Steel or carbide balls
 

The rear diff on my tc is getting gritty. I'm thinking of getting carbide balls next time I rebuild the diff. Then I find out carbide balls are more expensive than I thought. Is it worth the money? Is the diff going to last longer before it gets gritty again with carbide balls?

how long has it been since they have been built what car are you driving .I've got a losi XXX-S and ran the spring and fall seasons at my track with out needing a rebuild and I'm using steel .I would say don't waste you money on the carbide.

Gritty problem
 

Jenny;

Really it all depends on the Car and how dirty/dusty the conditions that you race on are. Many times a good cleaning and relube will fix the problem without replacing any parts. You should be able to turn the Diff Rings and Thrust washers over to a fresh side and maybe just replace the balls. (bearings)
On my HPI Pro-3, I can get about 2 weekends of racing before cleaning and relubing the diffs and I haven't had to replace any parts yet.

the problem with carbide diff balls is they will eat the plates on your diff. I would stick with steel and plenty of molykote grease.

the other option is to go to ceramic, when that happens the balls are self lubricating and run at a very low temperature, this will cause very little wear on the plates.

hope this helps

sanj

Re: Gritty problem
 

spot on. Depends on cars, really... My Schum Axis needs a rebuild every 20 packs or so, whereas my TC3's diffs stay smooth forever and ever... Several things actually matter: sealed or open tranny, dirty track, stock or mod, diff adjustment, parts quality...

Flipping diff rings is a good trick. Also note that it's very often the thrust bearing that's messed up rather than the main balls/rings... You can also sand diff rings with 1200 grade sandpaper, if you do it right you'll get a smooth finish which works perfect.

Anyways, if you want to purchase some steel balls, go to McMaster Carr's website (Easy to find). You can buy them by the hundred, and it's considerably less expensive than at your LHS.

So far the longest lasting I saw were AE's. Second longest were Losi's.

Paul

Ceramic Diff Balls
 

I have yet do do a rebuild in on my Barracuda and Pro 3 which have over 30+ runs on both of them... Not even the slightest sign of wear:D
-Dave

Female posts
 

Funny how we will all jump to this thread when it APPEARS that there is a Female in distress.
:lol: :lol:

popsracer no I thought I'd never get more than just 2 responses a few days ago. This thread is more than a few days old and it was being washed down the thread list onto the second page until today.

Thanks for all the replies. I drive a 414x Worlds. Modified 8T double. Track always a bit of dust. The original 3mm diff balls lasted more than 30 pack runs before I could not stand the grittiness.

Then I rebuild the diff. I used new 3mm diff balls( I swear they were new) from a packet but the original bag label was gone. ??What brand?? I really regretted this but I was sure they were not carbides. Then I had 4 pack runs and the diff became gritty again.

I'm gonna rebuild the diff. I just went out to buy a pack of Tamiya lightweight 3mm balls (20 in a pack). I will try these out. I cannot afford carbides. Carbides are more than five times more expensive.

Yes. I think everyone is tempted to use a little bit more white grease on the balls trying to achieve a more smooth diff action. But my belief is that a diff can only hold very little grease. After one pack run the majority of the grease is centrifuged out radially and it's just a mess.

I'm also using Atlas diff circle stickers which do a good job in sealing off the dust. But again I will try the new diff balls from Tamiya and see how things go.

Gritty Diffs
 

Jenny;

I have two schools of thought on the Silicone (clear) grease for the diff balls.

1) More grease SEALS out the dirt and dust.

2) Less grease attracts less dust and dirt.

I got rid of my RC10GT just because I hated tearing the tranny down every two race days just to rebuild the diff. My Stepson has a Team Built (preassembled) GT and it has gone 1-1/2 years now and the diff is just starting to get gritty. (only race it once a month)

If you're running your losi straight out of the box then you're running carbide diff balls. This is what comes with the kit. If so then I guess you wasted you money:sneaky:

hmmmm always thought the stock xxx-s came with steel diff balls
checked the instuction book carbide thanks STLNLST but guess if and when I do a rebuild I'll have to spend for the good stuff.

If you are using carbide diff balls they are a lot harder then the steel diff rings so you should never really have to replace the balls b/c with them being harder they will wear out the rings far quicker then they wear out....IMHO. Most of the times you feel the grittyness of diff its do more to the thrust assembly then the balls or rings in the diff gear. What I do is just sand the the diff rings down with 600 sand paper and a light oil before installing them and then again when there is a groove worn in to the ring I just sand them untill the grove is gone. You will save yourself some money and all you really need to replace is the rings when they get too thin or worn out and the thrust assembly there is no need to keep buying new carbide balls everytime you rebuild unless you want to but they should last forever.

What good stuff are you talking about?

good stuff=carbide diff balls

While carbide diff balls may not wear out as fast, what they do is wear out the diff rings faster than would normally happen with standard diff balls. Standard diff balls are the same hardness as the diff rings, so they wear equally. Carbide balls, being harder, eat into the diff rings and chew them up much quicker.

For this reason, I use standard diff balls.