Belts vs. Drive Shafts.

[Greywolf74]

never understood why some kits uses belts instead of drive shafts. Some care to enlighten me?

 

[frickenjoey]

Belts are more efficient and are smoother than shafts. I am not convinced they are stronger but that are silky smooth and have zero slop or binding. Those are the advantages that I can think of.

 

[Greywolf74]

but I'm assuming one of the drawbacks is the belts wear out where as the shafts dont generally wear out unless they actually break.

 

[HPI-Killer]

Okay folks heres the scoop. Belts are for people who want to get extremely mad at their rigs, simply because when I had a 4-Tec 3.3 I would ALWAYS get debris caught in the belt (pebbles) and cause the whole rig to pretty much E-brake and crash. Also when they replace a belt that takes nearly an hour to replace, then breaks 5 minutes into the next run... Shafts are far more superior in the RC world IMHO.

 

[Snook Man]

When adjusted correctly belts can/will last a long time. Depending on the model (some worse than others), rocks/debris can often be an issue when they get between the belt and pulleys.
The big advantage to a belt system is the offset of the pulley can easily be adjusted with a shaft and another pulley to direct the rotational power to a different location.
Its much more difficult with a cvd/dogbone to direct the rotational power to the front/rear diff from a sideways mounted engine compared to a front to rear mounted engine.

 

[WinnersCircle]

never understood why some kits uses belts instead of drive shafts. Some care to enlighten me?

I raced 1/8 nitro on-road for 30+ years and those cars are all belt drive cars. I am now racing off-road with a drive shaft car.

The belt drive cars have less friction but the belts and pulleys wear out - especially the smaller diameter pulleys. Also, if you hit something while at full throttle there is a very good chance that the belt that is used on the smallest diameter pulley (there are fewer teeth engaging the belt on a small diameter pulley so there is more force on each tooth of that belt) will have the teeth milled off of the belt.

Also on belt drive cars - if you get dirt or sand into the area where the belt/pulley is you will dramatically shorten the life of the belt/pulley. If the asphalt racing surface that we raced on was not blow off prior to us racing on it we would very likely experience belt failures.

Drive shaft cars are more durable but have a bit more drag and the drive system is much heavier than a belt drive car. Getting the proper pinion depth and gear mesh can be a pain on a drive shaft car but once you get it you usually don't have any maintenance related issues for a long time.

After running both drive systems I prefer the drive shaft system.

Lee

 

[Greywolf74]

Ok, so belts are primarily a touring car thing and sounds like they have the advantage in racing but also require more maintenance and have a little more chance of something going wrong with them. Thanks for all the answers was just wondering because I've never had anything belt driven.

 

[hamz9561]

The best belt system I've seen is on the RC-18B2/T2 and it is fully enclosed so that no debris will get into the drive and easily destroy the belts/pulleys.

 

[cobaltleo]

Another issue that hasnt been brought up yet is the way the car handles on a shaft vs belt. With shaft drive power is immediate. Which leads to a bit jerky starts and stops bit its something that is relativily easy to get used to. Belts have a smoother acceleration/braking again something thats easy to adjust to. If your going from one type to another on equal performance cars you will have different braking and cornering points. Just my two cents.

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[frickenjoey]

Actually I did mention that.

 

[Grave]

I have a 4-tech myself belt-driven as like HPI KILLER metioned small pebbles can be probmatic but i have taken notice that my 4-tech rockets off the line when i pull the throttle back & that mainly due to the belt drive... I always check my asphalt area for pebbles & such stuff & do a quck sweep with a street broom to clear off any dirt of pebbles & I norm do not experence any problems running my 4-tech... Yes I'd have to agree changeing out the belts is a major pain in the butt... But I enjoy wrenching on the car anyways & an HR to swap out belts ant that bad before your up & running again...

 

[Tylerpienta]

Also, if you think about it a belt is like a secondary slipper clutch. Compared to a drive shaft which would just shear a belt would slip


Living the scale life!

 

[Tylerpienta]

Although. Do the rc belts have like grooves on them?
Or are the a smooth belt like most car belts?


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[bgbdwlf2500]

Although. Do the rc belts have like grooves on them?
Or are the a smooth belt like most car belts?


Living the scale life!

They have "teeth" to grip the pulley.

I've never had a belt driven car but i did have a 4x4 slash which is a shaft driven vehicle. The way the slash is set up to be modular where you can take 5 screws out of the front and pull the whole front section off to get to the shaft or take 4 screws out to get the rear off, shaft drive seems to be the only way to go. I didnt notice any jerking when taking off or stopping. the shaft is aluminum so i dont really see how there would be any extra weight. The shaft is splined on the inside so it just mates up to its counterpart. doesn't get much simpler than that.

 

[HPIguy]

I ran a belt driven RS4 for years racing in dirty parking lots. One time in all that run time I had a pebble wedge in between the pulley and belt and ruin a day of running. I personally didn't find them to be maintenance intensive or a pain to replace, but YMMV.

 

[Tylerpienta]

They have "teeth" to grip the pulley.

I've never had a belt driven car but i did have a 4x4 slash which is a shaft driven vehicle. The way the slash is set up to be modular where you can take 5 screws out of the front and pull the whole front section off to get to the shaft or take 4 screws out to get the rear off, shaft drive seems to be the only way to go. I didnt notice any jerking when taking off or stopping. the shaft is aluminum so i dont really see how there would be any extra weight. The shaft is splined on the inside so it just mates up to its counterpart. doesn't get much simpler than that.

The car only stutters if its
Sensorless


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[hamz9561]

The car only stutters if its
Sensorless


Living the scale life!

Not necessarily. A well set up sensorless won't cog either.

 

[Tylerpienta]

Can you elaborate on how to make a well set up sensor less for my pede 4x4 Vxl?


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