Traxxas maxx drive shaft snapped in exact same place after 10 minutes after replacing it.

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will1989

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Hi everyone. I'm new to the world of r c cars and I absolutely love it but I'm having an issue with my traxxas maxx. I bought a good condition one second hand and it has been bang on..after about the 15th use and some serious bashing the rear right side drive shaft snapped at the wheel and the wheel came off...I bought the new part the outer stub axel assembly. And this was my first time ever doing anything to an rc car I replaced it following a video used the car for 10 minutes not even doing anything too strenuous just ripping round it round the road outside my house and it broke again in the exact same place the new part....iv re ordered another part. What have I done wrong?
 
Welcome to the site.

Do you have any pics? How are the bearings? Is it possible that wheel nut is too tight? Is there any suspension binding on that wheel?
 
Welcome to the site.

Do you have any pics? How are the bearings? Is it possible that wheel nut is too tight? Is there any suspension binding on that wheel?
I did the wheel nut up tight...should I have not of done that...it was my original thought.
I did the wheel nut up tight...should I have not of done that...it was my original thought.
And how tights to tight
 
I would try taking off the front and putting them at that tightness. I have many Traxxas products, just not the Maxx or Xmaxx.

The other approach is to lightly snug it and watch. After so many passes bring it in and make sure it has not backed off.
 
20221202_170313.jpg


20221202_170406.jpg

So you reckon fix it as befor but this time when putting the wheel nut on don't tighten it as much. And hopefully should resolve problem. It's deffo something iv done wrong when fitting as it was fine befor...
20221202_171511.jpg

20221202_172136.jpg
 
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Something is causing the drive line to get in a bind and that CVD is the weakest link so it broke. Oftentimes when you buy a second hand RC rig the person selling it is only doing so because theyre having some issue with it that they can't figure out how to fix. you're going to need to start with the wheel bearings and make sure they spin smooth and free. There should not be any drag or grittiness. If those check out then I tear apart the rear differential and check the gears and bearings in there for any damage. If the rear diff checks out then Id tear down the center diff/transmission and check all the gears and bearings in there. Generally speaking you can't really over tighten the wheel nuts unless you're dealing with some sort of compatibility issue between an aftermarket wheel, or maybe a wheel spindle.
 
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Thank you very much very helpful...I'm hoping it's something simple as it sounds all very complicated for me with very little knowledge. Can you get those parts in aluminum would that help at all or not if they are even available? It seemed to be alright before i fixed it and took quite a lot of abuse befor it broke. But maybe your right and there was already an issue. But I hope not. Fingers crossed. Thanks mate
 
You wouldn't want aluminum for anything in the driveline of the RC. If you want to upgrade, get some MIP axles as I mentioned above. They will be bulletproof. You can however get aluminum carrier hubs here. They have other colors.

One thing I would do if your bearings are ok is remove the hub assembly and assemble it off the car.
20221202_170313.jpg

Then reassemble it off the car and tighten the wheel on there. Check to see if the wheel spins freely. If there is any friction, loosen the wheel nut a tad. If that frees it up, check the rear hubs for wear or cracks, particularly inside the bearing journals.

When is the axle breaking? Are you jumping it? If you jump, and land while on the throttle, when the spinning wheel hits the ground it has a lot higher potential to do damage.
 
Thank you very much very helpful...I'm hoping it's something simple as it sounds all very complicated for me with very little knowledge. Can you get those parts in aluminum would that help at all or not if they are even available? It seemed to be alright before i fixed it and took quite a lot of abuse befor it broke. But maybe your right and there was already an issue. But I hope not. Fingers crossed. Thanks mate
Its not as bad as it might sound, especially if you're a little bit mechanically inclined. It just seems daunting because you're new to it. The exploded view for your kit will show you how all the parts go back together in the event that you can't remember. You can also take pics of stuff as you're disassembling it for future reference when putting it back together.

Steel CVDs can be a good upgrade if its breaking due to something other than something in the drive line binding up or producing a lot of drag, which is possible. If thats whats causing the issue then putting MIP CVDs on the kit will just damage some other part of the drive line, usually a more expensive part of the drive line. Theres a bit of a risk vs reward aspect to consider when trying to decide whether or not to go aluminum on a part. Some parts theres less risk and its easier to make that call. Theres also some parts, like spur gears and a-arms that is generally consider foolish to replace with metal and then other parts fall somewhere in between.

All of that being said, Those plastic CVDs could just be breaking because you're bashing it too hard or landing jumps with throttle on too in which case thats a perfect reason to upgrade to steel CVDs.

Hope this helps
 
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You wouldn't want aluminum for anything in the driveline of the RC. If you want to upgrade, get some MIP axles as I mentioned above. They will be bulletproof. You can however get aluminum carrier hubs here. They have other colors.

One thing I would do if your bearings are ok is remove the hub assembly and assemble it off the car.
View attachment 156322
Then reassemble it off the car and tighten the wheel on there. Check to see if the wheel spins freely. If there is any friction, loosen the wheel nut a tad. If that frees it up, check the rear hubs for wear or cracks, particularly inside the bearing journals.

