fibre lyte xx4 tower stiffeners

[losixxx]

any one use the fibre lyte tower stiffeners on there xx4 if so what's your verdict??

[bigred5765]

we started running them indoors
broke a front tower clean in half and managed to finish the race on the brace

[Col]

Worth it's weight in gold - not broken a shock tower since fitting it!

[trekkerkk]

they are very good and strong,

trekkker

[niggs98]

i find them awsome,you will notice that the tower will break in stages around it but can continue to be used to a point. it has saved me a fortune in the last 12 months

[losixxx]

cheer's guy's guess i better get on the phone and order a set then

[tyreman]

My only concern with that would be where would the weak point be in a bad crash?? if it's not the tower maybe the chassis?.

I think yesterday was an exceptionaly bad meeting for breakages (it's never been that bad before) as the wind was getting under the cars and lifting the front end up, also when was the last time you broke a tower, could this just be put down to 1 bad meeting.

[niggs98]

erm to be honest ive had some pretty impresive crashes and all i seem to do is to pull the front screws out of the bulkhead by 3-4 threads, and ran most of last year with the front threads purposly semi striped to have that as a saving grace

[Gayo]

I never broke a tower since I have them (2 years, like 20 meetings) :thumbsup: Now I have 5 expensive towers bored on my spares box.
Chassis is fine depite my driving:lol:

Edit : I'm not sure if they still make RC stuff, the website says they stopped.

[losixxx]

they still make them, e-mailed them earlier today

[super__dan]

Get my vote as well, ACE!

[Fiddybux]

I use Penguin RC ones.

They have been ace so far.

The only thing that concerns me is the fit between the front tower and the front brace....you either have to leave a small gap and stick plastic washers up top (this is because the closest you can get at the bottom is against the ball cup protrusions which don't line up with the top of the tower) or you can dremel the ball cup protrusions a bit, but this makes them weaker and it means you have to modify every front shock tower....so I run with a gap.

Does anyone run without a gap?

[super__dan]

Yep, get Fibrelyte to make a thicker one for you! ;)

Seriously, that's what mine is. It's also freaking thick so towers never (rarely) break.

[Fiddybux]

Got a pic superdan me old mucker?

[super__dan]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v635/super__dan/pics006.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v635/super__dan/pics001.jpg

Best I can do

[bigred5765]

I use Penguin RC ones.

They have been ace so far.

The only thing that concerns me is the fit between the front tower and the front brace....you either have to leave a small gap and stick plastic washers up top (this is because the closest you can get at the bottom is against the ball cup protrusions which don't line up with the top of the tower) or you can dremel the ball cup protrusions a bit, but this makes them weaker and it means you have to modify every front shock tower....so I run with a gap.

Does anyone run without a gap?

surely if theres a gap there doing nothing as in not braced against anything
no extra strength

[Fiddybux]

That's very clear to me...mine looks like this:

http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j58/fiddybux/Image001-1.jpg

As you can see, I have a gap which I've spaced out with a plastic washer.

So these fibrelyte ones are thicker and go "all the way" so to speak?

[bigred5765]

doesn't that kinda defeat the objective of the tower brace

[Northy]

It'll help a bit, but isn't ideal.

G

[racingdwarf]

Super dan

Is that a metal brace between the front whishbone pins I can see? If it is, is that an X5 thing or can I do it to my xx4?

Chees

[losixxx]

it looks like the standard xx4/x-5 mod, b2 front brace with either shock shafts or longer hinge pins to replace the kits ones and the bulkhead dremelled a little.

[racingdwarf]

Thanks, thats my next job then, Had a realy very small off on a set of triples a few weeks ago cost me a front bulkhead and a chassis!! any ideas on were I can get a B2 brace from?

[losixxx]

Thanks, thats my next job then, Had a realy very small off on a set of triples a few weeks ago cost me a front bulkhead and a chassis!! any ideas on were I can get a B2 brace from?

any model shop with a cml account, i got one a couple of months ago so they still stock them, only a few ££

[magnus]

You can take the front brace of a xxx.cr. It fits right on with a little help of a dremel.:thumbsup:

[racingdwarf]

Thanks all. What pins are you all using? as they need to be a bit longer don't they....

[niggs98]

Thanks all. What pins are you all using? as they need to be a bit longer don't they....

im using losi front shockshafts of either xx4 or xxx as they r all the same lenth, put an eclip on the 2nd groove to make it shorter. if you pm me your email m8 i will send you some pics to show u how to do it all

[racingdwarf]

You have pm m8:thumbsup:

[niggs98]

pm returned and email sent as well m8

[SHY]

My experience:

Any reinforcement will help, but both the Penguin and the std. Fibre Lyte ones will break eventually. They are too thin.

