Um... I decided to just make that grinding noise go away altogether by running another 7200mah of 3s through it. Pretty quiet now! Front shaft is still in place. The hard tires and 2wd definitely require some restraint from just hammering down through a turn, looked like Mariokart hitting a banana peel until I got the hang of it.
It's been my experience that if the gears are shot, the plastic housing probably needs to be replaced too. I really was surprised by how much longer the front end stayed together this time, the only difference being that i superglued the new housing together focused around the outer pinion bearing.
I'll eventually order up some parts to make it 4wd again, but like I said, I'll wait it out for now in hopes of someone coming out with a new housing. I had emailed Michael (?) at Metal Concepts about it a few months back, and he said he'd be looking into it after getting the a-arms finished up.
I've got 8 other cars (1 of which is still being built and eating up waaaay more than its fair share of my toy budget) and the BR is totally driveable 2wd, just doesn't hook up like an SCT that left the factory as a 2wd.
