1:18 Ruckus Differential Problems and Upgrades Discussion

id love to know too if the carisma gear set worked, i dont even care about upgrading the motor i'm just so sick of having to replace 1/3 of the whole truck at $28 just because 4 little plastic gears keep stripping it's ridiculous
 
id love to know too if the carisma gear set worked, i dont even care about upgrading the motor i'm just so sick of having to replace 1/3 of the whole truck at $28 just because 4 little plastic gears keep stripping it's ridiculous
Best bet is to sell/shelf/scrap it and cut your losses sadly. For me it is hard to justify spending so much money on such a cheap car. The fact that Ecx won't acknowledge the fact that the diffs in these are a problem really irks me. They are fully aware of this thread and the one on rctech.

I found my mini fix with my LC Racing fleet. Comparing the LC minis to the Ecx is like comparing a Geo Metro to a Rolls Royce. Well worth the extra $100.
 
i shimmed the diffs yesterday and its going just as i wanted it too from the start but reading how they're just gonna go bad anyways im probably going to try and sell it, the LC Racing fleet look really compelling but an even bigger kicker is WL Toys (a979) has what the ruckus 1/18 should have been to begin with but for $30 cheaper
 
I just ordered 2 MIF-048/BU from HK, giving me enough time (ETA May 20) to think about a good axle solution. Meanwhile i found what seems to be a very nice hotfix for the standard gears. Instead of shimming the outdrive planetary gear on the rear left like stated on rctechs thread, i just put canopy rubber grommets from my good old T-Rex 450 in the gaps between the two telescopic parts of all axles, and they fit just perfectly. For me it seems to work even better then the shimming method since it obviously gives more advantages and is far more easy to install.

  • not have to search for the right shims, cheap, easy to get
  • not have to completely disassamble the diff
  • everyone can install it less then 2 minutes, no additional tools required (like loctite, very small screwdrivers,diff grease)
  • stiff enough to completely removing the In/out play on the axles AND the outdrive planetary gears.
  • flexible enough to compensate axle length changes due to variable riding height/Bumper action.
  • in combination with ball bearings tire wobble is nearly completely gone.
  • in addition i loosened the slipper to the point that if you push the car to ground and hit the gas it starts to slip on half throttle.

I am running on Stock 380 with bearings and grommets and now had 5 2200mAh/Lipo rides on grass, dirt and on the road since install of grommets and about 10 on LiPo - even had some hard crashes - and the rear diff runs like butter. Before "grommeting" it often stuttered and had a slight grinding noise. The whole car feels much more stable and responsive now.

I'm quite sure (at least hope) this mod will keep the original diff alive until the final solution is there.
Has it lasted since shimming telescoping axle with grimmoets
 
As many come to find out, the diffs in the mini ruckus don't stand up to much hard use. Within a few runs of the stock nimh pack I already had a 2wd truck. I ordered a new one for a quick fix and went looking for an upgrade. I shimmed the new one and it lasted longer but it still rounded the gear at the outdrive. Another thread mentioned mini 8ight diffs working but the axles didn't reach. And someone else had modded duratrax gears and outdrives to work. (which I believe are still holding up) There were a few other suggestions, like mini quake ball diff works if you replace the bearings with 6x12x4. I currently have 3racing ball diffs for a kyosho mini inferno in my ruckus. The bearings for the ruckus diff slip over the outdrives and make a perfect fit.

View attachment 1997

The only thing now is to get axles that reach.

Hot racing cvd axles work but I had to use the wheel bushings that came with the truck and sanded one to about half thickness and used it as a shim between the axle and the bearing. I left enough so the axle could ride on the bearing.

This worked great but did eventually pop out on me with some hard bashing.


View attachment 1998

Another option is ECX Smash stub axles #ECX8320

The center of the plastic hub needs sanded a little so the pin and wheel hex aren't too tight at the outside. The problem I had after doing that was the axles I found (swk4064) were now just short enough to pop out. They would need to be about 56mm and the only one that length I found has bigger balls.

View attachment 1999


So my current setup is a bigger diameter stub-axle. It fits like it was meant to be, and the wheel wobble is nearly gone. http://hpiracing.world/en/part/a557 It needs a larger wheel nut but fits the stock wheel holes.

And longer axles, sportwerks swk4064

The cup is bigger than the axle's ball but I have been running it with no noticeable wear. I have the axles meant for it and was going to dremel one ball smaller to fit the diff if I needed to but it's holding up.

View attachment 2000





And I know it can handle some power because this is what's at the other end now.

