the lower shock mount. Will be stronger. Just going back and forth with design ideas. Will prob just weld some stuff up rather than machine out of a single block (Just don't think I can get much done during lunch at work)

 

[honchojoe]

Looks like you need wider hex. I had to run 7 or 8mm hrx to clear my VP 8 deg knuckles.

 

[Armistice]

Got the steering squared away. Traxxas Revo rod ends, 8-32 all thread, and 1/4" brakeline

I don't have it off the lower ear because I didn't take into account of having to bend it around the pumpkin. It doesn't seem like it'll cause a problem on the top ear

Now my problem is I need to clock the front axle as the d'shaft is in a bind. Might swap out the SS mount to a plastic one and will grind an angle to clock it upward

 

[honchojoe]

Awesome. That's the setup I was trying to suggest in the other thread. Taking the steering rod through the leaf springs. I'll no doubt have to do the same thing when I build mine.

 

[1beatjeep]

Got the steering squared away. Traxxas Revo rod ends, 8-32 all thread, and 1/4" brakeline

I don't have it off the lower ear because I didn't take into account of having to bend it around the pumpkin. It doesn't seem like it'll cause a problem on the top ear

Now my problem is I need to clock the front axle as the d'shaft is in a bind. Might swap out the SS mount to a plastic one and will grind an angle to clock it upward

them tires will Rip on the knuckles trust me...

 

[honchojoe]

Running a thicker hex will solve it.

 

[Armistice]

I'll see what happens as I run it. I don't think normal crawling will tear them up, but if I get it bound up in rocks, it's possible

 

[cutlaSS]

Looks good. Did you try the wider hexes off the Yotas on your axles? looks like you'll gain a couple millimeters clearance between the wheels and knuckles. I also noticed you have a sinlge screw holding the leafs to the axels. I would make a similar plate that you have the springs mounted on but put the plate on the top. this would sandwich the leafs and prevent them from breaking at the holes from repeatedly flexing up and down.

 

[Armistice]

Looks good. Did you try the wider hexes off the Yotas on your axles? looks like you'll gain a couple millimeters clearance between the wheels and knuckles. I also noticed you have a sinlge screw holding the leafs to the axels. I would make a similar plate that you have the springs mounted on but put the plate on the top. this would sandwich the leafs and prevent them from breaking at the holes from repeatedly flexing up and down.

You know, I never thought of taking that hex off. I see it's prob 2mm longer. I'll prob just buy a new set so I'm not having to worry about what to change over if I have to swap axles (I'll be taking everything to AF just in case)

I like the sandwiching idea "thumbsup" . The metal right now has just been for mockup/ test running. I've started making a bracket that will mount on that top hole as well as tying into the shock mount as 2 bolting points will be stronger and less likely to rip out

I still need to do a wedge mount in the front to clock the axle upward as I'm super bound up right now. Will prob do something quick today

EDIT: Wedge really didn't work at all. Still bound up. I think I'll have to drill and tap another hole to get it ot do what I want. I think that since the hole in the housing is straight, then it's prohibiting me from clocking it