HawnMT
Well-Known Member
The Axles....
Probably the most critical part of the TXT is it's axles so here's an in depth comparison of the Clone's axles to the TXT. In all the pics the Clone will be on the left and the Tamiya TXT-1 will be on the right.
Externally the axles are identical but internally there are some differences. They both use 6mm input shafts, same style stub shafts with 4mm nuts, and the perches for the skidplate/servo mounts are the same. The only visible difference is cosmetic, the clone's wheel adapter is black. Something funny/interesting, on all the housing parts of the clone is stamped "2008" rather than the "2000" "2001" on TXT housings.
When the wheel adapter is removed you can see that the clone uses a steel hex while the TXT uses a brass one.
When you breakdown the knuckle you find the parts are identical. I even mix/matched parts between the two and everything works with each other. Of note is that the limiting posts on the clone's knuckle are not equal distance from the kingpin(looks like a flaw in the mold since all the knuckles are like this) which means the steering is more limited one way from the other. It very little and not very noticeable I just happen to see it because the steering seemed more limited than the TXT. Also of note the clone didn't have the kingpin washers, it has the recesses for them but they are empty.
Moving on to top half of the axle, this is where differences start to show. First off the screws for the top cover are shorter on the clone than the TXT, and in my opinion they are too short. The screws not only bolt the cover down they also carry the stresses of the top links. When I rebuild the axles I'm going to use longer TXT screws.
The 6mm input shaft itself is identical to the TXT but on clone it rides on 6x12x4mm which are common, instead of the hard to find 6x11x4mm bearings on the TXT. What this means is the housings for the Clone are not completely identical to the TXT. In fact you can see there are holes on the top cover just above the input shaft to accommodate the larger bearing. So while not identical they can be swapped in in place of TXT housings if you change the entire housing out and use the larger bearings.
Of note is that the large bevel gears are not steel like the TXT, they are made of the same die-cast material the drive gear and differential are made of, which I think is pewter. This concerns me because the steel gears would wear in the TXT so the softer metal in the clone might wear even faster. The good news is all the gears and shafts are interchangeable between the two so it's possible to swap in TXT bevel gears if needed. This is also good because the drive gear, which has been discontinued by Tamiya for years, is interchangeable so a clone's gear can be used in a TXT.
Moving down to the lower half of the axles you can see they are just about identical. I say just about because the housing has just enough difference that it will not bolt up to the upper housing. But because of the issues in the upper gearcase it's not a big deal. What is a big deal is the amount of quality control issues I found.
The truck was listed as having 98% ball bearings but the entire lower half(long shafts and stub axles) had bushings. I think part of the reason for this is because the 6x12x4mm bearing it's supposed to use won't fit properly. It's just by a hair but it's enought to make putting them on nearly impossible. My solution was to put in on my poorman's lathe(my drill) and file off just enough for the bearing to fit. This now means the long shafts are more susceptible to rust.
The last problem I found was with a screw in the diff housing. I guess they use power tools to put these together because the screw head was obliterated. Worse thing is the screw wasn't screwed in all the way so I HAD to take it out. I end up breaking the head off the screw and just removing the cover so I could use pliers on the little bit that was sticking out. Luckily it came out without much hassles. I also found the other two screws to be too long so I just swapped in my own shorter screws. Other than that the diffs are identical and the parts between both are interchangeable.
Overall I think the axles are alright. The quality issues really keep them from being any better than that. I can accept the larger bearing in the upper case and what that means about the housings but the fact I had to file down the axles for bearings is really sad. On the plus side there are a lot of useable parts that interchange between the clone and real TXT.
Probably the most critical part of the TXT is it's axles so here's an in depth comparison of the Clone's axles to the TXT. In all the pics the Clone will be on the left and the Tamiya TXT-1 will be on the right.
Externally the axles are identical but internally there are some differences. They both use 6mm input shafts, same style stub shafts with 4mm nuts, and the perches for the skidplate/servo mounts are the same. The only visible difference is cosmetic, the clone's wheel adapter is black. Something funny/interesting, on all the housing parts of the clone is stamped "2008" rather than the "2000" "2001" on TXT housings.
When the wheel adapter is removed you can see that the clone uses a steel hex while the TXT uses a brass one.
When you breakdown the knuckle you find the parts are identical. I even mix/matched parts between the two and everything works with each other. Of note is that the limiting posts on the clone's knuckle are not equal distance from the kingpin(looks like a flaw in the mold since all the knuckles are like this) which means the steering is more limited one way from the other. It very little and not very noticeable I just happen to see it because the steering seemed more limited than the TXT. Also of note the clone didn't have the kingpin washers, it has the recesses for them but they are empty.
Moving on to top half of the axle, this is where differences start to show. First off the screws for the top cover are shorter on the clone than the TXT, and in my opinion they are too short. The screws not only bolt the cover down they also carry the stresses of the top links. When I rebuild the axles I'm going to use longer TXT screws.
The 6mm input shaft itself is identical to the TXT but on clone it rides on 6x12x4mm which are common, instead of the hard to find 6x11x4mm bearings on the TXT. What this means is the housings for the Clone are not completely identical to the TXT. In fact you can see there are holes on the top cover just above the input shaft to accommodate the larger bearing. So while not identical they can be swapped in in place of TXT housings if you change the entire housing out and use the larger bearings.
Of note is that the large bevel gears are not steel like the TXT, they are made of the same die-cast material the drive gear and differential are made of, which I think is pewter. This concerns me because the steel gears would wear in the TXT so the softer metal in the clone might wear even faster. The good news is all the gears and shafts are interchangeable between the two so it's possible to swap in TXT bevel gears if needed. This is also good because the drive gear, which has been discontinued by Tamiya for years, is interchangeable so a clone's gear can be used in a TXT.
Moving down to the lower half of the axles you can see they are just about identical. I say just about because the housing has just enough difference that it will not bolt up to the upper housing. But because of the issues in the upper gearcase it's not a big deal. What is a big deal is the amount of quality control issues I found.
The truck was listed as having 98% ball bearings but the entire lower half(long shafts and stub axles) had bushings. I think part of the reason for this is because the 6x12x4mm bearing it's supposed to use won't fit properly. It's just by a hair but it's enought to make putting them on nearly impossible. My solution was to put in on my poorman's lathe(my drill) and file off just enough for the bearing to fit. This now means the long shafts are more susceptible to rust.
The last problem I found was with a screw in the diff housing. I guess they use power tools to put these together because the screw head was obliterated. Worse thing is the screw wasn't screwed in all the way so I HAD to take it out. I end up breaking the head off the screw and just removing the cover so I could use pliers on the little bit that was sticking out. Luckily it came out without much hassles. I also found the other two screws to be too long so I just swapped in my own shorter screws. Other than that the diffs are identical and the parts between both are interchangeable.
Overall I think the axles are alright. The quality issues really keep them from being any better than that. I can accept the larger bearing in the upper case and what that means about the housings but the fact I had to file down the axles for bearings is really sad. On the plus side there are a lot of useable parts that interchange between the clone and real TXT.
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