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Locked differentials?

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andydrew39219

andydrew39219

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North Haven, Maine
RC Driving Style
  1. Bashing
Is there any way to lock the differentials in the tmaxx? I have a feeling it would help going through rough terrain.

As I'm sure most of you know (this even applies to 1:1 vehicles.) Differentials always want to put the power to the wheel that has the least traction. For example, I was bashing the Maxx yesterday seeing how well it handles on hard snow. I got it at an angle, going up a steep hill and both the front right and rear left tire were off the snow, the other two were. and of course, it was trying to put all the power to the tires off the ground. Which obviously I had to go give it a kick to get it out of place because it wasn't going to move, well maybe if I started hammering on it. But I already blew a spring on the clutch shoes from doing that with my pede.
 
The only way to lock them is to put in a spool, i don't recommend it at all. Just use thick oil.
IMAG0318.webp

IMAG0319.webp
 
Unless your building a mt for specific use a spool will only ruin drive line,

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The puddy and thick oil are great ,nice even traction and Still allows enough slip to keep from breaking stuff,

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on 1:1 cars if the engine is very high performance, with a posi, if the tires break loose at low speeds, it will spin the car around very fast. you need to remember if it has a posi, and drive accordingly. in my T-Max i used JB-weld on the gears to lock the dif. but doing it so you could reverse it might be better.
 
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Be nice if someone developed a true posi for the tmaxx or really any R/C. Same set up as a 1:1 with the clutch and all. Should really be hard other than the tiny parts.
 
My jrxt pro and rc10 and other various rc's I've had had a ball bearing differential that was adjustable like a slipper clutch. Pop out the dogbone or an access plug in the trans and use an Allen wrench to tighten or loosen it. I wonder why no rc company uses this anymore or anyone made after market diff's like this....
 
There's some racer in this world somwhere that makes it and won't tell anyone his secret
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Bad horsie diff locker grease love the stuff. I use it in several of my riggs. And its only $10. Spools suck. I had a tmaxx with rear spool landed jump on throttle destroyed the rear axles.
 
hotrodrob said:
There's some racer in this world somwhere that makes it and won't tell anyone his secret
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Click to expand...

Well isnt that nice of him. Oh well we keep using the what we got I guess.
 
The first run on my transmission with a diff locker. Yeah that was a fun tank....or not

ToastedTransmission001.webp


In short Locker diffs are garbage unless you have a crawler or sled dragger.
 
frickenjoey said:
The first run on my transmission with a diff locker. Yeah that was a fun tank....or not

ToastedTransmission001.webp


In short Locker diffs are garbage unless you have a crawler or sled dragger.
Click to expand...

This is going to be difficult for me to ask this question. But, I'll try my best.

Is the reason the tranny got ruined because you put a big load on one tire, and instead of the diff being able to spin more freely (IE: putting some of that load on the other tire) it went straight from the diff to the tranny and tore it up? Does that make any sense?

Think of it like this, with all the tires off the ground I can spin the rear right and the rear left will spin the opposite. But, if I hold the rear left from spinning, and then spin the rear right tire, the front two tires spin. (What I'm getting at is instead of the diff putting the load out on the rear left tire, it is putting it out, through the tranny, and then to the front.

Sorry If I have confused you guys. I have problems articulating my thoughts sometimes.
 
Yeah the big load was making a turn on concete. But you are correct on how the locker can destroy the transmission. You gotta have something that will take some of that load or it will travel up the line and will find something that will give. In my case since I had upgraded driveshafts was the transmission.
 
Limit the slip with heavy grease. Don't lock. The only time I would ever lock on a 1:1 in rough terrain is going slow in a straight line. Wanna know why jeep axle shafts are so cheap? Cuz when we lock in, they break often.
 

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