OSRC
I wanna be Dave
Picked up another TRX4 out of the classifieds...
Not sure what's wrong with me, bought a Defender, bought a Bronco, bought a Sport. Converted the Defender for performance, sold the Bronco to fund the other two, and modded out the Sport. Then converted back the Defender to almost stock, converting the Sport to a Bronco in the most expensive way possible and bought a new Sport. For, well, sporting. So I'm kinda back where I started, just a lot poorer. :lmao:
In any case, I have the Defender and eventually the Bronco now for trail running and this one is going to go play in the rocks. I'd like to go with a Brazin' chassis eventually, but building it with the stock chassis for now until funds allow.
What it looked like when it arrived. I have this exact jeep body laying around unpainted and had planned to swap it on, but nothing ever goes to plan...just didn't like the fit on the chassis.
Chassis was pretty well hopped up when I got it - lots of brass, aluminum axles, desert lizard shocks, Bowhouse tray, etc. Looks like very little run time as well.
I always tear down a used rig and go through it piece by piece...Started with the axles. I wanted to mix and match some of the upgrades that were on my Bronco, so I took off those axles (which were due for a going over anyway,) took the axles off the new Sport and started tearing them both down to start swapping parts around.
Tearing down 2 sets of TRX4 axles is a lot of work... holy moly. :shock: :shock: Gobs of screws.
Noticed this with my Defender - the axles turn somewhat hard. There's only 3 mating gear surfaces, they shouldn't turn that hard! The rubber shielded bearings that Traxxas uses have a TON of drag, and there's a lot of them in each axle. I pulled the seals off each one, blasted them with bearing cleaner and re-lubed them with some oil.
This time, I tried something different. I left the seals off the inner bearings - old trick from my racing days to remove drag in the driveline. The inside of the cases were clean, even after months of running so I'm not super worried about them. I left the bearing seals only on the bearings that face outside the axle - one on the pinion, and one each on CVD and axle.
Rebuilt the axles with steel housings, HR weights up front, YR (I think) out back, adjustable shock mounts, bearing modded steering, and an aluminum diff cover up front. OD/UD gears on stock lockers for now. I have aluminum shock mounts on the way as well. Heavy, strong axles... the rest of the truck will be as light as possible. In theory of course....
Completed and ready to go. All that time spent on the bearings was well worth it, they spin super free now. It's an absolute night and day difference from when I took them off. I'll be doing the same to my Bronco axles. Has to pay dividends in power delivery and runtime. "thumbsup"
Not sure what's wrong with me, bought a Defender, bought a Bronco, bought a Sport. Converted the Defender for performance, sold the Bronco to fund the other two, and modded out the Sport. Then converted back the Defender to almost stock, converting the Sport to a Bronco in the most expensive way possible and bought a new Sport. For, well, sporting. So I'm kinda back where I started, just a lot poorer. :lmao:
In any case, I have the Defender and eventually the Bronco now for trail running and this one is going to go play in the rocks. I'd like to go with a Brazin' chassis eventually, but building it with the stock chassis for now until funds allow.
What it looked like when it arrived. I have this exact jeep body laying around unpainted and had planned to swap it on, but nothing ever goes to plan...just didn't like the fit on the chassis.
Chassis was pretty well hopped up when I got it - lots of brass, aluminum axles, desert lizard shocks, Bowhouse tray, etc. Looks like very little run time as well.
I always tear down a used rig and go through it piece by piece...Started with the axles. I wanted to mix and match some of the upgrades that were on my Bronco, so I took off those axles (which were due for a going over anyway,) took the axles off the new Sport and started tearing them both down to start swapping parts around.
Tearing down 2 sets of TRX4 axles is a lot of work... holy moly. :shock: :shock: Gobs of screws.
Noticed this with my Defender - the axles turn somewhat hard. There's only 3 mating gear surfaces, they shouldn't turn that hard! The rubber shielded bearings that Traxxas uses have a TON of drag, and there's a lot of them in each axle. I pulled the seals off each one, blasted them with bearing cleaner and re-lubed them with some oil.
This time, I tried something different. I left the seals off the inner bearings - old trick from my racing days to remove drag in the driveline. The inside of the cases were clean, even after months of running so I'm not super worried about them. I left the bearing seals only on the bearings that face outside the axle - one on the pinion, and one each on CVD and axle.
Rebuilt the axles with steel housings, HR weights up front, YR (I think) out back, adjustable shock mounts, bearing modded steering, and an aluminum diff cover up front. OD/UD gears on stock lockers for now. I have aluminum shock mounts on the way as well. Heavy, strong axles... the rest of the truck will be as light as possible. In theory of course....
Completed and ready to go. All that time spent on the bearings was well worth it, they spin super free now. It's an absolute night and day difference from when I took them off. I'll be doing the same to my Bronco axles. Has to pay dividends in power delivery and runtime. "thumbsup"
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