Even though Traxxas claims that it is not required, shimming the diffs would likely solve this issue. On the Traxxas Sledge, the stock bulkheads need shims that are 13mmX19mmX.-.6mm for the milled gears or 13mmX19mmX0.2mm for the cast (monkey metal) diffs.
Gotta go “FULL” Vitavon diffs my friend. Not necessarily the bulkheads, but the front and rear gear cover from Vitavom as well. That way you are still keeping it some what light, but just that metal diff cover alone will stiffen up the bulkheads enough to limit the bulkheads from twisting so much.
After you break in the gears you should try to shim your gears They break in and start seperating Especially with all that extra power that they werent made for If you already do this then youre just overpowering it Its gonna break its a RC they have limits
See this how our Xmaxx is. I now have vitavon gears in it and they have been ok but like you say lots of money. The covers do make a huge difference brother. 👏🤙
Get the vivaton spiral cut gears, I bought mine in a kit. I literally have over 1 year on mine and have yet to break one. I change out my bulkheads before the gears now. I only have aluminum on the cover that goes over the spur gear shaft.
Your title is how I felt about my gen 1, 8s arrma Kraton. I never got a single run off without it breaking, the jumps you do off the ramp would give me nightmares at the repair costs and wrench time.
Talbot pointed that out years ago in one of his videos. Just a terrible 1st gen. Traxxas needs to step up the quality control and Engineering. If we all stop buying them and they finally started listening to us they would make the necessary changes.
@@williamoleary9330I don't really see it as a QC issue. I just think the TRX 8s rigs were never designed for that much power. In stock form both of the TRX 8s trucks perform great I feel. I just bought a v1 K8S new late last year. I think there were some revisions vs the earliest models, not sure. I love it, swapped out the 4985 for the v2 Firma 5687 and it's alot of fun. I don't send it into the air much. Just picking the thing up tells me it wasn't meant to to be launched. My pockets aren't deep enough to find out either, LOL. I can live with that.👍🍻
I'm an Arrma guy but I agree. The 8S trucks have always been fragile. The new RTR EXBs are okay, but still bad compared to other Arrma trucks, let alone other brands as well. They're cool land vehicles but that's about it
@@Krapper515 I agree, the 8s Arrma's are way more fragile than the 6s line. One hit or bad landing results in bent pivot balls way too easily with an 8s Arrma. I've never bent one on a 6s rig. Then there's the steering rack and saver setup on the 8s Arrma's, WTF is that? Junk, that's what. Why couldn't they just scale up the 6s design and call it done? I don't like to put all my eggs in one basket, I buy whatever brand puts out something I like. So, I own an Xmaxx and a K8S, though I do wish the XRT was available when I bought the Xmaxx, I would rather an XRT for my use. Oh well, next time.😁🍻👍
That's a bummer brother. Annoying for sure. The XRT is a freaking monster after some KEY Upgrades and one of them is the metal diff covers. I can't remember the last time I had gear stripping issues. I do check and retighten after a hard bash.
I put in my xmaxx all diffs with GPM...spider gears,sun gears,housing, pinion and spur gear mod 1.6 spiral and its run with no problems with the max5 and 1100kv motor and 25/35 gearing
I fixed this issue with a .6mm shim behind the pinion in the diff. XMaxx with 1100kv Max 5. Was going through diffs every run. After shimming, issue ceased. And I used the stock Traxxas gears.
After seeing how you drive your cars in all your vids no wonder they’re always breaking. Not hating, I love your vids. But watching you drive these RC cars gives me both chills with excitement, and nightmares 😂😂 I have the orange regular version of the XRT. I’ve driven it about 6-8 months now. All stock, and nothing has broken. Only issue is the tires coming off the rims. Come on traxxas if I’m gonna pay a grand for an RC car the tires should be glued like a MOFO. 😂😂 I drive my RC cars like I gotta fix em when they break. Super mild compared to the way you drive brother. I do have fun watching cause at least if it breaks, it’s not mine. 😅
This whole comment section is an AA group of power hungry upgrade addicts. Smaller motor? F*ck no! "What else can we strengthen until i compromises something else that we can upgrade....to compromise something else?"........Im finally home🥰
Stock gears are better due to not being spiral cut, just straight. I run aluminum diff covers, 1100kv motor with max5 And only striped 1 due to mud and tall grass running. Users fault on my behalf.
I would not go billet. Try shimming first, but it may just be overpowered. Plus the moto is mounted a bit higher than the original which puts a lot more stress on the bulkhead.
