imjonah

Most of the 1/18th buggys and Monster trucks like the Duratrax Vendetta and the Associated RC18/b/t/mt/r (Xray M18T also) have a single drive shaft. The used Losi MLST I just bought on E-bay and the Kyosho mini inferno both have a center diff/slipper clutch and two short shafts one for the front and one for the back wheels.

I know slippers are standard on all 1/10 scale off road vehicles; I believe that it relieves stress/shock on the drive train when landing after a jump.
Is their a real not just theoretical advantage to the 2 shaft slipper combo over the single shaft?

One of the tracks I will be using is a smaller dirt track designed for 1/18th and not 1/10th (thus smaller jumps). I am also interested in running 1/18th scale on both parking lot and carpet road course with no jumps.

My Vendetta ST after I lowered its ride height and ran 1/10 scale tires seamed to do great on the road course.

I noticed that the Losi MLST came in ahead of the Vendettas in the last national championship race. I am not sure if that was driver, two motors vs 1 motor or how modified the drive train of the MLST was.

Any insight or real world experience would help.

Frozen72

A Slipper is good but with good throttle control you can get by with out one. Exotek makes a Slipper for the RC18T and the Tek18X. I would love it if they make a Slipper for the Vendetta.

dacaur

from a race handling standpoint, a center diff is a must.... a slipper will protect your diffs and other gears when you land on power off a jump....
I have been thinking about getting a vendetta, but I see lots of posts that say they keep stripping the diff gears... I have a mini quake which has a straight shaft/no slipper setup, and a mini lst2, the MLST2 handles way better..... But I also haven't had any problems with the diffs in my mini quake, and ive had that one longer....

Frozen72

People are stripping the GEAR Diffs. They are known to not be that strong. With the Ball Diff the tranny is nearly bulledproof.

jaejw1

well with the neu motor 1105/1.5y and the permax 400/4d i am always stripping my ball diff gears.... but i have great news... that i will share soon...

imjonah

I am still confused. The two primary differences in the 1/18th class are

1. the larger 1/16 the scale with the 380 size motors (Vendetta, mini-inferno) and the smaller 1/18th like the Associated RC18B,T,MT,R with the smaller 280 size motors.

and center diff vs single shaft drive

I would think the latter should really make a significant difference, which would show up in the results of races. Is their a real world advantage to a center diff or is it theoretical?


In other words if you upgraded the mini-inferno with more rugged parts and then raced it against a Vendetta with the same motor, tires and battery
which car would be superior? would the type of track matter? Would a similar MLST beat them both?

GravityJunkie

The center diff allows you to set the front vs. rear power bias. For instance, if the detta ST have had center diff, I would not have had the excessive wheelie problems that I experienced under a powerful motor. I currently drive a CRT .5 with a center diff. By going with lighter weight oil in the center diff it gives more bias to the front tires under accel. Thus it helps pull my truck through the turns instead of pushing out the rear. I can still drift the corners if I want, but the additional front pull helps me get around better.

However, I am far from a pro, or good club racer, to tell you how much it helps lap times. You can give a good driver a car set up bad and no center diff and he'll still be faster than me.