Thanks for the help n2trouble. Ended up getting an 11t and 10t while at the hobby shop. Put the 11t on, but I'm pretty sure I fried my motor messing around with the super high gear ratios prior to that. It was stuttering really bad, superhot after about 30 seconds and eventually didn't want to run at all.

Ended up getting a new VXL motor and throwing that on last night with the stock 13/54 setup. Ran about 5 minutes (it was midnight and I was pissing off my neighbors dogs...LOL...) and I could hold my finger on the motor as long as I wanted to when I was done. Ran the rest of the pack and it was getting a little bit hotter than after 5 minutes, but I could still hold my finger on the motor for an extended period of time. ESC with cooling fan was still at ambient temperature (40 degrees).

Running Robinson Gen3 slipper with it cranked all the way down, then backed off 1/4 turn. I know the X-Duty CVD's and that steel spur added quite a bit of weight to the drivetrain. Larger wheels and tires, etc... Set gear mesh using the 2 sheets of paper between gears method, and it doesn't seem as though there is any binding anywhere. For bashing only, so there is alot of start/stop driving.

Is there any truth to what I read about bumping up my ratio, maybe like 14/54, to get some heat into the ESC? Will this lower my motor temps? What is the safe temp range to run these brushless motors at? Don't really want to burn up another motor.

I've been a nitro guy for years, but this is my first crack at electrics. Hope all this gear ratio stuff isn't too elementary...Might try different motor if I burn up another one.

Thanks