Can't expect to make a motor mod upgrade and everything else is stock gotta consider that. It's more solid stock Anytime we up the motor power it's gonna shred the stock drivetrain
Vitivan gears, 7075 diff covers, and aluminum diff carriers in the rear at least. Also you must shim backlash in the diff, you can't really shim the vitivan pinion, so you have to shim the diff carrier assembly. This has worked a long time for me. I was replacing diffs every run, I haven't had any issues after these updates. It's very expensive, but you 100% have to do it to run any 56mm motor. Keep an eye on the pinion bearing after the swap. That takes a beating with the spiral gears.
I’d honestly suggest replacing the rear bulkhead, like even if it doesn’t look broke, I have a big motor in my xmaxx and it breaks rear diffs a lot if the rear bulkhead is old, it looks fine but most lose some tolerances, when the bulkhead is newer the diff lasts 5x longer
I think staying with a billet set up will keep the gears in place and stay put and as you stated your right to much flex on plastic could be the problem no Bueno hope this helps 🙏👍
Yup exactly what others said definitely change the motor back to stock thunder. If you wa.t more power out of the XRT thats wjat gonna happen. Thats why i sold mine kept breaking. The kraton 8S exb much more fun and reliable. Also the xrt drives like a crap if you ask me. Great vidoe thunder i didnt know you got the XRt back. Do you plan on keeping this time ? It can look grwat on your shelf and just dont use it 😂 so u wont break it.
The Hobbywing 1650kv g2 motor tore 2 sets of gears up in my xmaxx so far. mesh was good and i'm using the Vitavon motor mount, but each set only lasted like one battery pack. I never tore any gears up on the stock motor with the same setup. the second set was a beefy mod 1.5 set and it tore the pinion gear up so bad it broke the motor shaft clean off. since the shaft broke i'm just gonna step down to the 1250kv g2 hobbywing motor since it has the stronger 8mm shaft. I haven't torn up any diff gears yet though.
Got max 5 g2 and 800kv in my x maxx, still stock original gears in it 3 years , just dud motor last fall but still ma y runs on it. For sure the karma gods will strike me next run after this comment. But definitely check the shim of your diffs, even though I never did it to my x maxx, my 6s summit got cured of this problem after shimming
Xmaxx 1 has max5 g2 1100kv motor... so thinking of this hige power upgrade i put a locker in the center diff and a locker in the rear diff... i haven't stripped any gears but i am having trouble with is twisting the rear drive shafts in half ... so far 2 on the right rear and 1 on the left rear ... i haven't jumped mine yet this has all happened on the ground . Yeah agree i think the aluminum diff cover will add strength for you
The upgrade rabbit hole brother!! Can it be built to survive? Probably,,worth it? Not to me. That's the 5690 HW right? I see folks running even bigger and have to wonder just how hard they really bash? Sure, ripping up and down a staight away with minimal traction it might survive, but hard use? Nah. 12s? Yeah sure, on ice maybe. LOL. I mean the stock motor can net around 50mph right? Seems plenty to me. To each their own of course. Good luck brother 🍻👍
I love mine. I don't want abuse it as much, but I do do 30 ft high and about 100 ft long jumps. Doubled backflips. I have an XLX2 and 1100kv motor from HW on mine. But I o don't land it on concrete. I broke the link going to the servo saver, but it was a huge jump (landed on all 4 wheels), but I had a whole bunch of bad landings before that. And I'm using Proline 4.3 badlands, which are known to break more stuff. I'm happy with my XRT. I also had to change the c hubs because they were bent. I bend the driveshafts, but I just bend them back when they get too much out of shape. This is the session that broke mine 😅😂. My X-Maxx broke in half too 😂; ua-cam.com/video/8MoB93B3ks4/v-deo.htmlsi=xFZU9vnrOdRvaHzb
@@thunderrc all good thunder it was super last minute I just happen to have the time off an my girlfriend surprised me with this trip I just told her about it as a joke an now I’m going somehow lol this will be my first time ever leaving the west coast so it’ll be cool haha I’m staying in an area called ruskin too so hopefully I can find some cool places to rip around there! 🤘🏽 hopefully next time you’ll be able to make it your literally the closest we have to a Kevin talbot here in America man no one else bashes an test product as legit as you do brotha 🤘🏽 #thunderrc 🦅🦅🦅
I've always used billet diff cases in my Taylor ,osi , kraken stuff , on the XRT and x max , your right on the money, and oh boy are you , those billet bulk heads are out of this world exspensive ! But for the XRT to be thunder capable , it's a must , I'm using 1.5 mod gears with my hobbywing setup in my XRT , no diff problems yet , ,,,,,, but I'm not landing from space very much !! 😃😃😃💪💪💪💪👍
And come on Traxxas where is your engineers putting there two cents in you all can do better since it’s about MODS and extreme testing on what goes well and what goes wrong 🤨🤨🤨🤨🤨🤨🤨🤨
Crap gears and crap electronics. The Traxxas way. Axles, shafts, rods, metal just doesn't like to flex as much as plastic. That's a problem when your truck is basically rubber. I have a Xmaxx. It bends and flexs in some unnatural ways during crashes.
