Well, assuming you got the gears from RC4WD, it's a horse a piece. I heard some bad things about the run-out of the gears, and a certain batch being out of round, like an escentric. Some one dial indiated their gears and found the run-out to be over .005" plus. Stock Clod gears dial indicated less then .002". But that's not every set of gears. Apparently the quality of the alum. gears varries a lot. Something I last heard RC4WD was looking into correcting.
I ran a full set of alum. gears in my Clod and they were not what I expected. The first time I ran the axle free with a motor in it, they made all kinds of terrible noises. I was told they needed to break in, which after a couple packs they sounded a little better, but still not that smooth. I eventually ditched all the counter gears, but kept the locker, due to some trouble I had in the end, which I will get to in a bit, after running a mere 4, maybe 5 battery packs through the truck.
Whatever you decide, make sure you do not run a steel pinion gear! Steel vs. alum. is bad. Steel wins. My 1st counter gears eventually were eaten alive, throwing chips everywhere. My pinion gear mesh was perfect, and I was running some medium grease on everything as well. I began to notice some excessive sounding back lash when getting out of the throttle, and sure enough, the gears were toast. I was later told I needed to run a softer pinion, made from brass, or aluminum to match the gears. I guess I should have known, but didn't consider that. No telling how hard the aluminum gears were upon the install. Who would have thought??? Up till my problem, I had never heard anything bad about them, and never heard any special requirements for pinionns to match. I guess it's a live and learn lesson.
I have some pictures of the carnage.
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y12...singearbox.jpg
That shine is not from the camera flash either. That's alum. shavings!
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y12...sandchips2.jpg http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y12...othprofile.jpg
The teeth are literally destroyed. The profile is gone and they are sharper then a shark's, after less then 1 hour of running.
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y12...othprofile.jpg
Personally, I wouldn't bother running them anymore. I don't how well the stock gears hold to, say brushless out-runners, but I never heard of any problems with the pullers, racers, and those who built high speed brushless Clods. Suppose you guys would know better then I. I don't see a really good reason to need alum. gears. More rotational mass, more weight, although it's in good spot, and more money. Better spent somewhere else, in my mind.
Now days, with just the locker alone, I'm still not to impressed with my truck's gear noise and mesh. Next time, I'm just going to buy a locker that uses the stock differential ring gear and call it good. Can't fault Tamiya's quality control.
So, maybe it was my fualt, maybe not. If you do run lube, run white lithium grease. I was told aluminum gears don't even need grease, but if I had to run some for piece of mind, that is what I should use.
