Meh, just stick with the Tamiyas, beige or blacks.

The 3Racing gears are a different ratio (33 and 35 spurs vs. 37 as standard). They are also a weak material and a poor moulding - the counter gear in the set is unusable.

We are allowed to run them locally, you have to run them to compete on the bigger tracks, but I get through a couple a season, and I'm quite easy on the car - they may not be legal where you race.

I also ride my m03 at 6mm because I can't go any lower, even with alot of spacers inside the shock body. As a remedy, I run soft springs all around ,and the Car squats down pretty far in the turns without flipping. Others that run 4mm or less seem to flip more than me. I guess the cornering energy has to have room to be dampened....

Why is the the counter gear in the set is unusable? Do you have to run a different pinion if so what pinion gear do they use?

The main problem with the 3Racing gears is roundness, or rather, a lack of it. To be blunt, they're crap.

EDIT: Hey, I've still got the last post. May as well add to it. I got a bit of an odd issue while racing this weekend and I'm trying to narrow it down. Did 5 races and a little practice but the problem cropped up only in the last few races. I found that when my car was turning fairly hard to the right (Not sharp enough to be a problem with the CVDs, Bert! ) it developed this little hop. It appeared to be on the verge of traction rolling, the inside front would lift a little, but never did go over. Here are the basics of my setup.

-M03
-Old TRF dampers set to 55mm with 20wt silicone. Short blue springs all around. (there was a change, though. Read on.)
-S-Grips all around, with CA on the front sidewalls and just kissing the tread.
-Running a little lower on the front than the rear.
-Yeah Racing CVDs

This setup is usually rock solid and predictable, without a hint of traction roll. I found it was letting me down just a little on the front traction yesterday, so I swapped in short yellow springs on the front. (I even tested short reds while I was at it.)

I'm suspecting a few factors may have been at play: We ran 69 heats plus practice time yesterday. The track had developed a serious groove by this morning. Maybe the combination of the very sticky track and my very slightly softer front springs was working against me. I think maybe the extra grip was bringing my car to the verge of rolling, but it would get halted when the bead of CA took over and dropped the car back down, at which point traction would pick up...you get the idea. Now I think about it, I'm not surprised this was a right turn only phenomenon. All the fastest corners were rights.

Anyway, if you have any thoughts, feel free to chime in. I'm probably going back to my regular setup next weekend. Just curious if anyone's had this happen before.

Jim

I'm building up a M03. I need cvd/swing axels. Tamiya,R1Wurks or 3Racing, which is "best". I did notice the 3Racing ones are about half the price of the other 2. Thanks, Don

^ None of the above, I've been suggested and seen others running the Yeah Racing CVD's. The part number is M05-015.

My experience is CA on the actual sidewall does little. CA on the treads is more effective. In high grip situations I CA from the ring just before the tread to almost the entire first row of treads.. 9 times out of 10 no more traction rolling.. Or excess side grip.

I agree Core, although our club is so competitive it isnt that easy anymore (I used to cover the outside tread on every set of tires before). A full tread row will be too much on our track majority of the time, you give up too much front grip on the tight stuff, and the sweepers. Ive found that you start from the ring on the sidewall, and work your way up onto the tread, adding 1mm of CA at a time. Ive found that about half of the outside tread works best, you will get some lifting of the inside tires, but thats fine because its still fast. The car is putting max weight on that outside tire.

Jim ive found that sometimes the minis will do the wheel popping, but as long as the car is consistent in its line, the wheel lifting isnt an issue. For me that means Ive got maximum grip, and the CA is working because it wont lift further. If its bucking and jumping out of line on a sweep etc, I either clean the CA, or add 1mm more. At the big races when grip comes up, expect to add a little CA, and keep it clean between heats.

Thanks, Don

I finished breaking in the Mabuchi motor that came with my M03 kit. The thing goes noticeable faster in reverse direction. I can see that the motor timing is advanced for reverse rotation. I would guess about 10 degrees. Does anyone know the reason for this?

The 540j motors I have taken apart after there untimely death are 3 or more degrees retarded.

I think to keep the rpm constant as the brushes wear down. As motors were designed for constant speed applications such as windshield wipers? That's what I read.

That's why I loved my M02

Mine looks like it's a lot more than 3 degrees. I'll have a closer look later, but 3 degrees would only translate to about a 1mm rotation on the endbell. Mine looks like it's around 4-5mm.