ev0l

iTrader: (5)

So after a bit of an absence I sat down this afternoon to start the generally enjoyable task of building my brand new TC4. I built the shocks, K nothing much changed there. I get to the second bag and I find PLASTIC outdrives? WTF, this is a team kit meant for racing and it has cheap ass plastic outdrives. Has assciated gone to the dogs while I have been gone? Oh lets see, lets take the highest wear/stress part on the car and make it plastic. Now I gotta drop another 30-40 bucks to buy something that should have been included in the first place. I guess other than my rant im looking for experience from people who own this car with them. Should I even bother putting them in? Someone at AE needs a good kick in the balls.

-Drisgruntled AE driver.

AngryAsian

iTrader: (4)

I heard that the plastic outdrives are inconsistent. That is, they heat up, expand and bind the diff up.

There is talk about the necessity of upgrading to the steel ones which are heavier but much smoother under duress...

Then again, i don't run the car..
what whould i know?! meh..

Burlap

iTrader: (6)

Tamiya used to run plastic outdrives on the 415s until the MSX update, and they were fine. Sure they wore out where the dogbones sit in them, but so do the metal ones.

tunnelhead

iTrader: (12)

Buyer beware. I guess you get what you pay for. That is why I bought a Xray!

Grizzbob

iTrader: (2)

Yes, they're plastic, didn't you research the car any before buying it? But as long as you're running stock motors(& to some point 19 turns), those outdrives will hold up. They were produced for 2 reasons, from what I've learned, one is they're noticably lighter than any other outdrive made, which for stock racing is an advantage(less rotating mass & all), & two, obviously they're MUCH cheaper to produce(& that also means replacements are cheap to boot). But they're certainly NOT for everyone, as you might imagine, if you tend to hit things a lot then you can wear them out pretty quickly, & of course, if you bolt in too much powewr then you'll just melt them. But I think there's something else you may not realize, there's no more Racer kit, so in essence, the Team kit IS the Racer kit(& the Factory Team kit is the only other option for now, though there's also a conversion kit to make a Team or RTR car into a Factory Team one). Now, all that being said, given my own tendencies in driving(& the occaisional need to bolt in a 10 turn when the guys at my local track simply MUST run mod), I found I'm better off with the Lightened Steel outdrives(which DID come with the FT car, the full FT kit gives you both lightened steel & plastic outdrives, so you can choose which ones you want to use), so that's what I use now, but there are still a number of racers who stick with the plastic ones. And as far as someone "waking up" the guys at AE, no worries, already happened, & they're developing a completely new car as we speak(it debuted in this year's Reedy Race as a prototype, & it's {gasp} belt-driven), & if all goes well it may be out by year's end if rumors are true. And yes, they've admitted that they got caught with their britches down, so to speak when cars like the XRays came out & then a bunch of other ultra high-end cars followed it, but they've sworn that they won't let it happen again......

koabich

Never had 1 single problem running them on my TC3 and TC4 with Stock and 19T. You do need to check the diff tension a little more but that's about it. I prefer them over metal units as they are much, much lighter!

pinggoy

iTrader: (24)

there you go.

baih

if you are going to race stock, leave the plastic outdrives on. if your going to run mod or a brushless, then get the steel lightened outdrives.

BobbyDoyle

barry

iTrader: (3)

I strongly agree with your statement above.Ive burst both front and rear diff with the gtb 4.5 during my first pack after building my tc4.Do not face this problem again after using the steel diff.

khyron

I threw these away (after momentarily considering whether to keep them around as double secret backup in case all local hobby shops were destroyed in a hurricane or something) and put the lightened steel ones in as I built my car. Another good idea is to use "cushioned" dogbone pins (they are metal wrapped in plastic, so you wear out cheap pin covers not nice metal outdrives).

IMHO, plastic outdrives belong in an FX10 or a Grasshopper, not a TC4.

ev0l

iTrader: (5)

Well I did some checking and found that the steel diffs from the TC3 will work in this car but there is alot of replacement that needs to be done. essentially the entire diff must be replaced. rings, bearings, etc. is there an aluminum or steel direct replacement for the plastic outdrives? from what I have seen its gonna cost me 80 bucks to change over to the steel diffs...the regular steel and lightened steel from associated are bigger in diameter and require different parts to do the change over.

ev0l

iTrader: (5)

well I am going to post my research on this subject just in case anyone ever searches this thread looking for info about this issue. this is a list of all AE parts needed to do the conversion..

---------------------------------------------------------------------
31062 TC4 Lightened Steel Diff Outdrives. Also requires #6575, 6579, 6909. -19.00 pr

or

3912 TC3/TC4 Long & Short Outdrives, steel Also requires #6575, 6579, 6909. -15.00 pr

or

3918 Steel Differential Kit -37.00 x2

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Part Number: ASC6575

Price:
$1.95

STEALTH DIFF T-NUT and THRUST BOLT
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Part Number: ASC6579

Price:
$1.50

DIFF DRIVE RINGS (2)
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Part Number: ASC6909

Price:
$4.95

3/16" x 5/16" DIFF BEARINGS, optional (2)

khyron

It's nowhere near $80. All you need are the steel outdrives, the correct rings (the round ones that are not "D" shaped) and the T-bolt. The bearings you have will work fine. Don't be scared by the long looking list above, all you need are these three things for each diff.

ev0l

iTrader: (5)

cool, yeah I based my price on the full conversion kits which was the first thing I found. If the stock bearings will work then the cost is not that great at all. Thanks for the info man!

-Aaron