Aluma

iTrader: (1)

whaddaya mean the evo3 stock boxes are cr@p?
I've never stripped a single gear or anything!
then again, I guess its the stainless screws I'm using versus the wood screw cr@p tamiya puts in their kits.

In fact, the only part I've messed up on my car is one of the A blocks that bent after a full speed crash into a marshall from an ugly glitch.

Hey, are any of you using the two hole piston in the front?

V12

iTrader: (1)

The gearboxes do have one very big fault beside the fact the plastic is much to soft. Look at the hole where bearing MR2 (for the little pinion gear) is located. Now turn the prop shaft slowly by hand. What do you see? The propshaft isnīt turning inside the bearing but the bearing is turning in the gearbox.
What does it mean? The hole is larger than the bearing. Also you can move the bearing about 1mm in vertical direction. So the propshaft wonīt run true and cause the piniongear to vibrate. Do you think this is well engineered? Do you think this is one mainreason for all the damaged gears. I think so.
All the drivers here I spoke to do have this problem regardless how new or old the kit was. So I donīt think there are different gearboxes. What does Tamiya say about it? Everything is OK. haha. Good joke but I canīt really laugh about it. You know why I call it crap?
I donīt know why they make a premium suspension and a weak drivetrain like this.
I really hope they make a new gearbox revision.

On the other side I do know at least some of the european team drivers did machining their gearboxes and are using an aluminium adapter glued in for the bearing.

AQuionIV

iTrader: (17)

All I know is, I've gone through a TC3, TC3 factory team kit, Evo2, and now Evo3. Ever since I switched to the evo3, it's been the only time my driving has ever been steady and consistent. So whatever the trouble may be, I can live with it. I'm not saying you should stop thinking it's "Crap." as you say, But I'm happy w/ my crap=).. heheh... I guess it's just me being a rookie and all, but oh wellz, it's a small compromise, for great performance on my behalf=)

madjack

iTrader: (28)

Interesting reading to say the least.

I tore down the gear boxes to check out the clearance, but did not find the gear box / bearing play that you spoke of? (I still need to press mine into place)

Was this the case with a brand new kit or did this happen over time & use?

Do you happen to have a picture of the spacer modification that has been done by the Euro TRF drivers? I would be interested to see that.

JC

eeyan

iTrader: (3)

I'm using 2 hole pistons on all 4 corners... I believe it lessens the twitchiness of the car on fast flowing tracks(like THQ)! Regarding the TB Evo being "crap" comments above, I've been happy with mine since I got it a couple of months ago. (I race it exclusively now... with the 414m getting sidelined.) And this is coming from a guy who has 30+ R/C cars in his stable to compare to... =)

To all who love the stock Evo III... more power!

About the Surikarn, I'll see first if I could keep up with the guys who has the S3... (I really don't think there's a major difference.) If I can't keep up, then I'll probably upgrade in the near future...

izzyracer

iTrader: (27)

Keep up or not or even run around it!, I know eeyan can smell that EVO 3 S scent...hehehheee...more like just waiting for a bargain, I'll give you two months...yikes but I'm not betting on it...you'll probably get it in 2 months and 1 day.

rtypec

iTrader: (2)

I'll more than likely upgrade mine to SEVO specs. My car's are very close to those specs anyways. Besides, the "upgrade" bits are blue anodized I believe. So no Matt Francis edition Evo for me at this time

Turbonium

iTrader: (27)

i agree... the Evo-S is very nice, but i think all i want from that kit is the aluminum camber link mounts. i think they would stiffen the top deck some, which seems waaay too flexible now...

izzyracer

iTrader: (27)

The black pizza box with someones face, the Ti screw, aluminum parts, limited stickers, just gotta have it. I wonder if they will make the Sorex TCS Legal since it is not a kit tire in the Surikarn??? ohh Fred!

V12

iTrader: (1)

Please understand me the right way. Iīm not saying the whole EVO3 is crap. Infact in general I think itīs a good car. But in some areas (gearcase) either they havenīt done their homework or they do have problems with production. But what I donīt like at all they tell people everything is OK. But thatīs definitely not. If the EVO would be an entry level car you would have to accept. But not with a car like the EVO. At least they should say there is a problem we will look for.

If you have gearboxes with tight tolerances everything is fine for you. But all the people here I spoke to do have this problem like my EVO. And yes itīs from beginning and not from wear. All the kitīs were European and Japanese versions. Maybe US versions are different production.

Another point of view. Square is making an aluminum gearbox for the EVO3. Do you think they make this one without reason? They make optionparts for the TC3 also but no gearbox.

Iīm not shure if there is a picture regarding the spacer modification. There were some pictures from a danish car with different modifications (aluminium diff...) at tamiyaracing.net but as it seems this site no longer exists. This was one of the cars with the spacer modification.

Fangio

V12, I have checked my Evo and do not have this problem. In fact I don’t know anyone who has this problem. I could imagine this being a problem on worn gear boxes, but not on new ones. Not to sound offensive here but don’t you think if the bearing was spinning inside the plastic it would melt the plastic. Also when there was the issue of the front gears stripping Tamiya realized this right away, and fixed it with a plate in the Surikarn (Also the TC3 had the same problem when originally released, so to say other touring cars do not have problems is way off). Square is probably making gearboxes out of aluminum so that you never have to replace them. I’m not trying to start an argument but your complaint seems bogus to me, and to say Tamiya is the only company to have a flaw in their design could not be farther from the truth.

ecenshu

I've had my EVO for a month now and have only managed to bend an A block (Aluminium Suspension block) and a hinge pin. I was wondering what other breakages other people have had so I could stock up on them, my area has a very low number of people running tamiya cars so I'd like to be prepared. So far I'm very happy with the cars performance and reliability(Compared to my FT TC3).

I'd also like to share my opinion about the front One-way gear stripping. I mainly drive stock so it might be the reason why I have never experienced this problem however I have been in several high speed frontal collisions (Bent aluminum?! ). I supsect the reason why people have problems with the gear is due to the soft plastic of the gearbox causing warping of the driveline when hit. I THINK I have fixed it by using machine screws to hold the gearboxes together.

Just my Opinion.

Aku-Man

Is the gearbox and gear stripping problem fixed on surikarn evo3?

V12

iTrader: (1)

As said before the gearboxproblem is right from the beginning not from wear. A friend of me bought an EVO3 kit some days ago and did find the same problem again. In the end he took the EVO aside until Tamiya addresses the problem and is running a 414M2 again.
As it seems there really is a production problem as there are gearboxes without this problem.

I did a plate for the onewaygear for myself and it really makes a big difference. The gear runs much more true now.

sportracer

I've had my EVO 3 since 2/03 shipped from Hong Kong rcmodel.com.hk my gearboxes don't have any play at all.The front one way has never been a problem just tighten the screws down check for wobble if found back the screw out some had the same problem with th tc3 spur gear also the Tc3 had a bad mold for their rear hub carrier one side was 2 degree the other 0 what a pain that was.