Thank you for calling the company I just ordered the knuckles and the axle tubes and they fit really well only downside was no instructions whatsoever and the knuckles have nothing similar to the original equipment if you're trying to go by the original instructions
How do you Set gear mesh when they give you a carbon fiber cover, am I missing something? How do you set gear mesh if you cant see it?. Should had a clear cover .
I had to not use one of the washers for the drive axles in the axle tube (the one close to the center diff), and it made it fit perfectly. I then used that washer for the stub axle that's in the steering knuckle (I placed it in the inner side close to the link), and it got rid of that slop you're experiencing. I also changed the knuckle with the Teflon top and bottom, I don't want aluminum on aluminum rubbing. I used the all aluminum one on my Juggernaut instead.
@@TheCleaner6969 I'm glad to share, I hope that helps you and everyone out. And no, no problems at all without the inner washer. The e-clips butts against the inner race of the bearings, and don't hit the outer race. I chose to remove the inner washer than the one outside, so that the axle shaft sticks out further, as oppose to removing the outer washer. It's better for staying in the cup of the stub axle that's in the knuckle, so there's no binding when the truck is on full turn. In addition, placing the washer on the inside of the stub axle pushes the cup even close to the drive axle shaft. So it kind of just worked out.
@@galkawarrior You put a lot of thought into that. I never gave that idea a thought. It's always great to share ideas. Sometimes others see things in a different & better way. Hopefully this will help someone in the future.
I want to take this back, the e-clip DOES touch the outer race of the bearings, so I ended up grinding it down so it doesn't touch the outer race (I DO NOT recommend this, it makes the e-clip weaker), even though I didn't see any sign of ware. I just happened to open up the gearbox to take some measurements, and I inspected the e-clip, the aluminum axle tubes made it confusing at first glance, maybe that's why I thought it didn't touch the outer race.
Thank you for the video and for your honest opinions about these Hot Racing aluminum gearcases, steering knuckles, and axle tubes. I have all JPS ones on my Clod Busters and Bull Head from back in the day when they were still in production. They also were not perfect but I did not have any problems with the stock Tamiya parts not fitting in them. I have been thinking about building up another custom Clod Buster and/or Bull Head and I was thinking about using the Hot Racing aluminum parts since those are still in production and not too expensive. Thanks to your video, now I know what I'll have to do to get the Tamiya parts to fit properly in them. By the way, are the Hot Racing aluminum Clod Buster parts the same as the ones sold by GPM a few years ago? Aside from the colors, they look very similar to my eyes.
You're very welcome. I'm glad it was of help. Thanks for letting me know that the JPS weren't perfect either. At least I feel a little better knowing that. I'm really not sure about the GPM. I've been out of the hobby for almost 20 years & just got back into it.
@@TheCleaner6969 I also am getting back into the hobby over the last year and I dusted off all of my Clod Busters, 6x6 Bull Head, Bruisers and Mountaineers and brought them out of storage where they were locked away for about 20+ years. There have been a lot of changes in R/C that I have been catching up on. The JPS machined aluminum parts for the Clod Buster were gorgeous but they did have little issues here and there. (I have JPS parts on three of my trucks.) Their most famous parts were Clod Buster wheels and, based on the three complete sets of wheels that I have, they are absolutely perfect. I have had absolutely no issues with JPS wheels at all. Their axle tubes and steering knuckles were the parts that I had the most amount of problems with though. Sometimes it was tough to get ball bearings to fit into them easily. They sometimes just slid right in quickly, just like with the stock Tamiya knuckles and tubes, and sometimes I had to tap on them with a rubber mallet and a socket with the same outer diameter as the ball bearings. JPS axle tubes sometimes had the ball joints machined into them and sometimes they did not. Thus, if you wanted to use the stock Tamiya suspension ladder bars, then you had to make sure that you bought the JPS axle tubes that had the ball joints machined into them. That also applied if you wanted to use the JPS machined aluminum ladder bars. (One of my Clod Busters has a set of those JPS ladder bars too.) The problem was that JPS used the exact same part number for all of their axle tubes, whether they had the ball joints or not. Thus, you never really knew what you were buying until the package actually showed up at your door. JPS made a lot of design