Goku

My Feedback: (3)

On my Tmaxx I have the RRP spur gear (the one in the pic)...

It's plastic and I just stripped it the other day. [:@] (I'm guessing a rock flew in or something)
So off I go to my LHS (Hobbytown) and all they only stock the full spur gear kit (everything in the pic) and are charging $35 for it-[&:] ....but I only need the outside gear and it takes 2 weeks for them to get it in.... []

RRP makes both plastic and Metal gears for this setup.... SO which do I go with? I naturally want to get the metal because it seems like the logical upgrade.... but I remember reading on another forum that a few folks were bashing the metals gears claiming they rob a lot of power...
Is this true? Is there that much of a difference between the plastic and metal spur gears? Are there any other disadvantages with the metal gears?

What do you suggest?

Gracias!

jefx

It's true that a steel spur WILL rob some power from the engine, since it is extra rotational mass, but the amount is hardly noticable. Only a stop watch would note the milliseconds worth of difference. The only other disadvantage is the fact that you may strip the clutchbell if the mesh isn't right. There are a lot of advantages though. For one, you wouldn't be in the position you are in now if you would have had a steel spur.

jefx

Some people will say that having a steel spur is hard on your tranny since a plastic spur is the first thing to break in the drivetrane, thus protecting your tranny gears. I don't agree with that theory. That is the whole reason for a slipper clutch.
Also, RRP makes steel clutchbells to match the spur so neither of them will ever strip again.

Goku

My Feedback: (3)

Cool... that's pretty much what I was thinking....
I'm going to get the steel one...

I guess the next step would be to ensure my slipper clutch is correctly adjusted so it does its job! (I think it is currently WAY too tight)
If something is gonna give.... it may as well be the part that is designed to give out, and not stuff that we have to replace!

I got my Tmaxx off ebay and has been hopped up quite a bit. It looks to already have a steel clutch bell (do they make them in anything else?). It also has the forward-only conversion done to the tranny......

I've heard this puts some stronger gears in the tranny... is this true? or does it just remove the reverse gears? Sorry... I've never taken the tranny apart.... (I will if I happen to break it )

G35Coupe

It doesnt add any gears to the tranny. However it does take some out. And takes out the jerky stutter the track will have when the reverse is in it. It also helps a bit with acceleration. I put my RRP steel spur in today and after a few big jumps noticed that the stock clutchbell was giving in. Looks like its time for the RRP CLutchbell.

Goku

My Feedback: (3)

HMMMM.....

RRP Clutchbell......

I'll add that to the grocery list.

I guess I'll go w/ the same # of teeth.... I haven't played with gearing much yet....

Let me make sure I got this right... W/ the clutch bell.... more teeth = more top end, but less torque?
or is it the other way around...? (more torque/less top end)

allen0622

I just stripped a spur gear pretty bad this weekend, and I was thinking about a steel one, Iknow the slipper is supposed to protect the tranny, but I still stripped the plastic spur regardless, the slipper didn't save it. What if I did have a steel one? then what's going to strip?
Or should the slipper give alot sooner on a steel gear than a plastic one? I don't know, I'm confusing myself, I do have my slipper tightened right down with 12 pegs, too tight I'm guessing.

jefx

The plastic spur is the weakest point in the drivetrane and will strip before anything else breaks. It will strip out before a tight slipper "gives". Usually a plastic spur will strip out because of poor alignment with the clutchbell, or because of chassis flex in a crash or hard landing, but it also wears with time and will become weaker because it is in constant stress from a metal clutchbell and will eventually strip out because of it. A steel spur will push that weak point to the slipper, where it belongs. A properly adjusted slipper will "give" long before a steel spur will strip, and since it's between the spur and the tranny it'll keep your tranny gears from stripping.
Installing a steel spur isn't pushing the damage to a different gear, it's pushing the "damage" to the slipper clutch. Tranny gears are far less likely to strip then the spur gear because they are in a fixed position on a shaft which is held in place with bearings on either side of the tranny case. They don't suffer from chassis flex like the spur/clutchbell.
Die hard racers will usually stick with a plastic spur, because every ounce counts on a race truck.

Dale Gribble

My Feedback: (4)

I have been through a good 5 or 6 spurs with my Maxx, and 2 or 3 with the Savage. I stick with plastic. While I agree the slipper is designed to accept shock and not transfer it to the transmission, it is quite a quandry.

On one hand, the manual says to tighten the spur slipper, and then loosen by 1/4 turn. Any further then this, and you are susceptible to melting the spur in the middle due to slipping friction. I guess you could run the slipper a bit looser with a metal spur, since the spur won't melt from extra slipping and just replace the friction pegs more often.