You could also lighten the center diff oil, it will reduce the strain on the rear buy letting the front spin more when the rear is under load, too thin and the front will unload too much. I solved an issue with diff bearings on a slash 4x4 by doing the center diff
Too much POWER!!! You have over thundered it bro 😂😂😂
Even though Traxxas claims that it is not required, shimming the diffs would likely solve this issue. On the Traxxas Sledge, the stock bulkheads need shims that are 13mmX19mmX.-.6mm for the milled gears or 13mmX19mmX0.2mm for the cast (monkey metal) diffs.
Aluminum diffs cases help A LOT!
Gotta go “FULL” Vitavon diffs my friend. Not necessarily the bulkheads, but the front and rear gear cover from Vitavom as well. That way you are still keeping it some what light, but just that metal diff cover alone will stiffen up the bulkheads enough to limit the bulkheads from twisting so much.
After you break in the gears you should try to shim your gears They break in and start seperating Especially with all that extra power that they werent made for If you already do this then youre just overpowering it Its gonna break its a RC they have limits
See this how our Xmaxx is. I now have vitavon gears in it and they have been ok but like you say lots of money. The covers do make a huge difference brother. 👏🤙
Have you tried running shims on one side of the diff to get it closer to the other gear
Get the vivaton spiral cut gears, I bought mine in a kit. I literally have over 1 year on mine and have yet to break one. I change out my bulkheads before the gears now. I only have aluminum on the cover that goes over the spur gear shaft.
Your title is how I felt about my gen 1, 8s arrma Kraton. I never got a single run off without it breaking, the jumps you do off the ramp would give me nightmares at the repair costs and wrench time.
Talbot pointed that out years ago in one of his videos. Just a terrible 1st gen.
Traxxas needs to step up the quality control and Engineering.
If we all stop buying them and they finally started listening to us they would make the necessary changes.
@@williamoleary9330I don't really see it as a QC issue. I just think the TRX 8s rigs were never designed for that much power. In stock form both of the TRX 8s trucks perform great I feel. I just bought a v1 K8S new late last year. I think there were some revisions vs the earliest models, not sure. I love it, swapped out the 4985 for the v2 Firma 5687 and it's alot of fun. I don't send it into the air much. Just picking the thing up tells me it wasn't meant to to be launched. My pockets aren't deep enough to find out either, LOL. I can live with that.👍🍻
I'm an Arrma guy but I agree. The 8S trucks have always been fragile. The new RTR EXBs are okay, but still bad compared to other Arrma trucks, let alone other brands as well. They're cool land vehicles but that's about it
@@Krapper515 I agree, the 8s Arrma's are way more fragile than the 6s line. One hit or bad landing results in bent pivot balls way too easily with an 8s Arrma. I've never bent one on a 6s rig. Then there's the steering rack and saver setup on the 8s Arrma's, WTF is that? Junk, that's what. Why couldn't they just scale up the 6s design and call it done? I don't like to put all my eggs in one basket, I buy whatever brand puts out something I like. So, I own an Xmaxx and a K8S, though I do wish the XRT was available when I bought the Xmaxx, I would rather an XRT for my use. Oh well, next time.😁🍻👍
That's a bummer brother. Annoying for sure. The XRT is a freaking monster after some KEY Upgrades and one of them is the metal diff covers. I can't remember the last time I had gear stripping issues. I do check and retighten after a hard bash.
Aluminum covers helped me
Vitavon’s got you on the bullheads bro… I just got some for my Notorious…
I put in my xmaxx all diffs with GPM...spider gears,sun gears,housing, pinion and spur gear mod 1.6 spiral and its run with no problems with the max5 and 1100kv motor and 25/35 gearing
Idea, run it without jumps. Re shim diffs after gears are run in a bit. That and stronger bulkheads.
