Aluminum vs Plastic

[Wildstringer]

We started talking about this in another thread, but i wanted to get a little more feedback on this. What areas if any is aluminum a good upgrade? for example bell crank, bulkheads etc. I've spent hours trying to find some aluminum A-arms on eBay for a price I'm willing to pay, just to find out they aren't a good choice anyway. In fact I can get a set of RPM's for 35.

 

[SteelCityNitro]

We started talking about this in another thread, but i wanted to get a little more feedback on this. What areas if any is aluminum a good upgrade? for example bell crank, bulkheads etc. I've spent hours trying to find some aluminum A-arms on eBay for a price I'm willing to pay, just to find out they aren't a good choice anyway. In fact I can get a set of RPM's for 35.

Aluminum a-arms are a bad investment. Once they take a hit they are bent forever. Plastic is the way to go.. they can still break, but since they are plastic they can absorb more of a shock then aluminum. RPM arms are they way to go. Aluminum bulkheads are good, they have better strength in the weak points of the plastic ones.. however if a hard enough of a hit is taken they can bend.. but they seem to last longer under normal conditions.. take the impact of jumping a lot better. One problem with aluminum bulkheads: the screws WILL come loose after time unless you use blue locktite on them. Apply some to the screws and allow it to dry before installation. Aluminum chassis braces are a nice upgrade.. but I don't think they are really necessary. Plastic shock towers hold up just fine for me too. From my experience.. bellcranks that are plastic work just fine.. I think the braces and bellcranks are more of an eye candy thing over durability.

 

[Wildstringer]

so far i have all 6 steel drive shafts, aluminum braces and shock towers. i'm bidding on some aluminum shocks and looking at an exhaust upgrade. I'm not sure what exhaust to go with yet, Id rather have a lightning fast turd than a slow azz diamond. some are more for looks than performance. pretty much everyone agreed that RPM arms are the way to go. has anyone ever had to send a set back for warranty. how fast do they get the replacements to you and do they ever try and play games like " this is abuse it's not covered "

 

[SteelCityNitro]

so far i have all 6 steel drive shafts, aluminum braces and shock towers. i'm bidding on some aluminum shocks and looking at an exhaust upgrade. I'm not sure what exhaust to go with yet, Id rather have a lightning fast turd than a slow azz diamond. some are more for looks than performance. pretty much everyone agreed that RPM arms are the way to go. has anyone ever had to send a set back for warranty. how fast do they get the replacements to you and do they ever try and play games like " this is abuse it's not covered "

I haven't heard of anyone having to send em back, but I doubt they will hassle you on it. I dont know what aluminum shocks you are bidding on.. but stay away from integy piggybacks. They're junk. You don't want to go overboard with aluminum though.. there's more weight to those parts.. that will slow your rig down. You really dont need the aluminum shock towers in fact, i would discourage you from them. If you flip your ride over it will cause stress on aluminum bulkheads.. and those are something you want to avoid bending, since it's a lot of work to replace them. You want intentional weak points more or less.

 

[Lessen]

They're not dumb, they can tell by the break and where it is. I have sent in broken parts with no issues.

 

[Wildstringer]

yeah i have heard that, like if you choose to use an aluminum bumper you should use plastic mounts so will flex a little. the shocks are just normal aluminum body shocks. i have seen the piggy back shocks and I know they are functional on a real monster truck but do they serve the same function on a RC or is it more for looks

thats good thanks Lessen

 

[olds97_lss]

Aluminum has it's place on a maxx:
trans case
chassis rails
servo skid
center skid
bulkheads
bulkhead braces
shocks
diff cases/collars

For me, RPM arms, towers and axle carriers is what I used.

I then used RCS spring steel front/rear skids. Less likely to shatter than plastic and takes way more abuse to fatigue than aluminum.

 

[knall]

For the Tmaxx you want aluminum in 2 places.

1 where its a pain in the but to replace a part LIKE THE BULK HEADS

2 on the shock towers.

You need plastic a arms, just so they can flex and absorb impact. RPM seem to be the most recomended. I finaly got some but I dont like the look, ( they havent broke yet though )

If you go putting aluminum a arms ect, there just gonna bend and be ruined instead of plastic breaking and being ruined.