When is the axle breaking? Are you jumping it? If you jump, and land while on the throttle, when the spinning wheel hits the ground it has a lot higher potential to do damage.
Thanks pal
So you would deffo get mip axel rather than these
Screenshot_20221203-184956_Samsung Internet.jpg

Its not as bad as it might sound, especially if you're a little bit mechanically inclined. It just seems daunting because you're new to it. The exploded view for your kit will show you how all the parts go back together in the event that you can't remember. You can also take pics of stuff as you're disassembling it for future reference when putting it back together.

Steel CVDs can be a good upgrade if its breaking due to something other than something in the drive line binding up or producing a lot of drag, which is possible. If thats whats causing the issue then putting MIP CVDs on the kit will just damage some other part of the drive line, usually a more expensive part of the drive line. Theres a bit of a risk vs reward aspect to consider when trying to decide whether or not to go aluminum on a part. Some parts theres less risk and its easier to make that call. Theres also some parts, like spur gears and a-arms that is generally consider foolish to replace with metal and then other parts fall somewhere in between.

All of that being said, Those plastic CVDs could just be breaking because you're bashing it too hard or landing jumps with throttle on too in which case thats a perfect reason to upgrade to steel CVDs.

Hope this helps
Yh defiantly does thanks pal...I went out and bought a brand new x maxx today so iv got something to play with in-between fixing my maxx. Not gonna bash it hard tho just yet can't bring myself to do it. It's to sexy and and new
You wouldn't want aluminum for anything in the driveline of the RC. If you want to upgrade, get some MIP axles as I mentioned above. They will be bulletproof. You can however get aluminum carrier hubs here. They have other colors.

One thing I would do if your bearings are ok is remove the hub assembly and assemble it off the car.
View attachment 156322
Then reassemble it off the car and tighten the wheel on there. Check to see if the wheel spins freely. If there is any friction, loosen the wheel nut a tad. If that frees it up, check the rear hubs for wear or cracks, particularly inside the bearing journals.

When is the axle breaking? Are you jumping it? If you jump, and land while on the throttle, when the spinning wheel hits the ground it has a lot higher potential to do damage.
It's broke last when I'm ripping it round the concrete on the streets not even jumping it. It deffo shouldn't of broke that easy. Well iv ordered the same part again will try everything every1s said and let you all no how long it lasts this time. And we can make a decision after that
 
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Ok, I wonder... since you bought this used... maybe the previous owner changed the diff, or diff fluid. Or maybe the diff fluid is just too thick for concrete. Concrete gets a boatload of traction, and having a diff with little to no give will do exactly what is happening to your rig.

As for those Widemaxx axles, those only work if you have the Widemaxx kit on your rig. This extends your track width of the vehicle. Those will not work with stock length arms.
https://www.amainhobbies.com/traxxas-maxx-widemaxx-suspension-kit-orange-tra8995t/p1055972
 
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Ok, I wonder... since you bought this used... maybe the previous owner changed the diff, or diff fluid. Or maybe the diff fluid is just too thick for concrete. Concrete gets a boatload of traction, and having a diff with little to no give will do exactly what is happening to your rig.

As for those Widemaxx axles, those only work if you have the Widemaxx kit on your rig. This extends your track width of the vehicle. Those will not work with stock length arms.
https://www.amainhobbies.com/traxxas-maxx-widemaxx-suspension-kit-orange-tra8995t/p1055972
Right I think iv found the problem I didn't check the bearing inside the hub the one my finger is pointing at and it does not spin at all its completely solid the other spins lovely. So if it's suppose to spin like the other than that's the clear issue isn't it? So just going to order new one of those and same part again that should sort it yh?

20221204_154303.jpg
 
Right I think iv found the problem I didn't check the bearing inside the hub the one my finger is pointing at and it does not spin at all its completely solid the other spins lovely. So if it's suppose to spin like the other than that's the clear issue isn't it? So just going to order new one of those and same part again that should sort it yh?

View attachment 156382
Thats definitely at least a contributing factor. Finding this however now re-enforces the fact that you need to go through the entire driveline and check all of the bearings and gears. You could have others also producing drag. I had to do that with the very first Losi LST2 I bought used. It kept stripping spur gears for no apparent reason. By the time I had gone through the entire drive line I think I had to replace like 5 or 6 bearings that were either siezed or partially siezed and had to clean several others that were gritty.
 
Hi everyone. I'm new to the world of r c cars and I absolutely love it but I'm having an issue with my traxxas maxx. I bought a good condition one second hand and it has been bang on..after about the 15th use and some serious bashing the rear right side drive shaft snapped at the wheel and the wheel came off...I bought the new part the outer stub axel assembly. And this was my first time ever doing anything to an rc car I replaced it following a video used the car for 10 minutes not even doing anything too strenuous just ripping round it round the road outside my house and it broke again in the exact same place the new part....iv re ordered another part. What have I done wrong?
Well, I’m NOT new to RC, and I have a Tamiya crawler that does the very same thing — promptly and consistently snaps replaced drive shafts in the exact same place. Original plastic and hardened steel ones. Doesn’t matter. Welcome back to the hobby.
 
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