I fixed this issue with a .6mm shim behind the pinion in the diff. XMaxx with 1100kv Max 5. Was going through diffs every run. After shimming, issue ceased. And I used the stock Traxxas gears.
After seeing how you drive your cars in all your vids no wonder they’re always breaking. Not hating, I love your vids. But watching you drive these RC cars gives me both chills with excitement, and nightmares 😂😂 I have the orange regular version of the XRT. I’ve driven it about 6-8 months now. All stock, and nothing has broken. Only issue is the tires coming off the rims. Come on traxxas if I’m gonna pay a grand for an RC car the tires should be glued like a MOFO. 😂😂 I drive my RC cars like I gotta fix em when they break. Super mild compared to the way you drive brother. I do have fun watching cause at least if it breaks, it’s not mine. 😅
I just replaced my center diff too.but It lasted over a year. Still likely my fav monster RC. Good luck.
Bro I fucking love your videos! Keep on keepin on man! 🍻
Yeah, I was gonna say that the flexing plastic is most likely letting the gears move out of position and strip....
This whole comment section is an AA group of power hungry upgrade addicts. Smaller motor? F*ck no! "What else can we strengthen until i compromises something else that we can upgrade....to compromise something else?"........Im finally home🥰
Vitavon everything
Eeeeyyyyuuuup ,,,,,cha ching !!
And don’t forget to shim!
.3mm front
.8mm rear
.5mm center
My setup for the Vitavon gears
not everything, just the bulkheads.
Stock gears are better due to not being spiral cut, just straight. I run aluminum diff covers, 1100kv motor with max5 And only striped 1 due to mud and tall grass running. Users fault on my behalf.
I would not go billet. Try shimming first, but it may just be overpowered. Plus the moto is mounted a bit higher than the original which puts a lot more stress on the bulkhead.
Can't expect to make a motor mod upgrade and everything else is stock gotta consider that. It's more solid stock Anytime we up the motor power it's gonna shred the stock drivetrain
This is very similar to my experience with the K6exb-V1 roller.
Diffs never lasted more than 2 packs.
Vitivan gears, 7075 diff covers, and aluminum diff carriers in the rear at least. Also you must shim backlash in the diff, you can't really shim the vitivan pinion, so you have to shim the diff carrier assembly. This has worked a long time for me. I was replacing diffs every run, I haven't had any issues after these updates. It's very expensive, but you 100% have to do it to run any 56mm motor. Keep an eye on the pinion bearing after the swap. That takes a beating with the spiral gears.
I’d honestly suggest replacing the rear bulkhead, like even if it doesn’t look broke, I have a big motor in my xmaxx and it breaks rear diffs a lot if the rear bulkhead is old, it looks fine but most lose some tolerances, when the bulkhead is newer the diff lasts 5x longer
I think staying with a billet set up will keep the gears in place and stay put and as you stated your right to much flex on plastic could be the problem no Bueno hope this helps 🙏👍
Yup exactly what others said definitely change the motor back to stock thunder. If you wa.t more power out of the XRT thats wjat gonna happen. Thats why i sold mine kept breaking. The kraton 8S exb much more fun and reliable. Also the xrt drives like a crap if you ask me. Great vidoe thunder i didnt know you got the XRt back. Do you plan on keeping this time ? It can look grwat on your shelf and just dont use it 😂 so u wont break it.
The Hobbywing 1650kv g2 motor tore 2 sets of gears up in my xmaxx so far. mesh was good and i'm using the Vitavon motor mount, but each set only lasted like one battery pack. I never tore any gears up on the stock motor with the same setup. the second set was a beefy mod 1.5 set and it tore the pinion gear up so bad it broke the motor shaft clean off. since the shaft broke i'm just gonna step down to the 1250kv g2 hobbywing motor since it has the stronger 8mm shaft. I haven't torn up any diff gears yet though.
Got max 5 g2 and 800kv in my x maxx, still stock original gears in it 3 years , just dud motor last fall but still ma y runs on it. For sure the karma gods will strike me next run after this comment. But definitely check the shim of your diffs, even though I never did it to my x maxx, my 6s summit got cured of this problem after shimming
Xmaxx 1 has max5 g2 1100kv motor... so thinking of this hige power upgrade i put a locker in the center diff and a locker in the rear diff... i haven't stripped any gears but i am having trouble with is twisting the rear drive shafts in half ... so far 2 on the right rear and 1 on the left rear ... i haven't jumped mine yet this has all happened on the ground . Yeah agree i think the aluminum diff cover will add strength for you
The upgrade rabbit hole brother!! Can it be built to survive? Probably,,worth it? Not to me. That's the 5690 HW right? I see folks running even bigger and have to wonder just how hard they really bash? Sure, ripping up and down a staight away with minimal traction it might survive, but hard use? Nah. 12s? Yeah sure, on ice maybe. LOL. I mean the stock motor can net around 50mph right? Seems plenty to me. To each their own of course. Good luck brother 🍻👍
YUP. MY XMAXX DOES THE SAME THING.
