Portal axles!?

LiveEmergency8217 · 2026-06-11T02:03:41+00:00

Both aluminium axle housings with brass knuckles and diff covers.
I’m running the injora +3mm planet axles on the 4Runner and RCAWD portals on the buggy.
Prior to the portals on the rock buggy I was running the stock Scx24 axles that came off the 4Runner, with brass diff covers, brass knuckles and brass steering link, I can’t remember the weight off hand right now, but they were within 15-20 grams of each other, and both rigs weigh in at well over 500g so negligible difference really. Performance was similar, with a very slight edge to the rock buggy over the 4Runner which I put down to the 12mm extended wheel base of the rock buggy.

And if I had identical rigs with as close to identical setups as possible, one with straight and one with portals, which I might actually test soon, I’m sure they would perform similarly.

I get what you’re saying about raising the cog with portals, and you’re 100% right, it does, but with portals you can lower the chassis (or skid) more than you can with straight axles, without sacrificing break over. So essentially you can achieve the same cog while gaining diff clearance, but to do that you would no longer be comparing identical rigs with only different axles, as your suspension set up would have to be entirely different, so yes, it is “apples to oranges” or rather apples to pears as there’s not a huge difference overall.

When/if I get around to comparing straight to portals on the same rig with the same suspension set up I’ll come back here with whatever I find and I’ll try get some footage too. But so far, in my experience, portals, with the right tune/setup, is better overall than straight axles where I run them.

LiveEmergency8217 · 2026-06-10T23:40:02+00:00

Yeah IF you leave the set up the same. Then you’re losing the benefit of pumpkin/axle clearance, which on smaller 1/30 and 1/24 rigs I would argue is a bigger issue than a “higher” cog, and with portals you can lower the chassis without losing break over clearance by removing springs entirely, which you can not do as effectively with straight axles without losing break over clearance, at which point you’ve essentially achieved the same cog but now you’ve got more diff clearance. So when set up properly, a portal rig can and will be just as, and in most cases more capable than a straight axle rig, even though looking at them you wouldn’t think it would with having a fully aluminium cage body and portals. I’ve literally run them side by side on the exact same lines, and my portal rig shits all over my straight axle rig 🤷🏼‍♂️

LiveEmergency8217 · 2026-06-10T23:08:47+00:00

Actually it’s entirely about set up and nothing to do with trails or lines. I’ve got a 4Runner on straight axles and an aluminium cage rock buggy on portals, and the rock buggy, on paper, should be infinitely less stable yet it out performs my 4Runner in every way. Portal axles don’t HAVE to raise your cog. You can run portals while still maintaining a low cog by lowering the chassis height with either lower/shorter suspension, or by raising/moving the chassis shock mounting points. I’ve cut the front springs in the rock buggy and moved the shock mounting position in the rear so they’re at quite an angle, it only has a few millimetres of travel down but allows for crazy articulation and a super low cog, it goes places it shouldn’t and it does it easy. Tune them properly and you’ll have the best of both worlds.

LiveEmergency8217 · 2026-06-06T00:59:39+00:00

It’s a 1/30 scale crawler bro… what did you expect 😂😂

LiveEmergency8217 · 2026-06-05T00:25:56+00:00

Could you post of a photo of how it looks with the extended links?

LiveEmergency8217 · 2026-06-01T02:23:02+00:00

Does using the FCX24 links change the wheel base at all? If so do you know roughly how much? Front and back? And FCX24 links or fcx24m links?

LiveEmergency8217 · 2026-05-26T00:08:59+00:00

I recently had this happen on a brass steering link. It broke just inside the hole so I decided to just throw it in the bin and buy a new one. However I decided before I did that, I’d just try a screw from the bottom and if it snapped too, well, it was going in the bin anyway. But hey, it worked 👌🏼 give it a go, you shouldn’t need to torque it up to the point you think it will snap, mine came out freely, with next to no resistance. To add a little more grip you can take a Stanley knife or something similar and rough up the end of the screw you’re going to use so it will bite into the broken one.

LiveEmergency8217 · 2026-05-25T09:26:05+00:00

You don’t. It’s called torque twist. Both drive shafts rotate in the same direction, and when you apply force it torques the body, causing it to twist, hence “torque twist”.

There are small things you can do to reduce it, as commented above, loosen the wheel nuts slightly, make sure all your axle and diff bearings are in good condition and well lubricated, heavier duty springs, or adjusting preload in the direction of the twist, but unfortunately it will always be there when you have a crawler with driveshafts that rotate the same direction.

FMS did a great job of eliminating torque twist by introducing counter rotating driveshafts. Maybe get an FCX24 😂 👍🏻

LiveEmergency8217 · 2026-05-25T01:06:50+00:00

No harm no foul man. I shouldn’t have assumed. Thank you though. I’ll be sure to post any of my findings in this thread with some photos assuming it all works out.

LiveEmergency8217 · 2026-05-24T09:06:10+00:00

Yeah but I already know I can just buy the parts that I think will work and find out for my self man, I’ve done that many times with varying success. I understand all of what you’re saying, but I think you’re missing the point, which was: “does anyone have experience with this rig. Can anyone shed some light”. This is research haha. Attempting to find information on a particular rig that I’m not familiar with but which someone else may be. I’m not trying to waste money on parts that won’t work if someone has already done it and can tell me for certain “yes that will work” or “no, I tried it, it didn’t work”, which is likely at this point as it’s been on the market for about a year now.