changes in their parts over the years that they were in business but they never documented those changes at all. Thus, their catalogs, website, and part numbers stayed the same even though JPS made design changes to their parts. Hot Racing's axle tubes also come either with or without the ball joints machined into them, but they have two separate part numbers for the two different designs. The ones with the ball joints, like the stock Tamiya parts, are number CB1020. The ones without the ball joints are number CB20E08. I noticed that you have CB1020s in this video. At least Hot Racing makes it easy to tell what you are buying. JPS did not do that at all back in the day. JPS also made changes to their parts so that they were not directly interchangeable with the stock Tamiya parts that they replaced. The JPS aluminum ladder bars are a perfect example of that. The two shock mounting holes in each ladder bar were not located in the exact same place as the two shock mounting holes in the stock plastic Tamiya ladder bars. Thus, if you have a lower shock mount that allows you to use more than two shocks on your Clod Buster, it will not directly fit onto JPS ladder bars. I found that out because one of my Clod Busters has an ESP quad shock mounting kit on it and the lower shock mount plates would not fit onto my JPS ladder bars. I had to design and make all new plates for that truck. JPS axle tubes were also shaped very differently than the stock Tamiya ones so mounting suspension links onto them was very difficult. The ends of the JPS tubes where the steering kingpins are located are much smaller than the stock Tamiya ones and thus there just is not a lot of room for drilling the suspension link mounting hole and mounting the suspension link. I found that out first hand with one of my Clod Busters that has a full ESP Clodzilla IV chassis and suspension kit. It took a lot of head scratching to get the lower suspension links to mount onto the JPS axle tubes on that truck. JPS came out with a suspension link and shock mounting kit for their axle tubes, part number 7020, that made the job of mounting suspension links a piece of cake but they came out with that many years after I bought my axle tubes. That 7020 kit really was an afterthought too because each shock/link mounting bracket just simply clamps onto the outside of each axle tube and the bracket can slip and rotate around the tube if you really jump your truck high. This has nothing to do with JPS part problems but JPS also had a huge problem with shipping out orders to their customers too back in the day. They would charge a customer's credit card when they first received the order, not when the order was shipped. Thus it was very common to get a huge credit card bill from JPS and to not actually get your parts until six months later. JPS never shipped orders quickly at all. They did that constantly and that was why I bought all of my JPS parts from Stormer Hobbies or RC4WD back in the day. After JPS went out of business, I then bought my JPS parts second hand. Buying them from others actually was not too bad because then I knew exactly what I was buying because I could see pictures of the actual parts that were being sold. That was how I made sure to get JPS axle tubes with the ball joints machined into them that I absolutely needed because I already had the JPS aluminum ladder bars. Anyway, sorry for the long reply but I just wanted to let people know about what it is like using old JPS parts on a Clod Buster. Their parts are drop dead gorgeous but they sometimes require a bit of head scratching to get them to work properly. The bottom line is that they are nowhere near as easy to put together as the stock Tamiya parts that they replace. JPS made nice looking stuff but they left a lot of the details up to their customers to figure out, unfortunately. Now that I think about it, maybe that's why JPS is no longer in business!
@@Locoboy5150 Thanks for sharing all that info with me! I enjoyed reading it & hearing everything. I couldn't believe how much the RC world changed since I got back into it. The advancements are something else. I do wish Tamiya would start making parts again. There's a lot of people out there that love these trucks. You inspired me to dig through my pictures & make a video of all the builds I did.
I just rebuilt my clodbuster after 30 years I replaced a lot of plastic parts with aluminum parts now I'm having a bit of a problem I'm not sure what happened my gearboxes and my front bumper and my axle tubes are all cocked 15 or 20° instead of straight up and down I don't know whether my shocks are too long or the aluminum ladder bars with the engine mount is weird do you happen to be on Facebook Messenger or anything if you could help me I would appreciate it
Sorry I don't have any other social media except YT & tiktok. If you're running a stock Clod I'm not sure but if it's a 4 link could be your upper & lower links are too long or short.
