Routine Maintenance

[practitioner]

Hey so I've had this truck for about 6 months now.

The first central diff leaked and blew so I had to rebuild it, which was fun. But that experience has me wondering what things I should think about performing routine maintenance. I didn't realize the central diff was leaking until it was too late. Should I be checking it regularly? After every ride?

What are some of the kinds of things I should be doing/looking at and at what kinds of intervals?

 

[ReMiXeDg]

I usually check to see if all my screws and bolts are tight fitted and also check my servo horn.

Other than that just usually dont fix or do anything to it unless something breaks which is rarely.

As for servicing differentials I say service them when they brake.

 

[Nicochau]

It is hard to give a precise interval. I run 3 rigs almost every weekend and sometimes a short run in the backyard during the week.

i clean and check them up after my long weekend run. All screws. I’ll test if wheels turn freely or if there is anything binding. If anything starts to feel wrong, i would do the bearings and diff. I will not do the whole car at once, i would do front or back assembly. That way, things are done in smaller intervals and I don’t need to carve out 3 to 4 hours for a full rebuild.

I do some servicing every weekend. Either fixing something that broke, moding, setting up something or maintenance. That is at least 2h per week. It does feel like I’m wrenching all the time! With multiple cars and racing every weekend you feel like you are going through oil and bearings in no time.

My estimation is that every rig gets new bearings and fresh diffs every 3 to 4 months and no longer than 6. That is long enough considering I drive them every week.

note: do not overfill diffs or they will leak.

 

[TBuggy]

I estimate somewhere around 30 packs through it before diff and shock oil changes. Like @Nicochau said checking rotating parts and making sure they are spinning freely and no "crunching" sounds coming from bearings.

I clean my rigs after every run unless I am going right back out the next day and as long as it is only dirty not muddy. If its muddy or wet in any way I clean it when I get it home that same day.

One thing that I dont know if everyone does but when you are tearing things down and say doing maintenance on the front end replacing bearing and such. I pull off the arms and the hinge pins not only to inspect them but to clean and polish them. After simply wiping them down I chuck them up in a drill and then run it while holding a scotch bite up to it and basically polishing it to almost new again. I also take pipe cleaners to clear out any dirt or dust in the hole of the arm where the hinge pins go. Sometimes just doing that will free up your suspension so much if you start to feel any binding happening.

Really its up to you how much you want to do....but I always recommend at least checking everything before you head out to start your runs!

 

[practitioner]

Thanks for your posts! This gives me some idea of things to look at. I've only cleaned things after each ride, and only go out every other week.

note: do not overfill diffs or they will leak.

Haha learned this the hard way! But it was good fun taking everything apart and rebuilding it a second time. Even after watching and reading a bunch, it wasn't until rebuilding the center diff that I really wrapped my head around putting it together.

 

[aclewett]

Thanks for your posts! This gives me some idea of things to look at. I've only cleaned things after each ride, and only go out every other week.



Haha learned this the hard way! But it was good fun taking everything apart and rebuilding it a second time. Even after watching and reading a bunch, it wasn't until rebuilding the center diff that I really wrapped my head around putting it together.

I have just built the centre diff for the first time. It seems like the oil is leaking out a tiny bit. Not sure if I have over/under tightened or tightened in an unbalanced way. When I tightened as much as I could it seemed to be a bit too 'sticky' so I slackened off a bit. I'm now wondering whether I should have done this at all....

 

[TBuggy]

It is normal to see a little bit of oil splatter after rebuilding the diffs. It shouldn't continue though. Sometimes (depending on how clean you poured the oil in) you will get it in the screw holes but it will expel once you run it.