Transmission help

[Droopy487]

Excuse my story, but maybe it will spark someone to enlighten me to take a different direction on what I buy.

First off the facts. This is my first rc car. It's the Poison Spyder Wraith. I'm not 5 years old. I don't just hold the throttle until something breaks in half.

I've been into rock crawling a real vehicle my whole adult life and I try to apply the techniques I learned into this hobby. It makes it fun and I think I get the most out of the rc car using restraint when sometimes you just want to throttle it to see if it makes it.

Tonight I messed up something bad in the car. I was attempting a very vertical rock face that you had to drive in steps. You have to first throttle up onto the rock from the ground, then you have to let off the throttle to allow the front to settle, then quickly throttle as it settles and it either crests over the rock and you have defeated the obstacle or it rolls off and try it again.

Well, I had successfully defeated my nemesis rock 4 times in 15 minutes and was pretty excited. I tried for another 15 minutes and was getting pissed because I couldn't do it again. I tried one more time. When the rig got up on the rock face I hit the throttle and it stood straight up but was leaning forward. So, I held the throttle an extra half second to see what would happen. Well, the car jumped up and down and next thing I know I hear a loud click and it rolls backwards off the obstacle.

It is making a stripping type sound coming from the tranny. The wheels won't even move. WTF. So, I picked the car off the ground. If you hit the throttle while it's not on the ground the wheels barely move. Uh oh. So, I go in and break the rig down. I have tore it all the way down and have the motor and tranny sitting out of the rig. I took the cover off the tranny and the two gears that you see look great when you take the cover off. I plugged it up and you can watch them spin.

However, I have narrowed down the break to (what I would call the output shaft area) If you grab them with you fingers they don't turn. Hence, reason why the wheels don't turn under the most minimal pressure.

So, the million dollar question. Since I've enjoyed beating on my first rc car for two months now and this is the first big break with these components…should I just keep stock? Should I tear it further down and replace those parts? Should I buy just a stock replacement? Should I upgrade?

I know there is a hundred posts about drivetrain upgrades. That's the problem. I get to reading and two hours later I'm still reading. It seems someone likes this way or this product and the next post is a guy saying that product didn't last him 1 week. So, I'm sick of reading through all these posts for other people's upgrades or what they would do for their situation. Everyone's needs are different.

I'm happy with the Wraith overall. It does things I never would have thought it would do. I like the speed, I like it can crawl, but not too slow, so if I did upgrade I'd like to keep close to the ratios I have. Anyway. What should I upgrade while I have all this sitting out?

Thanks for any light on this subject.

[in-d-truck]

My wife's Wraith did the exact same thing just yesterday. Took the transmission down and found the idler gear stripped. I was in the same position your are in. Should I up grade or go stock replacement gears. Hardened gear sets, from what I gather are around $50. Or replace the whole transmission at well over $100. Being that we both have Wraith's I would have to upgrade 2. The decision for me was purely economical. A stock replacement gear set goes for less than 5 bucks. I started to think about how many of those I could buy instead of the $100 for the hardened set . Yeah, I'll have to replace the gears more often, but it's not that big of a deal to do. I would probably go for the top dollar stuff if we were competing. But to just hammer around, I couldn't justify it.

In-d-truck

[JDIRCC]

Robinson Racing trans gears is the way to go check em out on RPPhobby.com. or you can go for the hot racing hardened trans gears or the same form axial. all work well but Robinson makes the best. And while your at it ya might as well bombproof the tranny. search bombproof in the thread search for the wraith section and you'll find it or check the bulletproof wrath guide by harley.

Harley's Guide to a Bulletproof Wraith

[TrailSnail]

Sounds like stripped internals in the transmission. I would go ahead and replace all the transmission gears with metal, unless price is a major concern. I've had good luck with the stock plastic gears, but it is not something you can easily fix in the field. I have seen several people replace their driveshafts to metal, without upgrading the transmission or axles - ultimately stripping a transmission gear or axle bevel gear. Personally, I would rather twist a driveshaft (that I can easily fixed onsite) than blow out the transmission or axle. I either upgrade the transmission, axles and driveshafts or leave it all plastic. Hope that helps.

[Norton]

Hot Racing Axial SCX10 AX10 Wraith hard steel center gears set

I know there out of stock but at $29.00, I know what direction I'd go

[littletoyboy]

Spend the $35 bucks on hot racing steel gears and forget about it. I highly doubt you will ever have another issue with them.

[vicstag]

Supershafty. Com is only way to go he will go way above and beyond

[Droopy487]

Thanks everyone. I bought a used one for $30 to get me by and I'm going to build the broke one. That way I will have a spare when I get this one built.