I just had to tear down my rear clod axle (all stainless steel and aluminum tube versions) due to failed 8x5x.25 bearing on the counter gear. Too much torque. I feel ya... the work and time it takes on these axles almost isn't worth it for how often that small bearing can fail under big loads. Have to parts wash each gear to and axle case to ensure removal of all tiny bearing balls. I'm rock crawling a 20kb rig on 8inch pizza cutters and was thinking of getting hot racing laydown servo axles to forget about all the hassle. Are these same as the HR laydown servo sets? I guess I would seer clear then as there are enough challenges on stock clod design alone as it is! Also 6s twin brushless outrunners probably is overkill but heyvits a big rig right
I'm guessing the Hot Racing laydown servo axles are the same gears wise. I've never had them. Where did you manage to get stainless? That's sweet! You have one heavy rig. That converts to 44+ lbs.
Sorry that text correct took my lbs to kgs!! Its 22lbs with the old school 1/6th NewBright Jeep Rubicon TJ hard body and maybe 20lbs with the Fprd F150 Raptor they both fit nicely im stretched to 17.4 inch wheelbase. It's just still too heavy. I need stronger axle guts... I think someone makes a race version of the laydown prolly I need that but last I checked its $500+ for a set. Absurd. Yes these stainless housings are a one-off very few every made and exact print replica of the plastic housing they are gorgous and hard as rock sturdy!!! @@TheCleaner6969
I bought the same Hot racing gear boxes for mine and no problems with mine. I just used a shorter screw on top where the brace goes and it fit fine. Also my axles turn fine and did not file any shims down. I used the Rc4wd xvds in mine and took out one of the shims as I really didn’t need it. Hesse machine gear cases are only $190 a case. I’ve bought several from Mike. These Hot Racing ones are well over priced and made in China.
You got lucky unfortunately I didn't with both boxes. The holes tapped in these were full of chips & not tapped all the way though in more then what I mention here. I found this out later in the build. The seller contacted me & said not to use a washer for the axles but they are there for a reason & the "E" clip isn't the greatest thing to have riding next to your bearing not to mention the slop without it. It isn't going to cut it that way for me. I would've bought Hesse but I saw them for $380 & on some old site I saw them for $189.99 which was acceptable but said out of stock & discontinued. You're right chi-NA JUNK & way over priced. Like I said if I had a CNC I would of machined them myself. The whole industry didn't change a bit since I left in 2005. All over priced & made to break.
Hello , I just saw your reply thanks. So the top holes were not tapped at all? Mine only had about 6mm of threads and end up using a shorter screw which is plenty to hold that brace. I see all the slop that you are talking about waj! I used the Rc4wd XVD’s and don’t have any slop. I did not put one washer in though and read that other people had to do the same when using the xvd’s. I found my Hot Racing gear cases on Ali Express for $70 a case when they first came out and bought 4 of them. Ebay with liquid RC and RC Express have them for $229.00. And the Hesse ones are machined better by Mike for around $190.00 if you can ever get them, but I wanted the black anodized for my truck.
@@brianwood9849 In the knuckles the holes were as if you used a starter tap & if you tried to force the screw through you'd strip the threads if you didn't re-tap them. I've never heard of the Rc4wd XVD’s as I stopped buying from them due to the fact they'd source out what they wanted to make & now you can't get gears & other stuff for many parts they sold which is a huge strike against them. I machined my own washers to take up the slop. That's a great price on ali-express. I bought off RC Express on ebay & they were of no help. I'm sure Hesse are machined better but what I found them selling was close to $400 a case & I didn't like the high center post for the links. $190.00 isn't bad. I remember you were able to buy the complete cases, axles, & knuckles back in the day for about $190.00.
