Rustler 4x4 Center Diff - Is it worth it?

Today, I swapped out the Rustler 4x4's stock slipper clutch out for a center differential. The center differential works the same as the front or rear differential, except its in the center and distributes power to the front and rear wheels. It distributes power between the sides independently, which improves handling, plus it comes with a tougher steel spur gear. In this video, I test out the center diff to see how big of a difference it makes and if its a worthwhile upgrade for the Rustler 4x4. Enjoy!
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[@CHEESEBURGERRC]

Here's an updated video with the center diff: kzbin.info/www/bejne/oWPXp3WqibOrrtU It's a lot better than this one!

[@christhompsonphotography6783]

yay

[@DoRC]

Just FYI most brushless motors do not have any sort of temperature communication with the esc. The ESC will not cut out if the motor overheats. The ESC only monitors its own temperature.

[@2Guys1ControllerShow]

I'm not sure I believe that, why did my Traxxas Slash Ultimate and my Rustler 4x4 VXL both come with a motor side temp monitor???

[@DoRC]

@@2Guys1ControllerShow Yes Traxxas has external telemetry available including for motor temperature and in some of their models they include that from the factory. That's different from the motor itself having a temperature sensor in it though. The vast majority of RTR vehicles you'll buy won't have any sort of temperature sensing in most sensorless aftermarket setups also won't have temperature sensing for the motor. Some sensored motor setups will have internal temperature sensors such as the new hobby wing G2 series.

[@CHEESEBURGERRC]

I would imagine the slash ultimate would because it’s basically a slash with all the Traxxas upgrades from he factory, but most normal rcs don’t have it.

[@alfarebel8770]

I just did it to mine and oh my goodness it is crazy. I am able to do standing backflips with mine. Loving it so far

[@CHEESEBURGERRC]

Awesome!

[@andresvillagomez75]

What diff oil is in your front and rear??

[@CHEESEBURGERRC]

Stock in the front, rear has been taken apart once or twice and refilled with some automotive grease. (meant for ball joints and stuff like that.) The center diff has silicone earplugs.

[@GeddyRC]

One of my favorite RC channels, as a noob still I really enjoy your explanations. It's the only explanation I could find about a center diff vs. "whatever the thing on my Rustler 4x4 already has" haha, sounds like a center diff is what I'm after! My issue is that it always sends power to the wheel with the least resistances, so any kind of slower movement over terrain, it gets stuck on roots and rocks rather than powering through it. Your wheelie explanation (that it wouldn't just send power to the front wheels during a wheel) is just what I needed to hear. Thanks for this. EDIT: Alright so after finishing the video, I think I'll stick to my slipper clutch. LOL

[@MikeyMobes]

that diff comes stock with 1m weight fluid is just insane. Replace with 50k diff oil for best performance

[@slowcity9434]

Cool Video. Im thinking about getting a traxxas but for now me and my siblings all have sandy lands.

[@corbangillen2099]

When you buy a center diff and your putting it into a rustler you need to take the 50k diff lube out of it and put 10k into it that way you won’t be chipping teeth on your spur. It will make the center diff spin much easier. And if you keep running 50k in your center diff your going to shred teeth inside of your center diff. There’s a lot more into it than put it in and go.

[@CHEESEBURGERRC]

Yeah, it seemed pretty stiff. Thanks for the advice! I’ll give it a go!

[@snappy2725]

Makes sense. I'll pull mine and do the same. Although i will say, I've been running a diff as purchased since 2020 and I don't go easy at all on my rustler. No shredded teeth yet. Thx for the tip!!

[@JoshR335]

What kind of battery are you running because I had a 3s in my car and blew the stock tires to pieces. Also would highly recommend getting a heat sink for the motor and an ESC fan, it really helps.

[@CHEESEBURGERRC]

I’ve been running 3500 mah 3s ZOPs and they’ve been generally fine. I have had a few holes in my tires, but I’ve sealed them with shoe goo. As for the heat sink, you read my mind! I’ve been looking into some - my cars been running hot!

