Square STV-336 TB04 TRF419 C hubs

The TRF419 has been a fantastic car for me this season, I have loved racing it. However there is one thing that has been a problem compared to the previous TRF418 and that is the C-Hubs.

The car comes with new ones that are wider around where the drive shafts go into the hubs, this is to stop them rubbing against the double cardan drive shafts. This design was first seen on the TB04 (With 6 degrees of caster) and we then got a 4 degree caster version with the TRF419.

I raced this type of C-hub on the TB04 and never had an issue, the new 4 degree parts however seem much more prone to breaking. I race on a very tight carpet track and we have solid wooden boards. Overall the car has proven to be very strong with no major parts breaking, but I have broken many more C-Hubs over the same period of time (About 5-7 C-hubs) than I did with the TRF418 (A couple of pairs).

There was a hairline crack forming in the hub, so I thought I might as well change it.

I noticed the Square parts a while ago whilst browsing the web, and I purchased them originally as a tuning option.  I really do not like aluminium parts on the suspension of a car, but after inspecting my car ready for the next race-night I noticed a slight crack in one of the hubs so I thought it would be good to give them a try.

The parts are well machined as you would expect with anything made by Square. They are made with high strength aluminium so they should put up a good fight before they bend.

I weighed them on the scales, each hub weighs in at 6g which is 4g heavier than the original parts, giving you an extra 8g of weight to contend with at the front of your car.

Needless to say they fit well, as the parts are machined you can easily fit the suspension shaft and isolate the flat part as you use the grub screw to hold the pin in securely.

The tolerances are very good, less slop on the top-hats

The tolerances are better where you fit the flange washers. They fit well with less movement than the plastic part (Again the TRF418 part doesn't have this issue).

More blue.. I suppose that's a good thing

Once the part is fitted I gave it all a wiggle and it had less slop than the plastic part on the other side of the car that I had not changed. It might be wear (the other side was a few months old) but it was better.

Double blue

With both hubs fitted I had to pop the car back on the set-up station. These hubs have 5 degrees of caster compared to the kit standards 4. This would give you a little less initial turn in and more turning once you get to the apex and start powering out.

To compensate for the slight change of initial turning I fitted the stiffer rear roll bar. I swap between this and the kit one normally and the stiffer rear bar will help make up for the caster change.

I have only raced one meeting with the new parts, but the car felt good. The stiffer rear bar made up for the slight camber change and if anything the car felt easier to drive.

Cons

• 8 grams more weight at the front of the car. 
• Aluminium on suspension parts is harder to easily check if a car feels 'off' as it can bend slightly, whereas plastic will just break.

Pros 

• It will not break!
• Square parts are strong and well made, and as I only run stock I have a lot less chance bending them anyway
• The Blue matches the Tamiya Blue :)

More blue than the average TRF419.

Overall I'm happy with this part for now, although I hope that the rumoured Tamiya upgrade package has new hubs, (Although you could easily just use the old ones).