@@TheCleaner6969Did you not have any threads at all on the top of the gear case where you said the screw would not go? I used the GPM knuckles and hot racing tubes not really a problem except the bearings didn’t want to go in the housing on tubes for knuckles
The Hesse Machine aluminum Clod Buster gearcases are not too expensive at $120 (current price) but when I added up the total cost of everything put together, then cost-wise they were cheaper but not quite that great of a deal. Here are the cost breakdowns of everything that I needed for one complete machined axle assembly and the following prices were copied directly from the Hesse Machine website. Hesse gearcase (1): $120.00 Hesse axle tubes (2): $95.00 Hesse steering knuckles (2): $75.00 Hesse steering bellcrank mount (1): $25.00 All of the above parts add up to $315 total. Note that I included the steering bellcrank mount because I just happened to need that for my truck, a customized Bull Head. If you are not using the stock style steering system with the steering servo mounted in the chassis, then that $25.00 part is not needed. Here are the prices for the exact same complete machined axle assembly but from Hot Racing and the following prices were copied directly from the Hot Racing website. Hot Racing gearcase (1): $228.88 Hot Racing axle tubes (2): $58.88 Hot Racing steering knuckles (2): $28.88 All of the above parts add up to $316.64, which is just $1.64 more than the comparable complete axle assembly from Hesse Machine. Now please keep in mind that the Hesse gearcase comes with an upper suspension link mount, while the Hot Racing one does not. Thus, the cost for that additional item would have to be added to the Hot Racing price list if the axle assembly was going to be used on a truck with a four link suspension system. When I did this price analysis it was for my Bull Head, which uses the stock style ladder bar suspension system and the stock style steering system with the steering bellcrank. Price-wise, the Hesse Machine axle assembly is a pretty good deal actually since it is cheaper than the comparable Hot Racing axle assembly whether the Hesse steering bellcrank mount is included or left out. In my opinion the real deal killer for the Hesse parts though is the fact that they all never seem to be in stock at the same time. Currently as I type this (10-29-24) only the gearcase is in stock and everything else is out of stock. I have been checking the Hesse Machine website pretty regularly over the last year and in that time frame, only the gearcase has been restocked and that happened just recently over approximately the last month. It and the other parts were never in stock previously. Now, the stock status might not be a big deal if you are very patient and do not mind having your truck sit in pieces while you wait for Hesse parts to be restocked but who knows how long that will take. I did not have the patience for that so hence I just ordered all of the machined aluminum parts for my Bull Head from Hot Racing and had them all completely installed on my truck in about a week. Hot Racing parts are all readily available while Hesse Machine parts are just not easy to get quickly. Sorry for the long reply, but that is just how I did my analysis when I was recently shopping for machined aluminum axle parts for my Bull Head and why I bit the bullet and bought all Hot Racing parts for it. At least today there is a choice though. Back in the day there was just one option for these parts, JPS, and ordering from them was a shot in the dark to put it lightly...it was a total nightmare!
I also have these Hot Racing machined aluminum gearcases and axle tubes on my customized Bull Head. Here are a couple of videos that I made that show them on my truck: th-cam.com/video/vzh9e94hiXU/w-d-xo.html th-cam.com/video/bvZIAASNDOI/w-d-xo.html After watching your video I bit the bullet and bought the Hot Racing parts, mainly because the comparable parts from Hesse Machine were never in stock at the same time. I did not have any of the problems that you did with the Hot Racing parts so maybe they made some improvements.
You built a sweet looking truck! That thing is massive. You went with the same shocks I did. I'm glad you didn't have the problem I did. Maybe my feedback was heard? Thanks for sharing your videos.
@@TheCleaner6969 Thank you and you're welcome! I've got my fingers crossed that these various R/C companies actually listen to their customers but sometimes I have my doubts based on my past experiences with parts not fitting and me having to struggle and figure out things for myself. Hopefully, in Hot Racing's case, you got them to get off their duffs and fix the problems! If that was the case, you get a big HIGH FIVE from me!
@@Locoboy5150You're welcome! I hope sure hope so! These days you can't buy anything that's made correct no matter what it is. I tried giving feedback on some guitars & they never changed anything. Hopefully the RC is different. Things sure aren't like they were back in the day.
You sound a lot like Ray Liotta. Also, thank you for the great video and info.
That's a new one. I usually get a couple other actors. You're welcome! I'm glad it was helpful.
I hear it too.
Thank you for calling the company I just ordered the knuckles and the axle tubes and they fit really well only downside was no instructions whatsoever and the knuckles have nothing similar to the original equipment if you're trying to go by the original instructions
You're welcome! That is something I forgot to mention. They should include instructions. It can be confusing. They are different.