[@snappy2725]

First thing to go within 3 minutes of my first run with my brand new Rstlr4x4 was the slipper clutch. Have had a diff since that day and haven't had a single issue.

[@CHEESEBURGERRC]

I guess I must have set the mesh wrong or something! My motor was in pretty bad shape too, so that may have something to do with it.

[@brian45840]

Cool man thats what im talkin about somthing that shows the difference in the handling and performance befor i bought it is all i wanted to see thank u

[@frankeid241]

Love the vid. I just ordered a rustler vlx and can't wait till it gets here. I also ordered sledgehammer tires and some arms for it and axles. Also ordered ecu fan and motor shrink. Looking into the center diff and wondering what pinion gear you used when it got really hot? Then what did you switch it too? Thanks still new to traxxas so wondering alot about them? Also if you were to increase the weight of fluid in the front diff would that give you a higher chance of no wheelies? Great video will definitely watch more of your stuff.

[@CHEESEBURGERRC]

I’m glad you enjoyed! I swapped out the pinion gear for a 9 tooth one when it got hot. (The one that comes with it is 11 tooth.) You can get them from here: traxxas.com/products/parts/telemetry/6745 Or from your hobby shop. I have been told that if you put some thinner fluid in the center diff, the motor won’t have to work so hard and won’t get so hot, so you may want to try that instead of gearing it down. Increasing the weight of the front diff wouldn’t decrease wheelies - it would just make power be distributed more evenly between the front tires which makes it harder to steer. I hope this helps! Have fun! 😀

[@stevenwheat]

I like the slipper better ,if I were to run the center diff id put lower wt fluid to help relieve the added strain of no slipper

[@leon_brave_racing898]

Gearing would be different with the centerdiff also buy a higher quality pinion for it with the correct gear ratio

[@Bacon12954]

Welp, changing pinions is faster than changing the spur at least

[@insanerc9585]

Nice vid today bro

[@GoGoggansGo]

My brother and I took ours to our local track, i was shocked at how well his VXL 4x4 did with a set of tires, GTR shocks and good suspension setup but i came away with two things especially if you race on Clay 1) get a much more powerful servo without a center diff it would literally understeer into the wall because the stock servo didn’t have power to physically turns the wheels to break traction 2) get a fucking center diff lol 😂 it would fix all of the handling problems Past that it would be a very competitive truck especially if you get the ultimate

[@2Guys1ControllerShow]

I know this video is two years older so but hopefully you learned the following, never go wot right off from a standstill

[@wwjoshdew]

So in your opinion, is this upgrade worth $70?

[@CHEESEBURGERRC]

I’d say if you’re running more power and want more speed/strength, then definitely! For a stock setup though, the slipper clutch is best.

[@vtmods4172]

My dads rustler went through 2 spur gears in one day while filming a KZbin video at a bmx track

[@CHEESEBURGERRC]

I took my motor apart and found that the bearing was slightly out of alignment which was allowing it to wobble and shear spurs. I replaced the bearings, and I haven’t had problems with shearing since! I’d definitely recommend trying it because I used to go through several spurs each day too and now the car works like new.

[@vtmods4172]

CHEESEBURGER RC Okay thanks, also what esc did you buy? I bought the motor too

[@CHEESEBURGERRC]

I’m still running all stock VXL 3s electronics.

[@vtmods4172]

CHEESEBURGER RC okay, thanks!

[@VikingDudee]

If your motor gets too hot, it'll keep getting hotter if you let it, the VXL ESC will not protect the motor, it can't read its temp. the ESC however will go into thermal power mode or thermal shutdown if it gets too hot. But the motor will just keep going until it melts its self.

[@CHEESEBURGERRC]

Very true! Looking back at this video, I can’t help but cringe a bit at all the stuff I didn’t know. 😂

[@RCMANIAC-YT]

Nice vid! I might get me one of those for mine

[@CalebLawrence007]

Thanks for the video!

