Due to the bending issues I had with the lower rear plastic links on my Axial AX10 Scorpion, I upgraded to aluminum. I decided to purchase the entire aluminum upgrade/conversion kit for the Axial AX10. After using them for several weeks on a wide variety of terrain, I have the following to report:
Axial offers the upgrade kit in several different colors (black, grey, silver, orange, green, blue and red). This is a nice touch as it allows you to make your crawler a little more custom. The kit comes with everything needed to upgrade both the front and rear upper and lower links (the bars that connect the axles to the chassis), and to upgrade the steering link (a larger bar that connects the front two tires together and the smaller bar that connects the larger bar to the steering servo arm). The kit also comes with two aluminum bars that connect to the chassis in-between where the shocks mount on the chassis (I'm really not sure what these are for, but I assume it is to help strengthen the chassis). After researching websites, which include, but are not limited to, ckrccrawlers.com, axialracing.com, tcscrawlers.com, rcplanet.com, eBay, craigslist, and more, and after looking at my local hobby shops, I discovered that you can pick one of these upgrade kits up for about $40-$50.
Installing the links was a piece of cake. The owner's manual that came with the Axial RTR showed how to install these links, and it could be done by merely looking at the pictures. Plastic eyelets screwed onto the end of the aluminum bars and plastic bushings snapped inside the eyelets. The only problem I had with installing the links was that the rear links (the bent high-clearance rear lower links) could not be installed without rubbing significantly on the lower part of the rear shocks. I even went to my local hobby shop and looked at a pre-assembled Axial AX10 ARTR (almost ready to run) that already had the links installed and observed that those rear high-clearance links also rubbed against the shocks.
Driving my crawler after the installation was complete was great! My tires were turning better, my rear axle was not turning (due to the stock plastic lower links bending) and my crawler seemed to be a lot more precise. The only problem I had with my links was with the rear high-clearance links that were rubbing on the rear shocks. This would cause the links to twist so that the 30-degree bend went horizontally instead of vertically; the plastic eyelets were not strong enough to withstand the force of the shocks. This defeated the purpose of having high-clearance links. I am considering gluing the eyelets to the end of the links so that they cannot twist, thus keeping the 30-degree bend in the correct position.
One other problem I had was with the plastic steering servo arm, which comes in the spare parts when you purchase an Axial AX10 Scorpion RTR. After 10 minutes of driving, the arm stripped out. It had not stripped out when it had the plastic steering link because the link took some of the force when it bent. With an aluminum steering link, however, the servo arm takes all the force as the link does not bend. I had to run to the hobby shop and purchase a metal servo arm. One I had arm installed, there were no more problems.
Despite the problems with the high-clearance links and the plastic steering servo arm, I would recommend the Axial aluminum upgrade/conversion kit as one of the first upgrades for every crawler (be-it the weekend warrior or the serious competition crawler). It will make your crawling experience much more enjoyable.
My new dig kit:
ReplyDeleteAll I have to say is "ugh". The DNA digg kit I purchased has been nothing but a pain. When it works it is great but it seems that it just doesn't work very often. The concept is great but the way it is setup to work is "amature" at best. The linkage that hooks to the extra servo you install is to week to engage and dis engage properly. This has caused so many problems that I am taking it off. Unless anyone has any ideas.
I too upgraded to the aluminum link kit. I installed the green, with 30 degree clearance in the back. The rear do not rub on my crawler because I have the integy shocks. I ran the stock shocks with the aluminum kit for a long time. In fact the aluminum kit I had on was larger in diameter then the Axial aluminum kit. If you can not upgrade the shocks at this point take the springs off the outside, go to the local hardware store (or hobby shop) and get some springs that will fit on the inside of the shock (inside the oil chamber). The eyelet connectors should not spin on the linkage. They should have a little movement from the "joint" insert that is inserted. The eyelets themselves should stay tight. I have never thought about having the eyelets still but my though is that if you don't have a little bit of movement you will defiantly lose some articulation and could even cause the crawler to roll more easily.
The plastic servo arms that come with the Axial are "sad". I have always used a metal one, however the hard plastic arms that come with the purchase of a hi-tech server seem to be solid (I have never used one). It is a good thing you got the metal servo arm since you will be running 5 1/2 tires soon. I would think the next item you should invest in is a heavy duty servo. These are needed before you change tires but are a "must" after you change to a taller tire.
Upgrade the shocks:
There are other things to buy before upgrading the shocks. If you can find a pair for cheap then go ahead if not save the money for a new ESC., Radio/receiver, etc. If you just cant wait I have ran both the Losi crawler shocks and the integy crawler shocks. I had no other reason to switch from losi to integy other then the integy came in the same color green as my aluminum kit. After switching the integy are equal or better then the losi in my opinion. I have tried several setups with these shocks and they all work great for different terrain. Currently I am running a medium shock that I have cut shorter. This allows for more droop but you give up some clearance when you do this. I have also ran without spring at all and just topped of the oil with a 40 weight. This is called a complete droop setup. I didnt like this at all. It could have been that I did it wrong I dont really know. I am new to this and just trying to figure stuff out.