Mabuchi540

Ball bearings that is.

Ok so I'm new to on-road but have noticed somethings haven't changed from when I raced off-road, that being flushing out the grease in bearings and lightly oiling them.

But I'm wondering if I can get away with what I used to do in 2wd off-road which was to flush them out and clean them after every race meeting (using motor cleaner) and not bothering with any oil in internal bearings.

The car was always quick enough and quiet enough and I don't recall ever having to replace any bearings looked after this way, in fact the only ones that did get replaced were ones that were oiled such as the wheel bearings.

Now considering on-road is a lot cleaner I'm wondering if anyone runs their bearings dry, because on the bench at least the drive train has a lot less drag even when compared to very lightly oiled?

I should add that the cars I used this way were never put under the stresses of a mod motor as I always raced 540 silver can motors.

shortygy

lol I like the title


If it was me... I would just put a tiny bit of light oil in them. This will prevent wear and also allow them to run a little smoother. even if it gives you a little extra drag I dont think it will make much difference.

Evo_Uk

I think not oiliing them makes them free'er off load ( the word free'er gets used so much in RC, is it even in the dictionary? ) but on load arent as good as bearing which have a bit or oil, more efficency on load..

I THINK

baih

yes, remove the grease in the bearings. i just bought some oil from a skateboard shop. its a thin synthetic oil. one drop and it works great. i just tried this so i dont know how it will work over time yet. also remove the inner shields of the bearings. the two wheel bearings on each axle and the inner diff shields and the pinion bearings. also yokomo sells ceramic bearings and i dont think you need oil for these.

Mabuchi540

Yeah might get some of those one day.

I just tested one of the diffs by holding onto one of the outdrives (while diff was vertical) and spinning it on the bearing....

Very lightly oiled and spinning as hard as I could = 6 seconds.

Same method but dry bearing I got 30 seconds no problem at all.

GundamWZero

iTrader: (4)

Whoa......that was close. Thought that would have have made me faster.............would've felt weird in the pants too.

rc_bam226

Oiling the balls prevents unwanted friction This is too funny

GundamWZero

iTrader: (4)

I think my balls are well oiled.....have been since I was a baby!!!!
I don't think they get too much friction when they rub together, but a hard impact sure gets them aggitated.......

GundamWZero

iTrader: (4)

Alright, thats enough for me.......

Why not get Acer or Boca Bearings? They have lifetime garrauntees.

crazymechmow

you know acer and bocca are great bearings but even with the lifetime warranty wouldn't you have to wait for it to get replaced. let alone I carry about a complete set of extra bearings with me just incase something happens like it has before I just don't like waiting for stuff to get warranted letalone the time issue and trouble having to ship it off to them sometimes becomes a big pain for a few bucks and then even with warranty procedures they could always say (quote well it's not covered by our warranty ) unfornatually that has happened more times than I care to count anyhow thats my 2 cents worth but you gotta love the title of the post

Mabuchi540

........

At least the title got some attention I guess, if not a serious answer but I couldn't help the title really I couldn't.