Hardened steel pinions

[Sammus]

Howdy, I'm in the process of figuring out a setup for a Revo conversion. I've noticed several posts saying to only use the hardened steel pinions with a steel spur. Well I've got a bunch of plastic spur's and wanted to give them ago, but alas I cannot find any non-hardened 5mm steel pinions!

Are these an old product line or just something that should be available elsewhere that mike doesn't sell? will it even matter if I use the hard steel on plastic? I'm competent and setting the mesh properly and have never stripped a plastic spur since one time I got the mesh wrong on my first nitro rc car years and years ago...

[BrianG]

It's not the fact that they are hardened, but the tooth geometry is slightly different than the non-hardened versions. You may be ok with the hardened on plastic, but watch for odd wear.

[Sammus]

Weird, any reason why that happens? for the same pitch and size you'd expect them to have the same shape teeth. Is that for all hardened gears or just these ones?

Also is there anywhere to get non hardened ones?

Hey Brian, think this could be why I keep stripping plastic mod1 spurs on my e-revo ? ? ? If so, what spur or pinion SHOULD i be using ?

[BrianG]

They're made that way. There is a thread I started way back that talks about this. RCM Mike explained the difference in good detail.

I've never looked anywhere else for those so I have no idea.

[BrianG]

Originally Posted by 83gt

Hey Brian, think this could be why I keep stripping plastic mod1 spurs on my e-revo ? ? ? If so, what spur or pinion SHOULD i be using ?

Usually, stripping spurs is an indication of an improper or inconsistent mesh. Even though the mesh is set right at rest, the weight of the motor could cause chassis flexing on jumps. Do you have the optional Traxxas motor mount brace?

[jhautz]

I was running a hardened pinion on a plastic spur in my CEN for a long time and never had an issue. No strange wear or anything. I wouldnt think that the hard pinion would bother the plastic spur at all.

[Sammus]

Cheers for the link brian! it clears it all up. And I have a 3.3 which I'm pretty sure comes with the brace. I'll link you up in your thread 83gt in case so u can check.

Yeah, i have a 3.3 also and am using the brace.

[pipeous]

you could hit up a local hobby shop that sells century heli stuff, as they use mod 1 pinions as well and I believe they aren't as hard as the RCM one

[lincpimp]

Consider the century pinions non-hardened. I have ripped the teeth off a few and worn others badly. You can heat them red with a torch and then dunk them in some 10w30 oil. Do it twice and they will work great on a steel spur. I have modified a few tranny gears to be used as pinions and always harden them that way.

[Patrick]

Originally Posted by BrianG

They're made that way. There is a thread I started way back that talks about this. RCM Mike explained the difference in good detail.

Isn't that thread talking about the older clutch bell type pinions. Are the pinions we use now the same?

[its me]

Originally Posted by Patrick

Isn't that thread talking about the older clutch bell type pinions. Are the pinions we use now the same?

Same Q here.



and how does the pinions sold now hold up to being used on a hardened steel center diff?

[BrianG]

Dunno. Since there are different methods to creating hardened pinions (hardening regular pinions vs using a modded clutchbell), you'd have to look at how the pinions are shaped I would guess.

Both clutchbell type and hardened "regular" pinions work fine on a plastic and steel spur, but a hardened version of a regular pinion does not work well at all on a steel spur. Mike's hardened pinions work on either steel or plastic.

[its me]

Originally Posted by BrianG

Dunno. Since there are different methods to creating hardened pinions (hardening regular pinions vs using a modded clutchbell), you'd have to look at how the pinions are shaped I would guess.

Both clutchbell type and hardened "regular" pinions work fine on a plastic and steel spur, but a hardened version of a regular pinion does not work well at all on a steel spur. Mike's hardened pinions work on either steel or plastic.

Thanks! man.