Aluminum Suspension Arms

[Wayne]

I am an off road basher only. Can anyone advise if aluminum Suspension arms are a good or bad idea for my XB? I run a Gizmo RCMK 30.5 c full mod engine with a Jet Pro rear exhaust pipe. I have the original chassis, 7075 diferential housing (front and rear), 7075 C-hubs (front) and bearing holders (rear), the original drive train (CVD front and dogbones rear). I have been told aluminum suspension arms are for on road use only. I have also been told aluminum suspension arms will sure up the drivetrain and prevent twisting caused by torque from the engine.

 

[Silent_chaos]

Same spot as yours. I have the 7075 chassis as well since the stock bent hard.

Recently got the suspension arms, gonna install them tomorrow. I have the same fears as yours. I think only experiencing live will tell.

Those arms are unbreakable

 

[topblissgt]

I feel that aluminum is indeed stronger, but it has no rebound ability. A light hit on alum may or may not bend it but with plastic, it will take the hit and bounce back. And a really hard hit will bend aluminum, where the plastic may break. So the alum looks cooler and better, I would say plastic would fare better under most conditions. That said, I will purchase alum parts as my budget allows

 

[BertR]

If you are going for aluminum arms spent the money and get 7075rc sus arms...the redcat aluminum arms can be brittle.

 

[glm308]

Aluminum arms will put the shock load pressure into the frame and will bend/break the weakest point. the plastic give some on hard hit and will save a lot of money in the long run. I have nothing ageist aluminum parts but if you are a basher I would defiantly say stay with the plastic.

Greg

 

[Silent_chaos]

Aluminum arms will put the shock load pressure into the frame and will bend/break the weakest point. the plastic give some on hard hit and will save a lot of money in the long run. I have nothing ageist aluminum parts but if you are a basher I would defiantly say stay with the plastic.Greg

When you say frame you mean?

 

[topblissgt]

Aluminum arms will put the shock load pressure into the frame and will bend/break the weakest point. the plastic give some on hard hit and will save a lot of money in the long run. I have nothing ageist aluminum parts but if you are a basher I would defiantly say stay with the plastic.Greg

There IS a reason all the successful race car manufactures all use plastic for arms..

 

[phreerider]

i have had good success with keeping the suspension arms plastic, but think maybe ALUM. rear and front plastics is as much i will go, but have not broken enough to warrant it despite nearly 750 hours of operation in MOTOX track environment and tow, all without a front bumper!

the front plastics do get distorted a little bit and are totally usable , but if they had been alloy they would have been beyond usefulness pretty quick if not cracked by rebend attempts.

the shock attachment on 7075 A arms is a step up and eliminates numerous parts and points of failure...

..so plastics in the front and alloy in the rear ..this also matches load and power dispersion through the unit.

the shocks(rear) and sway bar (esp. front) really catch the shock load and certainly show it and the chassis! it gets tweaks as well

 

[Ol' fart]

I think your car will handle better with the aluminum arms. Combined with my shock tower you'll have more choices for your shock angle and no flex will keep your tires on the ground. But ,ya, no flex is no good when you go cartwheeling off the track and into a tree. If a weak point is needed you could cut the suspension arm holder at the outside of the plastic pivot point. Make it like a C, Then the plastic would pop out under heavy impact and save the arm.

 

[Silent_chaos]

I think your car will handle better with the aluminum arms. Combined with my shock tower you'll have more choices for your shock angle and no flex will keep your tires on the ground. But ,ya, no flex is no good when you go cartwheeling off the track and into a tree. If a weak point is needed you could cut the suspension arm holder at the outside of the plastic pivot point. Make it like a C, Then the plastic would pop out under heavy impact and save the arm.

Im currently installing the arms. Can you post a pic on what you just described? Don't install or anything, just more explanation on cutting the arm holder

Thanks

 

[Ol' fart]

Something like this....it might get bent in a crash but they are cheaper than an arm.





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[glm308]

When you say frame you mean?

The chassis/Frame.

Greg

 

[Silent_chaos]

The chassis/Frame.Greg

What if the chassis is also a 7075? (My case)

 

[Ol' fart]

IF you bend the frame you will have to replace the front insert only, that is the weakest area, the rest of the frame should be fine.

These cars are 30+ lbs you are going to bend stuff if you are not carefull.

 

[rampage idiot]

I think your car will handle better with the aluminum arms. Combined with my shock tower you'll have more choices for your shock angle and no flex will keep your tires on the ground. But ,ya, no flex is no good when you go cartwheeling off the track and into a tree. If a weak point is needed you could cut the suspension arm holder at the outside of the plastic pivot point. Make it like a C, Then the plastic would pop out under heavy impact and save the arm.

+1 on that plus lets be realistic guys there is nothing out there indestructible!! and the way I see some guys beat the living crap out of there stuff I really don't understand how some people bitch when stuff breaks!

 

[glm308]

What if the chassis is also a 7075? (My case)

The good thing is that 7075 aluminum is very ridged. The bad thing is if you hit hard enough to bend it it will more than likely crack/break. But with some bracing you should be fine with the chassis staying together.

But the All Aluminum setup Arms, diff case and frame could break some expensive parts. I like the relief cut Ol' Fart is showing but that just show that there is a possibility of breaking arms, diff case or chassis. Plus the hinge pin braces are more expensive than replacing arms.

As I have mentioned before I have seen a HPI Baja 5t frame crack and the plastic bulkhead not with the aluminum arms up front. HPI frames are much stronger than the RedCat chassis also meaning if you can break one of them the RedCat chassis will definitely suffer damage in a wreck.

My point would be keep the plastic arms and get the best diff case and chassis and even steering cups that way on a hard crash the arms suffer and not the entire chassis getting the brunt of the impact. With factory arms being only a few dollars ~$12.00 a set this is a cheap and easy fix. With all the stress I have put my XB through I have yet to break a arm.

Remember no one plans to wreak or crash into something, no one plans to cart wheel over a jump these things happen even to the best drivers. So for anyone to say that is bashing and abusing the model is ignorant. Everyone has their own style of driving and their own level of abusing the vehicle. I probably run mine harder than most but I expect a $500+ model to take the abuse and not break every time I run it. I really hate to have to spend more money to make a product good enough to race. Setup is one thing but having to replace key components due to failure and under engineering makes me angry.

 

[Silent_chaos]

Some of these arms are not made 100% to size. Have to trim a lot

 

[Silent_chaos]

Twisted plastic stock suspension arms

Finally installed

 

[Silent_chaos]

Bling droop screw

Truck runs very smoothly without any wobbling. Very stable.

I noticed that the springs are too stiff, they need to be a bit softer.. any recommendations?

 

[phreerider]

+1 on that plus lets be realistic guys there is nothing out there indestructible!! and the way I see some guys beat the living crap out of there stuff I really don't understand how some people bitch when stuff breaks!

true dat! stuff breaks...if the scale of speed and mass are keep in mind while slamin' its amazing it stays together at all....

remember these are "models" not "TOOLS" even a $10k "tool grade model" will break, just like six figure ROV's, or million$ drones all have failure and brutal maintenance schld's that eat money like potato chips

and better pilots have LESS breakage, pilot your stuff with reasonable consideration or it will eat parts EVERYTIME