3 shoe clutch and flywheel for VX .18

[SSievers08]

I've read many sales pages on 3 shoe clutch and flywheel setups. And they all read "for 1:8th scale" or they're for things like the 3.3. I have a Redcat Lightning STR that I pulled the VX .16 from and put a new VX .18 in. I've had it in for a while now but I keep breaking the clutch spring in the 2 shoe clutch. I was wondering what 3 shoe clutch + flywheel setup would fit on the VX .18 as I've heard they are much more durable.

Thank you.

 

[SSievers08]

Never mind. I feel stupid for even admitting this but I've found my issue. This is a photo of the flywheel/clutch assembly of my VX .18. Note the two washers. I only have one. I'm missing the washer for the backside of the clutch bell. Thus, the shoes were ever so lightly touching the back of the bell causing me to snap springs more often than I filled the tank. I feel so dumb yet so relieved.

 

[olds97_lss]

I'm not sure what the large one is for as it's OD is almost as big as the bearings.

Usually you end up with:
flywheel -> 5x8mm washer/shim->bearing ->cb ->bearing ->5x8mm washer/shim->3mm washer->bolt

The 5mm washer/shim's are there to keep the bearings from rubbing either on the face of the pilot shaft/clutch nut and end washer, or to take up play. Usually you need some larger shims behind the flywheel so you can get it to the correct spot so your spur lines up.

 

[SSievers08]

I'm not sure what the large one is for as it's OD is almost as big as the bearings.

Usually you end up with:
flywheel -> 5x8mm washer/shim->bearing ->cb ->bearing ->5x8mm washer/shim->3mm washer->bolt

The 5mm washer/shim's are there to keep the bearings from rubbing either on the face of the pilot shaft/clutch nut and end washer, or to take up play. Usually you need some larger shims behind the flywheel so you can get it to the correct spot so your spur lines up.

According to my diagram. The larger washer is the one before the first bearing.

 

[olds97_lss]

Then it must be smaller than it appears. In the photo, it looks almost the same size as the outer race of the bearings.

 

[SSievers08]

Then it must be smaller than it appears. In the photo, it looks almost the same size as the outer race of the bearings.

I just hope this fixes my problem. I was told clutch setups like this had a habit of snapping the spring. But not this much.

 

[Certified Mike]

It doesn't take much to chew thru those springs. There isn't much to them. When put behind those rpms, it's just like you say... Super fast! Shimming it up correctly will fix the spring problem where it was hitting.

 

[cbaker65]

This may peak your interest ,its kind of pricey ,but its for 1/10!
Also look into Dynamite brand an ofna's brand , Mip brands ,they carry 3 shoe
performance parts for 1/10 stuff ,I'm not sure ,but I think 1/8 clutch flywheel & shoes
may work!

http://www.ebay.com/itm/CD3-Parts-1...465953?hash=item2c9bfacce1:g:jBsAAOSwEjFXepm0

 

[Certified Mike]

I would guess that the whole hong nor cd3 2 speed clutch, flywheel assembly would fit. Its just a question of what size bearings you would need to make it all fit the shaft. All the hong nor stuff is metric as i assume the redcat is. As long as your stuff is metric, you can get bearings to fit. They have bearings of all different sizes, even if you have to order them separately.

 

[SSievers08]

This may peak your interest ,its kind of pricey ,but its for 1/10!
Also look into Dynamite brand an ofna's brand , Mip brands ,they carry 3 shoe
performance parts for 1/10 stuff ,I'm not sure ,but I think 1/8 clutch flywheel & shoes
may work!

http://www.ebay.com/itm/CD3-Parts-1...465953?hash=item2c9bfacce1:g:jBsAAOSwEjFXepm0

Holy S%#t thank you. I was looking on Ebay half the day yesterday and never spotted this one.

