slipper clutch or center differential

[Lukedavis]

what is better in your opinion? I like the slipper clutch because I can pop wheelies!

 

[DavidB1126]

This is from a racing aspect. Slippers are mostly used on high traction surfaces like Grey or black carpet and turf. Center diffs are mostly used on clay and dirt tracks. 1 time I didn't set my slipper properly on my rustler and ended up like this. Slipper got way too hot and burnt the case and input shaft.

 

[bill_delong]

This is from a racing aspect. Slippers are mostly used on high traction surfaces like Grey or black carpet and turf. Center diffs are mostly used on clay and dirt tracks. 1 time I didn't set my slipper properly on my rustler and ended up like this. Slipper got way too hot and burnt the case and input shaft. View attachment 158391

+1

Slippers and/or center spool (locked diffs) are very common in stock racing to reduce rotating mass to enhance performance


In contrast I recently installed a center gear diff in my 13.5 wheeler to race at SDRC (indoor clay) on vacation in SoCal and I decided to keep the gear diff in my car when coming back to race on turf at my local track to discover that I prefer the gear diff on turf.... car is just a lot more stable and easy to drive. The slipper makes it very twitchy where stability allows me to hold a tighter line and faster for me in the corners as opposed to the faster acceleration with the slipper.

There is no right or wrong, just a personal preference and probably a good idea to test all 3 options to see which is best for the current track conditions.

The turf layouts in my area tend to be more technical where I might go back to the slipper for a fast flowing layout without any hairpins.

 

[DavidB1126]

I am planning to have my buggy set up for indoor clay. If I do go to one of the other carpet tracks I will expirement with the center diff. Might get a slipper conversion kit.

 

[Lukedavis]

i was talking about like bashers and such but I guess we can talk about racing too.

 

[bill_delong]

i was talking about like bashers and such but I guess we can talk about racing too.

well, anything a racer will recommend to improve performance is pretty much the exact opposite you want to do as a basher which parallels the tuning options for drifting.

Racing = Stiffer Front + Looser Rear for more grip
Drifting/Bashing = Looser Front + Stiffer rear to generate massive rotation for wheelies and drifting capability

For a Basher, don't even waste your time with a slipper, go with a spool then you can wheelie for days, ha!

 

[Lukedavis]

Can you even get a spool for the center drive line? I have a rustler and the slipper is just awesome to me. I have tried a differential in it but I hated it.

 

[Greywolf74]

For bashing it doesn't really matter imo.

 

[Bogda89]

well, anything a racer will recommend to improve performance is pretty much the exact opposite you want to do as a basher which parallels the tuning options for drifting.

Racing = Stiffer Front + Looser Rear for more grip
Drifting/Bashing = Looser Front + Stiffer rear to generate massive rotation for wheelies and drifting capability

For a Basher, don't even waste your time with a slipper, go with a spool then you can wheelie for days, ha!

Hi Bill. I think I saw somewhere you had tekno eb410. What setup do you recommend for carpet in terms of diff and shock oil. My tekno buggy was set for clay by the previous owner, I didn't change much except 45w shock oil front and rear, but I will go a little lighter rear, like 42.5. do you run toe in or out?

Last race I didn't have a lot of traction up front, but I think tires are worn out. Do you have any other suggestions? I run et410.2, I bought it couple months ago and it was set pretty good for carpet, eb410 I bought 4 years ago but I was not racing since 2019 and started couple months ago again

 

[bill_delong]

Hi Bill. I think I saw somewhere you had tekno eb410. What setup do you recommend for carpet in terms of diff and shock oil.

Good News is that your track is very tight and technical... the EB410 was not designed for high grip carpet and won't be as competitive with high speed corners compared to most modern brands which typically offer a dirt or carpet edition, I worked with several team drivers to include Joe Bornhorst and Ryan Lutz who came to offer a race clinic where they both wrenched on my car to get it dialed in and here's a clip of Ryan test driving my car:

Here's the best setup I could get out my EB410 on turf:
https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?3003521-BUILD-REVIEW-Tekno-EB410-1

I would later switch over to PR Racing and it was like taking a knife to a gun fight, I went from on the bubble to get bumps into the A main with TEKNO to becoming a pack leader consistently on the podium with PR. That said TEKNO is a beast on dirt!

Note that 30-60-10 was necessary to tame the beast on turf

I currently run 10-60-5 in my PR where it can handle a far more aggressive setup without risk of traction rolling

https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?3268789-REVIEW-PR-Racing-SB401-TypeR

Note that my Clay setup for SDRC works extremely well for Thornhill's Turf track too!

Can you even get a spool for the center drive line? I have a rustler and the slipper is just awesome to me. I have tried a differential in it but I hated it.

Dunno, would be surprised if someone didn't offer it, center spools are fairly common across most brands, another option is to simply crank down on the slipper until the spring is fully compressed (effectively locked)

 

[RustyUs]

what is better in your opinion? I like the slipper clutch because I can pop wheelies!

Heck, I would have thought you'd liked the center diff better for wheelie popping action.
What thickness of diff fluid were you using? 1M should have basically given you what you needed for power transfer. Yes?

 

[Greywolf74]

Heck, I would have thought you'd liked the center diff better for wheelie popping action.
What thickness of diff fluid were you using? 1M should have basically given you what you needed for power transfer. Yes?

I'm guessing he said that cuz you can tighten the the slipper all the way down?

 

[Lukedavis]

I'm guessing he said that cuz you can tighten the the slipper all the way down?

i was using 30k weight in the center diff and it was kind of tight but it wasn't at the same time. the bearing also didn't fit in the front of the center diff so that sucks. i will order some new parts to try it again. i will order some 1m weight too.

 

[bill_delong]

i was using 30k weight in the center diff and it was kind of tight but it wasn't at the same time. the bearing also didn't fit in the front of the center diff so that sucks. i will order some new parts to try it again. i will order some 1m weight too.

Another option to consider is using Silly Putty:
http://www.rccrawler.com/forum/axial-yeti/586027-ol-silly-putty-diff-trick.html

I have experimented with putting various amounts of putty to get the desired effect, if you fully pack the diff with putty then it will be 100% locked, but smaller amounts of putty will let it flow to where it feels closer to 1M fluid.

 

[DrFranz]

So I don't think I quite understand this. We're saying that the slipper clutch can (or should) be replaced with a center diff, or even a lock up? I'm referring to my Rustler 4x4 VXL. And if so, what's the part number or assembly? Why do this, I'm a basher, no longer racing?

 

[luke66]

neither. i wanna eliminate my slipper.

 

[bill_delong]

So I don't think I quite understand this. We're saying that the slipper clutch can (or should) be replaced with a center diff, or even a lock up? I'm referring to my Rustler 4x4 VXL. And if so, what's the part number or assembly? Why do this, I'm a basher, no longer racing?

For general bashing around a slipper will be fine, less maintenance and probably be what most people are looking for if they want to do wheelies more easily.

On a race track, a slipper is just horrible for me, I prefer a center diff regardless of grip condition. Here's a screen shot from the Hudy tuning guide where a center slipper is about as close as you can get to a locked diff, even a loosened slipper feels closer to 1,000,000 CST where most of my cars range from 7K - 60K max on my fluid filled diffs:

 

[9x19]

My Hoss comes with a center diff, and it was the first thing I upgraded on my Rally and Slash 4x4 (all use the same one you can get it with a plastic #6780A or metal #6780 cover). I've never been a huge fan of slippers on a 4WD.