Kraton Diff problems, ratlling cracking sound.

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ArrmaDanny

Fairly New Member
Messages
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Location
Holland
Arrma RC's
  1. Kraton 6s
Hi All,

I ran into some troubles with my Kraton after changing the tires and doing the diff fluid. The kraton is just a couple of months old, I bash lightly from time to time but my overall driving is just racing around a nice off-roadarea with a little bit of everything Holland has to offer. Tall and short grass, a gravelpath and lake natural hills for some jumps, a river with a beach (driftheaven?) an abandoned stonefactory (not as thrilling as it sounds anymore unfortunately and some cows that for some reason seem to have taken a liking towards RC cars ,no joke, couldn't get it back on my own because there were at least 8 cows standing by the thing . It wasn't untill my mate stepped up and we maked some noise together, we we're able to get my truck back from those gnarly beasts, oh the excitement to be had right in my own backyard haha. If any dutchies would like the location of this place let me know, ill send you a link. It's in Vuren, nearby Gorinchem. But i'm degressing, back to the problem.

The tirechange went from a stock Dboots copperheads to some Dboots Backflips, been waiting on them ever since they were on backorder the day after my birthday on the 23 of june, you can imagine how excited i was to try them bad boys out!

While the wheels were already coming of might as well do some maintenance to the whole truck and.... change the diff oils for the first time in my life.
I was already hating the prospect of starting on the diffs beccause all i seemed to read was trouble after opening them up. Seeing luck is usually not on my side in situations like this, i had my fingers crossed and went for it.

So i changed all the stock fluid in all three diffs.

I went with
80k front
100k middle
50k rear

I didn't do the full taking apart of all the diffs, i did it the easy (lazy) way. I just opened them up drained them and cleaned them up with a cloth and then filled them back up.
Normally I would take the long route but due to health related issues i choose this method. Everything looked fine on inspection and seeing there were no issue's before I thought it would be safe to assume nothing out of the ordinary was going on inside.

And ofcourse the tirechange, from Dboots Copperheads to Dboots Backflips, vented them and on they went.

Now the problem :

With normal driving nothing seems to be out of the ordinary and there are no alarming sounds.

Driving Forward - No additional sounds
Slowly in reverse - No additional sounds
Faster in reverse - Noise
Landing after Wheelie- Noise
Applying brakes-noise

The wheels turn in opposite direction of eachother.
I cant say that it's slower than before..
Could it just be my gear mesh being to loose?

I think you can best decribe the noise as a rattling, cracking noise.
I have some video's on my phone, Ill try to get hem on here.



Anyway thanks in advance you guys
 
Last edited:
My best guess from what you’ve typed here is that you forgot or misplaced the bearing shims. They need to be on the ring gear side to push the ring gear towards the input pinion.
 
I think I know which one you mean, I'll be sure to have a look at that when i get home, thanks!

Also, the manual states that you should change oil every 20 packs, Personally i think this number could be stretched a bit depending on how you drive but would it also make a difference getting some kind of hardcore aftermarket brand which will let me postpone this kind of maintenance by , let's say half or is it only going to be a bigger necessitie if i go that route?
 
I think I know which one you mean, I'll be sure to have a look at that when i get home, thanks!

Also, the manual states that you should change oil every 20 packs, Personally i think this number could be stretched a bit depending on how you drive but would it also make a difference getting some kind of hardcore aftermarket brand which will let me postpone this kind of maintenance by , let's say half or is it only going to be a bigger necessitie if i go that route?
Diff fluid is a personal preference. Change it when you think it needs changed. You will notice it thins out over time and your performance will change accordingly. If that bothers you, change the fluid. If it doesn’t, keep bashing ✌???
 
I have same nosie with my notorious. And it is the front diff. The pinion ring gear. I did same this simmed diff changed fluid. And have that same noise. I couldn't get it shamed back right to where it would quit making it noise I just dropped it off at my local hobby shop 2 days ago see if they can fix it for me. But I was thinking I had to shim that pinion gear.
 
