Sharks DESC410R

[Shark413]

After watching team Durango race at my local track a few weeks ago and getting a chance to talk with the guys I decided to purchase a Durango DESC410R. It arrived a few days ago, let the build begin.


Box full of stuff.

[Shark413]

I have been scanning the forums for info and I found Culetto's thread very helpful. I wanted to show my build and a few things I noticed which may help those that are either considering a Durango or already have one.

The chassis is an aluminum and plastic sandwich which provides good durability and light weight. The DEX410 comes with aluminum side rails, the DEX410R appears to have one piece plastic rails and the DESC410R has a three piece plastic rail.


Flat aluminum chassis.


Plastic side rails attached.


Top aluminum brace added.

[proraptor]

Saw these trucks at RCX and they look awesome...IDK thought the AE truck looks awesome too....Choices

[Shark413]

Originally Posted by proraptor

Saw these trucks at RCX and they look awesome...IDK thought the AE truck looks awesome too....Choices

Yeah I wanted to head out to the show just to talk to the Durango reps and to see the new Associated SC10 4x4 but it was just raining too hard and I didn't feel like dealing with that and the traffic.

[proraptor]

Dont worry you didnt miss too much....The new AE truck was very very impressive....It caught my eye

[Shark413]

I worked on the diffs next. Pretty straight forward, good quality materials, standard design for the front/rear diffs. The center diff is a slipperdiff design, which comes with a locker installed but I added the gears to make it a full function diff. I noticed the diff pins are made out of aluminum, to save weight (rotating mass as well), which is fine I have the optional aluminum diff pins in my Jammin and they hold up just fine. Funny how Losi is having issues with their pins which are made of steel. I did notice that when I test fitted some of the spider gears they had some slight binding. I cleaned up some burrs with a round file until they spun freely. I added some black grease to help with the break in (especially since the pins are aluminum). Lastly, some have reported the bevel gears fit really tight on the outdrives, and are hard to remove for servicing. My gears were also really tight, so I took some emery cloth and sanded down the sides of the flats just a hair (just enough to scrape off the black coating). Now the gears were a snug fit with no play, yet I could get them off for servicing. I then filled the diffs with silicone diff oil. My kits ring gears were the new improved design (without the little alignment nubs).




Needed to file down some burrs on a couple of the spider gears.


Greased the diff pins.


polished the outdrive hex so the bevel gears fit better.


All the diffs built. I marked the front and rear diffs so later I would know which had the heavier oil (for the front).

[Shark413]

One more thing about the diffs, the screws they use to hold it together are really small and most people don't have a 1.3mm hex driver and will be forced to use the suppied allen key. Do yourself a favor and get a good quality hex driver, these diffs don't use a gasket to seal so you want good even tension on the screws. I had a hard time using the supplied wrench until I realized my Losi .050 is the same size. After that tightening the screws to the proper torque was a breeze. You may also want to order a few spares because like I said they are an unusual size and if you lose or strip one you are SOL.

[Shark413]

Moving on to the center driveshaft’s I put them together per the instructions, no major issues. When I went to add the plastic ring that helps to hold the cross pin I beveled the inside edge to make it easier to install. First one went on fine; on the second one as I was getting it installed it split so I decided to go with shrink wrap instead. I shimmed the diffs per the latest info from Durango and they are silky smooth. I had to use one copper and one silver shim. I put some Mobile syn grease on the ring gear and installed the outer case. It may be just me but when installing long screws into virgin plastic I don't like to run them all the way in at one time. If you have a long screw the friction can soften the plastic and cause the cut threads to strip slightly. The warmed up plastic (softer) will also make final tightening more difficult. So on longer screws I run them in about 8-10mm then take a break or move to another screw. Alternating until they are all tight. This is especially important if you use a power driver, they can really heat up the plastic.




Plastic retaining ring cracked so I went with shrink wrap.


Greased the ring gear



Alternate when installing long screws into plastic.


Marked the diffs so I know which is the front and which is the back.

[Shark413]

I did a little more work on the chassis/motor mount. The motor mount is very sturdy and uses the standard (non-sliding block) method to mount the motor. The mounting slots have enlarged holes that allow you to loosen the screws and then sliding the motor towards the centerline you can remove the motor without completely removing the screws. The unusual thing about this is the holes are machined towards the inside, most mounts that have this feature have them towards the outside to allow clearance for the pinion. Since the Durango has a removable center diff the pinion clearance does not matter. And by having the holes on the inside allows you to use larger pinions. Also since the Durango center diff does not use the typical screw on top mounting plate in incorporates a separate small brace to add support to the motor mount. The Protek 2s 5100mah 50C lipo saddle packs fit perfectly.



Motor/center diff mount. Enlarged holes allow easy motor removal


Protek hardcase saddle pack


Front/rear towers and center diff in place. Note the small brace on the motor mount

[Shark413]

I worked on the steering/servo saver. Fit and finish is excellent and everything went together with no problems. You have to install the nuts for the ackerman plate upside down otherwise when you tighten the nuts you won't be able to grip them as they tighten. I also installed the aluminum FR suspension brace. Using the spacers recommended in the manual makes the suspension arms to bind. I replaced one 1.5mm spacer with a 1mm spacer and the arms now moved freely.


Completed steering rack and servo saver


Install these nuts upside down


Installed a smaller spacer here to free up the suspension

[Shark413]

I moved on to the driveshaft’s and axles, the axles are different lengths front and rear and the driveshaft’s are also different lengths front and rear. I cut some fuel tube and made some rings to place over the axles, this keeps the axles from pulling out of the carriers and the cvd pins from falling out while I am working on the build.



