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What is the real advantage to converting over to hex for the front wheels? I can see doing it for the SC10 so you could use the same tires front and rear, but what does it do for a buggy?

Thanks,

ED

Centralization of bearing forces, and "the next big thing"

It may have a little to do about wheel compatibility too. There are many options now for the newer cars. That is the advantage in my mind. If your buddy races a TLR and you have Associated and want to try his tires on your car, now you can.

TLR uses a 10mm hex, AE/Kyosho use a 12mm hex....

But AE/K car guys can swap

Ah yes, but you can get some PL or JC 12mm hex's and put on that TLR and use AKA Hexlites, JC Monos, PL Velocity or Avid Satillite wheels! (Except for fronts)

Go 12mm... bigger is better. All the cool kids do it!

JK Racing wrote:TLR uses a 10mm hex, AE/Kyosho use a 12mm hex....

But AE/K car guys can swap

Really? the 22SCT is 12mm

Charlie don't surf wrote:Really? the 22SCT is 12mm

soniccj5 wrote:but what does it do for a buggy?

the offset is also different (buggy) between the 2, IF you overcome the hex difference

On URC, when I asked about converting my Rustler to a nitro bearing in the wheel setup for extra steering, I was told not to because it limits wheel options. When I pointed out that all of the wheels I was planning on using were available bearing in the wheel, I got no reply. Never mind that bearings in the wheels can give more steering, lower rolling resistance, less stress on bearings, and easier bearing maintenance, plus no buggy or st uses the same tires front and back. If you don't have 12mm hexes all around, you' re at a disadvantage.

Thanks for all the information. I think I will slowly start to convert my race buggys over to hex. First will be my SC10 so that I can run the same wheels at all four corners.

In any case there was a funny argument when the hex conversion craze started.... everyone was saying this would be so much better as now it was a hex with six faces transmitting the power to the wheel, as opposed to a dinky pin, which was breaking so often anyway... Until someone mentionned that the same pin was still transmitting the power to the hex. Then the thread that was covering this topic went all quieter

Standardization (and marketing) is the key to me, rather than anything else performance/robustness-related

Paul

Other than standardizing your wheel options, a 12mm hex would provide a more stable mount, as it distributes the pressure from the mounted wheel more evenly. The wheels are thus less likely to wobble, and won't wobble as a result of bearings wearing out. With the bearings-in-wheels mounting method, over time you'd potentially get wear & tear inside the grooves where the bearings fit, the bearing holes on the axle shafts would widen slightly over time, and the bearing inners will also wear over time; all of those things would contribute to a slightly unstable wheel mount.

With hexes on axle shafts, the only thing that would potentially wear out would be the hex depression inside the wheels, and due to it having 6 pressure points, the wheels stay on the hexes very firmly and it's very rare to see broken hex standoffs. Just my 2¢.

I understand that the pin is still being used to drive the hex, but once you clamp it to the axle I thought that would add some extra strength. Be even better if they were splined though.

It’s all about weight distribution. You don’t want weight outside where the shocks are mounted in the A-arm. So if you can move the bearings 10mm inwards you gain traction, not much but still...

with hex you dont wreck wheels or bearings as much, plus wheel swaps are much faster and easy. ive seen people wreck wheels trying to get bearings out and ive see people wreck bearings the same way..all in all if you need to swap wheels a few dozen times it really puts extra wear on parts even if your a pro at doing it. with hex you dont have to worry about them issues. plus if you blow your outer bearing on a non hex front wheel the wheel will come off thats also less likely to happen with hex. i hope they keep the b4/t4 rtr wheels the same cause i use the parts and wheels off them for my vintage stuff

the one thing that I'm suprised hasnt been mentioned is rotating weight. on thd old style setup all that spun was the outer half of the bearings. now its the inner half, plus the weight of the hex, and the weight of the axle and the axle nut. that does not get mentioned but you hear about lightweight diff outdrives and ceramic bearings. the bearings may be a little farther in but they still move up and down with the caster block so the unsprung weight is the same as far as the bearings go. both of my buggies are still the old style and im not changing them. but at the same time it helps me that guys are switching. in the last 3 months i have picked up 32 pairs of mounted buggy tires for about 90 bucks.