How to easily revive chewed wheel hexes.

[jkflow]

By all means, M2C is the way to go.
My hexes looked about the same, and I'm still running these tires after the JBweld and grub screw treatment.
It's easily fixable, you have nothing to lose.

 

[jondilly1974]

I have a bad hex in a Backflip LP that I need to move the tire to a new wheel this winter. It’s beyond salvage and I already have the spare wheel. Otherwise I would consider the M2C hex repair.

 

[Sandracer_NL]

Let me start off at the top since I am bringing this 2021 post back up

I posted here that my hex has twisted in my Kraton EXB wheel so the first step is to try to get it off before I can even think about the following ask below:




My Man. I read in the post you have not touched this in a while. I do not really want a full grub screw kit although it is cheap. Do you know the size off-hand that you used in your post? Thx



Man how did you fix come out with the JBWed combination here? Thx



I will look at this. I hate to make the Kraton any wider on the stance it sits nicely as it is. If you added those, did it make it too much wider? Thx



How I feel but at the same time I am cheap...at times...but I still have so much life left on this tire, :-(



I like how you did this process. So you did 3 grub screws. Do you remember the size M3x6mm for example? So you placed a hex in the tire....correct and heated the grub screw and drilled each one in with heat and of course little pressure with a drill/wrench? No pre-drilling? Thx

This is what I used (see pic). It were the smallest grub screw I could find (hex 1.5 and around 3.8mm long), because bigger ones would have been bigger than the hex thickness of the wheel.
I just put a wheel hex into the wheel, grub screw on (cheap) hex screw driver. Heat the screw until it’s red hot. Push it into the wheel so that plastic melts to the wheel hex, so you get the hex shape again. I did the 3 screws at 12, 4 and 8 o’ clock. Needed just a bit of sanding afterwards to get the the wheel hex level again. You’ll notice I painted the wheel hex edge white, to see if it was rubbing and needed more sanding.
I’d say give a go

 

[parcou]

I have also heard good things about the m2c racing hex lugs.
https://m2cracing.net/notorious-v5-exb/686-m2c-3505-universal-6-lug-hex-adapter-kit.html

Late last night I watched Mitch's video on that 3505 set...that is a super cool fix. $72 but it is worth it. Down the road, I will add that to my kit of tools....only because custom stuff like this does not last and I plan to be in the hobby a long time so be good to have when you cannot find it anymore.

Just find, thx Sir!

By all means, M2C is the way to go.
My hexes looked about the same, and I'm still running these tires after the JBweld and grub screw treatment.
It's easily fixable, you have nothing to lose.

Agree Bother. It looks bad but I do not plan on ever just tossing it in the trash. I do have M2C 3500 17mm hex set coming so from the a-arm it will be wide enough for the entire tire to sit and not touch anything because the rear hex is obviously getting hot and melting on me or rubbing the arm when it heats up to disform. I do not have this issue in the front. So I rather replace all the hex on the arms now because in the hot south this will be worse. I got the Kraton in the fall so I have not seen what the summer heat will do to this area but the winter has shown me enough.

I plan on using those tips to try to patch...but I still have a replacement wheel coming. Thx again Bro!

This is what I used (see pic). It were the smallest grub screw I could find (hex 1.5 and around 3.8mm long), because bigger ones would have been bigger than the hex thickness of the wheel.
I just put a wheel hex into the wheel, grub screw on (cheap) hex screw driver. Heat the screw until it’s red hot. Push it into the wheel so that plastic melts to the wheel hex, so you get the hex shape again. I did the 3 screws at 12, 4 and 8 o’ clock. Needed just a bit of sanding afterwards to get the the wheel hex level again. You’ll notice I painted the wheel hex edge white, to see if it was rubbing and needed more sanding.
I’d say give a go

View attachment 197225

Another great tip....thank you Sir. I will be doing some bench work this weekend and will reflect back on your post and the others. I greatly appreciate the pic and sharing this with me!

 

[parcou]

Guys

After cleaning the Kraton EXB to shelf it I saw this for the rear carriers. As you know, I posted earlier on how the rear wheel hex was eaten out above. Looking closer and removing the dirt I can see the back side of the carrier....plastic is maybe melting due to heat, something, the bearing has not exploded and it is the same on both sides...pics are the L/R rear.

