Just picked up a sort of LNC

[Menace Kustoms]

So, I picked up a scaler-ish crawler that's based on a LNC. It has a cool tube chassis that's designed to fit a Honcho body, but uses the LNC motor plate, links and axles. I currently also have a SCX-10 and a Venom Creeper based Comp Crawler, but I have little experience with these Losis.

So, here's my main issue right now. It came with a Axial 27T motor and a AE-1 ESC. I swapped that out for a RC4WD 45T motor and a AE-5 ESC. My wheel speed is terrible (obviously the higher turn motor) and it's noisy as all get out. It gets warm fairly quickly, and it doesn't seem to have a lot of torque. What are the best motors to pair with the Losi transmission setup?

[jgrim]

If it has poor torque with the 45T motor, I would be suspicious that the worms need lubricant. After I had mine for a couple of months I started having lack of power issues along with a hot motor. I blamed the motor, then the ESC, and it turned out to be lack of lubricant in the worms all along. I would recommend adding grease ports in the front and back of the diff housings to make maintenance easier. I lube mine once a month. Jerry

[SilmarilS]

For a good setup, if you run a 3S, a 35T motor is perfect..
Using a 2S, a 27T will be a better choice.

And as said above, keep the worms lubed and you will be fine!

[SilmarilS]

And check the pinion gear.. the LNC can go from 12T to 25T, so you can halve/double the speed of a particular motor to suit your needs!

[Menace Kustoms]

I'll have to count the teeth on my pinion, not sure what it has on it. How do you add grease ports? That sounds like a great idea. Also, what kind of grease is right for the work gears? I'm running a 2s Lipo right now. Should I put the 27t back in it instead of the 45t?


Thanks for all the help guys!

[jgrim]

I would choose the 27T over the 45T. Below are some photos of the grease port mod. The plugs are 4-40 set screws. I put in regular chassis grease using a small hand grease gun with a needle fitting.

[Menace Kustoms]

Thanks for the pictures, that helps a lot. Do the worm gears make a lot of noise, or is that the trans gears? I think once inget that figured out, it'll be in good shape.

[jgrim]

My driveline is fairly noisy, but it's always been that way, so I have never worried about it. Grease those worms then go have fun. Jerry

[Olle P]

Noisy, getting hot and low torque says you have issues with friction. (I first had the same problems with my rig.)
Read my thread here about that.

I wouldn't ditch the 45T motor immediately. Your rig will be slow on 2S yes, but increasing the voltage is better than going back to the less efficient 27T motor.
A pinion at about 20T (0.42" diameter) should be a good starting point for you.

[SilmarilS]

The problem with the grease port mod, is that in the design, the 4 bearings that support the spool and the worm "seal" the grease inside the housing. So, since the grease as nowhere to go, if you keep adding it in the diff, you burst the seal on the worm bearing, toward the driveshaft.. (They even made a 3rd party grease guard for that reason!)

I prefer to open the diffs each time, to inspect the gear-train for wear, to clean everything and put new grease...
But once you start doing that, the maintenance is fast and works a long time...

[Olle P]

Originally Posted by SilmarilS

The problem with the grease port mod, is that in the design, the 4 bearings that support the spool and the worm "seal" the grease inside the housing. ...

Notice the very appropriate ""?
The sealing isn't completely tight, so grease will leak out when driving. The more grease inside the more will leak.

Just don't press hard when filling through a port and there's no problem.

It's still good to take the axle apart every now and then to clean and inspect the parts. The stock worm pinions do wear at a notable speed, but less so if a HD drive is used in the front axle.

[Menace Kustoms]

I want to take the axles apart so I can investigate their condition. So, how do I get the knuckles off? Is there a really small set screw? How small is it? I can't figure out how to get them off.

[jgrim]

Originally Posted by SilmarilS

... the grease has nowhere to go...

That is why there is a plug on both sides of the housing. As grease is added, the old grease is pushed out the other side. I do get some grease leakage around the worm shaft when the crawler is running. I put the ports in 3 years ago and have not had the axles apart since. Just my way of doing things. Jerry

[Menace Kustoms]

So, how do I get the knuckles off to take the axle apart?

[jgrim]

I am assuming you are referring to the set screws shown in the photo below which hold the pins in. Jerry

[jgrim]

Since you are new to the LNC, I would recommend going to the losi.com site and downloading the owners manual for the LNC. It contains exploded views of the driveline components along with part numbers. You can also download the assembly manual for the comp crawler from tlracing.com. Except for the transmission, it shares a lot of common parts with the LNC. Jerry

[Menace Kustoms]

So, what size are those set screws? I knew that's what I needed to take off, but I don't inow what size. I have allens down to 1.5mm and 1/16" but they're both to big.

[Menace Kustoms]

Here's the rig btw:

[Menace Kustoms]

[jgrim]

Originally Posted by Menace Kustoms

So, what size are those set screws? I knew that's what I needed to take off, but I don't inow what size. I have allens down to 1.5mm and 1/16" but they're both to big.

0.05" is required. Jerry