Gmade GS02f bevel gear problem

[Powerstrokeoutlaw]

I have a gmade GS02F military buffalo and I broke several teeth off the bevel gear. What could cause this to happen its a brand new crawler. When i opened up the front diff I noticed that the grease was not on the gears, i did buy better grease for when I reassemble it.

[HumboldtEF]

Originally Posted by Powerstrokeoutlaw

I have a gmade GS02F military buffalo and I broke several teeth off the bevel gear. What could cause this to happen its a brand new crawler. When i opened up the front diff I noticed that the grease was not on the gears, i did buy better grease for when I reassemble it.

Grease usually gets flung off after some run time but its unlikely that had something to do with it. If anything it would lead to increased wear but not a broken tooth for lack of grease alone.


It can happen for a few reasons. Most common is just not being very strong, most RTRs use sintered metal gears which are easy to grenade.
Another common cause can be getting bound up (tire is stuck and wont move) and you just try to drive through it.

I would suggest looking for some hardened steel gears if there are any, I came up with nothing in a quick search. Usually JunFac makes their upgrade parts, you could also check BoomRacing or Hot Racing.

I tried to look into what the gears are made of but I can find anything confirming what they're made of. The grainy look makes me think its sintered.

[Powerstrokeoutlaw]

Thank you for the info, i will try to be more careful when wheeling and to find an upgrade or if i can find someone to make one for me that isn’t cheap metal.


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[King Dork]

They’re definitely a powder metal bevel gear. I’ve driven the heck out of my GS02 Komodo Double Cab and have yet to break one. I really only heard of it a couple of times and they’ve all been the GS02F model. Not sure (but certainly not excusing) if they’re up to the extra stress of the 2-speed, front overdrive, or both. Nonetheless if that’s the case Gmade should have spec’d better gears. I have a Buffalo on the way and have the zero overdrive gears waiting to be installed when it arrives. I’m not really a fan of overdrive. My opinion is that the negative performance effects caused by overdrive aren’t worth the benefits. Not challenging overdrive fans to a cock fight, I just have a differing opinion. Besides, this truck was definitely designed to favor trailing over crawling, or at least serious crawling, so the overdrive doesn’t serve a lot of purpose, IMO. So who knows? Maybe no overdrive might help save the gears.
I have already emailed SSD and Robison months ago inquiring if they had any intensions of making bevel and pinion gears for the GS02/F axles. Didn’t get a response nor was I expecting one, but it certainly wouldn’t hurt for more people to email them.

[Powerstrokeoutlaw]

I agree i have the trans locked in first. I will email them too i was looking into a boom racing bevel gear and pinoin with locker but i don’t know if it will fit in the pumpkin. I had fun building it but i wish i bought a different truck for my first crawler not much upgraded parts for gmade trucks.


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[King Dork]

As far as performance upgrades, these trucks are really set up well per kit build. My GS02 Komodo for example, when I built it I added a stainless steel link kit because the stock ones were plastic (however with my BOM they were metal in the kit, aluminum I believe), I installed TRX4 springs orange fronts white rear which work really well, and I installed the SSD aluminum steering knuckles and brass weights (the SCX10ii ones which bolt right up). I‘ve done less upgrading to this truck compared to my other rigs and it simply outperforms them. It just works.
I did swap the kinda small stock tires for a set of Duratrax Deepwoods tires mounted on some off brand aluminum beadlocks with Crawler Innovations dual stage foams. These are really good and hook up on damn near everything. Also swapped out the very scale but very large front bumper for a $10 stinger which also gave much needed front clearance and approach angle. Not really for performance but because I wanted to see how they fit I swapped out the stock battery/servo mount for the SCX10ii Bowhouse one piece mount and it was a direct bolt on, along with Treal SCX10ii front shock towers which bolted straight on. I did have to slightly adjust the panhard link because the one on the Treal shock tower was slightly higher than the stock one but that’s just a matter of adjusting the link.
When my Buffalo arrives I’ll do the same TRX4 springs, SSD aluminum steering knuckles, and SSD brass weights for the knuckles. The stock tires are very good and I’ll probably throw some dual stage foams in them with some aluminum beadlocks. I do have a new set of Proline 4.75” Krawlers with CI dual stage foams on steel beadlocks that I haven’t found a home for yet so maybe they’ll go on this truck. The Buffalo is a very light truck compared to the other similar trucks from other brands and shouldn’t need much to perform very well, but I agree that it would be nice to see more aftermarket support. Gmade as a company has been gaining popularity so hopefully some companies start offering aftermarket support.