I would guess that the whole hong nor cd3 2 speed clutch, flywheel assembly would fit. Its just a question of what size bearings you would need to make it all fit the shaft. All the hong nor stuff is metric as i assume the redcat is. As long as your stuff is metric, you can get bearings to fit. They have bearings of all different sizes, even if you have to order them separately.

I will look into them more. Thank you for the advice.

 

[cbaker65]

Holy S%#t thank you. I was looking on Ebay half the day yesterday and never spotted this one.


I will look into them more. Thank you for the advice.

Try some of the hobby stores like RCboyz or A-main ,those people usually will have stuff like that because
those parts are the most common upgrades that people change!

Also the reason I like Ofna ,is they always had the clutch nuts an shims to fit any brand when altering engines &
clutches!...

 

[SSievers08]

Try some of the hobby stores like RCboyz or A-main ,those people usually will have stuff like that because
those parts are the most common upgrades that people change!

Also the reason I like Ofna ,is they always had the clutch nuts an shims to fit any brand when altering engines &
clutches!...

I've used A-Main once before. Or maybe it was Tower. I can't remember. One of them had a special on fuel going. I ended up with 6 gallons of VP 20% lol.

 

[cbaker65]

I've used A-Main once before. Or maybe it was Tower. I can't remember. One of them had a special on fuel going. I ended up with 6 gallons of VP 20% lol.

Not sure if Tower will have those parts ,but sure that they have other brand clutch assemblies that different models ,
you would just have to take a chance on that!
Tower seems to get rid of their old stock through discontinued items ,an don't restock do to new stuff coming out.

Rcboyz seem to still get the old stuff or may have something that may work!...

 

[Certified Mike]

http://www.bumpsandjumpsrc.com/buyersclub/
You might want to try these guys for your info too. They do oval stuff so it's a mix and match BUT the use a lot of ntc3 parts so they might know about flywheel and clutches for small nitro engines. Gotta be worth a shot!

 

[SSievers08]

Not sure if Tower will have those parts ,but sure that they have other brand clutch assemblies that different models ,
you would just have to take a chance on that!
Tower seems to get rid of their old stock through discontinued items ,an don't restock do to new stuff coming out.

Rcboyz seem to still get the old stuff or may have something that may work!...

http://www.bumpsandjumpsrc.com/buyersclub/
You might want to try these guys for your info too. They do oval stuff so it's a mix and match BUT the use a lot of ntc3 parts so they might know about flywheel and clutches for small nitro engines. Gotta be worth a shot!

Thanks a million. That so far seems to my biggest issue is finding parts. But I've been looking through the sites you have sent and I'm seeing things I'm liking a lot.

 

[Certified Mike]

Glad to hear it. The stuff IS out there... You just have to FIND it!

 

[SSievers08]

Glad to hear it. The stuff IS out there... You just have to FIND it!

Nitro needle in an electric haystack.

 

[olds97_lss]

This may peak your interest ,its kind of pricey ,but its for 1/10!
Also look into Dynamite brand an ofna's brand , Mip brands ,they carry 3 shoe
performance parts for 1/10 stuff ,I'm not sure ,but I think 1/8 clutch flywheel & shoes
may work!

http://www.ebay.com/itm/CD3-Parts-1...465953?hash=item2c9bfacce1:g:jBsAAOSwEjFXepm0

1/8th flywheel/shoes won't work with a 1/10th clutchbell. The shoes are taller than 1/10 by quite a bit. The 1/10 bell housing would only cover half the shoe. Odds are, there wouldn't be room for it anyway.

When I ran a 1/8th clutch on my revo, I had to move the transmission forward about 1/4" to get enough space to fit it with the proper bell. To do that, I had to grind the chassis so it could slide forward and elongate the trans mount holes. There was barely a gap behind the flywheel. I had to add an extension to the pilot shaft as well because the 1/10th shaft wasn't long enough. In the end, it was worth the hassle for me, since I ended up running a big block. When I first did the mod, I was running a 2.5 chassis with a OS18TM, which was chewing up clutches quite frequently.

