Timmahh
RCTalk Addict
Hello Folks. I would like to take a bit of bandwidth and give my thoughts on the I.R.P. (Inertia Racing Products) Turnbuckles.
Buddy and I discussed these last fall as he was releaseing them. I was excited when he described them to me. Once he sent me a few sneak peak pics, i knew i had to have some. we talked a bit more and when he decided to offer the FLM set, i decided to hang back a bit until he got those done also. so last fall i got both a stock set and an ext set for the ext FLM arms. i also got the spacers at the same time with them.
when they arrived, they were well packaged, and looked good. i didnt take many pics, but managed to get afew i will post up in a bit. I really like the look. the Hex adjustment being toward the out side makes for easy adjustments. the locking nuts are a nice point to keep things in place. With the stock setups, (ends and balls) i often found the ends have worked themselves to one side or the other, and I had to keep up checking them to make sure the ball ends wouldnt bind form being turned all the way. with the IRPs and the nuts, once you set the ball angel/tierod length between balls, the lock nuts holds thigs from self adjusting when running.
the heim joints are very smooth and offer little to no risistance when moving, but are slop free. movement is very smooth and fluid with them out of package, and installed. due to the somewhat funny angles of the hub turning arms, the stand offs help maintain clearance, function, and articulation thru the turning radius of the tierods, so it doesn't hit or bind up on the arm when in certain positions. I'm not fully knowledgeable about the construction but can say they are steel heims, and feel very beefy. even so, the full setup Is lighter than a full stock setup with an aftermarket tierod.
Its not that the other units available dont work, because they work quite well, but as long as they continue to use the stock ball ends and balls, they ll suffer the same pitfalls of the stockers without the bending breakig issues the stockers have. they will still wear the plastic ends and you will eventually start popping them off and need to replace parts.
2nd issue with the plastic ends is adjustments. i have never been able to get a good tierod adjustment with the tie rods intalled. the friction of the plastic end around the tierods always would pop the ball off the end piece long before i was able to make the adjustment. this resulted in just taking them off to make any adjustments, then reinstalling. not hard, but time consuming.
both of these issues/quirks are eliminated using the IRP turnbuckles.
you gain strength, durability, easy of maintenance and adjustability with out haveing to remove them. the slop from the stock and aftermarket ball ends is gone. the system is just as smooth, if not smoother than the stock type setups, and you save a small amount of weight in the process of adding them.
while the spacers are needed for the FLM setups, they arent so much needed on the stock setups, but do offer some benefits, so i would suggest buying the spacers at the same time, as they will help keep things free moving and well setup.
i ve got about 3 or 4 tanks thru the stock size units on my heavey Super Buggy cage. its weighing in at 33.5 plus lbs and has had some good jumps and spills in the few tanks I've been able to get thru.
With the FLM set, I have only been able to run one tank of fuel thru with them istalled at MotoRama a few weeks back. Being ran on a 1:1 MX track, wasn't brutal, but it certainly put the bajas thru their paces. i ended up doing ok, but DNFd from my pinion bolt not getting fully tightened back up (DOH). The steering was much better, and more precise. the lack of slop helped me maintian control on the whoops and thru the corners. Even when on speed, I could notice the improved control and lack of steering slop I previously had.
I do have to mention I recently installed the PA Racing steering plate and the new Hitec 5755MG servo and 8MM Rhino horn on the otherwise stock whiper setup. while the servo helped maintain pricise turn radius, and the PA bracket reduced or eliminated any radio box flex the rig was seeing, overall with the IRPs, things were much better. I still note a small bit of slop in the front axles now, so i ll be adding some shims to them very soon. and then i have a small bit left in the stock whiper setup. But this too will soon be eliminated, for an overall improved steering setup.
All in all i give the IRP turnbuckles a very high score.
Assembly is very easy.
Setup and adjustability is a snap. threds turn smooth and simple, and lock nuts keep things in the correct postion.
They look very good. Nice style adding some bling, but the performance and function they offer is way more important than the good looks. But the Fact the also look great, is a big bonus imo.
If your Racing, the Precision Manufactuing, Durability and Ease of Adjustment to suit your needs are huge points of interest.
if your Bashig the Durability and Ease of setup as well as longevity in even some of the most extreme bashing enviroments are your huge points of interest.
Hell, even if you built a shelf queen, they look as nice as they work, so that is a big point for you blingers as well.
I think Buddy has an excellent product with the IRP Turnbuckles, designed and manufactured to just work, right here in the USofA. If you want to add some more precision to your steering unit, save a bit of weight, and remove slop and the aggrevation of sloppy ball ends and popping off end, then these IRP Turnbuckles are the way forward.
Like a number of the top quality Aftermarket Manufacturers of HPI Baja 5X parts, IRP is commited to bringing you quality items, that are well desinged, that work as stated, and have the Mark of Excellence that has been a long and proud tradition of Quality Engineering and Manufactureing here in America.
I'm happy to have been previledged to be able to check these out and put them thru some paces.
I will ofcourse be updating this thread/review as runtime and use are done.
I have to also get some pics. i know i took some and uploaded them, but I'm having trouble finding them. but I'm pretty sure i have them, though they may of been on my puter when it crashed on my last fall. at any rate i ll get some pics up, but we all know what they look like and how they go. but.....
