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-   -   GEAR diff or BALL diff ? (https://www.rctech.net/forum/electric-road/523420-gear-diff-ball-diff.html)

Rick Hohwart 06-20-2011 08:12 AM


Originally Posted by reenmachine (Post 9276316)
Is it possible that some of the increase in performance is due to this setup being kinder to the front tires? Spool = more scrubbing = increased heat and wear.

Probably. Plus the scrub makes you fight the car.


Originally Posted by ozzy-crawl (Post 9278889)
cool thanks, i wondered if blue tack was similar
does the putty lock the diff or just make it hard to turn ?

Putty makes the diff hard to turn but is still smooth.


Originally Posted by Dragonfire (Post 9278993)
Because other technology has moved further forward, and a ball diff is no longer up to the task of providing the best possible performance. Pretty much all big events these days are being run and won with gear diffs. I think that speaks volumes about what is best.

Improvements in cars and tires which increase traction make gear diff use possible. And better materials make them reliable.

Verndog 06-20-2011 08:22 AM


Originally Posted by artwork (Post 9279934)
VernDog-

If you use high quality ceramic diff balls then this should not be a problem, but I can tell you that you probably won't like the ball diff up front. I was doing some testing and tried it the other day. It helped very little a corner entry and was much slower coming out. I would rather the car plow a little coming in and pull coming out. I have tried 500K up front and like the way it felt, but all of this as on carpet. I have never tried Putty, and making the spec r gear diff fit in the TC6 is no easy task with simply a dremel. I know you have access to the right equipment so it will be easier for you. I am really happy with the spool/Ball diff on carpet and will run that until the AE version of the gear diff get released.

Thanks Art, corner entry is what I'm working to improve, but I have other things to try also. ;) I'm with you on waiting for the AE version gear diff, and it wont take much to build a tight ball diff with some slick voodoo tar of some type and see. :D

ozzy-crawl 06-20-2011 08:34 AM

some people may see a gear diff as going backwards,but the ball diff came in when we were using brushed motors and nimh batteries.
the efficiency and slight weight loss of a ball diff is not such a important factor now with brushless and lipo,were as strength and less maintenance of a gear diff is probably making them more popular again.
just a thought

Bishop 06-20-2011 08:45 AM


Originally Posted by ozzy-crawl (Post 9279840)
the reliability and less maintenance of a gear diff is probably better than a slight gain in efficiency and weight saving of a ball diff.

The Yokomo made gear diff I just fitted to my Photon, is basically the same weight as stock ball diff, seriously I filled it with oil ready to be put in the car, and checking the weight it came up like 1g different to the ball diff.

Yoko also did a damn good job designing it, the cups have some coating on them as hard as hell, it took no fine tuning for the build, just fill and go, and it's butter smooth...

If you compare the rooting around you do with a ball diff, to what I had to do with the yoko diff, it's so not a content between the two.

robk 06-20-2011 12:55 PM


Originally Posted by H.N. (Post 9279464)
Anyone used Silly Putty as an alternative? It is sold everywhere and usually for under $2 bucks.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silly_Putty

A kneaded eraser is the same thing as the cleaning putty, and is available at any art/craft store..Micheal's, Hobby Lobby, etc...


http://lh4.googleusercontent.com/pub...v1BME6PPgNZHLs

color0 06-20-2011 01:18 PM


Originally Posted by dinorider (Post 9277780)
Furthermore, Anti-wear grease seems to have a funky property that works well in a tight front ball diff application. In suspension damping terms, it seems to have soft slow bump damping but hard fast bump damping. Even though the diff is very tight, rotating it slowly will still allow reasonable diff action. But if you try to apply a quick shock load to the diff (i.e., rotate it very quickly and suddenly), the grease seems to 'bind/pack up' and become more resistant to movement.

That sounds just about perfect -- I drive Mod Mini-Z with a ball diff and we've been using pockets in the spur gear holes to lock up the balls and achieve this same effect. Lately there's been talk of going back to gear diffs since the on-throttle torque mashes the gears together, providing a tightening effect that's stronger than what the spur gear pockets have been providing. I think this is also part of the reason why 1/10 TC has been going to gear diffs -- the on-throttle stability provided by the tightening action is really significant and, at least for Mini-Z, lets the car put down a lot more power.

That said, I prefer the 100% smoothness feel of a ball diff though, so thanks for this bit of info! I'm gonna try some and see if I can get that tightening effect without buying a new diff.

H.N. 06-20-2011 07:05 PM


Originally Posted by robk (Post 9281281)
A kneaded eraser is the same thing as the cleaning putty, and is available at any art/craft store..Micheal's, Hobby Lobby, etc...


http://lh4.googleusercontent.com/pub...v1BME6PPgNZHLs

Good find Rob! Thanks

robk 06-20-2011 08:20 PM


Originally Posted by H.N. (Post 9283061)
Good find Rob! Thanks

Other than that, 4 years of art school down the drain.

mattnin 06-20-2011 08:25 PM


Originally Posted by ozzy-crawl (Post 9280076)
some people may see a gear diff as going backwards,but the ball diff came in when we were using brushed motors and nimh batteries.
the efficiency and slight weight loss of a ball diff is not such a important factor now with brushless and lipo,were as strength and less maintenance of a gear diff is probably making them more popular again.
just a thought

Are you sure the ball diff weighs less than a gear diff? I have compared weights before using a postal scale and found gear diff to be lighter by a gram.

hacker 06-20-2011 08:51 PM

what is this 'putty' people are using?

surely not the same putty you use for model building to fill up holes, cracks etc.

I have some 500k diff oil which I will use first

Bishop 06-20-2011 10:38 PM


Originally Posted by hacker (Post 9283554)
what is this 'putty' people are using?

surely not the same putty you use for model building to fill up holes, cracks etc.

I have some 500k diff oil which I will use first

Think non-hardening putty, like stuff that never sets or goes hard as such.

Dragonfire 06-21-2011 04:32 AM


Originally Posted by Bishop (Post 9283941)
Think non-hardening putty, like stuff that never sets or goes hard as such.

Would that cleaning putty work? It should stay soft...

Bishop 06-21-2011 07:21 AM


Originally Posted by Dragonfire (Post 9284668)
Would that cleaning putty work? It should stay soft...

I have read somewhere of someone using cleaning putty, I think, never tried myself.

Rick Hohwart 06-21-2011 08:59 AM


Originally Posted by Dragonfire (Post 9284668)
Would that cleaning putty work? It should stay soft...

Cleaning putty is what is typically used when people say they are using putty.

Foxxrocket 06-21-2011 09:04 AM

Has anyone ever tryed silly putty?


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