Grave Digger/taylor 50 truck update

[Mick Mars]

Tripp, hope you got my direct message..... if not it was a heck of a story....

 

[Tripp]

Tripp, hope you got my direct message..... if not it was a heck of a story....

Hey Mick, I just got through it all and replied! I really appreciate you taking the time!!!

 

[Mick Mars]

Gonna try and keep it short.....sure. Got bushings today and rear axle rebuilt. Only thing standing out is lack of ability to control pinion movement. Basically the ring gear stops it from going in to housing , bearings stop it from coming out. I can see on diff housing that the mod we do, nut and longer bolt is a great solution to that issue even on my v4 diffs as is the bushings. Wanted to just swap ring gear but after cleaning and the damage from pinion smashing into diff housing just replaced everything. So had to modify new diff, grind diff housing and so on. Between the pinion trying to climb the ring gear, the brakes and driveshaft pressure, the bearings are just the weak link. Stock truck other than brakes, should not be an issue.Big motors, heavy throttle finger, etc going to be high wear, high maintenance on pinion bearings. If it wasn't a major disassembly l would just check and change anytime it shows sloppyness. Again there is an opportunity for the aftermarket for an upgrade because l can't be the only one that's had this problem. Would l pay a premium price for a upgrade, absolutely yes. With the pile of broken diffs and time I've spent I'm sure I've got close to 1000 bucks spent. Also think the extended wheelbase not helping even though the truck is set to have driveshafts as close to level as it can get. Going to try a set of Vitavon driveshafts, not much more than stock ones but looks a lot better to me. Enough of an old man's opinions for today, happy motoring my peeps!!!!!

 

[Shad0man]

Hi Mick.

Appreciate the update and your assessment.

I agree that if the tear down was not such an arduous process that regular inspection would not be an issue. As it is one either preemptively opens the diffs or ….. deals with the potential aftermath of a simple bearing failure.

Using the bearing specs as reference an upgrade maybe available.

 

[Mick Mars]

Both driveshafts junk and front axle needs pinion replaced.........clutch arrives tomorrow, new used clutch bell ,gears changed, rear axle assembled ,lots of cleaning done .....Won't be pretty as l had hoped , to many stains and dingers in aluminum but will be clean and ready to go by weekend. I think the new driveshafts, replaced parts as needed, bearings, rear carbon rotor and pads will make it good for another year. Only dumped about 400 bucks so not to bad and well worth it !!!!! Getting some fast eddy ceramic bearings for pinion so maybe that will help.

 

[Shad0man]

Appreciate the update.

I too have used the Fast Eddy ceramic bearings in other applications with good results.

The driveshaft looks good,

 

[Mick Mars]

Almost ready, just waiting on driveshafts.

 

[Mick Mars]

Only can post 25 pics.. Going to try to give as much info as l can here. Driveshafts pins, trim the ones the brakes run on , saves some headaches. Change them anytime you service driveshafts . Cheap insurance. One Pic shows 2 new modified ones and a new one, the one on far right has 45 minutes on it and is already beat up. You can see where driveshafts are rubbing pinion bearing but nothing on transmission side. Brakes..rebuilt with new bearings, shaft,pucs ,pads,rear rotor, reusing front rotor. Both calipers had a bad bearing and had to replace front caliper because the bearing race stuck in ìt . While other than it and bearings, everything thing, pucs,shafts,etc. could have been cleaned and reused, just not worth it considering most of it 4 years old. Build brakes off truck.This way you can slide rotor in between pads, tighten then just back the bolts off a titch till pad slides freely. Much cleaner and easier. Diffs... replaced rear due to damage with pinion and bearings. Just pinion bearings on front. While the diff mod is good, nuts and longer bolts, it's not the ultimate solution. Mine are modified v4 and even with the mod and loctite, the bolts had loosened. Check em everyone. Probably gonna stick a lock washer in there next time.While the nuts can't spin because they're ""fit"" to the housing the bolts can loosen but the nuts seem to have saved me this time. Limit straps.....finally figured out a way to get em in there. Added a cross member at each end ,modified the nuts that came in kit,drilled through and oversized to fit over longer shock bolts and nuts. Looks much better than the primal cables . Hopefully won't slip and l won't be getting stabbed by the cables...... Cross member/4 link mount....broke this a bunch of times,even on stock,losi truck. Since l could actually see with truck on bench this time l noticed a gap so stuck a thin washer on both sides and think that won't happen again. My modified/Taylor engine mounts holding up well with no issues. Shocks....got them all as high up in frame as l can. Using the cross members as a mounting point on outer shocks and existing hole on innershocks. All shocks refilled and bled ,cleaned and one lower white bushing replaced. Surprised at how well the white lower bushings holding up, no problems with black upper ones. Parts box.......7 broken diffs , one broke tranny ,8 brand new red shocks and 8 used. Pile of swaybars, stock length 4 links, steering links, grease and who knows what else .......probably a whole truck in there !!!!!! She ain't perfect but cleaned up pretty good and I'm happy with it. Driveshafts probably a week yet and while l have spare new one and parts to make a new used one think I'm going to wait for Vitavon ones. I think these trucks are wonderful machines. They are proving to be very high maintenance though. Some of the parts are only going to last for a couple hours while most of them will last years....l think I'm in my fifth year with it and don't have any regret buying it ,or the 2nd one. Lots of learning and time well spent, and cash...... If you keep the stock motor you'll probably be fine but still keep an eye on things . Going to cook dinner..........