How do you Set gear mesh when they give you a carbon fiber cover, am I missing something? How do you set gear mesh if you cant see it?. Should had a clear cover .
The cover screws on afterward with separate screws.
I had to not use one of the washers for the drive axles in the axle tube (the one close to the center diff), and it made it fit perfectly. I then used that washer for the stub axle that's in the steering knuckle (I placed it in the inner side close to the link), and it got rid of that slop you're experiencing. I also changed the knuckle with the Teflon top and bottom, I don't want aluminum on aluminum rubbing. I used the all aluminum one on my Juggernaut instead.
Thanks for sharing your info! I much appreciate it. Have you had any problems without that washer? Any wear on the bearing?
@@TheCleaner6969 I'm glad to share, I hope that helps you and everyone out. And no, no problems at all without the inner washer. The e-clips butts against the inner race of the bearings, and don't hit the outer race. I chose to remove the inner washer than the one outside, so that the axle shaft sticks out further, as oppose to removing the outer washer. It's better for staying in the cup of the stub axle that's in the knuckle, so there's no binding when the truck is on full turn. In addition, placing the washer on the inside of the stub axle pushes the cup even close to the drive axle shaft. So it kind of just worked out.
@@galkawarrior You put a lot of thought into that. I never gave that idea a thought. It's always great to share ideas. Sometimes others see things in a different & better way. Hopefully this will help someone in the future.
I want to take this back, the e-clip DOES touch the outer race of the bearings, so I ended up grinding it down so it doesn't touch the outer race (I DO NOT recommend this, it makes the e-clip weaker), even though I didn't see any sign of ware. I just happened to open up the gearbox to take some measurements, and I inspected the e-clip, the aluminum axle tubes made it confusing at first glance, maybe that's why I thought it didn't touch the outer race.
@@galkawarrior Thanks for letting everyone know! If they just would've bored the tube out 0.014 to 0.015 more.
Thank you for the video and for your honest opinions about these Hot Racing aluminum gearcases, steering knuckles, and axle tubes. I have all JPS ones on my Clod Busters and Bull Head from back in the day when they were still in production. They also were not perfect but I did not have any problems with the stock Tamiya parts not fitting in them.
I have been thinking about building up another custom Clod Buster and/or Bull Head and I was thinking about using the Hot Racing aluminum parts since those are still in production and not too expensive. Thanks to your video, now I know what I'll have to do to get the Tamiya parts to fit properly in them.
By the way, are the Hot Racing aluminum Clod Buster parts the same as the ones sold by GPM a few years ago? Aside from the colors, they look very similar to my eyes.
You're very welcome. I'm glad it was of help. Thanks for letting me know that the JPS weren't perfect either. At least I feel a little better knowing that. I'm really not sure about the GPM. I've been out of the hobby for almost 20 years & just got back into it.
@@TheCleaner6969 I also am getting back into the hobby over the last year and I dusted off all of my Clod Busters, 6x6 Bull Head, Bruisers and Mountaineers and brought them out of storage where they were locked away for about 20+ years. There have been a lot of changes in R/C that I have been catching up on.
The JPS machined aluminum parts for the Clod Buster were gorgeous but they did have little issues here and there. (I have JPS parts on three of my trucks.) Their most famous parts were Clod Buster wheels and, based on the three complete sets of wheels that I have, they are absolutely perfect. I have had absolutely no issues with JPS wheels at all. Their axle tubes and steering knuckles were the parts that I had the most amount of problems with though. Sometimes it was tough to get ball bearings to fit into them easily. They sometimes just slid right in quickly, just like with the stock Tamiya knuckles and tubes, and sometimes I had to tap on them with a rubber mallet and a socket with the same outer diameter as the ball bearings.
JPS axle tubes sometimes had the ball joints machined into them and sometimes they did not. Thus, if you wanted to use the stock Tamiya suspension ladder bars, then you had to make sure that you bought the JPS axle tubes that had the ball joints machined into them. That also applied if you wanted to use the JPS machined aluminum ladder bars. (One of my Clod Busters has a set of those JPS ladder bars too.) The problem was that JPS used the exact same part number for all of their axle tubes, whether they had the ball joints or not. Thus, you never really knew what you were buying until the package actually showed up at your door. JPS made a lot of design changes in their parts over the years that they were in business but they never documented those changes at all. Thus, their catalogs, website, and part numbers stayed the same even though JPS made design changes to their parts.
