my new aluminum diff gear and carbide balls have arrived and to i tried to put it all together. everything fits perfectly together, but when i followed the instructions in the Duratrax book to assemble it, i ran into a problem.

Once everything is all together and assembled, the diff spring and nut stick out REALLY far on the left side outdrive (looking from behind the car, right side looking from the front). So far, in fact, that there isnt enough space for the CV Drive Shaft to connect to the outdrive.

So i have thrust balls on the right side (again, looking from behind) and then the spring + nut on the left side. Is this right?

Anybody know how to fix this?
*cough* amsterdam? lol

Is the diff installed backwards in the transmission case?

no... i need to explain myself better... it doesnt have to do with the transmission casing... here's a pic:

see there's not enough space for a CVD to connect on that side of the diff

I think you're going to have to take it back apart and insert the screw into the opposite side.

well.... what bout those thrust balls then?

so the left side outdrive of my diff (in the first picture) is the side that has the bearing and slips over the shaft of the Right side outdrive which has the thrust balls.... is that right?

also... no matter which side its on... the Spring + nut is going to be the same size, big enough that it sticks out. so frustrated...

you have a right and left side out drive cup
make sure you have the screw and balls going into the correct outdrive side

the spring and nut should go in deeper on the correct side

ohh.. going in deeper on one side would fix it...
i get what amsterdam was thinking now... ill go try it right now (the car is about 2 feet from computer... lol)

Give me a few minutes. I'm doing a little bit of research before I say anything else.

actually.... it worked!!
LOL wow... i didnt know that the outdrives were so different from eachother (other than the fact that one has a hollow shaft and the other has a bearing that fits over that shaft)

cool... thanks guys

Glad you fixed it. But, since I spent some time putting a reply together, I'll post this anyway:

thanks so much guys... ive been working on the car... and ive got my transmission back together, with the brake and slipper clutch reinstalled and im getting ready to mount it on the chassis.... ive got a little chassis cleaning to do while its all apart and easy to reach. im looking forward to driving this thing... my new glow starter is really nice... starts in 3 or 4 pulls now... (unfortunatly i only got to start it a few times before i toasted my diff). Thanks amsterdam.

No problem. I upgraded the transmission like you have and I had to adjust mine after the first tank of fuel. You're supposed to tighten it snug then losen an eigth of a turn. For some reason this was too loose and now I run it snug all the time. You may or may not find yourself in a similiar situation.

Note that if you are a tweaker, you will likely vary your settings based on a number of conditions. One such condition could be switching tires/wheels. For instance switching from your stock setup to much heavier tires such as Mashers you may want to run it a bit more snug...

thanks for the help... the car is now completely ready to go... except its 8 pm and dark outside... and ive got school tomarrow... damn...lol.

Im going to keep a close eye on this diff. I sort of left my previous one alone (without adjustment after 2-3 tanks as instructed), because i wasnt sure what they meant when they said "Snug". With an aluminum gear, can i just run it really tight?

No,
Running it too tight will just wear out the diff rings and diff balls quicker than normal
Also running them too tight will cause the trauck to spin out easier in loose conditions

Running the steel diff gear lets you run the slipper a little tighter, but you still have to worry about the idler gear.

Adjust it just the way the manual suggests, it will last a long long time with it adjusted correctly

Party on Garth

oh ok... thats a good idea...
ehehe... cant wait to take this thing out and break in the diff....

**starts drooling**

I just did the all metal diff and idler gear in my GT. It's pretty damn nice. Sounds like a supercharger widing down from speed. Plus, it seems to hook up pretty well. I may have to loosen it up a bit because it was really spinning out easily in loose stuff.

I did the aluminum gear thing with my Evader. Seemed like I had to give the screw a good amount of tightening to get the diff to work, but when it did, the damn thing flat out FLEW! (Maybe the Wasp .18 helped!)
Bill

LOL.... yea generally when you strap a wasp (aka Rocket Engine) to a small car it'll fly... hahaha I really want one... or maybe and epic .18..... or maybe a couple more cars...

if only money weren't an issue.... if only if only... i would get a rusty, and a 4-tec and see if i could somehow strap a .18 onto a 1/18 scale car....lol... yea... that would be nice!!