Pinion gear setting

[New RC Car Dude]

Hello all. I tried swapping out the pinion gear on my Arrma Kraton 6s and it got eaten up. I swapped the old one back in and same thing. Clearly I'm setting it wrong. Any suggestions on the best way to set the pinion gear to mesh with the spur would be appreciated.

 

[332_RC]

Get everything snug but the motor slide will still barely move. Cut a plain sheet of paper the width or little wider than the pinion. Put in-between the spur & pinion. Push lightly on the slide till it stops. Snug one motor mount screw. Roll the spur, pulling the paper through. It should indent the paper but not tear it. Should be good there. You should have a tiny 'click-clack' back n forth on the mesh. Not too much. Once you got it- snug down both motor slide screws well.
Also, a generic pinion will shred easily as they are not usually hardened enough. A Tekno M5 pinion is a high quality pinion & won't shred. Hope this helps!

 

[Tunedfrog]

X2 ^^^

 

[gragner66]

Get everything snug but the motor slide will still barely move. Cut a plain sheet of paper the width or little wider than the pinion. Put in-between the spur & pinion. Push lightly on the slide till it stops. Snug one motor mount screw. Roll the spur, pulling the paper through. It should indent the paper but not tear it. Should be good there. You should have a tiny 'click-clack' back n forth on the mesh. Not too much. Once you got it- snug down both motor slide screws well.
Also, a generic pinion will shred easily as they are not usually hardened enough. A Tekno M5 pinion is a high quality pinion & won't shred. Hope this helps!

Same as I always heard and done

 

[New RC Car Dude]

Get everything snug but the motor slide will still barely move. Cut a plain sheet of paper the width or little wider than the pinion. Put in-between the spur & pinion. Push lightly on the slide till it stops. Snug one motor mount screw. Roll the spur, pulling the paper through. It should indent the paper but not tear it. Should be good there. You should have a tiny 'click-clack' back n forth on the mesh. Not too much. Once you got it- snug down both motor slide screws well.
Also, a generic pinion will shred easily as they are not usually hardened enough. A Tekno M5 pinion is a high quality pinion & won't shred. Hope this helps!

This was super helpful. Thank you

 

[332_RC]

This was super helpful. Thank you

You're welcome! Hope it helps out!

 

[Lumikko]

Working carefully is more important than the exact technique you use. Some people prefer the paper and others are against using it. It doesn’t affect the result; If you are sloppy the paper won’t save you.

Whether you use the paper or not, the end result should be a minimal amount of backlash at the tightest spot (note that the gears may not be perfectly round). When you check the gear mesh, rotate the spur gear into various positions.

If you can detect even the slightest amount of click-clack between the pinion and spur gear, whether it’s by feeling, seeing, or hearing, it’s not too tight. Anything looser than this is unnecessarily loose.

 

[RustyUs]

Working carefully is more important than the exact technique you use. Some people prefer the paper and others are against using it. It doesn’t affect the result; If you are sloppy the paper won’t save you.

Whether you use the paper or not, the end result should be a minimal amount of backlash at the tightest spot (note that the gears may not be perfectly round). When you check the gear mesh, rotate the spur gear into various positions.

If you can detect even the slightest amount of click-clack between the pinion and spur gear, whether it’s by feeling, seeing, or hearing, it’s not too tight. Anything looser than this is unnecessarily loose.

Hello all. I tried swapping out the pinion gear on my Arrma Kraton 6s and it got eaten up. I swapped the old one back in and same thing. Clearly I'm setting it wrong. Any suggestions on the best way to set the pinion gear to mesh with the spur would be appreciated.

I know if may sound funny but make certain you have the correct pitch pinion gear. It happens . Like @Lumikko said, check spur gear mesh at various spots, 'cause there may be a high spot and you will need to readjust mesh at that spot.

 

[RustyUs]

I don't know what it is with my Kraton 6S EXB, but I have to use a Tekno pinion gear and red threadlocker to have any hopes of pinion gear staying put. The Tekno pinion gears come with a M5 set screw which makes them less likely to strip out when tightening/loosening. And of course, the red threadlocker I let fully cure 24 hours before rippin' and tearin' with massive tires.

Are you a basher who likes to do massive air/jumps with their RCs? Landings can be harsh and jarring the motor towards the spur gear ever so slightly with each bad landing? It happens. Threadlocker on motor mount screws as well... and let cure. Even with all the Kraton's bracing and what looks to be beefy motor mount, a motor can/will come in contact with the chassis... depends on motor size I guess. Pictured below is my 4990 size motor's marks left behind... and I don't do "massive" launches with Kraton. Launching the K6 maybe 10' into the air is about the maximum height it will see from me.

Other than that, I don't know what to say about your issue. Motor mount bent? Motor bearing blown?

 

[332_RC]

If you can detect even the slightest amount of click-clack between the pinion and spur gear, whether it’s by feeling, seeing, or hearing, it’s not too tight. Anything looser than this is unnecessarily loose.

Correct. Sounds like this. Aftermarket Tekno 18t pinion in Kraton with 4990 motor. @New RC Car Dude
Pinion gear mesh sound

 

[New RC Car Dude]

Get everything snug but the motor slide will still barely move. Cut a plain sheet of paper the width or little wider than the pinion. Put in-between the spur & pinion. Push lightly on the slide till it stops. Snug one motor mount screw. Roll the spur, pulling the paper through. It should indent the paper but not tear it. Should be good there. You should have a tiny 'click-clack' back n forth on the mesh. Not too much. Once you got it- snug down both motor slide screws well.
Also, a generic pinion will shred easily as they are not usually hardened enough. A Tekno M5 pinion is a high quality pinion & won't shred. Hope this helps!

This was super helpful. Thank you

 

[CertifiedMike]

Did you swap the first gear out as a hop up or were you already having issues?
Mesh might be all your issue but I thought of a bent motor mount before others had mentioned it too.

 

[RustyUs]

To add to the "paper method" of setting the gear mesh, just take into account what pitch gears you have and what type of paper you are using. For 48P gears I've used that thinner heat transfer receipt paper (like at gas pumps for example) as my go-to before I go ahead and check entire circumference of spur gear for high spots. Or, find the high spot first, then place paper in-between gears as you are securing things down. Save the notebook/copier paper for the more robust gear pitches.

 

[New RC Car Dude]

Did you swap the first gear out as a hop up or were you already having issues?
Mesh might be all your issue but I thought of a bent motor mount before others had mentioned it too.

Hello all. I tried swapping out the pinion gear on my Arrma Kraton 6s and it got eaten up. I swapped the old one back in and same thing. Clearly I'm setting it wrong. Any suggestions on the best way to set the pinion gear to mesh with the spur would be appreciated.

Hello all. I tried swapping out the pinion gear on my Arrma Kraton 6s and it got eaten up. I swapped the old one back in and same thing. Clearly I'm setting it wrong. Any suggestions on the best way to set the pinion gear to mesh with the spur would be appreciated.

Thank you all for the responses. To answer some questions, yes I did swap out the pinion for a beefier one but got chewed up almost instantly. Put the old one back and same thing. Put in a new one and after all yalls help and a few videos later, I got the mesh right and now I’m rippin it like snoop lol. The paper and just listening to the click clack is what really helped.

 

[332_RC]

Thank you all for the responses. To answer some questions, yes I did swap out the pinion for a beefier one but got chewed up almost instantly. Put the old one back and same thing. Put in a new one and after all yalls help and a few videos later, I got the mesh right and now I’m rippin it like snoop lol. The paper and just listening to the click clack is what really helped.

Sweet! Glad you got it going man!