Sheepish to ask, thread-sizes for front/rear axles?

[flipwils11]

Embarrassed to say that I don't know the thread sizes I need for the front and rear axles on my RC10 builds in my gallery, both the all metal gold pan and my B3 blue Factory Team buggies? The Factory team uses universals in the rear which I believe are 3/16th stub axles but someone correct me if I'm wrong. The gold pan has Tecnacraft front and rear axles in place of stock but I believe they are the same as the stock axles.

Does the gold pan use 5/40 front and 8/32 rear? I'm unsure of which ones the B3 uses.

I'm asking because I need to specify thread sizes to get some of Rogue Element's gorgeous machined knockoffs.

[Charlie don't surf]

The stock steel front axles (and the old tecna's) are 4/40 the rears are all 8/32 regardless of it being 1/4 or 3/16"- the alloy 6220 front axles are 5/40 I believe-

[flipwils11]

Hmm the B3 instruction manual and parts list shows asc6222 as the front lock nut but that includes 4-40 and 5-40 together. It doesn't show which one to use, possibly because the instruction manual is for sport and factory team B3's?

[flipwils11]

I just sent Chris my specs and I'm worried that I don't know for sure if I need 4-40 or 5-40 for the B3's front axles. In the instruction manual it calls the nylon lock nuts "6222, qty 2 4-40/5-40 locknut", on page 23 of the link below.

teamassociated.com/pdf/cars_and_trucks/RC10B3/Team/b3_manual.pdf

I told Chris 4-40 for the B3's front axles and 8-32 for the B3's rear axles, can someone confirm if this is right or should I change it to 5-40?

Strangely the Tecnacraft front axles on my gold metal shelfer use 8-32 just like the rears.

[Charlie don't surf]

Do you have black or gold Tecnas? The nylon lock nuts work on either- but the metal nuts only work on 4/40-

[askbob]

I just sent Chris my specs and I'm worried that I don't know for sure if I need 4-40 or 5-40 for the B3's front axles. In the instruction manual it calls the nylon lock nuts "6222, qty 2 4-40/5-40 locknut", on page 23 of the link below.

teamassociated.com/pdf/cars_and_trucks/RC10B3/Team/b3_manual.pdf

I told Chris 4-40 for the B3's front axles and 8-32 for the B3's rear axles, can someone confirm if this is right or should I change it to 5-40?

Strangely the Tecnacraft front axles on my gold metal shelfer use 8-32 just like the rears.

Do you have any of the Sees knockoffs left to try them out? I know they are 4-40 on the fronts, because I had to re-tap them to 5-40 to use them with the aluminum inline axles. That would be one quick sure way to know.

[flipwils11]

Do you have any of the Sees knockoffs left to try them out? I know they are 4-40 on the fronts, because I had to re-tap them to 5-40 to use them with the aluminum inline axles. That would be one quick sure way to know.

Thanks Bob, good idea but I don't have any left. What I think I did is on the B3 I used 4-40 but since they were nylon I was able to man-handle them a bit to get them to thread on.... but I'd really like to confirm. I'm not sure what I can find that would be 5-40 to confirm this, and I've tried searching for the front axles in the instruction manual for the B3 as well as the front axle parts themselves which do come with nylon locknuts (but the description doesn't say what they are!).

And then the instruction manual says that weird language about 4-40/5-40.... arggghh.... which is it!

[jon burrows]

If you're still unsure, you could pick up (at home depot or other hardware store) a thread gauge. They're pretty inexpensive plastic template type and I'm sure they'd have metric and SI units.

[jwscab]

if you have some dial calipers you can figure out what they are. Measure the OD of the threads(major diameter).

#4-40 should be around .110"

#5-40 should be like .122"

they are slightly under the nominal size (typically for free thread fit).

here is the chart I use all the time:
http://www.physics.ncsu.edu/pearl/Tap_Drill_Chart.html

[askbob]

Or just pick up a 4-40 nut(10 pennies) at you local hardware store to see if it fits. If not, then it is probably 5-40.

[Charlie don't surf]

They are 5/40 for sure, the description in the b3 manual is because the 4/40 treaded nylon lock nut can be threaded (and is tighter) on the 5/40 axle but can be used on shock stays as 4/40

[jwscab]

plastic nuts in this size are usable for #4, #5, and 3mm screws, so associated used the same one for any #4 or #5 in the kits.

the most accurate method will be to measure and remove all doubt.

[flipwils11]

Thank you gentlemen!

[GoMachV]

One more thing to consider, aluminum on aluminum likes to fuse together- some anti-seize would be a good idea

[toyranosaur]

Good idea on the Anti-Sieze! I will send 5-40's, but made a very few 4-40's just in case, so let me know & I'll do my best to make sure ya get what ya need. Chris REC