Are you to hardcore for Titanium??

[30%NitroBoy]

Sup guys,

Got off work early today. Was sitting on the porch with lady friends enjoying a cold one (or three..lol) and heard the Noise that is every Nitro mans delight. Hoped in the van with no windows (long story) and decided to roll over to the noise. Sure enough, it was three 20 something dudes playing with their Nitro trucks (a serously hop'd up Maxx and two Savages to be exact). I introduced myself, told them of my fellow love for the hobby and they decided they where gonna show off. Just added three guys of drinking age to the large bash group...lol.

Turned out that two of these guys where hardcore into Monster truck Rc and the other dude just started 4 months ago. Like myself they all seem addicted to the bone. To make a long story short they where ramping their trucks on road @ mid speed and the dude with the Maxx went right into a curb @ about 30. He didn't do much damage to his truck but oddly he sheared his Lundsford Titanium turbuckles right off his beefy plasic proline ends on the right side of the truck. We where all kind of suprised but apparently this has happened to his before. Upon inspection of the truck it's obvious what his problem is. He's running the UE Alluminum knuckles and I don't think the Ti turnbuckles and Alluminum knuckles played nice together. He would have been better off with stock Turnbuckles with Alluminum knuckles or Ti Turnbuckles with stock Maxx ends or plastic Knuckles to absorb more of the inital curb shock.

So what's the point of all this (LOL)? Titanium is a great metal for many RC applications but many in this hobby seem to think that it's a magical metal that's beyond breakage. I've never personally broken or bent any Titanium parts but I've seen plenty of skids and other parts straight up break in half. You need to look @ your car of truck from every angle with shock absorption in mind and decide how things are going to work together for better or worse. I've never seen any Titanium bend but it can and will break if your hard enough on it.

I've also decided that Ti has no place as screws for Hardcore MT bashers like SKymaxx pointed out in a thread I started. Placed in a strategic manner as Sky pointed out might work but I wouldn't wanna run it now that I've seen how it likes to break. Ti seems to shear instead of bending and many parts on your car and truck have to "give" to some extent.

I hope Lunsford replaces his broken stuff.

Peace

 

[msly]

Also it just is cheaper sometimes to break the occasional stock part then to break an expensive Ti part even once.

 

[ImBroken]

At the Winter Bash, I broke 2 Traxxas Titanium Turnbuckles... What you said makes sense though... I have Aluminum bulks & hardcore knuckles. So there's a solid surface on either side of the turnbuckle.... I thought I had all my crumple zones covered...lol Here comes the RPM knuckles....

 

[ApriliaRacer]

There is indeed a misunderstanding in this hobby about Ti and CF regarding their strengths and weaknesses and what parts should be replaced with the other materials.

Quite a few people feel that both Ti and CF are an "upgrade" from steel which is not necessarily the case. They maybe in the sense of weight savings, but you do give up some durability.

I too have "snapped" Ti turnbuckles on my Losi XXX-T MFE racing.

 

[Paintbug]

Ti is a little stronger than aluminum. if you used aluminum for turnbuckles it would get ugly quick. unfortunitly Ti doesn't give much so it doesn't bent it just breaks. i remember when Robinson Racing came out with thier Ti ball joints. granted they shaved about an once of my XXX buggy but i would snap one about every 2-3 runs.

 

[modularmind]

yep Ti has very low shear strength. dont have much experience with it in RC. But I ride BMX and was thinking of using Ti spokes on a wheel I just built but was advised against it. I like to do spinny tricks, and such this places a lot of latteral stress on a wheel. Ti just wouldnt be able to handle it.

 

[militarymaxx]

Good insight on what folks think about Ti. My RTR Storm has evolved to incorporate Ti (use to call it "un-obtanium" during the cold war with Russia, as it was very difficult to get and at a cost as they used it to build their subs out of it). Sorry, didn't mean to give a history lesson. I have the Ti chassis and shock towers as well as the forward brace. Any better than the stock aluminum ?
Yup, no bending like before. I would bend the towers on a daily basis. But given a better design than the stock parts, aluminum could be just fine. I think Ti has it's place in the hobby as does CF.
But, like many have eluded to, just because it's Ti or CF doesn't make it better. Sometimes folks 'over engineer' things. Anyone ever see the Beverly Hillbillies espisode where Jethro invents this new muffler for a car ? He's inside the mantion explaning to this guy about this new muffler he just invented and he shows the man two small pieces of cloth. The man was so excited, he said it would revolutionize the industry. Jethro takes him outside to show him how to install it and on the back of the truck was this monstrous contraption and the two pieces of cloth were just a few of many, many parts. I guess some things are best left alone and many times perfection can't be improved on. Me, I'm holding out for these new Helium impregnated foam inserts. Man my ride will be so light !!!!

