Align Taiwan notified me yesterday that they’re releasing a new torque tube for the T-Rex 450 Pro. The original torque tube was designed to break during tail strike as this was a good way to preserve tail gears and we all thought that people would like this feature simply because it is a lot easier and quicker to replace a torque tube drive than it is to replace gears and the price is about the same. However, after some negative feedback, Align decided to increase the strength of the torque tube to that of their original torque tube drive designs.
The new aluminum tube is designed to bend and absorb some of the impact forces instead of breaking. In essence, the strength is proportional of that of the torque tubes on the T-Rex 500, 600 & 700. Tail strikes will now cause the tail gears to break preserving the torque tube in most cases. Below is a strength test of the new torque tube from Align. The new tube begins to twist at 15kg, which is approximately 33.4 Lbs.
