ta04evah

iTrader: (2)

I have both, but I have more success building a gear diff than I do building a ball diff. The ball diffs always feel too tight and "gritty" no matter what grease I use.

After 6 months of constant use I had to rebuild my original front gear diff, it had 500,000K oil in it and the oil had begun to break down losing it's thick viscosity, the rear one however is still going strong.

In my 2nd car I have a spool up front, low maintenance but hard on front uni's, and a ball diff in the rear. This car is a little easier to drive, especially on a low grip surface but the car with the gear diffs can post faster lap times.

Cheers
Rob.

6376vette

There isn't a ball diff kit. you have to purchase the individual parts and assemble it. sure wish they made a kit. all parts were 3 racing made for the sakura.

6376vette

Funny. My ball diff is smoother, better traction, better rotation, less frustration, easier to tune and maintain, and faster than the many gear diffs I have used in the last 2-3 years. Just goes to show that every racer is different. great that it works for you. I'm just for sick and tired of cleaning oil off on my chassis and rear window. sure the track owner didn't appreciate the oil on his carpet either.

6376vette

Followed all of the advice. Followed the article. tried everything I can think of and it still eventually leaks. and when you tear it down once you better replace everything or it will leak again or the screws have to be so tight that the gear mesh is wrong. the ball diff does require more cleaning but that's it. and I can tighten or loosen the tension for track conditions in about a minute. can't do that with a gear diff. You have to have pre assembled diffs with different weight oil in order to tune with gear diffs or you have to rebuild it on the fly at the track and hope you make the next qualifier.

As a side note I think diff tuning is overlooked in todays racing. Most people set it and forget it. that's fine but if you want the most out of the car tuning the diff is a must.

believe me. I tried many gear diffs. I'm not just praising the ball diff because it happens to be the one I have. I was dead set that I DIDN'T want a ball diff for anything. I spent hundreds trying to get the right gear diff for the car. tried stock, version 2, spec r etc. they'll worked fine until the first rebuild then they never would seal again. finally got Fed up and switched. best move I made. if I had to try a gear diff again I would see if an xray diff would work.

if the gear diff works for you great. I'm just trying to share my experience and save a lot of frustration for other racers. This is my experience. extremely glad your experience has been a lot better than mine.

ta04evah

iTrader: (2)

Can appreciate your frustration as I have seen other cars with the tell tale oil mark on the rear window (mostly Tamiya).
One diff I built was brand new and it leaked straight away, turned out to be a flawed o ring and once I replaced the o ring it was all good.
The only times I have had to re build mine is when the oil breaks down, or if something breaks inside, apart from that I just leave them in the car.

Using the stick on dust covers on a ball diff extends the life of a ball diff between re builds quite significantly, and when mine needs a re build I give it to a friend that is able to work some magic on it.

And as you said - every racer is different

Cheers
Rob.

kartyboy94

Heyeveryone,

I am writing from newzealand

Here, I race in a stockcar class, where our car have metal frames around them, and theracing is full contact, on an indoor oval.

Because of the weight, i try to gear my cars as low as possible.

I have just brought a zero s, and it appears that with the stock 80t spur, the smallest pinjon I can run is a 20t? I have a 19t on, but it barely meshes.

Would the vertical engine mount allow a smaller 17t or 18t pinion to be fitted?

Cheers,
Luke

eddiemoney13

iTrader: (111)

Ran my Zero S VTA car for the first time today on the track, and I gotta say that, given the abuse I gave it today, held up very well. Need work on my setup to find more rear grip but all in all I am impressed. Upgrades on my car are vertical motor mount, titanium tie rods and tamiya ball cups, aluminum steering and spur adapter, front spool, and updated pulleys. My buddy ran his TC4 club racer today too and snapped 3 dog bones, and I hit the boards a lot more than he did. Great car for VTA!

Yogi-

.

You could just get a bigger spur gear.

kartyboy94

I was under the understanding that you cannot put a larger spur than factory due to the spur hitting the diff???

Yogi-

Someone else on here might know. I have seen somewhere in this thread that people have had some trouble. Looking at the 2 mounts there seems to be longer slots in the vertical motor mount and more meat that can be dremiled out of the bottom slot

ttsquirrel

hello all. ive have finally started to get going on my kit and am running into issue that are making me very frustrated. i havent heard of anyone else with these issues but i cant seem how no one else hasnt had them.

the first was the center gear adaptor step. i ordered the 19t upgrade and somehow i am supposed to know that there are no M12x.85 washers included. thanks alot 3Racing for including those extra parts that obviously are needed. instaed of making an order to tq i ended up make my own spacer by filing some washers to the right thickness.

now im on the steering system and i bought the sak-10 upgrade. dam 3r again!! the original kit uses 4.8 ball that threads into platic but upgrade calls for 4.8 ball that need screw to go into it. original kit only includes ONE 4.8 ball and that is suppose to go on to servo . on the instructions on sheet that came with upgrade say the 4.8 ball is original part but kit only includes one. now i have to make another freaking order to tq, pay s&h and wait.

well now that have that off my chest i dont feel any freaking better. i still cant finish the kit unless i order the extra parts.

frustrated frustrated frustrated

tts

ttsquirrel

hi all. i am trying to find pictures of top deck modifications so that the deck will fit with vertical motor mount. I dont see any pictures with any of the posts. do i perhaps have my settings wrong? or can someone post a pic of top deck modified to fit vertical motor mount. byw, i have the sak-17 mount.

thanks all

TTS

ttsquirrel

nevermind.. here's mine...you can see my imperfect dremel skills...

TTS

ta04evah

iTrader: (2)

Looks good to me and as long as it gets the job done.

I didn't have to do that because I went out and got an CF upper deck instead.

Cheers
Rob.

ttsquirrel

Well, i finally had to go to bed last night. this is as far as i went on the build. need to build the shocks next. finally starting to look like a rc car. cant wait to finish and try it out.

TTS