[Ryu James]

Wow, i just read this whole thread and lots of good questions and discussion. just wanted to share my 2 cents.

I recently ordered the new 3 shoe clutch system from Tekno and it should be here in the morning. i am very excited to try it as i have 100% confidence in anything coming from Tekno. i will be sure to report back on my experiences with it.

i ran the 2 shoe clutch system on my first conversion without troubles but after experimenting with the longshank pinion i liked it better for some reason and have stuck with it since.

i have never had any troubles with any of my motors or the bearings while using the pinions or clutches. in fact, i tried a center diff mounted setup a while back and had many more problems like heat and having to do mods, that were not there with the chassis mounted identical setup. it wasnt a bad kit but after experimenting my preference was for the Tekno setup.

i also believe firmly that the diff mounted motor actually puts more stress on the motor bearings than the chassis mounted motor. proponents of the diff mounted motor argue that the motor is always moving with the center diff so no matter how the chassis flexes the motor will move in the right direction being bound to the center diff. this may be true but did they ever stop to consider that the center diff mounted motor is held in place by 2 small 3mm screws on one end of a 16oz motor? this means that when you land off jumps or hit large bumps the end of your motor that is not mounted is most likely bouncing up and down very slightly. whether you like to believe this or not this is true. i am willing to bet that if there was a way to test this you would see more flex at the gear mesh and around the shaft of the motor on a diff mounted motor setup than on one of Teknos chassis mounted setups. i will put $100 where my mouth is. there is no way you can argue that a chassis mounted setup has gear mesh flex and not admit that your diff mounted setup does the same, if not much worse. fact is they both have some flex. obviously both setups work but the chassis mounted setup has many more advantages like:

1. reduced heat. the chassis mounted setup acts like a giant heatsink. the motor being directly linked to your alum chassis helps in pulling heat from the motor and keeping things cooler. i have actually proved this by running identical setups in terms of motor, batt, etc and only changed the mounting style. others have seen the same results.

2. the option of running a clutch. this is not preferred by all but many love the effects of a clutch setup and are able to tune their setup accordingly.

3. the option of mechanical brakes. now technically you can have mech. brakes on any setup but i have yet to see a diff mounted conversion that is built to include or support mech. brakes. i was able to make a diff mounted setup work with mech brakes but only after much frustration and lots of modding. Every Tekno kit comes ready to include mech brakes which is a huge plus. for those that dont want to run mech brakes to save weight or for whatever reason can easily opt not to without it affecting the kit whatsoever.

So there is my bit. I will get down off my soapbox now. Bottom line is this; I have tried several kits now and witnessed many others in use at the track and i am convinced Tekno offers the best platform on the market. That is not to say their product is perfect. There is always room for improvement. But mark my words, as 1/8 BL continues to grow in popularity and starts to take over this hobby the best setups and winningest desings will be based on a chassis mounted, mech brake setup, with the option to run a clutch. Whether it comes from Tekno or somewhere else i believe this to be the most technically advanced 1/8 BL setup.