truublue’s h10 black hole

[truublue]

Awesome! I was just looking at a set for my optic. Mainly for that reason, I feel like it gets hung up everywhere. I think I'll be trying them out

I'll be interested to hear your experiences! The stock RTR yokos were nice but way too soft and waaaaay too thin. Ended up shredding the sidewalls due to rubbing against the chassis after like 4 trail runs. The Boggers on the other hand have been totally solid and held up to miles of abuse.

 

[bmxbryant09]

Nice! The yokos just haven't impressed me. They still have the stock foams and I think that is what is killing the performance on them

 

[truublue]

Hope everyone had a nice Christmas. I personally got everything I wanted from Santa, including some pretty H10 aluminum axles.

A lot of hay has been made on VP Facebook groups about the price and quality of the VP metal axles vs competitors. Looking past the drama, I thought it might be helpful to folks to take some photos of the VP fronts (all I was able to secure were two sets of fronts as rear axles sold out lightning fast, so this will go on the 4WS rig eventually) to the already available Treal axles.

Granted, this is not a direct comparison due to the color differences but I was more interested in the overall manufacturing quality anyways.

Some things to note: The VP axle, according to measurements taken by others, is the heavier of the two (completely bare housing only) Treal is (claiming to) using 7075 aluminum vs the 6061 aluminum that VP is using. Obviously 7075 is harder but also more brittle, so it remains to be seen what which will hold up better to abuse. At the end of the day it is really just bling, plastic would probably be the better choice for serious comping due to cost and weight placement, but shiny is cool. And I am nowhere near the pro crawling skill level to care so much.

Some quick comparison photos below.

What you get in each package - I appreciate that everything I need is included with the Treal axles, even some bearings. No need to separately purchase a 3rd member and figure out hardware. The metal cover for the faux hydro tube steering is a very nice touch. Makes me wish I had the clear Treals, but they were unfortunately not available when I bought these.

Veeeeery interesting that Treal chose to eliminate much of the ridge sitting below the hydro steer area that acts as a bit of a skid for the hydro ram setup. I have seen several posts on FB/elsewhere regarding clearance issues between this ridge feature and the steering ram forks. some are having issues with clashes, and others are not. My RTR doesn't have this issue but I have fully rebuilt the steering there so I don't know what it was like stock. Others have reported a similar problem on the plastic axles, and I believe a user on RCC made a 3D printable riser that can resolve this. Will have to test it once my printer is up and running. Makes me wonder if the missing feature was purposely designed on the Treal to mitigate this issue.

Pretty obvious the difference in milling quality, the soft edges of the VP axles feel smooth compared to the much sharper Treals. Subjectively gives the VP a feeling of quality vs the more machine time optimization seen on the Treals.

VP clearly beefed up the edges of the axles where the knuckles will be installed on. Throughout the Treal axles, you can see where measures were taken to save on production costs. I don't necessarily disagree with this practice and the choices seem mostly sensible, except for perhaps in the above image with the thinner steering hinge points.

Purdy.

Now for the less than Purdy.

Really small flaws, but still worth showing


That's all I have for now, will get around to installing both sets on my two rigs soon but waiting on a couple small parts before diving back in.
Would love to hear the thoughts of anyone else who has both sets of axles. Can also take other photos upon request. Thanks for taking a look.

 

[bgredjeep]

I just looked at the treal site. The pictures on the product page show the skid/ram mount part is wider like the original vp design compared to the one you have. I'm not sure if you got an older design, or an update.

 

[truublue]

I just looked at the treal site. The pictures on the product page show the skid/ram mount part is wider like the original vp design compared to the one you have. I'm not sure if you got an older design, or an update.

Interesting, thanks for the checking that out, will need to compare notes with someone who also got one and see if there is any difference or if the pictures on the site are different.

 

[JatoTheRipper]

Thanks for the detailed photos comparing the axles! VP's look better. I don't like the Treal logo or the fact that it is on a standoff. That is a clear catch point. Otherwise they look decent.

 

[truublue]

Thanks for the detailed photos comparing the axles! VP's look better. I don't like the Treal logo or the fact that it is on a standoff. That is a clear catch point. Otherwise they look decent.

