Vorteks shock shafts keep breaking

[Atom Smasher]

My son has a Vorteks and he has broken 4 front shock shafts in less than 4 weeks. Both right and left sides. I have a Senton and we drive them about the with about the same aggression (I might actually be harder on my truck) and I haven't broken anything yet. Anyone else have this problem?

 

[Senton_Prime]

My son has a Vorteks and he has broken 4 front shock shafts in less than 4 weeks. Both right and left sides. I have a Senton and we drive them about the with about the same aggression (I might actually be harder on my truck) and I haven't broken anything yet. Anyone else have this problem?

What part of the shaft breaks.. vorteks has slightly heavier feet than your feather weight senton!!

 

[Atom Smasher]

It breaks inside the rod end. So it's super annoying because I have to buy/replace both the shaft and the rod end.

 

[Senton_Prime]

It breaks or pulls out of its glue!?

 

[Atom Smasher]

It breaks or pulls out of its glue!?

It's threaded in. The metal shaft actual snaps.

 

[MisterG]

Are his jumps landing more toward the nose of the truck or to one side or the other? Hard landings are the most common reason for shock failures of any sort. Check out jennys and other parts breakers for replacement parts on the cheap. The vorteks and the senton are virtually identical trucks with only a few differences.

 

[Atom Smasher]

Are his jumps landing more toward the nose of the truck or to one side or the other? Hard landings are the most common reason for shock failures of any sort. Check out jennys and other parts breakers for replacement parts on the cheap. The vorteks and the senton are virtually identical trucks with only a few differences.

His landings don't seem too bad, some single wheel but mostly flat. Mine are far worse! Lol! Sounds like this problem isn't a super common problem so it must be the way he's driving. I'll have to watch more carefully when we're out on the track.

 

[MisterG]

His landings don't seem too bad, some single wheel but mostly flat. Mine are far worse! Lol! Sounds like this problem isn't a super common problem so it must be the way he's driving. I'll have to watch more carefully when we're out on the track.

With the vorteks having the shorter wheelbase and bigger wheels the whole experience changes. Of the 2 trucks the senton is much more forgiving to harsh landings, at least in my experience with them. Have your son drive the senton and you drive the vorteks to see if it keeps happening.

 

[Velodromed]

that makes a lot of sense! Vorteks front shocks are relatively small. Switch cars for a bit and you’ll probably figure out quick if it’s the boy or the car or both lol

 

[MisterG]

If your son is constantly tumbling the truck on it's side, consider changing the arms to typhon arms for more stability when cornering.

 

[Velodromed]

If your son is constantly tumbling the truck on it's side, consider changing the arms to typhon arms for more stability when cornering.

The vorteks is a stable car but it sounds like his son is jumping it, hence the tumbling.
He can’t just throw typhon arms on a vorteks. He’d have to change shocks, turnbuckles… on mine I finally swapped out the front shock tower with a Granite one so I could run Mojave 6S front shocks on all four corners (the backend can already take Mojave front 6s shocks). Made it a bit easier on rough terrain and better for jumping. Thing is they’re getting expensive even on Jenny’s. $30 bucks a pair I think. They sure do work well though and are extremely sturdy.

 

[Atom Smasher]

Looks like I've solved the problem. The shocks were binding on the lower control arm at full droop. I'm guessing with the right impact/jump the lateral force from the control arm, the landing force was enough to break the shock shafts. To correct the problem I needed to add spacers (m6 washers was all I had on hand) between the control arm and the rod end. Since I had it all apart I inverted the shocks to minimize leakage and provide some more protection in case of impact. I needed a little bigger spacer to accommodate the "top" of the shock but it fits better than stock with no binding. 3 batteries and no breakage AND no leakage from the shocks!

 

[Atom Smasher]

Sooooo.... The boy ran the Vorteks in a rock off a jump at full throttle. Like full speed to dead stop. Unbelievably it was fine! Maybe these trucks should come with the shocks upside down! Lol.