Big Rock Big Rock Drive Shaft fix or upgrade?

[Enferius]

Yeaterday, my rear left drive shaft popped clean off. It separated at the outer u-joint(closest to the wheel). I can fix it, but this doesn't give me a lot of hope in the longevity of the stock drive shafts on this truck. Is there a fix for these drive shafts or an upgrade worth investing in? Before I drop money on replacement parts, I'd rather put it towards an upgrade if one exists. I've seen talk about hot racing and gpm, but the reviews are very mixed. I'd rather not drop $40 on a set of drive shafts without some certainty on their dependability. I'd be better off ordering a back up pair of oem shafts and call it a day.

Any input would be greatly appreciated!

 

[StephenSchandelmayer]

People will say it's your slipper adjustment, maybe it is but I was having that as well and I bought the arrma CVD for the rear and all has been good and I run 4s

 

[GRC]

Loosening the slipper will help. The Arrma CVD upgrades will solve the issue. They're designed differently and don't have u-joints that can pop.

 

[Legroco]

would you guys mean loosening your slipper clutch????

 

[parcou]

would you guys mean loosening your slipper clutch????

 

[Wes13]

I'm gonna try to fix mine while waiting for a replacement.
I need to boil my rpm arms so i'll try to boil the popped driveshaft aswell.
Will see if it works or not...

 

[PatMarcus172]

I'm gonna try to fix mine while waiting for a replacement.
I need to boil my rpm arms so i'll try to boil the popped driveshaft aswell.
Will see if it works or not...

Ive heard about boiling RPMs before. Is that really a thing ? Do lots of people do that as theyre super strong anyway ? If so, how long for ?

 

[Wes13]

Ive heard about boiling RPMs before. Is that really a thing ? Do lots of people do that as theyre super strong anyway ? If so, how long for ?

First time trying here.
Someone here said to boil for about 25 minutes so i'm gonna try.
Seems like lots of people do it anyway

 

[Paul777]

So once that happens it will happen again as the plastic gets damaged, swapping side to side to reverse drive direction can get a bit more life. But there are a few reasons for root cause
1) Slipper too tight
2) Landing on power or brakes
3) Driving aggressively on high grip surface (e.g. grass) especially with those tyres - coming down from a wheelie or lifting and inside wheel and then hitting the ground with the power still on can all have the same effect as jumps. As can executing a spin turn and hitting the throttle hard - wheels going one way motor trying to go the other. Drifting is fun but hitting the power when it goes too far can cause issues.
These cars have a lot of power and need to be driven with a certain amount of mechanical sympathy if you don't want to break things.

You wouldn't drive your 1:1 by flooring the throttle then dropping the clutch and expect it to last long - aggressive throttle use in these RC cars is just as bad - you need the power to get the top speed but if you use all that power at the wrong time things break.

Yes you can upgrade to CVDs but then you will probably just start stripping gears.

 

[DRBNGR]

First time trying here.
Someone here said to boil for about 25 minutes so i'm gonna try.
Seems like lots of people do it anyway

This is quite interesting.

 

[dure16]

The Arrma CVD upgrades will solve the issue.

Do they fit the big rock? I read that they only fit the narrow cars (granite and senton).

 

[BulletRCs_NZ]

So once that happens it will happen again as the plastic gets damaged, swapping side to side to reverse drive direction can get a bit more life. But there are a few reasons for root cause
1) Slipper too tight
2) Landing on power or brakes
3) Driving aggressively on high grip surface (e.g. grass) especially with those tyres - coming down from a wheelie or lifting and inside wheel and then hitting the ground with the power still on can all have the same effect as jumps. As can executing a spin turn and hitting the throttle hard - wheels going one way motor trying to go the other. Drifting is fun but hitting the power when it goes too far can cause issues.
These cars have a lot of power and need to be driven with a certain amount of mechanical sympathy if you don't want to break things.

