Wheelies + Multiple Curb Smashes = Broken Parts

[OlorinTharkun]

I finally pulled some great wheelies with my Slash in a parking lot this afternoon but then started showing off climbing curbs by running into them while wheelying and I broke the chassis where it connects to the gear case!

I think I may have also broken something in the transmission, too. The first sign I had that something was wrong was it stopped moving. I could hear the gears turning but the wheels didn't move. When I lifted it off the ground, the wheels would move slowly and I see the MIP driveshafts turning, but when the wheels are placed on the ground there's no torque to move them!

Any suggestions of what to check would be appreciated.

My setup:
Castle Mamba Max Pro SCT (1410 3800kV w/ 5mm shaft)
32p gears (14/52)
X-duty MIP CVDs
RPM Skid Plates front and rear

[ksb51rl]

Any suggestions of what to check would be appreciated.

My setup:
Castle Mamba Max Pro SCT (1410 3800kV w/ 5mm shaft)
32p gears (14/52)
X-duty MIP CVDs
RPM Skid Plates front and rear

You mean besides your decision-making process? LOL, I kid. I give you credit for not claiming that it broke for no reason, haha. First thought is the roll pin securing the top gear to the slipper shaft has snapped.

[PFC FONG]

I would tear it apart and have a look. If the exterior components have no visible damage, then it will probably be an internal one.
+1 on the roll pin. If you had stripped a gear, I would think it would still move, just not very well.

[kwitty]

Your story and use of emoticons was excellent!

Sorry to hear of your impact, I would consider picking up a complete trans and then taking time to tear down your old one and have it ready next time you break parts internally. A spare trans ready to go is a good idea and often they show up on the sell forum for around $30

I agree that the solid pin on the top gear is a weak link so that is a good possibiity of failure.
Could also have knocked the motor loose and lost your gear mesh on pinion and spur or the pinion set screw came loose?

[cenracer1]

also pick up the proline chassis saver.. This is one item that every slash should have.. You will not snap the chassis again.. I agree on the rol pin as well. its just inside the tranny case. I've busted many of them and have since converted mine to the wheel pin conversion. its a bit of work but with that motor (I have the same one) you will break the pin many times over.

[OlorinTharkun]

I will definitely look into the proline chassis saver when I buy my new chassis.

I tore down the transmission, including the planetary gear and I'm not sure what's wrong. Is the roll pin the hollow one in 3793 (Input shaft (slipper shaft) / spring pin)? When I put it back together, it all moves. The hollow pin seems intact...

Would it be cheaper to just buy new transmission gears? The case is aluminum now?

Also, what's the wheel pin conversion?

[OlorinTharkun]

Ordered a new chassis + Proline chassis saver today. I'm still not certain what's broken in the transmission. I guess I could pull the gear box out of my Pede and swap in this one in. Could also tear apart the working transmission from either Pede or Rusty and see what if anything looks/moves differently.

[O.G.]

It sounds like you broke one axle. Check the transmission output.

+1 on the chassis saver. They're easy to make yourself if you have an old Pede chassis laying around.

Sent from the cockpit of my Jeep Wrangler

[OlorinTharkun]

It sounds like you broke one axle. Check the transmission output.

+1 on the chassis saver. They're easy to make yourself if you have an old Pede chassis laying around.

Sent from the cockpit of my Jeep Wrangler

I'll check the axle tomorrow. Thanks for the sugestion.

[OlorinTharkun]

Been working on putting Slash back together with new chassis and chassis saver. Found I also bent the front hinge pins and cracked fiberglass tie bar.

My main concern is the transmission though. After the crash I took the whole transmission apart and relubed it.

Turning the spur turns the axles but... It feels like there's no resistance at the hex nut, though when it's all reassembled. I don't think it will turn the tires.

I didn't see anything broken when I took apart the tranny. Any ideas would be great. I can prob post a video later if that would help.

[OlorinTharkun]

Well, almost a month after I broke it, I finished putting it back together... but it doesn't run right.

The motor and ESC started to get uncomfortably hot in less than 10 minutes and half of that was idling, not driving. It seems to have more of a high pitched squealing sound than I remember and it has a lot less torque/power at the same gearing.

There's a couple things to note:

• The ESC's been in my Rustler and I couldn't get it to recalibrate, so I was driving with endpoints from a different TX/RX and 2-pole 5700kV motor.
• The front right shock didn't seem to rebound much at all, so there was probably undesirable drag from the off-kilter stance
• The grease in the diff is not Traxxas silicone grease and I'm not sure there's enough, or maybe even it's too thick - maybe that would increase motor/ESC temps
• I sanded the slipper clutch disk and pads with 220 grit, which might account for the different sound until that wears back smooth.