I agree with you on the inner gears- and their being supported by bearings on a rigid setup.

I am going to try one more plastic spur on each (when necessary), and then maybe I'll transfer to steel spurs.

jefx

I just hate driving to a bash site with a buddy or two, getting all set up to run around, and ZZZZIIIIIIINNNNNNNGGGGGG, there goes the spur gear while my buddies are still having fun. I guess it wouldn't be as big a deal if it were easy to replace, but having to remove the pipe, throttle linkage, and engine just to get to the thing is well worth having a steel spur to me.

allen0622

I know what you mean JEfx but I would still be concerned that something more expensive would break or something I didn't have. I mean I always have an extra spur in my box. This is actually the first one I've ever stripped. The exact situation you're talking about happened to me this weekend, we were out bashing so we decided to put this 5 ft. long pc. of plywood up against my buddies oldsmobile and we were backflipping over his roof. I did it twice landing on anything but my wheels and then ZZZIIINNNGGG! but, within about 25 minutes(it is a pain) I was back up and running. I always have extra bulks, arms, towers, and a spur. If anything else had broken I would've been out for the day. I don't like stuff breaking but if something is going to go I want to make sure I can readily fix it. I suppose I'm just paranoid, I mean what if a stone or something gets in there, isn't it possible that your crankshaft or even your metal gear could get screwed up? I can't say I'm not thinking about a metal gear though, I'll have to see how long it takes me to strip another during race season. Also, I guess I only had 6 pegs in, thought I had 12. My new one has 12.

jefx

Don't get me wrong, a plastic spur is fine and dandy for obvious performance reasons, but if you don't like replacing spur gears, then steel is the way to go. I personal hate replacing the same thing more than once, so I always opt for the tougher upgrade.

Steel is harder than stone, they use steel crushers to make gravel out of larger rocks. Obviously there are different grades of steel, but you get the picture. Getting a small rock in the teeth of a steel spur (which is hard to do and pretty rare) won't do anything to the spur. The teeth will just crush it into smaller pieces and push it out of the way, but an aluminum clutchbell might not be so lucky. In the event of the spur/clutchbell locking up due to obstruction, the clutch shoes would slip before your crankshaft would break. The clutch shoes are only engaged by friction due to centrifugal force, and will slip if the load is great enough.

allen0622

I gotcha..steel crushes stone! wow next time I'm playing rock-scissors-paper, I'm throwing down steel! wait, aren't scissors steel? loophole I guess.

jefx

Alright there wise-guy.

RCFreakInFL

My Feedback: (1)

I always had issues with breaking motor mounts on my MAXX 2.5 with the RRP steel spur setup. The slipper was set perfect, but I would take a hard jump, and snap the motor mount in the same spot everytime.....I'm just hard on my R/C's

I would definately advise though, before you take it out, to set the slipper loose, because you will break something. Your spur is stripping for a reason, to keep the rest of your driveline and hardware in tact....

Goku

My Feedback: (3)

I was just thinking.... (UhOh!)

You know that little bearing the spur gear sits on? Does that ever need to be replaced? It seems to me that if it was worn down (I don't know if this is even possible) then there could be a little play with the spur gear and it may wobble a bit and could potentially misalign with the clutch bell. This could effectively strip the spur...

What do you think? If I have a spur that wobbles a bit when I spin it... and it is really tough to get to spin straight, then should I look into replacing that bearing?????

It would be pretty dumb to keep replacing spurs if the other components are just going to keep breaking them...

Goku

My Feedback: (3)

Or maybe the slipper clutch plate is warped? Is that even possible?

jefx

I'd be willing to bet it's the slipper spring that's making it wobble. Just to humor me, take the spring off and replace it with a bearing that will slide over the top shaft splines and crank it down with the slipper nut. Give the spur a spin by hand..........5 bucks says it doesn't wobble any more.

allen0622

I only had 1 spur that didn't wobble. I think they straighten out when they're spinning anyways. Probably because of the spring

lowseylos

alot of time the spur stripping is due to either incorrect mesh or chassis flex
i cant belie[sm=confused.gif]ve the trans is held on by those little screws on the botom

allen0622

yeah, I put some longer black oxide screws in when I swapped my chassis.

RCFreakInFL

My Feedback: (1)

The spur wobble, is quite common with the Maxx's....I never had one that didn't (stock spurs).....but as stated, once they start heavy rotation, they do straighten out, but at idle....they wobble. Not something to worry about.