Diff Problems

[Jamie B4]

Had an issue lately with the diff feeling rough after just one race and tightish.

Bought a brand new diff and still seems to be rough/notchey

Can any of the team drivers let me know the best way to build a diff and if they tends to sand down the plates on the main diff and thrust race or not. Also any other tracks to getting a quality diff.

[chokoboy]

Looking for a smooth diff? U could try the B-Fast diff rings or u could sand down the standard diff rings with 600, 800 and finnish it off with 1200 sand-paper!

[_sleigh_]

Totally agree on the B-Fast RC diff upgrades. I build my with them about a couple of months ago and they still feel great with no 'slippage'.

If however you're going to rebuild with standard issue AE parts, then probably the single most important part to change is the thrust plates (and balls if they've been run a while or been overtightened). I dont do anything extra special with mine, just AE black grease on the Thrust and AE clear grease on the main balls/plates.

As for adjustment, I've never been a fan of the 'whack it up tight, then back it off 1/2 a turn', it just strikes me you're likely to dent the plates with the initial tightening. I on the otherhand, tighten until the diff just about works, then slowly tighten about 1/2 turn at a time. After each tighten I then check for slip by locking one diff half and pulley/gear in my hand/allen driver, while trying to tun the other diff half with another allen driver. Once there's no slip while in you're hand, then assemble in the car and check for slip by locking a wheel/spur and turning the other wheel (adjust as required until no slip)

Finally.. Power up you car, with one wheel locked still, slowly (I mean slowly) apply a small amount of power for a minute or so. Then repeat with the opposite wheel locked. This will 'bed' in the diff. As a final double check, check for slippage again after the bedding in process.

i realise this might take longer, but I've always ended up with great long lasting diffs this way.

Jamie, feel free to find me at the weekend and I lend a hand if you need.

[Jamie B4]

Thanks phil will take your advice and try tonight

[super__dan]

That advice from Phil is bang on!

[Hog]

My diffs need a rebuild so thanks for that advice Phil - where can I get the B-Fast diff rings?

[Jamie B4]

On the web site contacted DMS and they have to be bought direct from USA. When you go on website there are various options whether its just the rings or the full set of diff and thrust bearings. Seem a good price aswell

Mine on order

[Hog]

Which website? DMS's?

[Jamie B4]

http://www.bfastrc.com/xfactory.html

That's for the X6 selection

[ian h]

Originally Posted by Hog

Which website? DMS's?

www.bfastrc.com

[CODMAN]

The B-fast rings are definetly worth it. They work great and Fred doesn't ask for a killer markup on the price (they are very reasonable compared to a regular set of rings/ balls). It's an easy way to throw a great working diff into your ride!

[Darren Boyle]

Interesting to hear people views and comments on the pricing, we looked at the B-Fast R/C range and discussed possabilities with Fred some time back but was always under the impression from the feedback we recieved that racers here in the UK would not be happy to pay between $17 and $21 (approx £15 - £18.50 with shipping, import duty and VAT) for just a pair of the diff rings alone (which are superb I will point out, but just pricey - or so we were told by the customers and dealers we asked for an opinion)

What are people's thoughts on this..... would you happily pay up to £18.50 for a pair of enhanced diff rings if they were readily available here in the UK???

[CODMAN]

Well (as you know I'm in Canada so the UK reality is certainly different than my point of view), they sell for 18.50$ US on the website +5$ shipping for rings and diff balls. regular rings on the internet sell for about 2$ US for the rings plus 12$ for the carbide balls. That equals 14$ vs the 18.50$ Fred asks for finnishing the rings off. So for me, 4.50$ in Freds pocket for finnishing the rings is very reasonable, especially once you see how well they work! Now what the pricing comes out to in the UK is a different story. If it does come out to 17$ just for the rings (import duties, and taxes are that high?)... I would understand customers not interested... But for rings and balls?

How much would regular rings and carbide balls come out to for a customer?