I have same nosie with my notorious. And it is the front diff. The pinion ring gear. I did same this simmed diff changed fluid. And have that same noise. I couldn't get it shamed back right to where it would quit making it noise I just dropped it off at my local hobby shop 2 days ago see if they can fix it for me. But I was thinking I had to shim that pinion gear.

I'm going to check my bearingshims first tomorrow, would be great if that's the problem cause that'll likely be a quick fix. Also the sound really appears to be coming from the centre/ back portion of the car.

Unfortunately my most local LHS's are all about 30 minutes drives one way so no quick pop-ins for me.
And even though I don't mind paying someone for there services, if I can do it myself I also don't mind using the saved money for myself?. Luckily I have a backup car so I can keep bashing a bit but I understand where you are coming from brother. It sucks not being able to drive, hope you get yours back soon!
 
I'm going to check my bearingshims first tomorrow, would be great if that's the problem cause that'll likely be a quick fix. Also the sound really appears to be coming from the centre/ back portion of the car.

Unfortunately my most local LHS's are all about 30 minutes drives one way so no quick pop-ins for me.
And even though I don't mind paying someone for there services, if I can do it myself I also don't mind using the saved money for myself?. Luckily I have a backup car so I can keep bashing a bit but I understand where you are coming from brother. It sucks not being able to drive, hope you get yours back soon!
Yea man best luck to ya. I tryed fixing it my self for about 3 days ever day when I got home from work till I went to bed. Believe me I hate going into store looking like a chump "can u fix my car" lol. But after I get so pissed I can't fix it I start taking it out on the fam. So just took it so I be in better mood lol. But yea I tryed shiming all over. But I have the kraton but that broke last night so had fall back to my 2 traxxas ??. But hope all goes good for ya.
 
Yea man best luck to ya. I tryed fixing it my self for about 3 days ever day when I got home from work till I went to bed. Believe me I hate going into store looking like a chump "can u fix my car" lol. But after I get so pissed I can't fix it I start taking it out on the fam. So just took it so I be in better mood lol. But yea I tryed shiming all over. But I have the kraton but that broke last night so had fall back to my 2 traxxas ??. But hope all goes good for ya.

Love this, my backup is the new rustler vlx 4x4 V2 I got last week ?.. And you're right about not wanting to take it out on the fam, that's not worth it. It's only a toy. I think I will give it 3 days also and if I haven't figured it out by then I'll go to the LHS to fix it.
 
I thought I'd drop the solution for anyone who comes across the same problem and also a thank you for the help given by Jondilly1974 and Jordan10R.

So, the culprit has been found. At least I'm 99% certain.

After a do-over on the centre-diff which yielded no results I did the rear again and for some reason the little pin (AR310440) holding the top gear in place snapped in three and I totally missed that
Screenshot_20200921-191112.jpg
. I had to get inside it with one of those zipthingies they put around electric wiring to get it all out.

So slowly turning the turnbuckle everything worked fine but under a little torque or when applying the brake it caused my diff to slip. Ordered some new ones this afternoon, so hopefully the kraton will be up and running again tomorrow or the day after.

Again, thanks and have a good one??!
 
Hi All,

I ran into some troubles with my Kraton after changing the tires and doing the diff fluid. The kraton is just a couple of months old, I bash lightly from time to time but my overall driving is just racing around a nice off-roadarea with a little bit of everything Holland has to offer. Tall and short grass, a gravelpath and lake natural hills for some jumps, a river with a beach (driftheaven?) an abandoned stonefactory (not as thrilling as it sounds anymore unfortunately and some cows that for some reason seem to have taken a liking towards RC cars ,no joke, couldn't get it back on my own because there were at least 8 cows standing by the thing . It wasn't untill my mate stepped up and we maked some noise together, we we're able to get my truck back from those gnarly beasts, oh the excitement to be had right in my own backyard haha. If any dutchies would like the location of this place let me know, ill send you a link. It's in Vuren, nearby Gorinchem. But i'm degressing, back to the problem.

The tirechange went from a stock Dboots copperheads to some Dboots Backflips, been waiting on them ever since they were on backorder the day after my birthday on the 23 of june, you can imagine how excited i was to try them bad boys out!

