Tamiya TRF 501X Hot Bodies serrated wheel nuts

Maybe it's the nuts themselves or perhaps another issue - but the 501X seems to have a small problem with the nuts backing off and requiring frequent re-tightening before failure occurs.

The kit-supplied flanged alloy nyloc nuts seem ok when new but rapidly become fairly loose - the nylon in the nut wearing out quickly.

I even managed to break a drive hex by over-tightening the nuts on the front whilst trying to clamp things up and prevent a failure.

Adam Skelding at EDIT told me about these serrated nuts from Hot Bodies - and they seemed like the perfect solution so I got some on order.

The Hod Bodies nuts come in packs of four and are available in three different anodised colours - Blue, Purple and Black.

The HB nuts don't have any nylon so would come undone rapidly - if it weren't for the serrations on the front face, which lock into the plastic of the wheel to provide a superior 'hold'.

Indeeed, tightening up the HB serrated nuts is a lot easier than removing them - the serrations are angled so they 'dig in' to the plastic wheels when turned counter-clockwise.

The Tamiya TRF 501X is a hugely strong and reliable car - but one or two small things have prevented me from winning several times this season. The wheel nuts - as stupid as it sounds, were one of the biggest issues for me. The serrated Hot Bodies nuts stayed on the car, and a quick 'tweak' before each race, which I'd become accustomed to doing, was never needed.

The anodising is probably as good as it gets, but the torque needed to remove the nuts, coupled with the rough 'Tamiya' tool I was using, means the nuts get quickly scratched up. Perhaps a raw alloy coloured nut could be offered in future?

The only 'issue' with these babies is when something else goes wrong with the car. Twice I have had a front wheel strip out from using the one-way diff on high traction surfaces - and this stripped wheel will rapidly loosen the wheelnut, allowing the wheel to strip even more and come flying off the car. It's a small point, but worth mentioning - don't even think of using these with a front wheel that's in less than great shape.

A review on WHEEL NUTS! These are a seriously great upgrade however, so don't dismiss!