I have the steel 3 shaft steel gears with bearings from Hobby Raw and they are great. Smoothest gear boxes I have ever operated. The tank will coast down hill with them, so I am not sure why you are telling people to stay away from them?
I read that to mean to avoid getting the flat steel gearboxes that are the L/L 5:1 sets...same ones as the old Asiatam brass gearboxes but with steel gears (
http://www.asiatam.com/product_info....er-stug-i.html). Not sure that he meant the 3-shaft boxes like the ones that you have.