overdrive vs stock

[BEAKER1105]

hey guys, have a question about overdrive gears, have a scx10 jk with overdrive in the front and stock in the rear, ive heard this setup will climb better and seems to do well but my friend has a honcho that seems to climb as well, and is stock is this setup just for rocks mostly? was at a ttc event over the weekend and didn't seem to climb a muddy hill as well as some stock geared trucks, seems you would be dragging the rear axle in loose ground situations, does that make sense? about the only thing I see that is better is my turning radius. would appreciate everybody thoughts on this, thanks...

[WHITE-TRASH]

Overdriving the front axle will give you much better steering control in full throttle situations. It will also steer sharper, the effect is exaggerated even more when coupled with under drive gears in the back.

[BEAKER1105]

thanks white trash, I understand that part, was wondering if it would effect climbing on loose surfaces mine doesent seem to climb any better than stock on dirt or mud, I can see where it would get traction on rocks but seems you would be trying pull your rear axle up a loose hill where you don't have good traction anyway almost like front wheel drive only, have anyone had this happen to them?

[WHITE-TRASH]

The overdriven front axle will tend to pull the rear yes but while it is doing that it is keeping your suspension sucked down and not letting the rear axle lift the rear and drive under the rig. Depending on how much power you're putting down will depend on the amount of effect it has.

[Meatwad]

Free constant front dig action is always better than none...

[BEAKER1105]

thanks guys!

[Perkolator]

aside from the R/P gearing on the different rigs - did you all have the same turn motor, battery voltage, and transmission gearing? my guess is no, and likely the reason they did better, esp if they had more wheel speed available.

[Richterat83]

Or weighted wheels also make a huge difference

[crawl-o-matic]

I've found that it's much harder to hold a line at high speed with an OD/UD set up...really easy to get into an endo situation if you don't stay on it.

[WHITE-TRASH]

Originally Posted by Perkolator

aside from the R/P gearing on the different rigs - did you all have the same turn motor, battery voltage, and transmission gearing? my guess is no, and likely the reason they did better, esp if they had more wheel speed available.

Same everything. There is a reason you won't find a comp rig with the same gearing in both axles. It's because it works better when crawling period.

Originally Posted by Richterat83

Or weighted wheels also make a huge difference

Again, same weighted wheels both before and after.

Originally Posted by crawl-o-matic

I've found that it's much harder to hold a line at high speed with an OD/UD set up...really easy to get into an endo situation if you don't stay on it.

Yup, OD/UD gearing makes it interesting when going flat out but I don't find myself in full speed with my offset geared rigs often enough to worry about it. It works fantastic on hill climbs and in the sand though.