Kraton EXB HEX Stripping

[GRIFFINJ]

There has been quite a bit of discussion on the internet the last few days regarding the EXB hex’s and how they are undersized and stripping out wheels.

out of curiosity, and because I own several cars, I checked a few of them and measured the actual hex.

I compared my EXB to my V4 Notorious and found them to be the same thickness.

my mo means am I starting this thread to dispute any of the findings from others, but I have collectively maybe around 40 packs through both my Notorious and The KEXB and have zero indications of stripping out.

No one here really knows me, so, I get it, credibility is automatically low, but I do bash pretty hard and have bigger than stock electronics. An argument might be that I drive softer than the guys having issues. Only I know that’s not the case.

Either way, I hope Mitch comes up with a better hex, I will put them on ALL my rigs. There is definitely room for improvement with the stock, luckily for me, I haven’t been one to destroy my wheels.......yet?

 

[Jamart85]

The only thing I've heard about hex issues is the Mojave EXB and RTR versions, not the Kraton EXB

 

[IrieWheeler]

Won't the Mojave extended hexes fit the Kraton hubs, a few of those parts (hubs) seem to be cross-compatible?

Might be worth an email to Mitch himself?

 

[GRIFFINJ]

Won't the Mojave extended hexes fit the Kraton hubs, a few of those parts (hubs) seem to be cross-compatible?

Might be worth an email to Mitch himself?

I thought the same thing. But no, they aren’t the same apparently.

I only knew about the Mojave issue too. I guess a few have had wheels strip out on the Kraton EXB and for a different reason than the Mojave reason.

 

[Engineer]

Are you talking about the video Earl Moorhead put out about his Kraton EXB hexes rounding out? That's the only one that I've seen ... I dunno, I have 3 Kratons (2 EXB including one running 8s and a V4) and no stripped hexes. I make sure they are seated properly and the wheel nut is tightened down. When you look at Earl's hex, the corners are all rounded, and I can believe that once it gets to that point and starts slipping, that it will do some damage to the wheel hex itself - but if the corners are sharp on the hex, I don't see how it starts rotating...

Also, when you talk about undersize hexes, which dimension is undersized? It looks like you are measuring the thickness of the hex ... is that the actual dimension that's undersized or is the diameter of the hex undersized?

 

[Rcproponent]

I had stripped hexes from the factory. I think they have power tools they use and it looked like the hex wasn’t quite centered when they cranked it down and it screwed it up pretty good. I do a tear down before I run things at least a brief one and discovered it prior to first run and then warrantied it

 

[GRIFFINJ]

I thought the same thing. But no, they aren’t the same apparently.

I only knew about the Mojave issue too. I guess a few have had wheels strip out on the Kraton EXB and for a different reason than the Mojave reason.

Yes, Earls video and RCCG’s video.
And yes, the thickness of the hex is what they question. The fact that the wheel insert is about 1/4” deep, but the hex is only a small fraction of that depth.

Again, I haven’t had an issue. I was bringing this to the forum to see if it’s a bigger deal than an isolated few.

 

[Engineer]

Yes, Earls video and RCCG’s video.
And yes, the thickness of the hex is what they question. The fact that the wheel insert is about 1/4” deep, but the hex is only a small fraction of that depth.

Again, I haven’t had an issue. I was bringing this to the forum to see if it’s a bigger deal than an isolated few.

Neither have I, but it's good to have a healthy discussion if some people are experiencing issues to determine if it's bad design, tolerances out of spec or user error.

Personally, I don't think the thickness of the hex is the issue - I would lean more towards oversized hex holes on the tire:

If the hole is perfectly sized to the hex (left), there is no way the hex can rotate in the hole. But if the holes ended up oversized (center), either through manufacturer error or tolerance issue, then the hex would start rotating under acceleration and the corners would start digging into the wheel and rounding off and the problem would continue to exacerbate itself until the hex was rounded off and/or the wheel hex chewed up (right). If you look at Earl's aluminum hexes, they are all rounded off on the corners and thus unable to "grab" the wheel hex.

I think this problem becomes more of an issue as you go up in "n" on an n-sided polygon. Maybe that's why 1/5 GRP wheels have square hexes...

 

[bloomk]

I have a tallion exb and I have stripped out 2 seperate wheels. And I tighten them goooood.
Here’s a pic

 

[hobo]

There has been quite a bit of discussion on the internet the last few days regarding the EXB hex’s and how they are undersized and stripping out wheels.

out of curiosity, and because I own several cars, I checked a few of them and measured the actual hex.

I compared my EXB to my V4 Notorious and found them to be the same thickness.

my mo means am I starting this thread to dispute any of the findings from others, but I have collectively maybe around 40 packs through both my Notorious and The KEXB and have zero indications of stripping out.

No one here really knows me, so, I get it, credibility is automatically low, but I do bash pretty hard and have bigger than stock electronics. An argument might be that I drive softer than the guys having issues. Only I know that’s not the case.

Either way, I hope Mitch comes up with a better hex, I will put them on ALL my rigs. There is definitely room for improvement with the stock, luckily for me, I haven’t been one to destroy my wheels.......yet?

View attachment 118704

View attachment 118705

I stripped my hex on talion exb rear wheel and it wasnt even loose

 

[Grimbles]

From a mojave perspective (I have an early Moj exb), I stipped a couple of wheels. When I ordered replacements, the internals were far more bolstered/reinforced, looked to have been redesigned. I think the moj issue was therefore the early wheels, not the hexes. YMMV!