While the wheels were already coming of might as well do some maintenance to the whole truck and.... change the diff oils for the first time in my life.
I was already hating the prospect of starting on the diffs beccause all i seemed to read was trouble after opening them up. Seeing luck is usually not on my side in situations like this, i had my fingers crossed and went for it.

So i changed all the stock fluid in all three diffs.

I went with
80k front
100k middle
50k rear

I didn't do the full taking apart of all the diffs, i did it the easy (lazy) way. I just opened them up drained them and cleaned them up with a cloth and then filled them back up.
Normally I would take the long route but due to health related issues i choose this method. Everything looked fine on inspection and seeing there were no issue's before I thought it would be safe to assume nothing out of the ordinary was going on inside.

And ofcourse the tirechange, from Dboots Copperheads to Dboots Backflips, vented them and on they went.

Now the problem :

With normal driving nothing seems to be out of the ordinary and there are no alarming sounds.

Driving Forward - No additional sounds
Slowly in reverse - No additional sounds
Faster in reverse - Noise
Landing after Wheelie- Noise
Applying brakes-noise

The wheels turn in opposite direction of eachother.
I cant say that it's slower than before..
Could it just be my gear mesh being to loose?

I think you can best decribe the noise as a rattling, cracking noise.
I have some video's on my phone, Ill try to get hem on here.



Anyway thanks in advance you guys
What a far cry from Detroit I wanna move to Holland now.
 
What a far cry from Detroit I wanna move to Holland now.

Yeah, I really can't complain but I do miss a good skatepark/pool and you guys have a lot of those to my understanding, I might be a little bit jealous of those. Plus, I'd love to go urbexing there sometime??
 
Thanks @ArrmaDanny. I’m going through a similar issue/sound on my V4. Feel like rear or center is culprit. I need to finish going through the rear but when I cracked it open for the first time, the diff fluid looked ridiculously dirty. Is this common for the first time maintenance?

4E8EEC6A-6D72-4C1F-825D-EEFB2163A83B.jpeg


3E9C07E9-CCA6-4E0D-A2DC-F500C6940769.jpeg
 
This looks nothing as dirty as mine looked, no worries about that. The lazy way isn't faster the moment you have to go in a second time like me, if it's broke you are going to have to fix it. I found that out the hard way?.. Either way the best of luck ??
 
Hahaha. Well, I pulled it apart and I literally broke AR310440 in three pieces like you did. Is there a hardened one to upgrade to or are guys just replacing the stock?

my out drive is really difficult to remove. Leading up to this diff issue I noticed that rear wheel getting very wobbly (like the foam had some build-up and weighted it down). Would a wobbly dog bone cause that diff pin to split in three?
 
Hahaha. Well, I pulled it apart and I literally broke AR310440 in three pieces like you did. Is there a hardened one to upgrade to or are guys just replacing the stock?

my out drive is really difficult to remove. Leading up to this diff issue I noticed that rear wheel getting very wobbly (like the foam had some build-up and weighted it down). Would a wobbly dog bone cause that diff pin to split in three?
It happens... theres a lot of torque on that little pin. I just replace them with a new stock pin. Sometimes the outdrive snaps where the pin goes through instead of the pin. ?

Have you vented your tires?
 
Yeah, I also just used a stock one, really don't know if there is a stronger version tbh. To make it a bit easier I removed the swaybar, the two little screws at the bottom of the shocks, you still have to fiddle a bit but if you move the diffcup upwards it should go rather easy.

Also, like mentioned above, vent those tires. There's enough footage about that, check it out. Your doing yourself a big favour in the long run.
 
Hahaha. Well, I pulled it apart and I literally broke AR310440 in three pieces like you did. Is there a hardened one to upgrade to or are guys just replacing the stock?

my out drive is really difficult to remove. Leading up to this diff issue I noticed that rear wheel getting very wobbly (like the foam had some build-up and weighted it down). Would a wobbly dog bone cause that diff pin to split in three?
Cut these to length with a dremel

Hardened Undersized High-Speed M2 Tool Steel Rod, 2.25 mm Diameter, 2-1/4" Long

https://www.mcmaster.com/2900A239
 
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