[@YY15UPC]

Get steel pinion gears, then they won't strip. if its softer than the diff gear then it will strip

[@dayadam16]

I think your super undergeared still. I'm doing this tonight for my sons and I only plan to run 4s max. I'm thinking 20 plus on the pinion. I'll let you know how the temps work out. And it's not even a hobbywing, it's a surpass hobby 4076 2000kv.

[@CHEESEBURGERRC]

When this one was recorded, I didn’t have the hobbywing yet. But you’re right I definitely shouldnt’ve geared it down. The motor was having some other problems at the time that I thought the diff would make worse, so I geared it down. But it was definitely not necessary!

[@dayadam16]

@@CHEESEBURGERRC your right I watching them back to back and didn't notice. Did it ever get hot on you? I notice in another video you have a fan on the motor with the 6s setup?

[@CHEESEBURGERRC]

@@dayadam16 yea I added a fan because it was getting pretty warm. It was (typically) not a big problem, but it was sometimes getting pretty hot so I added a fan. I do run it pretty hard though - it’s geared up, has big/heavy tires, and I bash it off road. If you’re planning on street driving or speedruns, you probably won’t have a lot of heat issues.

[@dayadam16]

@@CHEESEBURGERRC it's for my son. After we upgraded tires the velineon was getting hot on stock gearing. But now the 4076 is cogging for unknown reasons like its weak then throttle shuts off like overheat.

[@CHEESEBURGERRC]

It might be overgeared then. You said you’re running 20t right? Even with an upgraded motor, you should really only run that for speedruns on the pavement. Anything else would definitely overheat it.

[@smashrc8481]

I have nether on my vrx cobra the center diff slipped too much and Does not hold fluid, and there is no slipper option so I have a locked center diff and so far my gears have been ok and it's more fun

[@CHEESEBURGERRC]

Nice👍

[@leon_brave_racing898]

Gear mesh was off thats why it sounds different

[@CHEESEBURGERRC]

Yeah, I had killed a bearing in the motor before making this, so it was rattling around and destroying my gears.

[@taemac10]

Think I will try the center differential on my slash 4x4. The slipper clutch is trash..

[@rcmayki7216]

Sympa la vidéo merci pour le tutto

[@912Metalhead_5]

Just got me a rustler

[@CHEESEBURGERRC]

Awesome! I used to have a 2WD Rustler and it was a ton of fun. 👍

[@912Metalhead_5]

@@CHEESEBURGERRC I got the xl-5, and I LOVE IT

[@912Metalhead_5]

@@CHEESEBURGERRC I was getting anxiety when you were going full throttle down the road with your rustler I was like please dont crash! I'm like that with my rustler

[@leaffromthetree3213]

Thanks very informative

[@LyroLife]

Were you running 2s or 3s? I mean because of the extrem heat. I am running 2s only and a center diff would be nice. But if it does overheat on 2s allready it’s not worth it.

[@CHEESEBURGERRC]

I was running 3s. It is worth noting however that my motor was in pretty bad shape at the time of making this video, so if your motor is newer it might not get quite as hot.

[@billyjones589]

What diff fluid do I need to stop my Rusler from doing wheelies or should I just losen up the slipper clutch.

[@CHEESEBURGERRC]

Loosening the slipper clutch should do the trick! If you have a center diff, you could probably stop or at least reduce it by putting in thinner fluid. (This would send all the power to the front wheels if it wheelied, so it would lose power and fall back down.) That would wear stuff out faster and be generally less controllable though, so you're better off just loosening the clutch.

[@joewhite8079]

Just a question to do with the slipper assembly on my stampede I can't seem to remove it from the drives shaft it's stuck I've pulled everything off including the plastic parts and centre cover to no luck and I can't even force it out don't know why it's jammed it's also an xl5 Variant any help would be great as I'm so confused easy to remove on my rustler 4x4 vxl I was just wanting a spur gear off my stampede.