You wouldn't drive your 1:1 by flooring the throttle then dropping the clutch and expect it to last long - aggressive throttle use in these RC cars is just as bad - you need the power to get the top speed but if you use all that power at the wrong time things break.

Yes you can upgrade to CVDs but then you will probably just start stripping gears.

But Arrma tells us to not just Bash Blast. This make it sound like unless we just drive carefully things are going to break, which in essence is true, and wrenching is a big part but you don't make these vehicles sound durable at all.

Try doing a jump session without landing with the power on or a hard brake at least a couple of times.

Starting to wonder how durable these really are as I watch my Vorteks basically break piece by piece as it fails to keep the up with the Don't just Bash Blast moniker.

Parts money pit, upgrade money pit.

 

[TN-RC]

https://www.arrma-rc.com/part/AR310870 $40 steel drive shafts (Traxxas sells there steel dive shafts for $80)

 

[GRC]

Do they fit the big rock? I read that they only fit the narrow cars (granite and senton).

They are listed as optional parts for the Big Rock and Typhon, but I have seen posts that they can separate on these wider vehicles.

Both those videos leave the slipper fully tightened and don't loosen them at all

 

[Zoned_Glazed]

So once that happens it will happen again as the plastic gets damaged, swapping side to side to reverse drive direction can get a bit more life. But there are a few reasons for root cause
1) Slipper too tight
2) Landing on power or brakes
3) Driving aggressively on high grip surface (e.g. grass) especially with those tyres - coming down from a wheelie or lifting and inside wheel and then hitting the ground with the power still on can all have the same effect as jumps. As can executing a spin turn and hitting the throttle hard - wheels going one way motor trying to go the other. Drifting is fun but hitting the power when it goes too far can cause issues.
These cars have a lot of power and need to be driven with a certain amount of mechanical sympathy if you don't want to break things.

You wouldn't drive your 1:1 by flooring the throttle then dropping the clutch and expect it to last long - aggressive throttle use in these RC cars is just as bad - you need the power to get the top speed but if you use all that power at the wrong time things break.

Yes you can upgrade to CVDs but then you will probably just start stripping gears.

Interesting. Suggesting not to do an upgrade because of speculation he isn't driving his car correctly, and that even if he did upgrade it won't help because "you will probably strip gears anyway". Haha

 

[Paul777]

Interesting. Suggesting not to do an upgrade because of speculation he isn't driving his car correctly, and that even if he did upgrade it won't help because "you will probably strip gears anyway". Haha

Not so much speculation as experience - the parts on these cars are designed to match each other - upgrade one and you just move the failure point to the next weak link. Experience says that while these cars can take a lot there is a big difference between driving a car hard and driving it without due mechanical sympathy. Talk to anyone who races 1:1 cars and they will understand, go on a track day and you will see those who understand mechanical sympathy lapping much faster for longer than those driving aggressively that are cooking their brakes, shredding their tyres and spending all their time in the pits letting the car cool down. Good race drivers are fast because they understand their machines and how to care for them during the race.
When I started out in RC I went through the same learning curve of replacing parts that were broken due to mechanical failure rather that being worn out. Hopefully sharing lessons on how to reduce that helps others to climb that curve faster and cheaper.
Anyone is free to keep pouring money into repairs and upgrades if it makes them happy (the upgrade path is a slippery slope once you start down that route) but learning how to drive within the cars mechanical limits will save you a lot of money, ensure you spend more time bashing and less time wrenching, and doesn't typically mean having any less fun once you get the hang of it.

 

[Allnos04]

Ive heard about boiling RPMs before. Is that really a thing ? Do lots of people do that as theyre super strong anyway ? If so, how long for ?

I use to boil all my RPM parts when I use to race. It did seem to make them a bit stronger but when the part broke it really broke. I haven't done this in a very long time though, so not sure if parts are still made of same material or not. In Hein site I guess it is not going to hurt anything if you boil your parts.