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Thunder Tech Axles, Build up both Straight and CVD's Let me start of by first giving credit to the guys at TTR, for designing a great set of axles. Installation was smooth and the instructions could't have been more simpler. If you've ever replaced bushings for bearings, then you'll have no problem swaping in a set of axles. There was one small glitch with the rear axles, but I'll get to that in a bit. First up, lets get a comparison shot of the two rear axles. The axle on the top is TTR's new solid one piece design, and the stock Tamiya two piece on the bottom.  As you can see, the outer end of the TTR axle has been beefed up to 8mm over the stock 6mm axle. To eliminate the cup and pin, they again thickened the axle to 10mm, with a slight concave back to 8mm in the center. These axles are solid! This is the complete rear parts bag.  Almost everything you will need is here. This is where the little glitch comes in. In the instruction sheet it tells you to install 2 8/10mm bearinges into each end of the axle tubes. Fact is, that there are only 6 of these bearings in the kit. four are used in the hub carriers, leaving ony two for the outer end of the axle tube. The inboard end (where the tube bolts to the gear case) will require a 6/10mm bearing.  The bearing on the left is the 8/10, and 6/10 on the right. Other than that it was a simple axle swap.  Bolt up to your to gear case  At this point I installed and locked the gears, and joined the two halves of the diffs together. In this pic you can see the hole for the cross pin that holds the outer aluminum hex hub on.  You can see here, that the TTR axles give you a wider stance with out the use of additional wideners.  The cross pin is held in place by the supplied rubber O-ring. The end of the axle is threaded, eliminating the the stock set up. This allows for the wider stance. I should have gotten a pre pin shot, but you'll see it in the CVD write up.  Over all the new straight axles will give you a 1in wider stance over that of the stock axles. Sorry this ones a little hazy.  The front axles have a few more steps, but are just as simple to install as the rears. And with a little shaving in the right spots(which I came to realize after). You can get more steering with the CVD's, than by just cutting the limiters off.   TTR's outer axle, compared to the stock version.  You get a better idea of how much thicker The TTR axles are versus the stock axle. One of the big differences over the rear axles, is that the front axles only use the 8/10 bearings in the outer hub carriers. You will need two 6/10 bearings for each axle tube.  The collars of the CVD's seem a little large, but there are no clearance issues.  As you can see, after the hub carrier is installed. All that is left is to install the aluminum hex, cross pin and O-ring.   I would highly recommend either sets of these axles to anyone. With as solid as the rear axles are, I feel no reason to use a rear lock out. I didn't go into great detail when it came to installing the gears, or joining the cases. If your taking them appart, then it is just the opposite to put them back together. I wanted to highlight the axles themselves. TTR's instructions are simple and straight forward, when it comes to installing the axles. I'm sure that there will be a little editing, but I hope you enjoyed this. * Jagg * |