[@CHEESEBURGERRC]

If you just took off the cover, the slipper clutch won’t come off. You have to remove the entire rear end of the car. Fortunately, it’s not too difficult. Just 4 screws. (The Traxxas website has some exploded views that show how to do it.) It should just come right out! If it still doesn’t come out, then something is definitely wrong. My only guess would be that it could somehow be stuck on the motor, so removing that could help get it off. I hope this helps!

[@joewhite8079]

@@CHEESEBURGERRC it ended up being rust and it was stuck together solved that issue in the end by forcing it off after removing most parts.

[@Algorythm64]

Im french. Center diff is good for off road bashing you think ?

[@CHEESEBURGERRC]

It’s not bad off road, but also not good. You need to be very exact with the throttle when you have the center diff which makes it hard to use for bashing. You could try, but it wouldn’t have any benefits.

[@Algorythm64]

@@CHEESEBURGERRC ok , thank you !!! Nice video.

[@7seas269]

You should make a rebuild video of traxxas 6780

[@CHEESEBURGERRC]

I’ll probably give the diff another try soon!

[@chittychittyb_ng3301]

Mine don't pop wheelies. Am I loosing power some where and not know it. I'm a noob. Also have a bunch of aluminum upgrades. Is it weighing it down ?

[@CHEESEBURGERRC]

The aluminum shouldn’t be weighing it down too much. My guess is your bearings are starting to wear out. I got a bearing kit for mine a little while back, and it made the car run good as new!

[@markoftheus]

What kind of battery are you using? With a nickel metal hydride (NiMH) or a 2s LiPo, trying to do wheelies with a Rustler is rather difficult, in my experience. If you want wheelies with a Rustler, 3s LiPo is the way to go.

[@alexanderhernandez9093]

Did u use all the old parts for the new part or did u buy every thing new!?!??

[@CHEESEBURGERRC]

The only new part I got was the center diff. I reused all the other parts.

[@mazihadad2811]

hi what about sliper clutch eliminator? what is better center diff or sliper clutch eliminator?

[@CHEESEBURGERRC]

You have to be careful with slipper clutch eliminators. They don’t absorb/unload ANY strain, and so any bump or jerk goes straight through the motor and driveline, which can damage it.

[@shashwatjannawar4561]

I dont understand anything but like i give u watch time

[@CHEESEBURGERRC]

Stonks

[@thomasvarughese4540]

Which is faster centre diff or slipper clutch

[@CHEESEBURGERRC]

It depends on what you’re doing. A center diff can potentially accelerate harder, BUT a (very) well tuned slipper clutch can stop wheelspin and allow you to accelerate as fast as the terrain will allow. I’d go with a center diff if you’ve got bigger tires or higher gearing because the slipper clutch will slip too much, but if the car is stock I’d recommend the slipper clutch.

[@DashzRight]

Do you like cheeseburgers? I do.

[@CHEESEBURGERRC]

I do! How’d you know?

[@nealedmondson3191]

Why did you remove the motor to change the diff? Lol

[@CHEESEBURGERRC]

Lol good question

[@ISIAH_STL]

Slipper clutch is better and more adjustable

[@20alroco]

Face-Diapers, really............

[@Cre8tor727]

Center diffs are more for dirt than asphalt you wont see any benefits on road

[@CHEESEBURGERRC]

Ah. I didn’t know that! It looks like I’ll have to do an update video on this! - I’ve gotten several comments saying I used it wrong. Thanks for telling me!

[@bansheerider619]

you can change the oil in the diff to something lighter like 500K and you will see a difference on road than slipper clutch. Its way better because you can fine tune your diff with different oils.

[@bansheerider619]

No prep drag racing many guys lock their diff with JB Weld. It puts all the power to the rear wheels.

[@ZingZingNZ]

Take your mask off

[@BigTurtle976]

Kinda slow..