X6 wing mounts

[N7ELA]

I have problems smashing wing mounts. Does anybody have any upgrade tips or advice....????????????

[bigred5765]

dont land on them, lol
try using losi xx4 ones, cant use std wing though,matty still preferes the x factory ones,ashe thinks the wing is better.

[YoungChazz]

Please tell us you don't hit them with a hammer. LOL

In fact, our wing mounts are rather robust compared to, say, those on a B4.

There has been much "discussion" within the company about wing mounts. Because of their shape, it was a very expensive mold to make and it's an extremely expensive mold to run, requiring constant attention and work from the press operator.

But we want the wing stable, not flopping around, so that all the downforce is transmitted to the car. We want to use the largest legal wing to generate maximum effect, believing there is no such thing as too much traction. (Remember that astro and grass tracks are the exception, not the rule.)

Therefore the wing should be stable, and that means a stiff mount with a wide stance. Any mount like that will be a bit brittle. You can't have a plastic part that refuses to bend yet is not brittle unless you spend a ton of money on exotic materials which are usually full of expensive carbon fiber.

I believe the AE mounts mentioned above are made of nylon, one of the cheapest and easiest to work with materials available. Ours are made of polyeurethane containing 40% (!) fiberglass -- far stiffer and stronger, but more brittle. We could save a lot of money with the cheaper material, but tests show this makes the car perform better.

Racing is all about making choices. The best illustration is an automobile tire. If I make a really soft sticky tire I"ll get a fabulously safe tire with tons of grip, but it will wear out in just a few miles. If I use a compound that's hard as a rock it will last 100,000 miles but when my wife slams on the brakes it won't stop. So, in the tire business a designer must look at where the tire will be used and design a compromise that works in that setting.

X Factory is a pure racing company -- we assume that nobody ever runs one of our cars in the back yard. So we make decisions rather like an F1 tire designer. Our wing mounts are a bit more brittle than AE's, but the car is faster.

Another advantage of X Factory wing mounts: The mounting point, with nipple and body clip, is tucked in behind the shock tower where the air flow is already turbulent. This gives clean air in the center of the wing = more effective.

[Mike Hudson]

Are you breaking the whole wing mount or just the body clip mount bits?

[Lee]

I was going to suggest if you are just breaking the nipple off the top to drill it and fix it with a screw and a wheel spacer from a b4.

I dont think i have ever broken a wing mount but i have snapped a nipple off. Once they are drilled though they do seem really tough

[stegger]

Originally Posted by Mike Hudson

Are you breaking the whole wing mount or just the body clip mount bits?

Took the words out of my mouth mike
If you are only breaking the nipple off try this.
http://www.ymr.no/x6wingmount.htm

[Mike Hudson]

I broke a few nipples too as lee said if thats the case then dremel the rest of the nipple off and drill a hole there and use a big wheel axle spacer and countersunk screws to keep the wing on.

[N7ELA]

Never snapped a nipple but the mount splits along where the screw goes in. Then the mount comes away from the shock tower, still attached to the wing but now the wing flops about.

Im not even talking about big crashes landing on the wing. It has happened when grip rolling before. I have had huge crashes with other cars B4's, xx4, BJ4 and 501x and have never snapped a wing mount until recently...

Im using the correct screws and i have tried thread locking them in from new to see if that makes a difference but it still happens.

I would say this is a common problem as i know other people who its happened to.

[Mike Hudson]

are you your screws are not too long or too short and tight (not stripped) I never broke a wing mount on mine in well over a year of racing it

[bigred5765]

have to admit Matty has never broke a wing there, we do as lee said grind the nipple of use b4 wheel spacers and drill and thread it, it may be the case your over tightening the screws were they go through the shock tower,just gently nip them up and cut some gurney flap of your wing,if your landing on them allot cutting some gurney of may help you land flatter.

[super__dan]

You can get much longer screws into those than the equivilent std screw. Measure how much depth there is in each hole with a pinion driver, add on the width of the shock tower and use the longest screw you can

[migsy]

get a pair of losi xxx cr wing mounts, they go straight on and all you need to do is replace the wing.

hope this helps

[N7ELA]

Done another wing mount last night. Its always the same side and the same place. It cracks where the screws go in and then falls off the shock tower.

Switched to an associated wing and mounts now and this seems to be working fine.

[Danosborne6661]

XXX mounts are the way forward, straight fit

[blue_pinky]

This one is more for Chazz I expect...

I'm intrigued...a 40% glass filled moulding will be much stiffer, and also much more brittle, just as you've said. I'm a consultant design engineer by trade and have been designing plastic mouldings (amongst other things) for sometime, so understand the issues you have as well .

I'm interested to hear that on the car you can feel the difference on a wing mounted on a glass filled part and a non filled part? I'd never have thought it would be a noticeable difference!!!

I say this not because i don't beleive you...but because I'm surprised, so I'm not questioning it. My driving is nowhere near yours or your testers standards I guess so maybe this doesn't surprise me totally...and here's my thought...

The mounts look really solid in shape, and I like them for all the reasons you mention, so I wouldn't be keen to use any others. Since those of us who won't notice the difference between a 40% and non filled part are probably those of use who are breaking them more often...could it be viable to run some from lesser filled or non filled material as another option? Like the AE filled/non filled option parts.

I understand the tool/parts will behave a little differently, but if people are really finding an issue maybe it could be an economical option if the current tooling will do it? Your mould tools will love you for longer if you ran less glass fill through them too

I know from my bit of rc experience (which unfortunately is far less than my plastics/design experience...but I am working on it), I broke many B4 wing mounts early on, and have not managed to break an x6 one yet, but I suspect it'll just be a matter of time...I've not had the X6 very long!

Absolutely love the car by the way, so keep up the good work...probably only posted this because too much of me wishes I was designing for X-factory

[Lee]

Originally Posted by blue_pinky

I broke many B4 wing mounts early on, and have not managed to break an x6 one yet, but I suspect it'll just be a matter of time...I've not had the X6 very long!

Despite the B4 wing mounts being quite flexible in comparison, they are a weaker design.

I doubt you will break a wing mount, maybe pull a nipple off but it really would take a big crash to snap one from my experience.

I think the X6 ones need to be stiffer because if you look at the design they are much longer and are only fixed at one point (albeit by 2 screws) but if you look at the b4 ones they are fixed at 2 points allowing them to use inferior plastics. I think if XF had their style mounts moulded from the same plastic as the b4 ones they would flex a lot and reduce the amount of tuning options we get from cutting/moving the wing.

[blue_pinky]

Your right about the B4 mounts...they are weak!!! And I was very much a newbie at that time so it was easy for me to break them, I was going through wings and mounts like crazy!

I reckon they keep the filled ones too, I like them so far and as you say they are part of the tuning options, for many people they work fine.

My thought was you could maybe have 2 materials available, like AE do for a number of their parts....if you have mould tool that could do it and enough demand, why not use it? It's another tuning option then

Some people have been on here saying they do break them, some saying they keep breaking them, thankfully I haven't so far...but cars do break sometimes...and it could maybe be a solution for those who are talking about it?

[N7ELA]

Ive never broken a b4 wing mount before. or an associated one...

[Lee]

But you are going much faster with xfactory

[N7ELA]

Originally Posted by Lee

But you are going much faster with xfactory

and ive just ordered more wing mounts...

Not sure if the 1740g optimum weight works best. I found 1600g works better indoors. But i will be trying the 1740 on sat at south shields...