Schelle Racing: aluminum diff cross pins that save 7 g on the RC8B4.2

Photo: Schelle Racing (source)

Schelle Racing keeps mining the weight-saving vein on Team Associated‘s 1/8 platform. The American brand has just listed a set of aluminum differential cross pins, part number SCH1492-42, cut for the RC8B4.2 and RC8T4.2.

Seven grams less rotating mass

That’s the headline argument: the full set of six cross pins weighs 3.91 g against 10.92 g for the stock steel parts, exactly 7 g saved. And these aren’t 7 g taken from anywhere on the chassis — they are 7 g of rotating mass, removed from the very heart of all three differentials. On a 1/8 off-road car, lightening what spins is felt far more than lightening what stays still: the car picks up revs faster on corner exit and the drivetrain gets moving more crisply after braking.

Hard-anodised 7075 aluminum, plus a dedicated pin for the centre diff

The six pins are machined from 7075 aluminum then hard anodised — a surface treatment that is essential here: without it, an aluminum part working in shear inside a differential spider would wear out in a handful of runs. The set includes pins of different lengths, among them a longer flat-ended item intended for the high-capacity centre differential of the B4.2 and T4.2 — a detail that matters, because that centre diff does not use the same geometry as the front and rear units.

Fitment and price

The SCH1492-42 set is listed as compatible with both electric and nitro versions: Team Associated RC8B4.2, RC8B4.2e, RC8T4.2 and RC8T4.2e. It is priced at $20 on the Schelle Racing store, with the listing published on 24 August 2026.

One thing to keep in mind before ordering: aluminum remains less durable than steel on this particular part. This is very much a racing product, best kept for drivers who strip and check their differentials regularly, not for a car left running all summer without a look inside.