On my 21TM revo, I bought it used and it came with MIP center axles. With stock axles, you have some leeway with the sliders. With normal CVD's, I didn't. I gave up on the carbon stock clutch pretty quick and tried an integy 2-shoe. I ended up with a dynamite max life 2 shoe set, which has been working really well.

This was a standard 1/8th scale bell/flywheel/shoe. I wedged the engine in with it just to see the fitment to see how far I had to move the trans:

I know your rig isn't a revo, but odds are, fitment will still be an issue.

 

[SSievers08]

1/8th flywheel/shoes won't work with a 1/10th clutchbell. The shoes are taller than 1/10 by quite a bit. The 1/10 bell housing would only cover half the shoe. Odds are, there wouldn't be room for it anyway.

When I ran a 1/8th clutch on my revo, I had to move the transmission forward about 1/4" to get enough space to fit it with the proper bell. To do that, I had to grind the chassis so it could slide forward and elongate the trans mount holes. There was barely a gap behind the flywheel. I had to add an extension to the pilot shaft as well because the 1/10th shaft wasn't long enough. In the end, it was worth the hassle for me, since I ended up running a big block. When I first did the mod, I was running a 2.5 chassis with a OS18TM, which was chewing up clutches quite frequently.

On my 21TM revo, I bought it used and it came with MIP center axles. With stock axles, you have some leeway with the sliders. With normal CVD's, I didn't. I gave up on the carbon stock clutch pretty quick and tried an integy 2-shoe. I ended up with a dynamite max life 2 shoe set, which has been working really well.

This was a standard 1/8th scale bell/flywheel/shoe. I wedged the engine in with it just to see the fitment to see how far I had to move the trans:

I know your rig isn't a revo, but odds are, fitment will still be an issue.

Thank you for the info. That was pretty in depth.

What I've done is order a completely new, stock setup that is in the picture above that I used for reference. I'm going to see if missing that single washer was my problem and while I'm at it I get a new bell, shoes and spring. IF that was my problem then I'm going to use them until I find a good 3 shoe for 1/10 that I like. I've already been looking at a couple from the posts above. But first I'm just hoping to sort out breaking clutch springs about every 2 tanks. Even with moving up from the VX .16 to the VX .18 and adding a lightweight flywheel (with the same dimensions as stock) I shouldn't be eating them up that fast. I've also noticed that my bell isn't perfectly in line with my 2 speed transmission. But it appears that once the missing washer is put back in it will have moved forward enough to be flush.

 

[cbaker65]

1/8th flywheel/shoes won't work with a 1/10th clutchbell. The shoes are taller than 1/10 by quite a bit. The 1/10 bell housing would only cover half the shoe. Odds are, there wouldn't be room for it anyway.

When I ran a 1/8th clutch on my revo, I had to move the transmission forward about 1/4" to get enough space to fit it with the proper bell. To do that, I had to grind the chassis so it could slide forward and elongate the trans mount holes. There was barely a gap behind the flywheel. I had to add an extension to the pilot shaft as well because the 1/10th shaft wasn't long enough. In the end, it was worth the hassle for me, since I ended up running a big block. When I first did the mod, I was running a 2.5 chassis with a OS18TM, which was chewing up clutches quite frequently.

On my 21TM revo, I bought it used and it came with MIP center axles. With stock axles, you have some leeway with the sliders. With normal CVD's, I didn't. I gave up on the carbon stock clutch pretty quick and tried an integy 2-shoe. I ended up with a dynamite max life 2 shoe set, which has been working really well.

This was a standard 1/8th scale bell/flywheel/shoe. I wedged the engine in with it just to see the fitment to see how far I had to move the trans:

I know your rig isn't a revo, but odds are, fitment will still be an issue.

Lol...wasn't sure ,I rarely run my 1/10th stuff anymore ,usually my stuff is modified to fit!...