How to: Replace an Axle

Aaron Morris | 23rd February, 2023 | 3 min read

G’day everyone, Aaron here, and today I’ll show you how to change the axle on an HSP 2 wheel drive car, and a lot of others as well. If you prefer, you can watch this guide in it's original video form, here.

The Mongoose, Crusher, Viper and Storm represent some of the best value for money cars in the RC world. We’ve already done videos on how to change out the steering servo, how to change the spur, the idler gear, and more! But how does one go about changing the wheel axle? Read on:

Here’s what we need:

The replacement axle of course. We have our own brand of HD spring steel upgrade axles – and that’s exactly what’s going on.
Some kind of wheel wrench
Some pliers and a small flathead screwdriver.

Start by removing the wheel with the wrench.

Now we’re gonna take off the wheel hex. Use a small flathead screwdriver to prise the hex off, revealing the drive pin.

Carefully take out the drive pin, use pliers if you like. Don’t drop it, or it’ll somehow scoot 20 metres away into another room under a cabinet, or possibly through a wormhole into another dimension.

Now using the pliers, pop the upper link off the balljoint on the hub. Some cars will have an upper hinge pin screw to remove, but these HSP cars just have a ball joint.

You can now take out the old axle and replace it with the new one. This is also a great chance to quickly inspect the hub bearings and add a couple of drops of oil if you feel like it.

Put in the drive pin, and when putting the hex on, line it up in the proper position.

If you feel like it, this is a good opportunity to upgrade to aluminium hexes. These are tougher, and you can tighten your wheels down harder (but not too tight!) without them binding up on the hub. This can help prevent rounding out the hexes and damaging the wheel.

Take a moment to admire your mechanical genius, and make sure everything is together properly. That’s it – with the wheels back on, it’s time to go for a bash!