Midwestaaron builds a trail finder 2

[Midwestaaron]

So it's been a few years since I've had an rc, so I did some research a found one I liked, read up on the forums to see the strong and weak points, and got to ordering a few things. Just got my trail finder 2 last night, got the frame assembled, also decided to go with the tough armor metal bumpers and sliders, xvd axles, and will be ordering the punisher drive shafts. Plans for the truck are to keep it simple, won't have time to do a lot with a growing family. Any tips a tricks or preventative measures welcome, feedback and comments welcome.

[eric113]

I would order the helical gears. Make sure the axle gears are shimmed properly. Also check bearing seats on the axle for gears, make sure clean and free of powder coating.

Destroying front diff gears

[TrailDawg362]

That's very good advice, check the axles and diffs closely. Shim as needed and lube everything. I heard several comments about the trans being under-lubed also. I popped open the 2 speed case and gave mine a healthy dose of Mobil 1 synthetic and also hit the T-case right away.

[Midwestaaron]

Great, thank you! This will probably be a pretty slow build seeing as I'm expecting a beautiful baby girl very soon. Also I plan on getting the interior as well. Going to go the extra step and try to make this waterproof too.

[Midwestaaron]

more goodies

[raceeng18]

Originally Posted by eric113

I would order the helical gears. Make sure the axle gears are shimmed properly. Also check bearing seats on the axle for gears, make sure clean and free of powder coating.

Destroying front diff gears

Is there somewhere here where "shimming the gears correctly" is explained. I've seen many refer to it but no explanations as to how to do it. Thanks.

[Midwestaaron]

I was wondering the same but I found in my toolbox some a/c compressor shims that might work. And i wasn't going to worry too much until I get the helical gear sets.

[TrailDawg362]

Originally Posted by Midwestaaron

I was wondering the same but I found in my toolbox some a/c compressor shims that might work. And i wasn't going to worry too much until I get the helical gear sets.

The HD gears are on my short list of upgrades also, but they're currently out of stock.

Shimming the diffs just means using thin washers behind the pinion gear to bring it in tighter to the ring gear for less slop in the mesh. The side to side play in the diff assembly can also be shimmed behind each bearing to keep the gears from moving away from each other. When done properly, the ring and pinion should rotate and engage smoothly with minimal play between the gears. Hope that helps ,

[Rollin Nice!]

i never shimmed mine anything more than the instruction manual instructed, but i packed the hell out of my axles with marine grease and my diffs seem like they are really happy and have lots of fight !!! i hope they don't blow up anyways haha <3

[Midwestaaron]

Yeah, I need to get some marine grease too. And I figured shining the scale one would be the same as doing a full size one.

[raceeng18]

Originally Posted by TrailDawg362

The HD gears are on my short list of upgrades also, but they're currently out of stock.

Shimming the diffs just means using thin washers behind the pinion gear to bring it in tighter to the ring gear for less slop in the mesh. The side to side play in the diff assembly can also be shimmed behind each bearing to keep the gears from moving away from each other. When done properly, the ring and pinion should rotate and engage smoothly with minimal play between the gears. Hope that helps ,

Thanks for the explanation TrailDawg362.

[Midwestaaron]

Thinking about getting the aluminum bumper mounts as well. Opinions?

[Midwestaaron]

[nharkey85]

Originally Posted by Midwestaaron

Thinking about getting the aluminum bumper mounts as well. Opinions?

meh... depends on what bumpers you plan on running and what function they will serve (mosly if you plan to mount winch to bumper)

i have chopped the stock plastic bumpers down to nothing more than a straight bar just for looks, so plastic mounts is all i need.

[Midwestaaron]

I have the tough armor bumpers now, and plan on putting a winch on in the future.