Snapped 3 of 4 center diff screws, now what?

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Hotwheel85

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Arrma RC's
  1. Kraton 8S
Hey.

So today i finally recieved my center diff oil.
And therc nightmare started.
Used a lot of heat, maby too much and i snapped the head of 3 screws.
Do i need to order a new aluminum diff house? Or is it possible to drill it out?

If it’s possible to get it out, is it neccesary to open the diff from the other side also?

Appreciate the help i can get with it.
Cheers
 
Same happened to mine and many others. I ended up ordering the diff housing and the 3.5mm x16 screws. Then I sent Arrma an email explaining what happened. HH sent me a brand new fully built diff.

Thanks for the reply.
Ordered the screws for a week ago just in case. And i see now that a new house would be needed.

This is the last part that i need to worry about arrmas over glued screws. Manual say you should replace the oil every 5 hours, and i can imagine this cause some really frustrations for many people.

I just sent request to my lhs to order the aluminum diff house with the ring gear that is included in the pack. 35 dollars. Nice that you got a completly new diff, i hope they didnt assembled it with loctite :)

So the 4 screws on the other side came off easy.

2-3 weeks downtime, (claimed it as warranty and they must order the parts) just because arrma hire unexperienced people to overlock the screws...

So if i get tempted to use it, do you think it would leak much with 4 screws on one side and just 1 on the other lol?
 
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Thats crazy lol! Do you have made any video of it running on 12s?

Lets just see how much i want to run it, very sceptic to only have one of four screws on one of the sides ?
 
You would want to run it even, not 4 on one side with 1 on the other. That would be a disaster! Two on each side and I don't recommend it. I only did it because it was decent outside and I wanted to drive it for the first time. No vid yet, I'll post that in my thread when the right day comes weather wise.
 
So here as @gotnitro I emailed Horizon and they sent me a new diff. I tried to drill the old one problem I had the material around the broken screw is softer than the screw. And I could seem to find a tap for that thread size. So at the end of the day gotta order a new diff case, it’s not worth all the trouble. Bash on??
 
yes true a disaster, probably just put me another step back waiting for more parts ?

Honestly it suck to wait for an answer on the requested warranty, then finally after they got answer HH would send it to them, then they send it to me. But i also wait for two new wheels, o rings and a diff cup to the front. So after everythig is solved and mounted the truck should be ready for the spring at least ?
 
Same happened to mine and many others. I ended up ordering the diff housing and the 3.5mm x16 screws. Then I sent Arrma an email explaining what happened. HH sent me a brand new fully built diff.
Did you have to send them pics? Or can I just tell them mine broke... Because I’m sure it will when I try opening it up in a week or so.
 
Did you have to send them pics? Or can I just tell them mine broke... Because I’m sure it will when I try opening it up in a week or so.
No I just emailed arrma and explained the situation about all the blue Loctite and the screw heads breakin off and then Horizon got back to me and said they were going to ship a free Diff fully built along with a couple packages of screws.
 
Has anybody tried to re tap it for the more common and stronger M4 bolts..!!!
Is there enough metal to do this..??
I ask as multiple people on here have broken those M3.5’s...?

Mitch aka M2C’s next project maybe a diff housing with M4 bolts ..??
 
Has anybody tried to re tap it for the more common and stronger M4 bolts..!!!
Is there enough metal to do this..??
I ask as multiple people on here have broken those M3.5’s...?

Mitch aka M2C’s next project maybe a diff housing with M4 bolts ..??
Not enough wall thickness for M4. Personally I don't think the screws need to be as long as they are.
 
Hey.

So today i finally recieved my center diff oil.
And therc nightmare started.
Used a lot of heat, maby too much and i snapped the head of 3 screws.
Do i need to order a new aluminum diff house? Or is it possible to drill it out?

If it’s possible to get it out, is it neccesary to open the diff from the other side also?

Appreciate the help i can get with it.
Cheers
I snapped three just trying to turn the screws, no heat was used. I contacted Horizon with photos and they sent me a new diff case and screws. Took about a week.
 
Hey.

So today i finally recieved my center diff oil.
And therc nightmare started.
Used a lot of heat, maby too much and i snapped the head of 3 screws.
Do i need to order a new aluminum diff house? Or is it possible to drill it out?

If it’s possible to get it out, is it neccesary to open the diff from the other side also?

Appreciate the help i can get with it.
Cheers
Welcome to arrma lol
I snapped three just trying to turn the screws, no heat was used. I contacted Horizon with photos and they sent me a new diff case and screws. Took about a week.
I contacted them last week. still havnt responded.
 
For the brave you can just leave the broken bolts, dremel them flush, turn the end cap to a new spot, transfer punch the holes, drill and tap new holes. This hasn't happen to me but if it did that's what id do. Also would tap it either m3 or 6-40(standard). You will never find M3.5 flat heads, maybe in the UK...
 
I see now how it’s designed. If you snap off a bolt from one side but get all four on the other side out you can drill through the 4 on the good side and tap those holes. Just grind a little off the screws so they don’t meet in the middle. There’s only two places where there’s room to redrill. Where the holes are or where the ones on the opposite side are. Best to see if horizon will send you a new aluminum housing. I’d almost rather just have that and 4 new bolts than to try and get the new one apart...
 
I see now how it’s designed. If you snap off a bolt from one side but get all four on the other side out you can drill through the 4 on the good side and tap those holes. Just grind a little off the screws so they don’t meet in the middle. There’s only two places where there’s room to redrill. Where the holes are or where the ones on the opposite side are. Best to see if horizon will send you a new aluminum housing. I’d almost rather just have that and 4 new bolts than to try and get the new one apart...

I think it’s because im not very good at english so i didnt completly understand what you mean, would love to fix the one i have.

Sent email yesterday morning to lhs but haven't heard anything yet, so it would take time just to get them to answer, and they must wait from request warranty from HH then finally it’s going to be shipped 2-3 Weeks delivery after some days with emails.

If i drill from the side where i got all 4 screws out, what do i do where the rest of the broken screws is still in the threads? Sure i can drill them out but the edges of the screw would still be in the threads in the diffcup?
Any tips to how i can get the hole screw out?
 
If i drill from the side where i got all 4 screws out, what do i do where the rest of the broken screws is still in the threads? Sure i can drill them out but the edges of the screw would still be in the threads in the diffcup?
Any tips to how i can get the hole screw out?

Your going to drive yourself crazy with that. The second you nick the threads on that soft aluminum housing its shot. The only chance is a drill press with a reversed bit in hopes it grabs and backs out the rest of the screw. I wouldn't attempt it with a drill by hand myself, the second I screwed it up my drill would become a projectile. :ROFLMAO: I'll save myself the brain damage and order new most of the time.
 
I just checked and the holes isnt going trough each other. It’s almost equal but it’s separate holes just some few mm to the side of each other
 
I just checked and the holes isnt going trough each other. It’s almost equal but it’s separate holes just some few mm to the side of each other
That is correct. He is know saying that you tap the holes on the side that have the broken screws and use the new holes you just made instead. Follow?
 
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