View attachment 2001

I don't abuse it but I also don't take it easy on this truck. I let my kids drive it. Skate parks. My sons ramming it with their Amps. I am pretty happy with it now but I know my frankenaxles are hardly a perfect solution... And that's why I'm posting. Hopefully help get some more ideas flowing here. I must thank everyone in the rctech thread that have shared info and made this possible. Hopefully I can get them over here too.
I know this is late but does anyone know if the Hot Racing ECX 1/18 Ruckus Torment Steel CVD Driveshafts Axles work with the Losi mini 8ight diff (part # SECE288)
 
I know this is late but does anyone know if the Hot Racing ECX 1/18 Ruckus Torment Steel CVD Driveshafts Axles work with the Losi mini 8ight diff (part # SECE288)
No they do not, someone either here or Rctech tried them. Easiest option is making frakenshafts out of cobbled together center drive shafts and the stock plastic sliders. You might have to dig through the thread a bit but someone posted pictures of them in here.
 
No they do not, someone either here or Rctech tried them. Easiest option is making frakenshafts out of cobbled together center drive shafts and the stock plastic sliders. You might have to dig through the thread a bit but someone posted pictures of them in here.
Ok thank you I will do that, I have some left over dog bones from a redcat volcano 18 that fit perfectly into the cobbled driveshaft I made.
So do you know if those will fit in the Losi or inferno diffs?

I have put a 4000kv brushless motor from surpass hobby and 2s lipo in my mini ruckus and it destroyed to diffs after a few runs outside.

Also wondering if anyone else is having a problem where one of the steering knuckle screws snap by the left steering link. If so have you found a solution to this problem or could you point me toward a place where i could find a solution because it has happened twice and can't find any solution for it.

Thanks
 
i shimmed the diffs yesterday and its going just as i wanted it too from the start but reading how they're just gonna go bad anyways im probably going to try and sell it, the LC Racing fleet look really compelling but an even bigger kicker is WL Toys (a979) has what the ruckus 1/18 should have been to begin with but for $30 cheaper
I bet the wltoys 1/18 parts would work in it to
 
Hello

I successfully upgraded my Roost with the Carisma 14979 METAL GEAR DIFF SET. It fit EXACTLY in the place of the original diff. I made measurements, everything match. Even ball bearings and nuts are the same.

It could be highly probably that GT14B from Carisma share several components with ECX 1/18 range.

I made a video which show disassembly procedure and diff comparison

We ran dozens of lipos with a brushless setup (Surpass 2440 4600kv - 2S) and metal transmission (15T pinion, 58T gear) without any issue.
 
Hello

I successfully upgraded my Roost with the Carisma 14979 METAL GEAR DIFF SET. It fit EXACTLY in the place of the original diff. I made measurements, everything match. Even ball bearings and nuts are the same.

It could be highly probably that GT14B from Carisma share several components with ECX 1/18 range.

I made a video which show disassembly procedure and diff comparison

We ran dozens of lipos with a brushless setup (Surpass 2440 4600kv - 2S) and metal transmission (15T pinion, 58T gear) without any issue.
Is that the part number for that diff. I'm having trouble finding one now.
I have the spectrum dog bones on the hpi hub axle and Vaterra outdrives and diff running now. Shimmed each end of dogbones with 1mmx3mm pipe, and hard bashing knocks them out
 
Is that the part number for that diff. I'm having trouble finding one now.
I have the spectrum dog bones on the hpi hub axle and Vaterra outdrives and diff running now. Shimmed each end of dogbones with 1mmx3mm pipe, and hard bashing knocks them out
It's the exact part number but it is a part from a discontinued model, that's why you are having trouble finding one. I find mine at half price, it was the last in stock (otherwise I would have took another one for the front diff).
 
All this mod stuff is super humbling and way beyond my skill and knowledge level. My Ruckus rear diff went out and I am wondering if I could just sell it for parts. New diff is 30$ ish. Economically not making sense for me. I miss driving Ii though and eBay account is not working for whatever reason. What do you recommend?
 
Or... jb weld or apoxy the diffs to be solid axles. I have my worn out front diff apoxyed and it chews front wheels
That's fine if he wants a drag car but an off road car with locked diffs handles like crap plus it just causes other issues like stripped crown gears, stripped diff input gears and broken axles.
 
The Carisma metal gears drop right in. I ordered the dogbones and driveshafts in and out as well. I will let y'all know if it works in place of the hot racing drive shafts.
 

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