Front axles are longer. Axles use the inner wheel bearings to hold in the cvd pins


Driveshaft/axles together, fuel tube holding on the axles so the cvd pins don't fall out during the build. Added rubber dust boots


Chassis with suspension arms installed

[Redneckracer]

Great build thread , keep up the good work !! I want a durango so you are giving me almost enough push to go get one . lol... I just bought a jammin scrt10 and iam just starting to get it the way i want . I want to race 2 classes so my next r/c will be a 4x4 buggy so guess what iam buying...GO TEAM DURANGO !!!

And after the buggy will come a durango sc , got to have a matching set..right ? oh and then maybe a durango 2wd buggy , have you seen it , looks awesome .

[ohdeeuhm]

Awesome thread Shark. I've followed several of your 1/8 buggy threads and they've been by far the most informative I've ever come across.

Keep up the good work man I've definitely subscribed to this thread.

[Shark413]

Thanks guys. It's a little bit of extra work to stop and snap photos and load info on the computer during the build, but like I always said I have learned so much from other people on these forums I don't mind sharing info when I can.

[Shark413]

I did a little more last night. When I installed the axles I added the rubber boots on the inboard side but you can't add them to the outboard side since the DESC410 uses captured wheel bearings. The DEX410 buggy uses a cvd that uses a setscrew to hold the pin in and has a flange for the boot to attach to; the DESC410 does not have this feature. The trade off is that with the captured pins you don't have to worry about the set screw coming loose and your pin falling out. I installed the tie rods and some have mentioned they had issues with them popping off (ball cups). They seem ok, but they have a hole in them that allows you to remove the ball studs without removing the ball cup, which is a good idea, but the hole may weaken the cups grip. I'll run them until I have an issue. I have a picture of an RPM and stock cup for comparison. Using the RPM cup would require using different ball studs to match.



You can't run the outer dust boots because there is no flange on the DESC410 axles.


Front bumper is pretty solid.


RPM cup compared to the stock part.

[Shark413]

I run sway bars on most of my trucks as I feel they help keep the trucks stable during high speed turns. The DESC410R does not include them in the kit, but Durango offers them as an option. They are kind of pricey because they use titanium tie rods, and buying two sets (front and rear) would be over $70, so I decided to look for alternatives. All the plastic parts are included in the kit; you would need to purchase the pivot balls, tie rod and sway bar. I found a tie rod that is almost the exact size, made of high quality 7075 aluminum and has a nice red finish. I purchased the tie rod, sway bar and pivot balls (they come with enough balls to make two sets) and if you make two sets it would be about half the cost of the optional factory kits. I hooked them up with no issues, except the attachment of the lower ball end. This attaches to the a-arm with a screw that threads into the ball. There are no flats or anything to hold onto the ball with, so as you tighten the screw the ball just spins and makes it difficult to get real tight. I will have to keep an eye on those screws. I got all the parts at AMain Hobbies.

Parts required:

TD330033
TD330015
TD Sway Bar, they make several different sizes
T.O.P. Racing 30mm tie rod part #PO-PSU004RD
some 3mm set screws and 3x8mm button head screws



Here are the parts you will need


The T.O.P. tie rod is almost the perfect size


Sway bar installed in the rear


This screw is really hard to tighten

[Culetto]

Looks great! I like what you did with the sway bars, i thought the same thing about the price and hoenstly, the red looks way better anyway.

Keep up the good work 2x

[Shark413]

Originally Posted by Culetto

Looks great! I like what you did with the sway bars, i thought the same thing about the price and hoenstly, the red looks way better anyway.

Keep up the good work 2x

Culetto, thanks. I could have used plain old 3x18mm thread steel rod for the tie rods and saved even more money but the red aluminum does look cool.

How is the 540 motor working out? When I first got my Jammin SCRT10 I ran it with a Novak 550 and a friend of mine with the same truck was running a Ballistic 540 and to be honest his truck was as fast and may be even faster than my truck. But he was constantly overheating and had to gear way down to keep it from thermaling.

[Culetto]

Originally Posted by Shark413

Culetto, thanks. I could have used plain old 3x18mm thread steel rod for the tie rods and saved even more money but the red aluminum does look cool.

How is the 540 motor working out? When I first got my Jammin SCRT10 I ran it with a Novak 550 and a friend of mine with the same truck was running a Ballistic 540 and to be honest his truck was as fast and may be even faster than my truck. But he was constantly overheating and had to gear way down to keep it from thermaling.

I took the 540 out but i may try it again. I was losing power and found the problem in the saddle connectors. It was smooth and didnt overheat. The heat problem in other 4wd SCTs is the weight so with this truck thats not as much of an issue. My TP 540 never got over 150.

[Shark413]

I am still waiting on my servo so I decided to work on the shocks. The Durango shocks are really well made and high quality. The DESC410 comes with larger shocks than the buggy and has a new 6 hole piston (buggy comes with a 2 and 3 hole piston). As Culetto mentioned the little washers are really tight but you need to be sure you get them seated on the shafts before you install the pistons otherwise when you tighten the screw you may think they are tight but you may just be feeling the resistance of the washer, and later as it seats the screw can loosen, also don't forget to loctite that screw. The kit does not come with the rubber dust boots so I purchased them separately and added then to the shocks. These are emulsion type shocks so I bled them per the instructions on the Durango site and they feel very smooth. The kit comes with pistons that have three different hole sizes for you to choose from for fine tuning the shocks.


Be sure to fully seat the little washers.


The truck comes with larger shocks and new 6 hole pistons.


I added the optional dust boots.


No guessing, the pistons are cleary marked (hole size).