Things I've broken since my 540 swap

[EJS]

Hey,

I know there are always lots of questions about doing a 540 swap into the RS10. I did mine about two months ago with two Integy 45 turn motors and a garden variety 6-cell NiMH pack with cut stock tires and foams removed, and here's what I've found as a reference for those who are thinking of doing the big motor surgery.

The pins that hold the spur gear to the diff output shafts died early. It wasn't due to binding the tires up in an obstacle, but from launching up onto a concrete block pile at full throttle. The shock load when the tires landed killed the pins, but the keyways in the plastic spurs were both fine. I made new pins out of a small allen wrench.

Then, I broke the long grub screw that held one of the output cups to the output shaft when I had the tires bound up. That one surprised me. So, I bought some larger diameter grubs for a Traxxas [part number 6828] and drilled the cup and the shaft to fit the fatter screw. I'll keep using the same fix on the other cups if they break, too.

I put metal gears in when I was fixing the broken grub screw, but the plastic gears had no damage at all. Long story short, my experience shows that the plastic parts hold up just fine to 540 power, but the various pins in the diffs are definitely the weak points.

Anyway, hope this is meaningful real-world data for anyone who's worried about diff strength with stronger motors.

EJS

[FATBOYrs10]

Originally Posted by EJS

Hey,

I know there are always lots of questions about doing a 540 swap into the RS10. I did mine about two months ago with two Integy 45 turn motors and a garden variety 6-cell NiMH pack with cut stock tires and foams removed, and here's what I've found as a reference for those who are thinking of doing the big motor surgery.

The pins that hold the spur gear to the diff output shafts died early. It wasn't due to binding the tires up in an obstacle, but from launching up onto a concrete block pile at full throttle. The shock load when the tires landed killed the pins, but the keyways in the plastic spurs were both fine. I made new pins out of a small allen wrench.

Then, I broke the long grub screw that held one of the output cups to the output shaft when I had the tires bound up. That one surprised me. So, I bought some larger diameter grubs for a Traxxas [part number 6828] and drilled the cup and the shaft to fit the fatter screw. I'll keep using the same fix on the other cups if they break, too.

I put metal gears in when I was fixing the broken grub screw, but the plastic gears had no damage at all. Long story short, my experience shows that the plastic parts hold up just fine to 540 power, but the various pins in the diffs are definitely the weak points.

Anyway, hope this is meaningful real-world data for anyone who's worried about diff strength with stronger motors.

EJS

hey that's interesting to know becuase i still run stock 390's on 8.4 nimh,white dot rovers w/hpi mem foam on 8 shooters unvented and i broke pins on 7.2 and even twisted the outer ball end off a front dogbone while using my dig switch i have installed on my rear axle (no rear steer on mine) and i still run plastic gears (no trouble yet?)