Worm gear tight spot

[TownsendTdi]

When spinning the driveshaft by hand, I get a tight spot every ten rotations or so, which makes me think the problem is the brass gear. I cleaned and regreased and still have the same problem. I tried a new worm wheel and pinion gear and still there. Has anyone had a problem with an axle housing causing a tight spot? Any tricks to worm gears? Seems so simple!

[DANALLY]

Is the axle still hooked to the Trany via the driveline? If so then the tight spot is likely from the Trany. There is a well documented problem with the plastic Trany cases causing a bind up problem.

[TownsendTdi]

They were off the truck. I had cleaned and greased the axles and was spinning the shaft by hand. When driving on a flat surface at a steady speed I could see a little hiccup every 12 inches, and this explains it, but I can't fix it. I have a set of cases, I'll try to pick the bearings out and see if that does anything. I figured for sure the gear was just getting worn and a new one would fix it.

[TownsendTdi]

Swapping the new guts to a new axle housing did nothing. Pulled the axle lockouts and hexs off to eliminate that as a possibility too. Is this normal and I'm being too picky?

[DANALLY]

All the ones I have had seem pretty smooth. I have had a few that weren't perfect but never one that you could see the rig slow or see it hiccup.

[Fungi]

I happen to have several things mocked up, none of the 6 axles I tested had any issues.

[Fungi]

Could it be a bearing?

[TownsendTdi]

I had some time at work to mess with it- when spinning the axle (wheel end) with just the brass pinion gear on it, the gear had a definite up/down wobble. It spins freely with the worm out, and was easy to see. When it was up (towards the worm) is when it was binding. There's wear on a spot on the worm where the top of brass gear tooth is rubbing it. I used my finger to try to center it, although it didn't seem loose on the small hex axle end. That plus some fresh grease seemed to fix the rear (which just started this). The front had this symptom since new- I called the Losi tech guys but that was a waste. The front I ended up installing the axles, c-hubs, and spindles with the 4 case screws just started. Worked the driveshaft around and tightened them up. Then loosened them up a turn or so because I felt a faint bit of rough spot. They both seem smooth now.
Even with new gears, and a new case I could still cause this problem, so it's probably my assembly job. Still a new hobby to me. Although my front axle had this problem out of the box...
I appreciate the help btw!