Pinion/spur grease?

[cbope]

Hi everyone! New owner of the TRX6 since yesterday in metallic silver. This is my first RC car in quite some time, I was pretty heavily into RC in the 80's, owned multiple cars and did lots of mods back in the day. Also picked up a 5000/3S LiPo Traxxis battery and the 4A Traxxis quick charger. Also got the metal steering servo horn since this seems to break pretty easily.



Anyway, I have a quick question. I opened up the motor cover to check pinion lash as I read it can sometimes be off on TRX models. After removing the cover, I noticed there seems to be no grease on the pinion or spur gear. Is this normal?

 

[spraytruckdolby]

Plastic spur to metal pinion gear would not require any grease.


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[Voodoobrew]

I think people more recommend checking the grease in the axles more, but I never do. I go pretty slow and chat a bunch so none of it ever really heats up like in a basher or a racer.
I have waxed the pinion and spur in futile attempts to quiet them down on custom setups though.

 

[OSRC]

Agreed, I use wax on any spur that's covered up. If it's an open gear, I leave it dry.

 

[JatoTheRipper]

Welcome to the site!

I never use metal spur gears unless they are included. I never use lube on spur/pinion gears no matter what they are made from. Although I don't claim to be a good example either. :mrgreen:

Agreed, I use wax on any spur that's covered up. If it's an open gear, I leave it dry.

Any type of wax in particular?

That has me thinking...I wonder if chain was from motorcycles/ATV's would work.

 

[cbope]

Thanks for the feedback. Any reason for me to crack open the diffs or portals to check them for adequate grease? I have seen some posts that early TRX cars had issues with missing grease. Not sure if that’s still a problem.

 

[JatoTheRipper]

Thanks for the feedback. Any reason for me to crack open the diffs or portals to check them for adequate grease? I have seen some posts that early TRX cars had issues with missing grease. Not sure if that’s still a problem.

It's not going to hurt. Would I do it? Nope. I'm lazy. I also think a small amount of grease goes a long way on RC gears. Even without grease, scaler gears aren't going to wear nearly as fast as in something like a basher.

 

[Gramps]

Thanks for the feedback. Any reason for me to crack open the diffs or portals to check them for adequate grease? I have seen some posts that early TRX cars had issues with missing grease. Not sure if that’s still a problem.

I think it always a good idea to pop open the diffs & portals and check them for grease. I also go over all the screws on a new rig to make sure they are all tight.

 

[R/C controls YOU]

Thanks for the feedback. Any reason for me to crack open the diffs or portals to check them for adequate grease? I have seen some posts that early TRX cars had issues with missing grease. Not sure if that’s still a problem.

No but when you do, it looks like muddy water. They use the shittiest “lube” they can find. It separates badly, too.

So you’ll want to clean it all up & put a dab of the green high pressure Traxxas grease. It’ll stay green after usage also.

Pinion/spur would take a dry lube like what you clean a rifle with, but it doesn’t help at all. What helps is all metal parts from GPM. It makes everything fit PERFECT and in turn, very quiet. I’ve tried other manufacturers parts, but they don’t fit EXACTLY perfect.

 

[2mtech]

Any type of wax in particular?

That has me thinking...I wonder if chain was from motorcycles/ATV's would work.

I use DuPont Chain Saver on driveshaft joints, as a matter of fact...works well and doesn't attract much grime. Never though about it on pinions & spurs, which I've always left dry.

Any reason for me to crack open the diffs or portals to check them for adequate grease?

Always. And check pinion/spur mesh as well. I learned that the hard way by eating up a plastic spur very quickly in my first RTR. Every one I've checked since was unacceptable by commonly accepted standards.

 

[cbope]

Always. And check pinion/spur mesh as well. I learned that the hard way by eating up a plastic spur very quickly in my first RTR. Every one I've checked since was unacceptable by commonly accepted standards.

What is the best way to check the mesh? I noticed when I removed the cover, the motor/plate assembly just flops back and forth making it very difficult to judge how much mesh there actually is when the cover is in place.


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[Inspector86]

If you don't have a ticking in the pinion/spur gear put it back together and get out there and start driving it. BTW, for future reference TRX4/TRX6 questions go in the specific TRX4 section located below.

 

[2mtech]

What is the best way to check the mesh? I noticed when I removed the cover, the motor/plate assembly just flops back and forth making it very difficult to judge how much mesh there actually is when the cover is in place.

I didn't think I'd been in this long enough to have to say "back in the old days", but back when motor mounting was on a slotted adjustment arrangement motor mesh was more of a concern. You used to have to either set it by feel or run a thin strip of paper through the pinion/spur interface and check the paper for tooth marks.

Considering that many applications utilize a motor mount plate with pre-designated mount holes based on the number of pinion teeth involved, Traxxas included, motor mesh is more of a leap of faith thing and the factory settings seem to be pretty much right on. So like Inspector86 stated, unless you hear gear noise you should be fine.

 

[cbope]

I didn't think I'd been in this long enough to have to say "back in the old days", but back when motor mounting was on a slotted adjustment arrangement motor mesh was more of a concern. You used to have to either set it by feel or run a thin strip of paper through the pinion/spur interface and check the paper for tooth marks.

Considering that many applications utilize a motor mount plate with pre-designated mount holes based on the number of pinion teeth involved, Traxxas included, motor mesh is more of a leap of faith thing and the factory settings seem to be pretty much right on. So like Inspector86 stated, unless you hear gear noise you should be fine.

The reason why I wanted to check it was because of reports that the factory setting was not always correct. Even though there are preset holes, apparently manufacturing tolerances are such that the supposedly correct holes do not always result in correct mesh. I don’t notice any unusual pinion/spur gear noise. Loose mesh can of course be heard, but I’m mainly worried about too tight and burning up a motor. I’m upgrading my motor to an AXE 550 soon, so I will check this again.


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[OnTheTrail]

Is it a problem if you grease the pinion/spur gear? I open mine up a couple days ago and saw none so I used a little grease on them?

 

[spraytruckdolby]

Are they both metal? If so, grease is ok. If it’s the plastic spur gear, you don’t need grease.


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[OnTheTrail]

It is a plastic spur gear but the main reason for my question is, by me greasing a plastic spur gear, will I harm anything? I used a little bit of Associated diff lube (probably about 30 years old :ror: ). Back then all spur gears were made of some sort of plastic so I'm guessing it can't hurt...???

 

[CNCist]

If its completely sealed it shouldn't hurt. But I wouldn't do it either. It shouldn't have much stress at the pinion at stock specs.

I replace all the traxxas grease with red n tacky Lucas grease it plays nice with plastic, and will be way better than the traxxas grease. It made my gears run a ton more quiet. I packed it more than what most people probably would but I know I left plenty of room for it to move out of the way.