Any idea what is going on here and should I change to aluminum hub carriers? Thx

@jondilly1974 @N.Mango @jkflow @SrC @Sandracer_NL

 

[N.Mango]

My 1st impression is that a rock or something got caught in there and just ate it up. If the bearing is intact and solid without being able to move then yea...looks like something got caught in there and had lunch.
Hard to tell but looks like the cup has some shiny parts that may indicate something scraping...?

 

[SrC]

Looks like the inner BB seized up, galled and melted the hub. Perhaps both BB's are shot. The BB's were the cause. Alloy hubs won't necessarily prevent bricked BB's . However the HR hubs will have over sized inner BBs. And this is much better. The stocker inner BB;s are a problem at all 4's. They are the first to wear out for me. Most notable at the rear hubs. Arrma designed these hubs with the wrong size inner BB's out the gate. Not the best for extreme loads. The Balls are just too small. Nothing new in regards. An old issue. I rather have Big balls. .....(in my BB's)

 

[#ARRMArcfanboy4life]

Do the ball bearings feel smooth? Are they rotating freely?

 

[N.Mango]

@SrC has a good point...it happened at two sides. Odds are against rocks or the like.

 

[SrC]

@SrC has a good point...it happened at two sides. Odds are against rocks or the like.

I can only go by the picture. I see the blue rubber seal of that Inner BB has pushed out. BB looks like it has exploded, ball Cage let go and all. I could be wrong from where I am sitting? But, to me looks like how my plastic composite center diff plastic melted as well as my rear stocker bulkhead melted when their input gear BB's let go/bricked.. From friction heat.

@parcou when you disassemble, show us what you see with the BB. I am curious how this happened. What actually caused Hub damage. I never had this stocker hub damage before. But have caught many BB's just in time before anything further got damaged like yours. I pay close attention to all of the Inner BB's after bashing. Even during bashing. They are a weak link, by its inherent design.

 

[N.Mango]

I can only go by the picture. I see the blue rubber seal of that Inner BB has pushed out. BB looks like it has exploded, cages let go and all. I could be wrong from where I am sitting. To me looks like how my plastic composite center diff plastic melted. From friction heat.

@parcou when you disassemble, show us what you see with the BB. I am curious how this happened. What actually caused Hub damage. I never had this stocker hub damage before. But have caught many BB's just in time before anything further got damaged like yours.

I'm curious also...may help a lot of peeps from going through this.

 

[SrC]

+1

 

[N.Mango]

Do the ball bearings feel smooth? Are they rotating freely?

I appreciate including me but trust these guys for sure...they are way more experienced than I am.

 

[parcou]

I can only go by the picture. I see the blue rubber seal of that Inner BB has pushed out. BB looks like it has exploded, ball Cage let go and all. I could be wrong from where I am sitting? But, to me looks like how my plastic composite center diff plastic melted as well as my rear stocker bulkhead melted when their input gear BB's let go/bricked.. From friction heat.

@parcou when you disassemble, show us what you see with the BB. I am curious how this happened. What actually caused Hub damage. I never had this stocker hub damage before. But have caught many BB's just in time before anything further got damaged like yours. I pay close attention to all of the Inner BB's after bashing. Even during bashing. They are a weak link, by its inherent design.

Wow... I did take it apart.... The side that I took apart the bearing is locked. It will not spin so I see why it heated up now. Do you think the carrier is still good and peal the burned plastic off and reuse or get a new one since they are cheap? Normally check them after every 5x packs but this one got me.

 

[SrC]

Hub carrier is bricked. Garbage.
Replace both sides, Stockers or HR's or other alloy brands.
Personally, I am fine with Plastic stockers.
Your call. Many run alloys. But technically even if an oversized BB, found in alloy variants, seizes up, damage/wear to the alloy hub carriers will happen also. From Galling. A much more expensive proposition, replacing Alloy hubs.. Watching your BB's closely will prevent this whether you run alloys or stockers. I feel lack of lube and/or cleaning the BB's more often yields the results you see here. Or just have spare BB's on hand and replace more often.
I buy these stock size Inner BB's in bulk packs for this reason. But I do clean out and relube all my BB's. Just give more attention to these Inner ones. All 6s rigs this happens to. Common IMHO. I clean out new BB's in many cases, and run my own grease/lube in them. Then, I know they are lubed well enough. BB's can come dry sometimes. And one really doesn't know what grease is in there if any, in many cases. I have seen many dry BB's out the package. No matter the brand. BB's are cheap gumball RC items.