I want my Slash back running at full performance! I'm glad it's "running" again, not on the shelf in pieces, but it's not really in driveable shape yet, which is frustrating.

[O.G.]

Did you open the diff to check those gears?

How about the rear bearings? Are they still in good condition?

Sent from the cockpit of my Jeep Wrangler

[TheRCMan]

Time for a whole new tranny...


What?! Tapatalk?! Oh. Tapatalk.

[OlorinTharkun]

Did you open the diff to check those gears?

How about the rear bearings? Are they still in good condition?

Sent from the cockpit of my Jeep Wrangler

I did open the diff and it seemed ok. I regreased it but on my other two trucks with the wheels in the air you spin the right and the left spins opposite and this one doesn't do that like it should. It spins the same way.

RCman, I think might have to do a new tranny... It's in an aluminum gear box. Is it cheaper to buy just new tranny gears or a whole tranny off EBay?

[Albtraum]

Broken chassis? Messed up tranny? Time for a new truck. Hopefully your mamba is salvagable. Dont try to "climb" curbs

[OlorinTharkun]

New chassis = $12
New tranny = $25 - $35

New truck = $200+

???

Have the new chassis just need new tranny. Sorry, your suggestion is not helpful. Have two other trucks to drive still.

Figuring out what's wrong and fixing it are part of the challenge of the hobby and the purpose of the forums. Maybe you have money to throw away on replacing fixable problems with whole new trucks, but I don't.

[O.G.]

You may need an entire rear end replacement, a arms, axles etc.. because you may never exactly pinpoint the damage or there may be a couple damaged areas.

Did you say it was an aluminium transmission case? If so, it may be bent and I don't know how you'd straighten it.

Sent from the cockpit of my Jeep Wrangler

[Iceroad2]

Make sure all the bearings are in good and working order. That could cause undesirable drag.

[Kitteh298]

Spur gear mesh perhaps?

Sent from my Samsung Epic using Tapatalk 2

[OlorinTharkun]

Spur gear mesh perhaps?

Sent from my Samsung Epic using Tapatalk 2

Will double check but less likely since its 32P.

[OlorinTharkun]

Make sure all the bearings are in good and working order. That could cause undesirable drag.

They all moved well when I did disassemble tranny before. Good suggestion.

At this point planning to buy new tranny and steal its guts for transplant.

[Albtraum]

I know that it can be fixed, but with the abuse your truck has seen, it has a lot more problems that a broken chassis. I bet all four A arm pins have shifted loose, tweaked spindles, wheel casters blocks, shock tower and shafts... the steering mechanism... sure, you can fix these one by one, but by the time you get the truck outta wack and back to having trued wheels that don't wiggle, shocks that don't leak, etc, youre at the price point of buying a new kit altogether... Just saying, I guess I'm not into the whole bash thing though.

[slashmaster96]

have u checked the wheel hexes because i sometimes strip those on a bad tumble or crash

[cunawarit]

Broken chassis? Messed up tranny? Time for a new truck. Hopefully your mamba is salvagable. Dont try to "climb" curbs

What? Traxxas spare parts are cheap!!!

I've damaged diff gears before, and broken a tranny case and replacing it was virtually pocket money cheap. A new truck, specially nowadays when they are all RTR is very expensive by comparison.

You don't through away a full size car when you need an oil change, do you?

[OlorinTharkun]

I know that it can be fixed, but with the abuse your truck has seen, it has a lot more problems that a broken chassis. I bet all four A arm pins have shifted loose, tweaked spindles, wheel casters blocks, shock tower and shafts... the steering mechanism... sure, you can fix these one by one, but by the time you get the truck outta wack and back to having trued wheels that don't wiggle, shocks that don't leak, etc, youre at the price point of buying a new kit altogether... Just saying, I guess I'm not into the whole bash thing though.

Well, if anything it did finally convince me to moderate my driving a bit. If I counted the hours to disassemble diagnose and repair then maybe it'd be time to consider a new truck.

I'm not saying theres anything satisfying about doing this kind of damage in the first place. I wasn't trying to break my truck. I thought the RPM skid plates had me pretty well covered.

But there is something very satisfying to figuring out what's wrong and then upgrading it to be stronger, faster than it originally was.

For me this truck started life in a similar condition to what it's in now - it had a broken bulkhead, A-arm and couple other front end problems that I fixed when I got it off EBay as someone's used racer. It took me a while then and it'll take me a while again now, but I'll fix it.