Upgrading the front on my X6
 

Greetings everybody,

Beginning of this year I've bought an B4FT and an X6 after 18 years of absence from the RC world.

I've come to the conclusion that the X6 is the one I like the most so I'm thinking of upgrading the fragile front.

First up , the front shock tower on which I have decided

- K Factory B4 Carbon Front Shock Tower (K1512)
+ the DMS Partz Carbon fibre replacement front shock tower for
K Factory mounts (DMS135)

This way I would have a spare one :D .

To strenghten the front of the X6 I was thinking about upgrading to the following parts but I cannot figure out which ones would be the best option.

Next bulkheads :

- Ghea Racing brass bulkhead(GHEA2055)
- Thrishbits brass bulkhead
http://www.trishbits.com/bulkhead02.jpg
- K Factory alu bulkhead (K1505)
http://www.kfactoryracing.com/produc...1505&pageNum=1
- Yeah Racing alloy bulkhead (AB4-019BU) http://www.yeahracing.com/catalog/ab...t4-p-1426.html

Obviously there is the difference in weight and quality of material but also the price, i'm a bit lost on that one :confused:

Same puzzle for the steering rack :

- K factory Alu steering rack (K1509)
http://www.kfactoryracing.com/produc...1509&pageNum=1
- Yeah racing alloy ball bearing steering set (AB4-042BU)
http://www.yeahracing.com/catalog/ab...t4-p-1521.html

Next items

Castor blocks

- K factory Alu 25° castor blocks (K1502)
http://www.kfactoryracing.com/produc...1502&pageNum=1
- Yeah Racing Alloy bearing C-hub (AB4-005BU)
http://www.yeahracing.com/catalog/ab...t4-p-1476.html
-Team Integy Alloy modified Castor Block
http://www.integy.com/st_prod.html?p...462&p_catid=70

Steering block/Front Knuckle arms
- K factory Alu steering block (K1501)
http://www.kfactoryracing.com/produc...1501&pageNum=1
- Yeah Racing alloy Front Knuckle arm (AB4-006BU)
http://www.yeahracing.com/catalog/ab...t4-p-1544.html
- Team Integy In-line Alloy Steering bloack
http://www.integy.com/st_prod.html?p...460&p_catid=70

Top Front bulkhead
- Team Integy Alloy front bulkhead
http://www.integy.com/st_prod.html?p...484&p_catid=70

And last but not least , what are your thoughts on alloy front arms ?
- Yeah Racing Alloy front lower arm (AB4-001BU)

My goal is to add weight to the front and strenghten it, please give me your feedback, it is very much appreciated.

Thanks,
Erik ( Stical )

Hi,

in most cases the original parts are sufficient for the job - sometimes they break, but most of the time the cheap parts break before the expensive ones (chassis,...).

I use the trishbits front bulkhead, because of the +40g and I think of buying the k-factory shock-tower + DMS-Part because it looks nice...

... servo saver - not needed at all
... alu swing-arms, knuckles, c-hubs,....they look nice, but I don't like them. Probably they don't break BUT they are bent (often you don't see that and you don't know why your car is behaving like crazy) and the next weak part in the chain is damaged ...

Peter

i would say get the brass front bulkhead, (Trish or ghea)depends on how much steering you want,the Trish one is heaver,k factory front tower is a good upgrade,beyond that i wouldn't bother as slow said,alloy parts bend and most of the time cause more problems than there worth,

heavy suspension is not good :)

the last half of your post is waste of money.

a brass bulkhead and perhaps the shocktower (I don't need/want it and many others either)

put your money in tires for training :)

The new front tower and aluminum bulkhead are good. Like the others said, adding all that aluminum will make the car heavy. Because the aluminum parts won't break, it will cause parts that never break to break. There is a balance here. I would rather replace a cheap set of arms than replace expensice aluminum ones! Stay with these 2 upgrades and your car will be fine.:thumbsup:

Thanks guys for the feedback, appreciate that.

Cooper, indeed, tires were also my list as I currently only have 2 decent (new) sets lying around.

I've read several things about the alloy parts but you guys got me convinced now, so I'll stay away from it.

Does anyone know a shop that still have the item in stock? Looks impossible to find them :(

if you want the full mount, there no longer available, if you want the carbon tower with out malloy mounts DMS do thier own version which is better

I need the mounts as well, i know they are discontinued, that's why i ask if someone knows a shop who still have a package.

I "think" we were the last shop to ever have any from CML (UK supplier) - or at least that is what they have told us when we brought our last 25 or so. Sadly we have now run out too :cry:, so I would "guess" finding one may be tough unless there is one misplaced or somthing in another store somewhere.

Would the alloy mounts off one from a T4 be the same as the B4 mounts?

Pretty certain they are the same..

They are not the same but "may" fit....the truck ones are taller and support the bodys posts on the truck too, aslong as that does not interfere with the shocks on the buggy they "should" be OK

As above, not the same!

Using the T4 mounts is not a bad idea! Dremel is your best friend :thumbsup:
I asume the link geometry will be the same?!

You've got k1514 and DMS135 in stock Darren?

Even if the carbon front shock mount looks nice I'd rather have the standard front shock mount snap in a crash than snapping the front of the chassis off which will happen if you stiffen the shock tower too much...

The brass bulkheads are nice though to get a little more weight over the front axle. Any other shiny bits are a waste of money and usually do more harm than good. Aluminium wishbones are a big no-no.

x2:thumbsup:

Having the tougher front tower fitted does not mean a definate breakage of a chassis every time you have a big crash though. I (like most of the X-Factory team including Ellis) have run the K-Factory bases with our own carbon from tower ever since they came out and in my case (mainly through lack of talent) and in Ellis case (through lack of fear) have had soem horrific high speed crashes through the past 18 months or so and none have directly resluted in a chassis snapping. Dont get me wrong, it does pass the weakness down to the chassis in an impact but it does not mean you will snap chasiss on an X6 (or B4) simply because you use this mount with the added bonus of course that you dont snap anywhere near as many fron towers and finish many more races as a result. (If you added up how many towers snap in the same time that one chassis would go it would probably work out more expensive money wise on towers....)

Ever since Ive used the Kfactory front shock tower mount Ive not broken a shock tower or a chassis in the last 2 years:thumbsup:
Before that I brake a tower once a month :blush:

You can use the T4 K-Factory mounts on the front of the buggy; as hottuna says it just takes a bit of dremel work with a cut-off wheel. Check out BK's 2wd, this is exactly what he's done:

http://www.xfactoryrc.com/rc/Galleri...DirtCars08.jpg