[JasonB]

I decided to take the tranny out to clean up the sticky oil and stuck on sand and take another look at the gears inside. Since I've sealed up the case, I use the adjustment holes to check the oil and peak at the gears (hex driver makes a great dip stick). Still zero gear wear after more than a dozen runs. I'm thinking these gears are going to last for a very long time. Only thing I can see breaking them now is too much torque shearing off the teeth from locking up the tires or doing several back flips or something of that nature.

Why check the oil? Well it's gradually being forced past the bearings, so I'm just making sure there is still enough left in there to do the job. Perhaps it will get low enough that it stops leaking but still keeps the gears lubed. It's down to under 1/4" so I think it's getting close to that point. Already have a permanent fix in mind for the bearings, but I'm not ready to totally break down the case, degrease it, clean off the old RTV, etc, etc yet.