I love mine. I don't want abuse it as much, but I do do 30 ft high and about 100 ft long jumps. Doubled backflips. I have an XLX2 and 1100kv motor from HW on mine. But I o don't land it on concrete. I broke the link going to the servo saver, but it was a huge jump (landed on all 4 wheels), but I had a whole bunch of bad landings before that. And I'm using Proline 4.3 badlands, which are known to break more stuff. I'm happy with my XRT. I also had to change the c hubs because they were bent. I bend the driveshafts, but I just bend them back when they get too much out of shape.
This is the session that broke mine 😅😂. My X-Maxx broke in half too 😂;
ua-cam.com/video/8MoB93B3ks4/v-deo.htmlsi=xFZU9vnrOdRvaHzb
Hey man are you going to the freedom factory Arrma event next week??
Awe wish I could bro. Sorry man just can’t make it. Working all the time 🤣🤣🤣
@@thunderrc all good thunder it was super last minute I just happen to have the time off an my girlfriend surprised me with this trip I just told her about it as a joke an now I’m going somehow lol this will be my first time ever leaving the west coast so it’ll be cool haha I’m staying in an area called ruskin too so hopefully I can find some cool places to rip around there! 🤘🏽 hopefully next time you’ll be able to make it your literally the closest we have to a Kevin talbot here in America man no one else bashes an test product as legit as you do brotha 🤘🏽 #thunderrc 🦅🦅🦅
The weight of these beasts is your biggest enemy!!
I've always used billet diff cases in my Taylor ,osi , kraken stuff , on the XRT and x max , your right on the money, and oh boy are you , those billet bulk heads are out of this world exspensive ! But for the XRT to be thunder capable , it's a must , I'm using 1.5 mod gears with my hobbywing setup in my XRT , no diff problems yet , ,,,,,, but I'm not landing from space very much !! 😃😃😃💪💪💪💪👍
Same problem with the 800kw on the x maxx
I blew up the stock motor in my xmaxx yesterday. I feel your pain 👍👍😁😎✌️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️💥💥💥💥💥
I’m telling all big utubers contact corally. They need to make 1/5 rc . They are definitely competing with traxxas an arrma an are gaining on them
Metal diff covers, metal diff housing and your golden
Traxxas defence force, form your positions!!!!!!!!! 😂😂😂
Hope you find a fix can’t wait to see the xmaxx vs maxx vid go thunder⚡️⚡️⚡️
👍👍👍👍👍
Vivaton. I have hobbywing in mine the 1250 with stock spur and 32tooth pinion and I have no problems. Maybe you shouldn't drive them like you stole it
Boom 🎉
I just sold mine. As much as i loved that truck it just couldn’t handle simple bashes. Stick with my x maxx and maxx.
👍😎👍😎👍😎👍
I no the filling mi kraton same way it eats diffs to much to fix over n over so it's put in a box😢
And come on Traxxas where is your engineers putting there two cents in you all can do better since it’s about MODS and extreme testing on what goes well and what goes wrong 🤨🤨🤨🤨🤨🤨🤨🤨
Traxxas
Put gum in your rear in diff
That stinks brother my kraton does the same thing I’ve been through 4 complete diffs in a month
Sell it Lemon Areas!
Crap gears and crap electronics. The Traxxas way. Axles, shafts, rods, metal just doesn't like to flex as much as plastic. That's a problem when your truck is basically rubber. I have a Xmaxx. It bends and flexs in some unnatural ways during crashes.
Its just Way Too heavy for what you / we all do with it. Its fine if I dont fly with it.
33s ago
Meh who cares. SEND IT
Too much power change the motor. Back to stock. It's not the truck it's the changes you made on the truck
Good point! I agree 💪⚡️⚡️⚡️
@@thunderrc you're one of my top 2 favorite RC guys bro.
You could also lighten the center diff oil, it will reduce the strain on the rear buy letting the front spin more when the rear is under load, too thin and the front will unload too much. I solved an issue with diff bearings on a slash 4x4 by doing the center diff