a few questions for the lnc/lcc experts
 

i don't have a lot of experience running a losi (had a sporty for awhile a few years ago) so i figured i'd get some input from the experts.

i have scaler i'm working on (http://www.rccrawler.com/forum/1-9-s...k-lcc-mog.html) based on an lnc drivetrain. it has lnc tranny with HR steel gears and both axles that have HD spool/worm gears.

so, when i run the rig (still testing so not long runs) i noticed two things that concern me:
1. the pinion/tranny gears seem pretty loud. that wouldn't be a major concern in itself but there seems to be metal flakes, almost dust, all around the tranny and frame when i stop running. almost like either the pinion or the tranny gear is grinding something off. the mesh looks good (based on the tips and tricks sticky in this forum) and i don't see an obvious alignment or binding issue. could this just be the metal pinion and gears breaking in?

2. at the completion of a run i check temps. motor, esc and battery are a little warm but far from hot to the touch. the same goes for the front axle. on the other had the rear axle feels much hotter than the front axle. i haven't taken it apart yet but what would you guess the issue is? not enough grease or possibly spool not being shimmed correctly? a related question is how warm/hot would you expect losi axles to get running in a scaler doing trails?

Re: a few questions for the lnc/lcc experts
 

Yes and Yes

Was never a fan of all metal gears, noise is loud but my plastics are too. The metal gears will eat a pinion up though and Im willing to bet that's what youre seeing.

Silver flakes from a silver Robinson gear?


Motors will always get hot in a losi ........ axles warm. When I would comp with my LCC the axles were warm to the touch and the motor sat around 140* for a brushless.
I would only run it one course then let it sit and never practiced longer then a battery before letting it cool off.

Will the axles work on course and scalers - Yes. Your just seeing the normal issues of running the axles. Nothing I would worry about.

Re: a few questions for the lnc/lcc experts
 

you are correct that it is a silver robinson gear. i was thinking of getting a set of plastic tranny gears to reduce noise and see if it helps with the pinion wear. would it be worth a try or will i end up chewing up the plastic gears?

as for the axles would you see a big difference in axle temps between the front and rear? i'm just concerned something is off in the rear. i will be tearing it down either way to check things out.


out of curiousity what is the worst case result of an axle getting hot? what would fail (assuming it is just a temp issue and not something binding in the axle)?

Re: a few questions for the lnc/lcc experts
 

If you want to sell the hr steel tranny gears, please let me know.

Ive noticed my rear axle runs warmer then my front, I usually add more grease to rear vs front which helps. Im pretty sure rear runs warmer since when your climbing stuff, all the weight gets shifted to the rear.

Re: a few questions for the lnc/lcc experts
 

i know the metal gears are in demand but even if i switch to plastic i plan on holding onto the metal gears in case i change things up in the future. sorry.

i agree that it might seem that the rear would heat up more if you had HD in the front and stock in the rear and were on the rocksbut i have HD all around and i'm driving on flat terrain. i'm sure this is going to boil down to shimming the spool and getting the grease packed in.

Re: a few questions for the lnc/lcc experts
 

I ran chromoly stock fro Dlux in my rear and the HD in my front ... never noticed much of a difference in heat to be honest.

Worse case over time ....... cook the grease, the bearings. If it gets hot enough to warp the axles then theres definitely a problem lol.

Shimming is key too - I know the HD has a black shim and silver shims. Black I think was what they said to use for new installs and add the silvers if it was an old case.

Basically all you can do is grease and clean. 2 seasons on my old trucks comp axles I never had a bearing or gear failure. But theres scalers in here that run the axles harder so maybe they'll chime in too.

Re: a few questions for the lnc/lcc experts
 

Regarding axle heat, I think it would be safe to say it's a lack of lubrication. The spool shims are so thin they almost aren't even there and the worm shims just prevent the gear from moving forward and back a little. But definitely open it up and make sure there aren't too many shims causing binding and lube the shit out of those gears.

