broken bevel gear shaft
 

not too sure how this happened, perhaps faulty part, but the bevel gear and shaft actually separated, it is splined so i just JB weld'd it and hammered it back together, let it dry over night. managed to break down the diffs with as few steps as possible, time consuming, but not as bad as i had anticipated. i also noticed the bevel gear is falling apart a bit, poor metal? heavy usage? not too sure, either way, figured i'd order another bevel gear set. after all the water these diffs have seen, they looked really good, i think heavy greasing has helped. hope the fix job holds up as i am planning on a mountain climb trail run tomoro and the there is a rainfall warning here. here's some pics of the fixit job for peoples reference.
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4071/...58a1d7e3_o.jpg
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2788/...090e874e_o.jpg
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2713/...94aa8f03_o.jpg
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4008/...7f692957_o.jpg
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2752/...5fd094c8_o.jpg
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4005/...3f2b3cac_o.jpg
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4030/...f04388cb_o.jpg
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4048/...3bd8ac60_o.jpg

Re: broken bevel gear shaft
 

ok, i purchased a RC4WD replacement bevel gear for the tamiya high lift.
STEEL BEVEL OUTPUT SHAFT T-Rex 60 D35 D40
i installed and i runs smooth, perfect fit, it is steel unlike the silly soft aluminum that comes with the kit that i have replaced over 5 times.
$10, you cannot go wrong.

Re: broken bevel gear shaft
 

Wow - never seen a broken bevel gear. Gears are indeed a bit soft, would assume the gear itself would strip long before the bevel snapped off. :)