Man I love my picco .26 maxx... but my tranny hates it.

[1badmaxx]

I have a picco .26 maxx and the thing has impressed me. Crazy power. Wheelies in 2nd and 1st gear at will and the thing shifts from 1st to second almost as soon as I hit the throttle. All this with full aluminum control arms, bumpers, and heavy steel chromed cage. However it's also driving me up a wall with all the drivetrain I've had to replace. I ran it las weeked and it was ripping until it started revving instead of kicking into gear and moving. At first it was revving and then kicking into gear, then it was just revving and refused to move.

So my question is what could this be? I tore down the tranny and as expected all the tranny gears were in perfect condition (all steel and FO). Then I did a little research and found out there is a one way bearing on first gear. Can this be the culprit? It seemed to lock up okay but then it started to slip every other turn. I also noticed that the shaft it sits on is wore out like the entire bearing has been spinning on the shaft when the bearing is locked.

It's not the slipper, could be the bellcrank clutch but the shoes looked ok to me... however when I put the picco maxx in I noticed my bellcrank turning blue meaning excessive heat... is that a sign of a worn clutch or just normal for the power increase?

Somebody help me please!!!

So if the picco has enough power to spin a one way bearing on the shaft when it's locked my truck is probably just to heavy for it's new found power. I'm dumping the cage and going to rpm control arms to shed some weight hopefully that will keep me away from the toolbox.


Sorry for the long post... I get antsy when I can't run my tmaxx.

 

[Dirtpile]

The added weight of the aluminum is a likely culprit but not the only potential cause.

Are you also running on larger tires or have aluminum wheels? The added rotating mass and/or roll-out will stress the drivetrain too.

Another question is how long has that shaft been in there? Even before you dropped in the Picco. It could just be from wear, thought the extra power will exacerbate this. Everytime that oneway clutch locks it makes a tiny indentation on the shaft. Over time these add up and eventually the clutch will just slip. Think E-Z start on the early Maxxes with the trx .15 pro. I'm sure I'm not the only one here who's seen more than one shredded start shaft.

Another thing that might help is to check your slipper. If it does not have enough give, the one-way could be getting excessive shock loads. This will further accerlerate wear on the shaft.

As for the clutch. Has it been upgraded, and are you sure it's installed correctly? If it has been upgraded and is installed and functioning normally then putting your maxx on a diet should help with that as well.
If you are still running a stock or similar clutch, you should upgrade. A good three or four shoe aluminum clutch should handle the power and even some extra weight fairly well.

 

[1badmaxx]

the tire and wheel combo is just off set plastic rims with proline mashers.

It is the original shaft so wear is probably a contributor. I do have a spare and plan on swapping the old one when I get the new one way bearing.

As for the slipper it's a very fine line between too much tension and not enough. never had a problem with the 2.5 motor but with the picco I have nearly cut spur gears in half from too much slip. Now I have as many clutch pegs in as I can get but it may be a little snug.

You bring up a good point about a 3 shoe conversion... thought about it but as a fabricator, using aluminum as a clutch material on steel just doesn't seem like a good idea to me. If you guys say they work I will definetly get one, just didn't want to try it without a comment from someone who has that setup.

So does it sound like the one way bearing as the main culprit here? I understand there are contributors but would you say that's the problem as far as revving but not moving goes?