Re: a few questions for the lnc/lcc experts
 

:mrgreen:If you are running this long distances (in typical scaler fashion :lmao:), then OVERGREASE your axles! I use either the Losi blue grease supplied with the HD worms, or a moly grease. Moly works well due to the sliding friction present at the worms.

When I build my axles, I pack the grease in all around the worms, bearings and into the axle tubes. It oozes out when bolting the case halves back together. Then, couple times a season, I add grease through a grease port with a syringe just to keep fresh.

All this grease obviously adds drag, however, it lowers the axle temps, bathes the bearings and keeps out water and mud!


I compensate for this drag by running SENSORED(!!!!!!!) 13.5 brushless motors on 4S with a MMP ESC.


Your metal gears in the trans are normal to be a bit noisy. They are also a must have when running the above combo! Plastic gears will explode.

I have found the Team Losi pinion gears to be the best as far as wear and tear. If you run the combo above, you will be very happy with a 16T pinion for a typical Class 3 tire, 20T Pinion for a Class 2 tire, 25T pinion for a Class 1 tire.


Hope this helps you out! Go Team Losi! :mrgreen:

Re: a few questions for the lnc/lcc experts
 

I appreciate all the feedback. GIJoe, my setup has a 13.5T sensored brushless motor and i'm using a 25T pinion so I have those covered. I typically run 2s lipos though (limitation of the esc I have) so maybe i'll have to look at a new esc someday to up the power. i'm probably not going to be beating on this rig much so I don't need monster power.

all signs are pointing to needing a teardown and lube job on the rear axle. i'll add that to the long list of things I need to do to get this rig done.

as far as the noisy tranny/pinion gears maybe i'll add some soundproofing foam to the inside of the cab! :)

Re: a few questions for the lnc/lcc experts
 

Losi are just super loud, plastic or metal gears. Any time I bust mine out, people think something is wrong.

Before every pack I run, I always add more grease. I always think I'm over doing the grease and think that inside is probably caked all over with grease but it never is, worms eat grease like crazy.

Re: a few questions for the lnc/lcc experts
 

As an experiment I took it out for a 10 minute run around the house to check temps. At the end of the run the motor was around 100°, the ESC about 105°, and the front axle at the pumpkin was 95°. Any guesses about the rear? I was shocked when it showed 155°!!!!

Got it on the bench and cracked open the rear axle and to nobody's surprise it was bone dry! No grease at all as you can see in the pic. Needless to say I packed it with grease. Guess I better check the front axle next.

Funny thing is I remember greasing a set of losi axles recently. Must have been a set of spare axles I sold (Tom, yours should be good!)

Re: a few questions for the lnc/lcc experts
 

Depending on how you drive it might be beneficial to have overdrive on the front axle. With a standard worm drive in the rear it won't get as hot when you run anything but straight.

Re: a few questions for the lnc/lcc experts
 

I use to do that in my sporty but these are running a scaler with a half track config. Need to keep the speed matched between the front wheels and rear tracks otherwise the tracks tilt because the are pushing or being drug.

Re: a few questions for the lnc/lcc experts
 

Without front overdrive the speed is NOT matched while turning, but only while running straight.

I've come to realise that for a crawler you do match the front/rear speed much better with front overdrive since we're turning one way or the other most of the time.
Also when the front wheels are negotiating a (near) vertical obstacle you'll need more speed there to get a "match".

The other option is of course to have a differential between the front and rear.

Re: a few questions for the lnc/lcc experts
 

I agree with you on all points but my rig is a little different. I'm trying to keep wheel speed front and rear matched for a straight line so the tracks aren't pushing or pulling the front wheels. I know the tradeoff is in cornering and vertical climbing.

Now a differential between the front and rear is an interesting idea I didn't consider. That would have made my efforts to match speeds much easier although I would need to redesign my transfer case. Future project idea!