 

[FastEddy]

Again I will about a weak link. Ball ends make a great place to create your weak link in the front end of a MT. Just think, he could have just popped that puppy back on and kept driving.

I have, and have part boxed my RPM Deluxe heavy duty ball caps as well as captured ball ends.

-Ed

 

[militarymaxx]

I've decided that rather than engineer/design my MT to break/not break in the right place, that I would completely cover my neighborhood with NERF. Maybe we've been approaching this all wrong. Got to go, gotta make a call to HASBRO, (or whoever makes NERF).

-Man this is going to be expensive.

 

[FastEddy]

Your on to something here.
RC NURF World.

After the RC fun is over we could invite a few bands and do some slam dancing with our NURF body suits. After the festivities die down and everyone is drunk we can go home to our NURF footballs. I don't know about yours but mine has a hole drilled in the end.

I'm in for the action.

 

[militarymaxx]

Truthfully speaking, I would hate this hobby if nothing broke. Sure, broken parts mean no runtime and it cost more money, but personally that's 50% of why I enjoy the hobby to begin with. Guys, (and some girls too, don't want to offend), like fixing things.
Can't fix it if it isn't broken. So, we break. This is the Gospell as written by RCers all over the world. Thou shalt buy, assemble, run, break and fix and run again. It is the cycle we have come to know as the RC Hobby. Sorry, thought I was moses trying to part the doors of some hobby shop. Thou shalt open thy doors and fill my pockets with parts. This is the word........Amen.

 

[30%NitroBoy]

Originally posted by ImBroken
At the Winter Bash, I broke 2 Traxxas Titanium Turnbuckles... What you said makes sense though... I have Aluminum bulks & hardcore knuckles. So there's a solid surface on either side of the turnbuckle.... I thought I had all my crumple zones covered...lol Here comes the RPM knuckles....

Damnit, I knew I shouldn't have posted this, I was just gonna pm ya to c if you had those Dyeable RPM knuckles for sale..hehe.

The RPM knuckles are beefy as hell and still give some compared to alluminum. The oversized bearings definitley take allot of load and friction off your drivline and especially with big ass tires.

Peace

 

[Diver6127]

Well, titanium is more rigid and will snap. I'll stick to plastics. It's cheaper to replace in the long run. If it's still running, it's a good day. If you broke/bent something ... it was a GREAT day.

 

[SilentGTboy]

The best screws you can buy are here www.hexcrews.com
:thumbsup:

 

[FastEddy]

The RPM knuckles are the poop!
RPM products are made of a fairly soft plastic that bends rather than brakes. If you put out the cash for them you will never need to buy another set.

-Ed

 

[lillightingboy21]

Yes i am to hardcore, my friend had a t-maxx with all alliuminum and ti parts and we were at his dads building and he had a ramp set up on the top of it and he told me to jump it off of the ramp so i did a few times it all went well then i jumped it one more time an i snapped the thing in half. Slammed right into the curb on the ground in front of the building. And i didint half to pay for a thing because he said i couldnt break it.

 

[FSTFBDY]

I'm Keeping my stock chassis around just Incase I do break this HCR Ti chassis..

I'll admit once I got it it does look weaker then the stock one and deff flexes more. but now that its all together it seems ok so far.

I havent ran it yet cuz I'm wating for more parts

 

[30%NitroBoy]

Originally posted by FSTFBDY
I'm Keeping my stock chassis around just Incase I do break this HCR Ti chassis..

I'll admit once I got it it does look weaker then the stock one and deff flexes more. but now that its all together it seems ok so far.

I havent ran it yet cuz I'm wating for more parts

YO, I love my HCR Standard size TI chassis so far. I doubt I'll ever break it with even the most hardcore bashing. Ya just wanna make sure your using Alluminum braces to keep everything stiff. If I break my HCR chassis you can bet that I'll be bitching about it here..lol.

Peace

 

[Dayhox]

I decided to guinee pig CF turnbuckles from Aerosticks. Go them off flee bay. Came here after having good luck to see if I was the only one. Laugh all you want. They have a guarantee and their web page convinced me that overdesign was not a factor. I PMed someone there and got the answers I was looking for. Darn strong if I may say so. However, I'm using stock ends which are cheap to replace when needed and are my "breakaway" point.