Belt Drive

[monkeyracing]

I had an idea about 5 years' ago when I had my first SCX, to replace the pinion and spur with a belt drive setup. Mostly it's because the noise the stock bits make annoys me. Over the past few I've been running a CC01. Those things are damn near silent!

Having recently purchased another SCX, I was reminded of the noise and I went looking for ideas. Turns out there's a ready made belt drive setup that's almost a drop in, except for some spur gear mounting holes being wrong. It's made for drifters, but should be more than strong enough for my light, backyard trailing.

Have you guys ever seen anyone else do a belt drive system? I caught one video on YouTube, but it did show the truck actually moving, so I couldn't tell how quiet it would be.

[Jcplante]

If you run a plastic spur and steel pinion the noise shouldn't be that loud. Unless you have the mesh to tight. I think the gears in the axle make more noise then the spur.

[byrnieman]

Off road belt drive - doesn't sound like a great idea. Will the belt drive system have issues with all the bumps, sand, rocks, water etc. that it might have to go through.


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[sdmf]

Belt drive is for on road cars.

[Mnster]

Can't stand the torque. It will just slip teeth.

[Crank]

Originally Posted by Mnster

Can't stand the torque. It will just slip teeth.

Takes 850hp to turn a top fuel dragsters "belt driven" blower.
Larger? yes. Still the same concept though.

[monkeyracing]

Originally Posted by byrnieman

Off road belt drive - doesn't sound like a great idea. Will the belt drive system have issues with all the bumps, sand, rocks, water etc. that it might have to go through.

It could be run enclosed like the stock setup.

Originally Posted by sdmf

Belt drive is for on road cars.

A lot of things get adopted from one to the other.

Originally Posted by Mnster

Can't stand the torque. It will just slip teeth.

Ever run a modern touring car with a super torquey motor and kevlar belts? They don't slip. I've seen them tear he tires off the rims and strip steel gears, though.

Originally Posted by Jcplante

If you run a plastic spur and steel pinion the noise shouldn't be that loud. Unless you have the mesh to tight. I think the gears in the axle make more noise then the spur.

Yup, that's what I'm running. Just got used to my trail truck being really quiet. It was quieter than my on road, belt drive stuff. How do yo suppose I could test for axle vs tranny noise? Might be worth following up on that.

keep the ideas coming. This is good.

[byrnieman]

Disconnect the centre drive shafts and run it(diffs & wheels won't turn) . If the noise is still there then it is spur / transmission noise.


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[Jcplante]

Spend some time on the drive train. Make sure every gear has a perfect mesh and put some quality lube on them all. I have a few trucks that are really quiet and others that are loud. I know scx10s can be almost silent if you put the time into it.

[Hotrodvw]

I raced my Yokomo 4wd buggys for years outdoors. Open pulleys, belt driven, wicked mod motors. They can handle the torque, and I for one would love to try this as well! I never had issues with the set up being in the elements, but would prefer a cover for peace of mind. Occasionally I would clean the pulleys, dirt can pack in them and cause slipping if neglected............but they're very tolerant.

[monkeyracing]

Originally Posted by byrnieman

Disconnect the centre drive shafts and run it(diffs & wheels won't turn) . If the noise is still there then it is spur / transmission noise.

Yup. Disconnected the prop shafts at the axles. While holding on to one to simulate driving conditions, pulled the throttle. It's definitely pinion/spur. The mesh is perfect and they're in good shape.

It's the same noise my very first AX10 made years ago. It's the "Axial noise" i guess. I've owned on/off road cars/trucks over the years, with gear pitch from 32 to 64 and a few giant ones I still can't identify. Nothing else I've owned makes the same sound as the Axials have.

I'll pick up some pulleys as soon as my budget's recovered from all the crap I bought last week. Got 6 orders of stuff in the mail!

Thanks again guys.

[Mnster]

Gearing might be a problem if deleting the pinion and spur. Worth a shot though. Should be in range of a scx. I retract my statement about in slipping under torque. For some reason I was thinking you were talking about the gearbox internals. But, off the motor shaft there is a minimal amount of torque. I personally wouldn't bother with it do to the limited gearing options and I'm uncertain it would work in a muddy wet crawler environment. But, does look cool.

I believe this is what you are referring to? http://www.oospeeddrift.com/subcateg...lt-3018-1.html

[Jeckler]

It'll be over geared for a start, 3.72 vs 4.35. You'll have to spin the motor the other way as well. Sounds like a neat idea, but they should offer a higher tooth pulley on the driven side, 48t for example would put it back to (almost ) stock Axial ratio.

[Eric0424]

The Team Associated SC10 4x4 was a well designed, reliable, fully enclosed belt/transmission hybrid drive system. Both of mine are powered by 550's from Reedy (550-SL 4000kV & 3500kV), Tekin (Pro4 HD 4300) and LRP (X12L 5.0, 4150kV). All are strong 550's and are run on 3S about 40% of the time. My belts are still the originals and they're in perfect condition after more than two years of driving, it's only 5.15mm (.203") wide and the pulley are plastic (also the original pulleys).

Off-road belt drive is not impossible, it just needs the right execution.

As for the noise from the gears, it doesn't take much to get them to make noise. Just some dust embedded in the spur, a little wear on the pinion, teeth not cut or molded true (Axial plastic gears are not well made/molded), damaged teeth, all these can make the gears sing.

[Jcplante]

Changing to 32 pitch should help some too if you wanted to try something else before the belt drive.

[monkeyracing]

I saw the oospee.....whatever, drift setup. That's what got me thinking again. There are options within the RC world, as well as industrial/robotics suppliers. I'm not too worried about the gear ratio, as going to a higher turn motor is easy. The Tamiya CC01 has an insanely tall ratio compared to my SCX (14:1 vs 60:1), but a 55t motor fixes it easily.

I'll keep you posted.

Edit: Found that Venom makes a pulley for front diffs that looks like it will fit, as long as the internal diameter is right. I had a close look at the slipper with a similar part from my Serpent S411 tonight and it looks like it could work. The elongated holes on the Venom part should help. The pinion pulley will be fairly easy, as that size is available from a variety of manufacturers.

[OSRC]

How about an original TLT belt drive? Shave it down and enclose it, already has a motor mount, layshaft and pulleys ready do go. A little work on the outdrives and it could be a winner. I have one handy if you'd want measurements.

http://www.rc-recycler.com/media/cat...4000-29681.jpg

[monkeyracing]

Thanks, but I'm not sure how the pulley would fit where my spur sits now. Using the entire unit, I'd still have a geared pinion/spur setup.

I emailed Venom and have learned the 40t pulley is about 40mm across. That should leave loads of room on the inside surface for mounting to the slipper plate, which is 28mm across. For the sake of reference, the stock 87T spur is about 47mm across, with the mounting holes at 23mm.

[EeePee]

Check that post out monkeyrace

Daigoro's Toyota Tundra

[monkeyracing]

That's pretty damned awesome. Doesn't appear to be available anymore, but it's a nice piece. I'm pretty sure I can get the big pulley for around $15 and the little one for around $10. Once I have both pulley diameters, I can figure out belt length. May even have one hanging around. Here's the only other I've seen. Looks like he made a new motor plate. The pulleys I'm not sure about. 3D printed, maybe?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kv0GjZtTceY