Agreed on all points.

did some more digging, seems Treal has a V1 (what I have) and a V2 of their axles that more or less match the overall design of the VPs, including the added ridge that is missing on my set. My hunch is that the V1s were rushed out to hit the market as quickly as possible, followed by the V2s once they were ready.

 

[JatoTheRipper]

Agreed on all points.

did some more digging, seems Treal has a V1 (what I have) and a V2 of their axles that more or less match the overall design of the VPs, including the added ridge that is missing on my set. My hunch is that the V1s were rushed out to hit the market as quickly as possible, followed by the V2s once they were ready.

Wonder if that means v2 will have clearance issues with the hydrosteering.

 

[truublue]

Fiiiiiiinally got the time and motivation to get back to work on the optic(s) in between starting a VS4-10 kit and trying to finish up a SCX10.3 that will probably get sold once the 3D printed accessories are installed because I have way too many projects.

Pictures will be sporadic as I was more goal-focused this time around and forgot to stop and document as much. Also setting up a new workspace so high quality shots were too much of a hassle. Please accept my rough mobile phone shots with my apologies

Got some big stuff done, including swapping over the axles to the VP clear anodized for some metal OEM 4WS goodness. Switched out the diffs both front and back for the machined counterparts (30T up front and 33T in the back). Dropped in a Shifts GT3s up front and NSDRC RS650 in the back. It turns really well now and these two monsters should last a little while.

Hardcore high clearance titanium links came through, so those went on as well! They feel good and strong, remains to be seen how useful the "high clearance" part actually is. I wasn't sure how the front & rear link geometry works with two sets of front axles but it works well enough in testing so far so we shall see how it pans out.

While I was finishing up the axles, I decided to refresh the shocks with a clean, rebuild and fluid change. Rounded things out with the incision metal driveshafts. These axles are about as good as I could get them!

I had initially planned to also put in a VFD Twin into this chassis as well to go fully over the top with the build, but after doing it once with the Phoenix and realizing I don't have a radio with enough channels for all of this complexity anyways, I decided to hold off on that for now / put that trans into the other optic chassis I have. Maybe I will change my mind again once the FlySky 11CH radio system I preordered shows up.

Instead, I fully tore the RTR VFD down, cleaned everything and rebuilt & lubricated it. Decided to throw on the lightweight VP transmission plate, aluminum standoffs and a full set of machined gears that I got in a TOF package while i was in there. Finished up the package with a HW Fusion Pro to get rid of the brushed system and reduce some interior clutter.

Everything went together beautifully, a real testament to the VP quality. However, I am getting a clicking noise from the trans during running so I suspect I will have to tear it down again to see what I did wrong. We'll see when I have the patience to take that on! I do remember reading somewhere about others having the same issue so hopefully it isn't too much of a bear to figure out how to resolve.

Finally, while I was ordering the standoffs and some shims on the VP site, I saw the machined bump stops were back in stock so I got a pair of those to compare to the Htech ones I already had on hand. Quality is of course great, but I think I prefer the stiffness of the htech springs slightly more than the VPs. I got the clear ones as always, but maybe the black anodized would have suited the painted frame a bit more... At least they go well with the htech front bumper and servo mount system!

Lots done, here is how it came together and how the rig currently sits.

Please excuse the one backwards tire, was also planning to install some Shifts beadlocks to replace the Treal ones I had, but hastily reversed this decision as I ran out of time to get all the scale hardware properly installed before joining a friend on the trail for the rig's first real shakedown after all this work. That will have to wait until I have a spare couple hours to screw in all of those tiny bolts with the hardware adapter without rounding the edges off in a rush. The beadlocks I got are a pretty close match to the orange of the MEUS panels, so I'm pretty excited to get them on.

On the plus side, it performed really well! 4WS is a lot of fun to switch the mixing modes on the fly. Still learning a few of the quirks of how the radio handles it though.

Anyways, that's all for this big update! We'll see how all these changes hold up to some trail hikes as the weather improves. Thanks for reading!