rootbeerslop

Hey gang,

Got my Caldera back and the radio works great. Very happy to get some quality run time from it.
I tighten everything down after each battery, and Loc-tite'd the shock screws, so that lesson set in
With that said Ihave run 4 batteries through it and had great fun, but Inotice the grinding in the spur / main gear area, and don't want to run it until Ifigure out how to adjust it for real.

Curious about best way to shim the main gear and setting gear mesh. I have seen on Alishanmaos Youtube page that you should have lots of spare main gears and / or spur gears if you run Lipo's in the Caldera, and pretty much everyone says to shim it.

I'm using the 7.4v's in there and it is FAST , and things are going ok except for this issue.

It seems like a swiftly progressing wear-out because of the higher power battery. - Like 1.5 hours = new gears....

1. What's the best way to shim this main gear?
2. I tried to adjust the gear mesh, but nothing really seems to move in the housing. Do Ineed to move the motor / spur gear over toward the main gear?
What's the best way to adjust the meshing on the Caldera ?

Thanks for your time !! Ireally appreciate the support !!

nitrosportsandrunner

its a pain cause of the bolt holes on the motor mount i know.

i usually set my gear mesh with paper. you have to have the right thickness paper tho. i find heavy duty printer paper works best.

loosen the bolts that hold the motor just enough so you can move the motor(in order to move the pinion closer to the spur)

press the pinion right against the spur with the paper inbetween the gears.

then tighten the motor bolts.

now remove the paper. this should put the pinion gear as close as you can get to the spur without being too tight.

if it makes a grinding noise tho, repeat with process but double up the paper.

also, it could be a worn pinion gear. if the teeth look jagged then it could help to replace the pinion.

rootbeerslop

Thanks ! This did help. Any recommendations for shimming the main / pinion gear ?

Will this help ? I'm down to try it

nitrosportsandrunner

dont know, never did that on my caldera. didnt really have issues with the spur gear until i ran 3s lipo. on 2s it held up fine for me.

rootbeerslop

Right on.

After running the 3s, did you just end up replacing it the gears now and then ? Or did you end up modifying it to help with the wear ?
I just ordered 2 of each gear. Everything else on the truck seems to be running w/o issue for the moment.

Did you find it really hard to control after putting the 3s in it ? Seems like it can get a bit squirrely even w/ the 2s in it. Heh.
Have you ever adjusted the shocks at all? I notice you can give it a little more or less clearance. Right now I've just got it in the middle.

nitrosportsandrunner

i only ran mine once on 3s. 2s is plenty IMO

a buddy ran his many times on 3s. he ate spur gears. but he is young, and has NO throttle control. I kept telling him to ease on the power, but he would just punch it every time.

seriously, this kid can break ANY rc. i just tradded him my mint rustler VXL. it had tons of upgrades and was bullet proof. took him 2 battery packs to strip the tranny gears!

the stock tires dont provide the best grip. and they ballon like crazy. on 3s, my buddy blew up a tire(ripped)

i would say better tires would improve handling more than adjusting the shocks.

however, if you run on the street or packed dirt, then lower the suspension to provide better handling.

raising the suspension only helps for rough offroading.

rootbeerslop

Very cool. I'm figuring out throttle control, heh. My dad has a long flat yard, so I can really scream across there.
I take it much easier when trying to climb hills / rocks.

Where's the best place to look for tires? I noticed the stock tires seem a little weak and "poofy"

nitrosportsandrunner

hobby shop or ebay.

proline makes many nice tires.

rpm makes some durable rims.

or even traxxas stampede talon tires would work.

just make sure you get ones that are tall enough. some 2.2 tires will work, cause they have alot of side wall and will be the same hight as the stock tires.

the stock rims are like a 3.2 or 3.8 rim.

any rim you get needs to have a 12mm hex.

dont want to get smaller or larger tires, as this will effect the gearing.

Meafordguy

I put in this main gearhttp://www.redcatracing.com/RC-Cars/Redcat-Parts/11164with