Hot Racing's axle tubes also come either with or without the ball joints machined into them, but they have two separate part numbers for the two different designs. The ones with the ball joints, like the stock Tamiya parts, are number CB1020. The ones without the ball joints are number CB20E08. I noticed that you have CB1020s in this video. At least Hot Racing makes it easy to tell what you are buying. JPS did not do that at all back in the day.
JPS also made changes to their parts so that they were not directly interchangeable with the stock Tamiya parts that they replaced. The JPS aluminum ladder bars are a perfect example of that. The two shock mounting holes in each ladder bar were not located in the exact same place as the two shock mounting holes in the stock plastic Tamiya ladder bars. Thus, if you have a lower shock mount that allows you to use more than two shocks on your Clod Buster, it will not directly fit onto JPS ladder bars. I found that out because one of my Clod Busters has an ESP quad shock mounting kit on it and the lower shock mount plates would not fit onto my JPS ladder bars. I had to design and make all new plates for that truck.
JPS axle tubes were also shaped very differently than the stock Tamiya ones so mounting suspension links onto them was very difficult. The ends of the JPS tubes where the steering kingpins are located are much smaller than the stock Tamiya ones and thus there just is not a lot of room for drilling the suspension link mounting hole and mounting the suspension link. I found that out first hand with one of my Clod Busters that has a full ESP Clodzilla IV chassis and suspension kit. It took a lot of head scratching to get the lower suspension links to mount onto the JPS axle tubes on that truck.
JPS came out with a suspension link and shock mounting kit for their axle tubes, part number 7020, that made the job of mounting suspension links a piece of cake but they came out with that many years after I bought my axle tubes. That 7020 kit really was an afterthought too because each shock/link mounting bracket just simply clamps onto the outside of each axle tube and the bracket can slip and rotate around the tube if you really jump your truck high.
This has nothing to do with JPS part problems but JPS also had a huge problem with shipping out orders to their customers too back in the day. They would charge a customer's credit card when they first received the order, not when the order was shipped. Thus it was very common to get a huge credit card bill from JPS and to not actually get your parts until six months later. JPS never shipped orders quickly at all. They did that constantly and that was why I bought all of my JPS parts from Stormer Hobbies or RC4WD back in the day. After JPS went out of business, I then bought my JPS parts second hand. Buying them from others actually was not too bad because then I knew exactly what I was buying because I could see pictures of the actual parts that were being sold. That was how I made sure to get JPS axle tubes with the ball joints machined into them that I absolutely needed because I already had the JPS aluminum ladder bars.
Anyway, sorry for the long reply but I just wanted to let people know about what it is like using old JPS parts on a Clod Buster. Their parts are drop dead gorgeous but they sometimes require a bit of head scratching to get them to work properly. The bottom line is that they are nowhere near as easy to put together as the stock Tamiya parts that they replace. JPS made nice looking stuff but they left a lot of the details up to their customers to figure out, unfortunately.
Now that I think about it, maybe that's why JPS is no longer in business!
@@Locoboy5150 Thanks for sharing all that info with me! I enjoyed reading it & hearing everything. I couldn't believe how much the RC world changed since I got back into it. The advancements are something else. I do wish Tamiya would start making parts again. There's a lot of people out there that love these trucks. You inspired me to dig through my pictures & make a video of all the builds I did.
I just rebuilt my clodbuster after 30 years I replaced a lot of plastic parts with aluminum parts now I'm having a bit of a problem I'm not sure what happened my gearboxes and my front bumper and my axle tubes are all cocked 15 or 20° instead of straight up and down I don't know whether my shocks are too long or the aluminum ladder bars with the engine mount is weird do you happen to be on Facebook Messenger or anything if you could help me I would appreciate it
Sorry I don't have any other social media except YT & tiktok. If you're running a stock Clod I'm not sure but if it's a 4 link could be your upper & lower links are too long or short.