I ll be doing a string of reviews in the coming months on many pieces I've been using/abusing for a while now.
Buddy and I discussed these last fall as he was releaseing them. I was excited when he described them to me. Once he sent me a few sneak peak pics, i knew i had to have some. we talked a bit more and when he decided to offer the FLM set, i decided to hang back a bit until he got those done also. so last fall i got both a stock set and an ext set for the ext FLM arms. i also got the spacers at the same time with them.
when they arrived, they were well packaged, and looked good. i didnt take many pics, but managed to get afew i will post up in a bit. I really like the look. the Hex adjustment being toward the out side makes for easy adjustments. the locking nuts are a nice point to keep things in place. With the stock setups, (ends and balls) i often found the ends have worked themselves to one side or the other, and I had to keep up checking them to make sure the ball ends wouldnt bind form being turned all the way. with the IRPs and the nuts, once you set the ball angel/tierod length between balls, the lock nuts holds thigs from self adjusting when running.
the heim joints are very smooth and offer little to no risistance when moving, but are slop free. movement is very smooth and fluid with them out of package, and installed. due to the somewhat funny angles of the hub turning arms, the stand offs help maintain clearance, function, and articulation thru the turning radius of the tierods, so it doesn't hit or bind up on the arm when in certain positions. I'm not fully knowledgeable about the construction but can say they are steel heims, and feel very beefy. even so, the full setup Is lighter than a full stock setup with an aftermarket tierod.
Its not that the other units available dont work, because they work quite well, but as long as they continue to use the stock ball ends and balls, they ll suffer the same pitfalls of the stockers without the bending breakig issues the stockers have. they will still wear the plastic ends and you will eventually start popping them off and need to replace parts.
2nd issue with the plastic ends is adjustments. i have never been able to get a good tierod adjustment with the tie rods intalled. the friction of the plastic end around the tierods always would pop the ball off the end piece long before i was able to make the adjustment. this resulted in just taking them off to make any adjustments, then reinstalling. not hard, but time consuming.
both of these issues/quirks are eliminated using the IRP turnbuckles.
you gain strength, durability, easy of maintenance and adjustability with out haveing to remove them. the slop from the stock and aftermarket ball ends is gone. the system is just as smooth, if not smoother than the stock type setups, and you save a small amount of weight in the process of adding them.
while the spacers are needed for the FLM setups, they arent so much needed on the stock setups, but do offer some benefits, so i would suggest buying the spacers at the same time, as they will help keep things free moving and well setup.
i ve got about 3 or 4 tanks thru the stock size units on my heavey Super Buggy cage. its weighing in at 33.5 plus lbs and has had some good jumps and spills in the few tanks I've been able to get thru.
With the FLM set, I have only been able to run one tank of fuel thru with them istalled at MotoRama a few weeks back. Being ran on a 1:1 MX track, wasn't brutal, but it certainly put the bajas thru their paces. i ended up doing ok, but DNFd from my pinion bolt not getting fully tightened back up (DOH). The steering was much better, and more precise. the lack of slop helped me maintian control on the whoops and thru the corners. Even when on speed, I could notice the improved control and lack of steering slop I previously had.
I do have to mention I recently installed the PA Racing steering plate and the new Hitec 5755MG servo and 8MM Rhino horn on the otherwise stock whiper setup. while the servo helped maintain pricise turn radius, and the PA bracket reduced or eliminated any radio box flex the rig was seeing, overall with the IRPs, things were much better. I still note a small bit of slop in the front axles now, so i ll be adding some shims to them very soon. and then i have a small bit left in the stock whiper setup. But this too will soon be eliminated, for an overall improved steering setup.
All in all i give the IRP turnbuckles a very high score.
Assembly is very easy.
Setup and adjustability is a snap. threds turn smooth and simple, and lock nuts keep things in the correct postion.
They look very good. Nice style adding some bling, but the performance and function they offer is way more important than the good looks. But the Fact the also look great, is a big bonus imo.
If your Racing, the Precision Manufactuing, Durability and Ease of Adjustment to suit your needs are huge points of interest.
if your Bashig the Durability and Ease of setup as well as longevity in even some of the most extreme bashing enviroments are your huge points of interest.
Hell, even if you built a shelf queen, they look as nice as they work, so that is a big point for you blingers as well.
I think Buddy has an excellent product with the IRP Turnbuckles, designed and manufactured to just work, right here in the USofA. If you want to add some more precision to your steering unit, save a bit of weight, and remove slop and the aggrevation of sloppy ball ends and popping off end, then these IRP Turnbuckles are the way forward.
Like a number of the top quality Aftermarket Manufacturers of HPI Baja 5X parts, IRP is commited to bringing you quality items, that are well desinged, that work as stated, and have the Mark of Excellence that has been a long and proud tradition of Quality Engineering and Manufactureing here in America.
I'm happy to have been previledged to be able to check these out and put them thru some paces.
I will ofcourse be updating this thread/review as runtime and use are done.
I have to also get some pics. i know i took some and uploaded them, but I'm having trouble finding them. but I'm pretty sure i have them, though they may of been on my puter when it crashed on my last fall. at any rate i ll get some pics up, but we all know what they look like and how they go. but.....
I ll be doing a string of reviews in the coming months on many pieces I've been using/abusing for a while now.