 

[Shad0man]

Great write-up Mick.

Thank you

 

[Mick Mars]

My pleasure sir, hope sharing will help someone..... as l learned from you long ago, knowledge is useless if not shared!!!!!

 

[Shad0man]

Well stated, Mick.

You do a great job of bringing others along on your journey and you always present a positive spin on any given situation.

 

[Mick Mars]

Got driveshafts in yesterday and took it for a run of about 15 minutes today. It's been a weather battle this year, including today. The old digger back, running like a bear and pulling speed wheelies!!!!. The 27/23 gear set seems to be the sweetest setup for this combination. No modifications needed to install vitavon driveshafts, very nice product. I do like that they are a spline design and even with an extended wheelbase they have plenty of contact due to the extra length even though a tad heavier than stock ones.Going to give it a thorough inspection tomorrow and try to use the cable adjusters to fine tune the brakes. Been kinda overlooking that adjustment...... I also overlooked the fact that l am running yellow 7500 rpm clutch to keep drive train damage down and that's why it won't wheelie from a standstill like a lot of the trucks I've watched on videos. Man l just really enjoy this beast so much!!!!! Looks like pinion bearings are going on the losi bodied stock motor truck so that will keep me busy. It actually lost a v4 shock end. Managed to switch it out to a spring less one so its not going to see the pressure from the spring. But the threads are a bit buggered. Was going to look into a set of vitavon for the digger but thats another story.......l think the primal ones will be just fine. Looking forward, weather permitting to give the digger and 5t a thorough exercising tomorrow!!!!! Picked that up from you Shad0man!!!!!

 

[Shad0man]

Awesome update Mick!!!

Thank you.

Enjoy exercising your beasts.

 

[Mick Mars]

Little update on losi bodied stock primal engine truck. Disassembled thr font axle today to check pinion bearings. Truck has modified v2 diffs, longer bolts with nuts and bushings. Again even with loctite and nuts the bolts have loosened but not backed out or caused any damage. The nylock nuts saved me again just like the grave digger truck . Pinion bearing s look ok but again l can see where the drive shaft is rubbing and the pinion gear is pushed into diff and scared it. Everything is reusable with a cleaning and fresh bearings. Going to put some internal star washers under the nuts this time. I think l got two summers out of this truck now so pretty satisfied with how it's holding up so far. It's basically a v4 except for diffs and has the shocks setup like the grave digger. Going to try to set the toe just a titch out to see if it will help with turning. Amazingly still has stock v2 steering servos, hope l haven't jinked myself now........but l think that's because l completely disassembled this truck and upgraded everything to v4 except diffs. Even though l did bake the original engine l still think this has been a good truck. While it can't touch the grave digger taylor 50 it's still a lot of fun !!!! Don't forget, do your maintenance and check them diffs regularly.