>>>In some older AF threads, some have stated that running Front CVD's at the rear prevents/ reduces inner BB damage. Stating there is less dirt ingress at the Inner BB's????
I have done this to several rigs here.
But I don't see any difference.
That aside, running Front CVD's at the rear does have other benefits.

 

[N.Mango]

Hub carrier is bricked. Garbage.
Replace both sides, Stockers or HR's or other alloy brands.
Personally, I am fine with Plastic stockers.
Your call. Many run alloys. But technically even if an oversized BB, found in alloy variants, seizes up, damage to the alloy hub carriers will happen also. From Galling. A much more expensive proposition. Watching your BB's closely will prevent this whether you run alloys or stockers. I feel lack of lube and/or cleaning the BB's more often yields the results you see here. Or just have spare BB's on hand and replace more often.

Gotta love this guy!

 

[Sandracer_NL]

Yep, the rear BB always wear the quickest. Since I run mudguards (either buy or maken them yourself: very easy to do) I haven’t had one explode on me. What also helps is turn the wheels by hand from time to time to feel if the wheel stil turns and sounds OK (crunchy sound-> sand in bearing; a bit is still Ok but needs more regular check)

 

[SrC]

Wow... I did take it apart.... The side that I took apart the bearing is locked. It will not spin so I see why it heated up now. Do you think the carrier is still good and peal the burned plastic off and reuse or get a new one since they are cheap? Normally check them after every 5x packs but this one got me.

View attachment 197342View attachment 197343View attachment 197344View attachment 197345View attachment 197346

Replace both Inner and Outer BB's as sets. Both hubs. Because the bricked inner BB's placed undue loads and heat transferred to the outer BB's also as a result. Outers are on Borrowed time, if they haven't failed also. Do it right once , all new Hubs and BB's throughout.

>Examine your Wheel's hexes also. The heat generated can start to round them out also. Friction heat has a cascading failure effect on all the related attached parts.

Tip: I always place a very thin film of grease onto the steel Hex Axel. Can minimize BB galling damage/wear . When/if a BB does seize up.

Edited.

 

[SrC]

Yep, the rear BB always wear the quickest. Since I run mudguards (either buy or maken them yourself: very easy to do) I haven’t had one explode on me. What also helps is turn the wheels by hand from time to time to feel if the wheel stil turns and sounds OK (crunchy sound-> sand in bearing; a bit is still Ok but needs more regular check)

I got to be honest, I like rear mud guards and all ,an overall benefit to keeping wear and dirt from the rear shocks, rear outdrives, etc, but I find that the dirt that hits the rear Arm mud guards, shoots to the left and right and points dirt to the Inner BB's anyway you slice it. I don't see my inner BB's lasting any better. Maybe depends on the shape and length of the mud guards???
Just me.

Rear inner/outer BBs will probably wear the most.
Two reasons:
1. most of the drive train Loads occur at the rear BB's
2. The Front wheels kick alot of dirt to the rear.

Ever notice the back of the rig is always the dirtiest. The front stays much cleaner. Unless you are eating another rigs dirt, chasing another rig.

edited.

 

[Sandracer_NL]

I got to be honest, I like rear mud guards and all ,an overall benefit to keeping wear and dirt from the rear shocks, rear outdrives, etc, but I find that the dirt that hits the rear Arm mud guards, shoots to the left and right and points dirt to the Inner BB's anyway you slice it. I don't see my inner BB's lasting any better. Maybe depends on the shape and length of the mud guards???
Just me.

True. I started to make my own and try to make them as wide as possible. I used to have a grass etc rolled onto the rear dogbones which then got covered with sand and other dirt, which also got to the wheel axles and diff outdrives (and their BB’s).
I have less dirt in those places (so it seems or at least I think it works) AND I check on a regular basis by hand how smooth the wheels spin and how crunchy they sound. I don’t wait anymore until the BB’s go bad (which can also cost you a hub carrier), but replace them if needed.