Originally Posted by
new to rc cars
that was written by Tony eh, I really respect him so I will try that stuff. I dont know what he mean about the sandpaper part though.
I know what that "spider gear" looks like inside, its still very very hard to get out though.. i think its that sticky black sludge (old diff oil) inside there thats keeping a good grip on it
how do you know when the bearings need to be changed? how often do you guys change yours? how does it effect the buggy when you put 1000 or 7000 weight in the center diff?
thanks.
Ok... to start with, GREAT choice of a buggy. IMHO the best beginner buggy made, period.
A good starting point for a new driver on diff oils is 5k front, 5k center, 3k rear.
Heavier front fluid takes away a little initial steering, but pulls the car out of corners better.
Heavier center fluid make the car more "aggressive" and gives it more AWD effect.
Heavier rear fluid keeps the rear more planted in corners, but can make the car twitchy in the rough.
I liked my Mugen with 5k front 7k center 1k rear... but that is a pretty aggressive setup. I'd start with 5-5-3, and if you want it to rotate a little better in the corners go down to 2k in the rear, or even 1k...
It depends on the car, and the driver. My Losi I ran 5-5-5 because it was so edgy I could barely drive it. It FELT fast, but it wasn't consistant.
In the Jammin I run 5-5-3, or 5-5-5 if the track is very loose.
Since you have an MBX5... I'll also recommend some shock fluid weights as a starting point- 45 front 35 rear. Hopefully you have the grey springs on it.
If the car "pushes" too much put a lighter front swaybar on, with the connecting ends as far out as you can get them. Move the rear swaybar end links in, or go to a bigger rear bar. This will help the car turn better... but intially you probably don't want to do that. (What that does in effect is adds cornering traction in the front, and takes some away in the rear)
Don't buy expensive bearings... Avid Revolutions are GREAT and they're $1 each. Run them "rubber seal out." In other words, the rubber seal toward the side that is exposed to dirt.
As for getting that gear (the one down in the bottom of the diff case) out... I usually just lay a towel down and tap it on the towel so the gear falls out. Yours sounds like it might be stuck a bit... maybe spray some WD40 and let it sit for a bit... then tap on a towel to get it out.
And the Mugen DOES have those shim washers behind the spider gears, although they may be stuck to the gears on yours. Be sure you have ONE on each of those gears. It also has a shim behind the pins that hold the larger gears...