@TheCleaner6969 thanks but no I'm not running a stock clodbuster I replaced all my plastic parts with aluminum parts
I just had to tear down my rear clod axle (all stainless steel and aluminum tube versions) due to failed 8x5x.25 bearing on the counter gear. Too much torque. I feel ya... the work and time it takes on these axles almost isn't worth it for how often that small bearing can fail under big loads. Have to parts wash each gear to and axle case to ensure removal of all tiny bearing balls. I'm rock crawling a 20kb rig on 8inch pizza cutters and was thinking of getting hot racing laydown servo axles to forget about all the hassle. Are these same as the HR laydown servo sets? I guess I would seer clear then as there are enough challenges on stock clod design alone as it is! Also 6s twin brushless outrunners probably is overkill but heyvits a big rig right
I'm guessing the Hot Racing laydown servo axles are the same gears wise. I've never had them. Where did you manage to get stainless? That's sweet! You have one heavy rig. That converts to 44+ lbs.
Sorry that text correct took my lbs to kgs!! Its 22lbs with the old school 1/6th NewBright Jeep Rubicon TJ hard body and maybe 20lbs with the Fprd F150 Raptor they both fit nicely im stretched to 17.4 inch wheelbase. It's just still too heavy. I need stronger axle guts... I think someone makes a race version of the laydown prolly I need that but last I checked its $500+ for a set. Absurd. Yes these stainless housings are a one-off very few every made and exact print replica of the plastic housing they are gorgous and hard as rock sturdy!!! @@TheCleaner6969
I bought the same Hot racing gear boxes for mine and no problems with mine. I just used a shorter screw on top where the brace goes and it fit fine. Also my axles turn fine and did not file any shims down. I used the Rc4wd xvds in mine and took out one of the shims as I really didn’t need it. Hesse machine gear cases are only $190 a case. I’ve bought several from Mike. These Hot Racing ones are well over priced and made in China.
You got lucky unfortunately I didn't with both boxes. The holes tapped in these were full of chips & not tapped all the way though in more then what I mention here. I found this out later in the build. The seller contacted me & said not to use a washer for the axles but they are there for a reason & the "E" clip isn't the greatest thing to have riding next to your bearing not to mention the slop without it. It isn't going to cut it that way for me. I would've bought Hesse but I saw them for $380 & on some old site I saw them for $189.99 which was acceptable but said out of stock & discontinued. You're right chi-NA JUNK & way over priced. Like I said if I had a CNC I would of machined them myself. The whole industry didn't change a bit since I left in 2005. All over priced & made to break.
Hello , I just saw your reply thanks. So the top holes were not tapped at all? Mine only had about 6mm of threads and end up using a shorter screw which is plenty to hold that brace. I see all the slop that you are talking about waj! I used the Rc4wd XVD’s and don’t have any slop. I did not put one washer in though and read that other people had to do the same when using the xvd’s. I found my Hot Racing gear cases on Ali Express for $70 a case when they first came out and bought 4 of them. Ebay with liquid RC and RC Express have them for $229.00. And the Hesse ones are machined better by Mike for around $190.00 if you can ever get them, but I wanted the black anodized for my truck.
@@brianwood9849 In the knuckles the holes were as if you used a starter tap & if you tried to force the screw through you'd strip the threads if you didn't re-tap them. I've never heard of the Rc4wd XVD’s as I stopped buying from them due to the fact they'd source out what they wanted to make & now you can't get gears & other stuff for many parts they sold which is a huge strike against them. I machined my own washers to take up the slop. That's a great price on ali-express. I bought off RC Express on ebay & they were of no help. I'm sure Hesse are machined better but what I found them selling was close to $400 a case & I didn't like the high center post for the links. $190.00 isn't bad. I remember you were able to buy the complete cases, axles, & knuckles back in the day for about $190.00.
@@TheCleaner6969Did you not have any threads at all on the top of the gear case where you said the screw would not go? I used the GPM knuckles and hot racing tubes not really a problem except the bearings didn’t want to go in the housing on tubes for knuckles
@@brianwood9849 I had a copuple threads but they were filled with chips after a few turns in. Blew them out & the screw was tight.
hesse machine sells the case's for $115 each ( cheap ) and they are bad ass just saying
They weren't that last year or I would've bought them.