Anyways, what I was trying to get at is for internet sales by BfastRC, it doesn't come out to much more than regular rings and balls... if you can get your pricing close to that, I would figure there would be interest... If you can't (for whatever reason), well it's another story...

Cheers and hats off to trying to get input from the consumer on what they want!

Originally Posted by DMS Racing

Interesting to hear people views and comments on the pricing, we looked at the B-Fast R/C range and discussed possabilities with Fred some time back but was always under the impression from the feedback we recieved that racers here in the UK would not be happy to pay between $17 and $21 (approx £15 - £18.50 with shipping, import duty and VAT) for just a pair of the diff rings alone (which are superb I will point out, but just pricey - or so we were told by the customers and dealers we asked for an opinion)

What are people's thoughts on this..... would you happily pay up to £18.50 for a pair of enhanced diff rings if they were readily available here in the UK???

[Darren Boyle]

Which sets are you looking at, since being in the AE section here I assume we are either talking about the B4/T4 or B44 which are $20 (B4) or $18 (T4) for the sets and $14 (B4) and $12 (B44) for rings alone, but remeber that the B-Fast Diff Balls are just $8 for 12 (we have similair to this here already in the UK with carbide 3/32 balls starting from just £7.49 for 12 and the in favour ceramic from just £8.99 or so.

The diff plates here in the UK are £1.49 per pair here in the UK for either the B4 or B44, added to the diff balls above would be £9 for a set of standard, the "combo" from B-Fast, would be £22 (B4) or £20 (B44), so here it is approx £11/13 for the "magic" that B-fast perform on the plates.

The saving odf $2 on the combo does help slightly but what the public think is what matters, it is still nearly double to have them here in the UK, is that extar expense considered worth it by the racers?????

So that you know, I have included the shipping in the price (since this would still be paid on larger shipments when imported too), Import Duty on R/C Car parts hovers around 5% at present and UK VAT is currently 17.5% (expected to rise soon too)

[CODMAN]

Sorry, should have mentioned I was talking about the B44 drivers kit (2/32 balls plus rings) at 18$
http://www.bfastrc.com/associated.html

Doh!!! 17.5% VAT!!!! I thought we had it bad with 13%...

Hopefully some UK buyers will give you some input!

Honestly, I haven,t bought a Bfast kit in a while because:
1- My B4 kit is still going strong with over 1 full season on it (flipped the rings though)
2- I sold my B44 and bought a B-max4, and B-fast doesn't have a kit. This forced me to learn to sand the rings myself which does a pretty good job (not as good as the B-fast rings, but not bad).

I really think these diff kits would be interestingr the racers who don't know how, or don't have the time to setup their diffs like this! For these guys the kit is a great upgrade that doesn't cost much more and saves time... Just my 0.02$

Originally Posted by DMS Racing

Which sets are you looking at, since being in the AE section here I assume we are either talking about the B4/T4 or B44 which are $20 (B4) or $18 (T4) for the sets and $14 (B4) and $12 (B44) for rings alone, but remeber that the B-Fast Diff Balls are just $8 for 12 (we have similair to this here already in the UK with carbide 3/32 balls starting from just £7.49 for 12 and the in favour ceramic from just £8.99 or so.

The diff plates here in the UK are £1.49 per pair here in the UK for either the B4 or B44, added to the diff balls above would be £9 for a set of standard, the "combo" from B-Fast, would be £22 (B4) or £20 (B44), so here it is approx £11/13 for the "magic" that B-fast perform on the plates.

The saving odf $2 on the combo does help slightly but what the public think is what matters, it is still nearly double to have them here in the UK, is that extar expense considered worth it by the racers?????

So that you know, I have included the shipping in the price (since this would still be paid on larger shipments when imported too), Import Duty on R/C Car parts hovers around 5% at present and UK VAT is currently 17.5% (expected to rise soon too)

[super__dan]

Originally Posted by super__dan

That advice from Phil is bang on!

Just to confirm, I wasn't refering to the B Fast bits (though I'm sure they're great) I meant the rest of the diff tips.