DF03 one way front diff

[Andy Stewart1 18]

Hi all I’m trying to find a one way front diff for my DF03 

53953 seems to be the item but is like rocking horse doo doo 

can anyone tell me what a 53954 front one way bevel is (is that a part from 53953)

and what is a 53931 CENTRE one way set and how that is different from the above item/s

the latter two seem to be available 

youre answers are received with great thanks!! 

[DeadMeat666 1675]

I have recently bought and installed a center one-way set on my DF03, and it does what I assume you'd want it to do; it disengages the front transmission (from the center driveshaft all the way to the wheels) on braking or reverse. The difference between it and the (I assume) older one-way diff that is installed instead of the stock front diff is that with the diff, the driveshaft is still engaged, and the front diff just disengages the front half shafts that take power to the wheels. The one way bevel is just a spare part for the one-way front diff.

Since the center one-way does the same thing as the one way diff, but disengages more of the drivetrain, I assume it's a more efficient setup to do the exact same thing. It's also more available and cheaper.

Go for the center one-way is my advice.

Cheers,

[Howards 456]

One way fronts tend to eliminate the front diff entirely whereas centre one way couplings keep the front diff so you retain cornering adjustability.

With the one way diff when the power is off the car is true 2wd with no resistance to differential action. When the power is on it’s 4wd but with a front diff that is locked. 

[Juls1 1661]

The centre one way achieves a similar outcome but you keep your normal diff up front. 
 

essentially a one way diff has one way bearings in it, so it drives one direction only. Leaving you with 4WD but rear wheel only brakes/engine braking. Generally under power a front one way diff usually works similar to a spool But only when full power is on. This does depend if it’s a single or dual bearing diff, dual bearing diffs tend to just drive whichever wheel is inside. 
 

the one way centre puts a one way bearing on the centre driveshaft, essentially leading to the same outcome, however under drive you still get normal differential action, while off power there can be some diff interaction instead of completely decoupled like you get with a one way diff. 
 

I have them in both the second hand DF03’s I bought, I’d prefer not to have them because I’ve got no front brakes now, the moment you even back off slightly the car try’s to spins out. Really you only want a front one way if you need rapid rotation, so generally only very tight, relatively low speed tracks. Some of the drawbacks can be tuned out if you remove all drag brakes so the car rolls when you back off and alter the handling a bit. 
 

personally in most cases I’d rather not have them. 

[Andy Stewart1 18]

SPOT ON thank you thank you. 

what a superb forum this is. 

I think I’m going to try it and see how it goes. I’ve used cars with one way fronts before and I like the way they handle. 

[Howards 456]

 

The one-way diff is available here with some spare gears. Probably a good idea to get spare gears...

https://www.tamiyaclub.com/trades_model.asp?cid=122679&id=52876

[martinjpayne 273]

So what happens if you fit the centre one way with the bearing reversed? Rear two wheel drive with four wheel braking?

[Juls1 1661]

5 hours ago, martinjpayne said:

So what happens if you fit the centre one way with the bearing reversed? Rear two wheel drive with four wheel braking?

That’s pretty much exactly what happens, some diffs you can reverse the bearing too. The issue it always that the 4wd chassis doesn’t have enough rear wheel weight to drive car properly, some chassis you might be able to add some weight to make it work. I’ve done it on a stretched and widened MF01X the outcome was... meh. 

[Jontea 334]

Quick DF03 question, kit's just arrived, is it absolutely necessary to glue the plates in the diff? (Front and rear?)

Ta

[DeadMeat666 1675]

11 minutes ago, Jontea said:

Quick DF03 question, kit's just arrived, is it absolutely necessary to glue the plates in the diff? (Front and rear?)

Ta

Yes, especially the rear, since the piece that the diff plate slots into is plastic.

[Wooders28 4723]

4 hours ago, Jontea said:

Quick DF03 question, kit's just arrived, is it absolutely necessary to glue the plates in the diff? (Front and rear?)

Ta

Naa, really just to keep it in place whilst you nail it together, found a tiny bit of silicon diff lube smeared around the face seems to do the trick. 

Not gluing gives you the advantage of being able to ,maybe, flip the plates come rebuild time. The last rebuild  few weeks back, I could flip the front plates, but the rears had almost worn through (tungsten carbide balls in the rear).

A good  mod, is to fit another set of the 1 piece metal  ,front outdrives in the rear ,along with the uprated balls.

[Jontea 334]

5 hours ago, Wooders28 said:

Naa, really just to keep it in place whilst you nail it together, found a tiny bit of silicon diff lube smeared around the face seems to do the trick. 

Not gluing gives you the advantage of being able to ,maybe, flip the plates come rebuild time. The last rebuild  few weeks back, I could flip the front plates, but the rears had almost worn through (tungsten carbide balls in the rear).

A good  mod, is to fit another set of the 1 piece metal  ,front outdrives in the rear ,along with the uprated balls.

Ta, conflicting advice, yes (glue), then no. After watching several diff builds on YouTube, it seems they don't need gluing, grease will be fine as it is just to hold the plate onto the outdrive.

Cheers.

Jon

[Wooders28 4723]

1 hour ago, Jontea said:

Ta, conflicting advice

I can understand why some would want to glue ,on the rubbish plastic rears.

I'd advise throwing another pair of front outdrives in the rear.

[DeadMeat666 1675]

To clarify, I think you should glue the diff plates to the plastic rear outdrives, but I also agree that getting fully steel outdrives in the rear (like what you have in the front) is the best option, and is in fact what I ended up doing. In case you have steel on steel, then no need for glue.

Hope that helped.

Cheers,

 

[Jontea 334]

Cheers, just greased both diff plates, if the rears strip I'll get metal outdrives. Body work to do, shorten esc/motor wires, trim the settings.

For the most part, an enjoyable build, certainly a step up from DT02, enjoyed building the gears and the steering linkage is very smooth.

 

[Wooders28 4723]

44 minutes ago, Jontea said:

if the rears strip

They don't strip, the diff goes all melty.

You'd need the, spur gear bag - 51248.

9808059 - diff joints front 

And a set of 3mm tungsten carbide or silicon nitride balls.

If you're only running a silver can, you should be fine tbh.