david77449

This is a very important issue to me as I hate to tear these drive trains apart and fix diff or tranny problems and have it happen again before too long. I would like to get you guys opinions on which MT has the best overall drive train (including tranny and diffs) and can hold up to hard bashing/racing and modded engines.

I’ve never had many problems with my buggies or car drive trains. I guess the weight difference and tire size accounts for a lot. But these MT’s kill me with the weak drive trains. My MT experience is rather limited to only a few trucks but I have a lot of experience in this hobby so I can tear them down and fix them, mod them if parts are available, etc. Now I certainly don’t want a flame war because everyone drives different and these truck may be great for some and some may have had good luck with them but these are the trucks I have scratched from my list due to drive train problems (some bashers, racers, combos).

1. Savage: A great truck and almost indestructible but the diffs are weak (even with the 4 spider mod with the better shafts) and would never hold up to my hard driving and modded engines.
2. EK4: Way too much torque for almost any drive train components!
3. Mammoth: Again weak diffs. I tried every mod and solution before giving up on this truck! No aftermarket solutions via Hobby People per Craig I believe!
4. T-Maxx: Held up fine to the stock 2.5 engine but the Sirio 3.0 ripped the tranny to shreds!
5. Duratrax Thunder Quake: First don’t laugh, I have a modded out TQ that I have gave to my wife with a Hyper 8 port turbo on it and Maxx wheel adapters and this thing after a long time and a lot of hard running still has not had any real drive train issues. If it only handled better, had more aftermarket support, and was a better racer I would have kept it for myself, lol.

Like I said my MT experience is limited though I’ve been in the hobby a long time. These are just my experiences and may not hold true to others so I’m not flaming any of the above trucks! I know how to drive and don’t land from jumps with the brakes on or at W.O.T. and I never set my brakes to lock up on any of them. I also break in my diffs (figure eights) , use the correct fluids, and don’t get into donuts, lol. I do drive hard but that’s not going to change. Any help or opinions would be appreciated.

Thanks,
David

oatmealman

My Feedback: (1)

personally the duratrax maximum mt to me has the best drivetrain it's unbreakable i just put a brushless in is and it's still holding up,also when the nitro was in the truck i would go off a jump with the slipper tight and rev it really high and it would land and i't sstill intact,it's insane

fhm101

That's a toughie. I've been involved in MT racing for a number of years now and to be honest, I have not seen a single high CG truck with a driveline that could stand up to a hotrodded engine for any length of time without extensive modding. Your best bet would be a truggy and even then hot rod engines tend to eat clutches and diff gears unless you are a real smooth driver. As with the high CG monsters, even the truggies are going to suffer from high output engines. The only driveline I've ever seen hold up to massive engine power was a bergonzoni truggy. They have a tough as nails driveline, but the rest of the car was made to run on grass tracks and is built accordingly. It's not so much of a breakage problem as it is a wear issue. The truck will just get sloppy. They handle great, but are only good for about a year of racing before they need to be retired. The driveline will still be fine, but everything else will be sloppy and tired. While it's still a bit early to really say, the revo has been tested with several different .21 and .23 engines and so far has been holding up very well from what I've been hearing.

If you are looking to race MT next season and want to race a high CG truck, think small block/production class as unlimited has become the exclusive domain of the truggy if you want to win. The cutoff for small block next year will be at .19 so you can run a revo or maxx with the new OS TZ or TM .18. I know a guy that put a TZ in his revo recently and he said it's as fast as the .23 midblock it replaced and has way more bottom end.

david77449

Oatmealman,

Well just goes to show that maybe people should stop calling Duratrax, Duratrash hey? You read above about the TQ I gave my wife. It’s kind of like the Ford vs. Chevy thing. Well I’ve had both and IMO neither is better than the other. I can’t wait to see the Warhead come out. It sure looks like a lot of other people are looking hard at this truck too which I don’t understand if it’s doomed to be trash, lol!

David

oatmealman

My Feedback: (1)

lol,yes i did read you thing on the tq,very intresting it sounds like duratrax is know for there stress tech and there drivetrain durability

david77449

fhm101,

Well you reply kind of sums up things the way I see them also. I race buggies so I really don’t want to build a truggy or buy a GS SUT or such. I really want a true monster but don’t know that I’ll have many choices. I’ve looked hard at both classes and I’m afraid in the small block class it’s going to be 90% Revos now with a few TNX trucks mixed in. I hate to race the same thing everyone else is but I’ve done it before and you can personalize your vehicles.

I love the outlaw class but you’re right the truggies are taking it over. I don’t have a problem with truggies but do think they have an unfair advantage with brake bias, low CG’s, and center diffs which gives you more tune ability with different wt. fluids. But I guess in the end this is what outlaw is all about.

Thanks for your input and I appreciate it.
David

oatmealman

My Feedback: (1)

my truck is a truggy it wasted so many nitro rustlers at our school meet,there were probably 5 nitro rustlers and 1 electric rustler with a brushless,i smokeed all of them from start to finish,so i wouldnt have any problem competing in the outlaw class

mr-rccrazy

Well, in my experience the traxxas t-maxx had a very VERY crappy transmission. I hated the reverse clutch too. If you had any throttle, barely, and clicked reverse the clutch would get stuck. therefore, the truck moves nowhere. It is a hassle. I never had any problems with my savage's tranny, or anything else for that matter. Usually the "inline" center shaft systems are stronger than other types of tranny's. The kyosho mad force that I own also has had zero tranny problems. the center drive cups are showing some ugly wear though. [:'(]

david77449

mr-rccrazy,

Yea I was never in love with the T-Maxx tranny myself, lol. On the Savage the only tranny problems I ever had where a couple of shifting issues but they were minor. The diffs were the big issue for me on the Savage and as stated I used the best parts recommended by everyone on Savage central, done the 4 spider diff mod, broke them in correctly, ran the right weight fluid and they never held up. I hear the new HPI made spider mod parts are made out of the same materials. Maybe it's just luck of the draw!

I've never had a Madforce so can't speak for them. But I agree inline systems are stronger but diffs take a lot of hell when the braking is being done on these powerful, heavy trucks by way of stopping the drive train and not the wheels!

David

mr-rccrazy

I know many have problems with savage diffs stripping out, truthfully, I never had any issues with the diffs at all. If you have the brakes not too strong, and the slipper clutch adjusted properly, you should not have many problems.

Haldir

Exactly what I was thinking.

fhm101

You may want to wait a bit and see what the new year brings. The HB Lightining truck has shown the way and as we speak there are no less than 2 major manufacturers with extended chassis/long arm truggies in development. Mugen and Kawahara are in a joint development deal on the MBX5 and prototypes are already being tested. Native Racing already has the tomahawk long arm kit available for the GS, Kyosho, and Mugen buggy and now that Jim is on with GS I would look for an extended chassis for the GS soon with versions for the other 2 to follow soon. In addition to the majors, there are several small independant groups working on like designs as well as some altogether new platforms. I think with the advent of provisional ROAR rules we are about to see unlimited blow up in a big way for '05 with some serious efforts at becoming king of the hill. From what I saw in Orlando at the Pro Series final, unlimited MT has the potential to give 8th buggy a run for it's money as THE class to run. I'm not sure what will become of production, but right now it looks to be a one car show for the revo.

KICKINDIRT

I'm kinda partial to CEN i've got a FUNFACTOR MT 2 and the drivetrain is pretty bullitproof . The only problem i've had are a couple stripped tranny gears. Probably driver error , but otherwise I've had no problems. its FAST and it takes a pounding and keeps going!!!!!!