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So I bashed my Kraton V3 today for a few minutes then started to hear a distorted whine instead of the awesome growl that it usually has on takeoff. So I ended the bash early & ripped the rear diff apart to find the usual uneven wear & some completely grinded teeth - OK, ALL were grinded in some way on both the ring & pinion. No teeth were snapped or missing but some were worn halfway to nothing.
We all know Arrma doesn't have the best diffs for their 6s lineup. So is it the material, the hardening process, the machining, the design itself? Why can't these diffs live up to the representation of the trucks. I know this diff lasted for over a year so why complain. I have cars that I have beat the snot out of, on & off the track for years 5, 6, 7+ YEARS - & are still on their first set of stock diffs today. But I won't look at those phenoms right now. Instead, I'll look to a truck I bought 3 days before my Kraton V3, the Force RC Muckraker.
The Muckraker was a car a decade in the making, sold by FS Racing ages ago & brought back recently just to be snuffed out again. It has other forms in Duratrax & Reely as well as compatibility with Ofna/Habao parts. In my case, I bought it as a cheap basher to upgrade & use during the winter since my Arrma's usually suffered the most damage at that time. It came out the box with NO diff fluid, a ton of loose screws, & a stripped pillow ball. 20 minutes later, all that was fixed. It had a new JX servo & BLX185 system. So I started to beat on it . . . everyday for at least a month. The Kraton probably seen a third of that action in the same time. All in all, over the past year+, my Muckraker probably saw twice the action as my Kraton V3. So why don't I pull out the Muckraker & compare the state of it's rear diff to the garbled Kraton diff:
Muckraker Left, Kraton V3 Right - I seriously have nothing to say
Again . . . Muckraker Left, Kraton V3 Right - Sometimes pictures really say everything . . .
Muckraker Left, Kraton V3 Right . . . You know where this is headed ???
. . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Muckraker Top, Kraton V3 Bottom - Note the pitch of both ring teeth are the same. The Kraton teeth are larger but the Muckraker ring is MUCH thicker.
I could come with some glorious revelation right now but I won't. I can't. The Muckraker was $299, a 10 year old design with tons of inherent flaws & BULLETPROOF diffs. While we crawl in the dark wondering why our Kraton can't take a botched landing or 2. Or maybe you guys just love shimming these things so they can last a few more jumps. Whatever, Arrma has already taken 2 steps forward & 1 back with the V4s. I know there is a ton of money in diff repairs as well as tons of parts - you never seen or heard of a time where the diff parts were out of stock for the 6s lineup But I don't care about any of that. IF a flawed beast from the past that's constantly resurrected & killed off have incredible diffs, then so can a model & lineup with plenty of time to shine.
We all know Arrma doesn't have the best diffs for their 6s lineup. So is it the material, the hardening process, the machining, the design itself? Why can't these diffs live up to the representation of the trucks. I know this diff lasted for over a year so why complain. I have cars that I have beat the snot out of, on & off the track for years 5, 6, 7+ YEARS - & are still on their first set of stock diffs today. But I won't look at those phenoms right now. Instead, I'll look to a truck I bought 3 days before my Kraton V3, the Force RC Muckraker.
The Muckraker was a car a decade in the making, sold by FS Racing ages ago & brought back recently just to be snuffed out again. It has other forms in Duratrax & Reely as well as compatibility with Ofna/Habao parts. In my case, I bought it as a cheap basher to upgrade & use during the winter since my Arrma's usually suffered the most damage at that time. It came out the box with NO diff fluid, a ton of loose screws, & a stripped pillow ball. 20 minutes later, all that was fixed. It had a new JX servo & BLX185 system. So I started to beat on it . . . everyday for at least a month. The Kraton probably seen a third of that action in the same time. All in all, over the past year+, my Muckraker probably saw twice the action as my Kraton V3. So why don't I pull out the Muckraker & compare the state of it's rear diff to the garbled Kraton diff:
Muckraker Left, Kraton V3 Right - I seriously have nothing to say
Again . . . Muckraker Left, Kraton V3 Right - Sometimes pictures really say everything . . .
Muckraker Left, Kraton V3 Right . . . You know where this is headed ???
. . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Muckraker Top, Kraton V3 Bottom - Note the pitch of both ring teeth are the same. The Kraton teeth are larger but the Muckraker ring is MUCH thicker.
I could come with some glorious revelation right now but I won't. I can't. The Muckraker was $299, a 10 year old design with tons of inherent flaws & BULLETPROOF diffs. While we crawl in the dark wondering why our Kraton can't take a botched landing or 2. Or maybe you guys just love shimming these things so they can last a few more jumps. Whatever, Arrma has already taken 2 steps forward & 1 back with the V4s. I know there is a ton of money in diff repairs as well as tons of parts - you never seen or heard of a time where the diff parts were out of stock for the 6s lineup But I don't care about any of that. IF a flawed beast from the past that's constantly resurrected & killed off have incredible diffs, then so can a model & lineup with plenty of time to shine.