The best solution is therefore the ones from Fibre Lyte, but extra thick (at least 2mm? How thick is your's Dan?). You can also ask for Dan's design, which follows the outline of the tower better.

Very important: use a Q-tip & thin CA to seal the edges of the carbon. Goes for any piece of carbon. The fibres are very absorbant and will suck up water, oil, cleaning solutions etc. Which will delaminate the plate. After it's dry you might want to round the edges a bit as well, so it doesen't flake off.

[Fiddybux]

im using losi front shockshafts of either xx4 or xxx as they r all the same lenth, put an eclip on the 2nd groove to make it shorter. if you pm me your email m8 i will send you some pics to show u how to do it all

But the shockshafts are threaded on one end, did you put a small nut on here or something or just leave it with nothing attached?

I tried XXX rear hinge pins and they're way too long.

[SHY]

www.ymr.no/x5tuning.htm (http://www.ymr.no/x5tuning.htm)

-there's a link here to the rear hinge pins where you can put a C-clip on both ends. Those are great! It keeps the rear brace from rattling around! :thumbsup:

[Gayo]

I run the stock hinge pins, you don't need an e-clip on the other side as the bumper stop them.

[niggs98]

last year i ran dremmelled down plastic b4 front wheel nuts (dremelled down till they fitted behind the bumper but have found it not nessesary as the shaft butts against the chassis or close to it and is still more than long enough to make it through the brace

But the shockshafts are threaded on one end, did you put a small nut on here or something or just leave it with nothing attached?

I tried XXX rear hinge pins and they're way too long.

[Fiddybux]

I dunno, unless there is something that fits nicely on the front where I can put an e clip either end and the brace across the front too, then it seems like an untidy and less than perfect solution.

I wonder if the e-clips will fit on the threads of the shock shafts and cut it down to side a bit.

Also, these look the same as the XXX rear hinge pins to me:

http://www.losipartshouse.com/servlet/the-21114/LOSA2166-Inner-R-Hinge/Detail

...meaning that they would be too long to use at the front. Is this right anyone?

[super__dan]

My front tower brace is 3mm or 3.2mm I can't remember.

On the front I run the B2 brace (obviously) with the stock hinge pins and though the pin doesn't extend through to the back edge of the front wishbone, I don't think I have ever broken one there as a result.

That said this year on my rebuilt car I'm going to run longer hinge pins and cut them down to size. You don't need an e clip at the back as the pins can't move forward by more than say 1mm as it hits the back of the front bumper.

On the rear I use the stock xxx hinge pins which allowing for the brace are exactly the right size. Don't know part number from here and 200 miles from home, sorry. That link above does look right though.

[Southwell]

I run stock hinge pin but have taken a bit of material off the bulkhead so they sit in the wishbones properly.

[Fiddybux]

I run stock hinge pin but have taken a bit of material off the bulkhead so they sit in the wishbones properly.

Do you have the e-clip on the back then by doing this Southwell?

Interesting that SuperDan runs with no e-Clip at the rear.

[SHY]

I ordered mine from Fibre Lyte "extra thick", and that was 3mm. They are great!

As to the hinge pin I tried different solutions, but this is the best one (I think it was Ellis' idea):
http://www.losipartshouse.com/servlet/the-21114/LOSA2166-Inner-R-Hinge/Detail

You then put an E-clip on both sides. And it fits perfectly with the Atomic Carbon rear brace. Can't be done better!

See also:
http://www.one-ten-rcforums.com/4wdrc/viewtopic.php?id=1329

[super__dan]

Do you have the e-clip on the back then by doing this Southwell?

Interesting that SuperDan runs with no e-Clip at the rear.

We're talking about the back end of the FRONT hinge pin right?

As I said before the only job of that e clip is to stop the pin moving forwards, which it can't do by more than 1mm as the front bumper holds it in postion once you have the brace on. Seriously, if you do the mod, don't lose any sleep over this, I've ran it like that since I got my X5, 2 1/2 years ago. I'm only changing now as I need new hinge pins for the new (heavily rebuilt) car so am taking the oppertunity to get longet ones and trim to length.

[SHY]

Sorry :blush:

Is it possible in the front to use a hinge pin with grooves on either end. And still use the B2 brace? Is there room for all that?

[Fiddybux]

Think I will just use some shock shafts then and cut them down to size for the front brace.

I may try hammering the end flat as well so it is bigger than the hole in the wishbone on one end....that'll sort it!

[Southwell]

http://www.fibre-lyte.co.uk/fl/cars/losi/losixx4.html

Whats the brace for?

[niggs98]

its ment to be for the camberlink holes but it dont fit :S

[Southwell]

Wont bother with that then, cheers nath.