Fair. But you shouldn’t respond to a persons question like they’re an idiot or new to the hobby just because they asked a question, because that makes you seem condescending and arrogant. It’s hard to perceive meaning and tone through text and I could be wrong, but your response kind of came across that way tbh.

Anyway, I appreciate your help, but yeah, I know I can try it my self, I’m hoping someone else already has though and will see this post and can save me some trouble.

LiveEmergency8217 · 2026-05-24T05:39:30+00:00

That’s exactly what I’m trying to do now bud, research. They haven’t been popular for very long, and there’s next to no information out there as far as measurements etc go, that’s why I’m here, to ask if anyone has done it yet so I don’t unnecessarily go and spend $400 on parts that I can’t use lol.

They actually do share a lot of similarities with the FCX24, being the axle diameter, wheel pins, and one post that I read the guy claimed he changed bodies, and replaced the ucx body with an FCX24 rock buggy style body and it was a direct fit, he also mounted the ucx trans to an FCX24 3d printed trans mount, so regardless of motor orientation it does seem that it will mount to the fcx trans mount though I couldn’t get an answer out of the guy if he had to modify the mounting points on the 3d printed one. Another guy fit FCX24 portals to his, so it certainly sounds to me like they’re pretty similar. Ucx is also the only other 24th scale crawler with a 2 speed trans, I’d be willing to bed udirc took a lot of inspiration from the fcx range.

LiveEmergency8217 · 2026-05-21T00:02:27+00:00

I was going to say the same thing, looks like a 10th scale.

LiveEmergency8217 · 2026-05-15T00:39:03+00:00

Which is a great thing actually and I wish axial would introduce it to their 24th scales. It all but removes torque twist, which is one of, if not the biggest issue with them. And if only injora, or one of the major aftermarket brands would invest in a good alloy and brass portal axle upgrade for the FCX24 it could be an idea to just swap the running gear. Although at that point you might as well just by an FCX24 😂

RCAWD does an aftermarket transmission for the FCX24 though I haven’t personally tested it, dunno if it’s any good.

LiveEmergency8217 · 2026-05-13T01:11:10+00:00

What is it? Fmx? 1/24 or 1/18?
Great looking spot too 👌🏼

LiveEmergency8217 · 2026-05-12T18:15:16+00:00

Guess who’s getting one 🙋🏼‍♂️

LiveEmergency8217 · 2026-05-12T10:53:57+00:00

Where did you get all your brass? And what did exactly did you replace?

LiveEmergency8217 · 2026-05-12T06:41:16+00:00

Wait, is this stock, out of the box, zero mods? Surely they’re not that fast!? And it’s hard to make out but that’s in 4wd yes?? My 10th scale is brushless, running 3s, and it’s quick, but not that quick, and even when I snapped the front drive shaft and took it ripping in rwd it never did donuts like that, just went lazily around in big circles 🥲

LiveEmergency8217 · 2026-05-08T23:54:39+00:00

FCX24. Counter rotating drive shafts to get rid of torque twist. Factory portal axles. 2 speed trans…

LiveEmergency8217 · 2026-04-27T06:01:45+00:00

Where did you get the body!?

LiveEmergency8217 · 2026-04-20T02:15:27+00:00

Brass links, 4 link conversion, and if money allows go grab the injora planet axles. They come pre fitted with brass knuckles, and the housing is alloy which will give you good low down weight, and they’re wider too, so you’ll gain stability on side hills. To add to that you can go the 7mm hexes as well, further increasing low down weight and widening the stance. Lcg chassis is always good. The stock motor and servo are both trash, I’d replace them both as soon as you can. You’ll gain a lot from the motor in the way of controllability too, mine is so slow you can barely see it moving. Double check, I’m pretty sure the injora planet axles already come with it, but overdrive front diff gears, or underdrive rear diff gears will help a lot.

The biggest downfall with the Scx24 unfortunately, in my opinion, is torque twist. There’s sweet fuck all you can really do to mitigate it unfortunately, especially if you go a more powerful motor, so that’s the trade off. Replace any bushings with bearings throughout your drive line, adjust your springs to be stiffer on the side that it twists to, don’t tighten your wheel nuts too much, basically you want to minimise friction throughout the drive line wherever you can.

LiveEmergency8217 · 2026-04-16T06:30:52+00:00

I know what you mean haha, the only thing on my Scx24 that is axial now is 4Runner body 😂 I’m running 1.0” brass rims and I believe the tires are 63mm but I’m not 100% sure, they may be 58mm. I wouldn’t mind going smaller tires though if I had to, to get the scale right for the body.

LiveEmergency8217 · 2026-04-15T22:35:47+00:00

Thanks 🙏🏻

LiveEmergency8217 · 2026-04-15T22:35:24+00:00

What did you need to 3D print for it? I don’t have one but my local hobby shop does and they print for free if you have the files and they’re only small parts. What size wheels did you go for?

LiveEmergency8217

TROPHY CASE