The Hesse Machine aluminum Clod Buster gearcases are not too expensive at $120 (current price) but when I added up the total cost of everything put together, then cost-wise they were cheaper but not quite that great of a deal. Here are the cost breakdowns of everything that I needed for one complete machined axle assembly and the following prices were copied directly from the Hesse Machine website.
Hesse gearcase (1): $120.00
Hesse axle tubes (2): $95.00
Hesse steering knuckles (2): $75.00
Hesse steering bellcrank mount (1): $25.00
All of the above parts add up to $315 total. Note that I included the steering bellcrank mount because I just happened to need that for my truck, a customized Bull Head. If you are not using the stock style steering system with the steering servo mounted in the chassis, then that $25.00 part is not needed.
Here are the prices for the exact same complete machined axle assembly but from Hot Racing and the following prices were copied directly from the Hot Racing website.
Hot Racing gearcase (1): $228.88
Hot Racing axle tubes (2): $58.88
Hot Racing steering knuckles (2): $28.88
All of the above parts add up to $316.64, which is just $1.64 more than the comparable complete axle assembly from Hesse Machine. Now please keep in mind that the Hesse gearcase comes with an upper suspension link mount, while the Hot Racing one does not. Thus, the cost for that additional item would have to be added to the Hot Racing price list if the axle assembly was going to be used on a truck with a four link suspension system. When I did this price analysis it was for my Bull Head, which uses the stock style ladder bar suspension system and the stock style steering system with the steering bellcrank.
Price-wise, the Hesse Machine axle assembly is a pretty good deal actually since it is cheaper than the comparable Hot Racing axle assembly whether the Hesse steering bellcrank mount is included or left out. In my opinion the real deal killer for the Hesse parts though is the fact that they all never seem to be in stock at the same time. Currently as I type this (10-29-24) only the gearcase is in stock and everything else is out of stock. I have been checking the Hesse Machine website pretty regularly over the last year and in that time frame, only the gearcase has been restocked and that happened just recently over approximately the last month. It and the other parts were never in stock previously.
Now, the stock status might not be a big deal if you are very patient and do not mind having your truck sit in pieces while you wait for Hesse parts to be restocked but who knows how long that will take. I did not have the patience for that so hence I just ordered all of the machined aluminum parts for my Bull Head from Hot Racing and had them all completely installed on my truck in about a week. Hot Racing parts are all readily available while Hesse Machine parts are just not easy to get quickly.
Sorry for the long reply, but that is just how I did my analysis when I was recently shopping for machined aluminum axle parts for my Bull Head and why I bit the bullet and bought all Hot Racing parts for it. At least today there is a choice though. Back in the day there was just one option for these parts, JPS, and ordering from them was a shot in the dark to put it lightly...it was a total nightmare!
I also have these Hot Racing machined aluminum gearcases and axle tubes on my customized Bull Head. Here are a couple of videos that I made that show them on my truck:
th-cam.com/video/vzh9e94hiXU/w-d-xo.html
th-cam.com/video/bvZIAASNDOI/w-d-xo.html
After watching your video I bit the bullet and bought the Hot Racing parts, mainly because the comparable parts from Hesse Machine were never in stock at the same time. I did not have any of the problems that you did with the Hot Racing parts so maybe they made some improvements.
You built a sweet looking truck! That thing is massive. You went with the same shocks I did. I'm glad you didn't have the problem I did. Maybe my feedback was heard? Thanks for sharing your videos.
@@TheCleaner6969 Thank you and you're welcome!
I've got my fingers crossed that these various R/C companies actually listen to their customers but sometimes I have my doubts based on my past experiences with parts not fitting and me having to struggle and figure out things for myself. Hopefully, in Hot Racing's case, you got them to get off their duffs and fix the problems! If that was the case, you get a big HIGH FIVE from me!
@@Locoboy5150You're welcome! I hope sure hope so! These days you can't buy anything that's made correct no matter what it is. I tried giving feedback on some guitars & they never changed anything. Hopefully the RC is different. Things sure aren't like they were back in the day.