Kraton Differential help

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CubFan

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Arrma RC's
Hello all, new member/rc owner. My son bought a kraton, and I'm the lucky one who gets to fix it. ☺️. Anyways, he burnt up the stock center differential, so since I'm brand new to the rc world, I bought a new one that was pre-assembled. That one has since burnt up. I have now bought the shims, and rebuilt a new one, as recommended here.

My question is after how many runs/run time am I supposed to check the oil, to make sure it hasn't leaked? Or is that not done. I know I will have to rebuild the front/back differential as well, but he is happy now they car is back running.
 
Something else is wrong with the truck. I have 3 arrmas and am very lazy with maintenance and the center diffs barely get warm.
Something else in your drive line is causing it to spin way too much. Put your truck up on something to get the wheels off the ground. Hold one rear wheel and spin the other with your hand. Are the front wheels turning? Do this to the front wheels. You have something going on with your drive line. Bearing, front or rear diff, a rock jammed in somewhere. Hard to tell without having the truck in front of me but melting diff is not something shimming will prevent. If anything it will make them run hotter.
As far as maintenance on the truck I just do as needed but do check all screws, steering, pillowballs, mesh, and look for bad bearings every time I go out. Also run around in the parking lot to listen for noises before every bash.
If there is no grease laying or flung all over in side I know the grease is still in the dif...hope you get this sorted.
 
Thanks for the info.

I'm not sure if it matters, but we have a lot of room to run (3 acres), and he is constantly running in wide open, turning around and running back in the grass
 
Thanks for the info.

I'm not sure if it matters, but we have a lot of room to run (3 acres), and he is constantly running in wide open, turning around and running back in the grass

That might do it but it’s pretty much what the stock setup was made for. They under gear it a bit so things don’t get too hot. When I run may cars in wide open spaces my motor will heat up but differentials not so much. That diff turns when it’s resistence to do so is overcome. For it to get that hot it is turning too much most likely from something else resisting to turn. At least that’s how I understand it. Maybe someone else should chime in on why it’s getting so hot.
 
In my experience with the Center diff. Gear mesh or rotten bearings would be my guess. Or like in other comment look for resistance somewhere. The pinion can really heat up that Center differential if the gear mesh is too tight.
 
Could also be your running too light of oil in it for how and where it's being driven. If your running 100k or less, it will unload power to the front a lot unless you finesse the throttle finger a lot.

For racing, from what I've read, lighter oil is used as the grip on a track isn't like running in grass or on pavement. You rely on the front tires to get more torque to pull you through a turn, but your also not pinning the throttle constantly as you roll on the throttle to maintain control. If you look at video footage and can see tires at the end of race days, the front tires are almost always bald due to the power being sent to the front so much.

Anyway, if it is running light oil and your seeing a ton of front wheel spin when he's driving, that means the internals of the diff are getting spun a lot, which generates heat inside the cup. The cup itself is plastic, so with enough heat, it will warp or melt on you and likely leak oil a lot and the internal mesh won't be good which will break teeth.

For me, I run 500K in the center in my outcast. It still unloads power to the front, but only a lot if I'm holding a wheelie and I keep the throttle on. It's still loose enough to release torque to whichever end touches the ground last when landing jumps though, which helps keep the front/rear diffs alive.

The Kraton/Typon/Senton come with 10K in the center.
The outcast/notorious/talion come with 100K in the center.

So, try 100K or 200K and see how it does for you. I'd suggest 200K for start and go up/down if need be.
 
On the differential I just rebuilt, I put 100k oil in, as recommended by the local hobby shop. Hopefully it lasts. On a side note, he took it out in the snow, and was jumping off some banks, guess who needs to replace a suspension arm now.?
Thanks for the help, I will go over all the recommendations and see what I find
 
On the differential I just rebuilt, I put 100k oil in, as recommended by the local hobby shop. Hopefully it lasts. On a side note, he took it out in the snow, and was jumping off some banks, guess who needs to replace a suspension arm now.?
Thanks for the help, I will go over all the recommendations and see what I find
 
Went through all differentials and drive train today, I just changed the fluids on front and rear (100k) and changed to 500k in rebuilt center. Front differential was what I would consider low on grease, but other than that, I didn't find anything that I would say was bad, but I am a newbie.

At sometime I know I will have to rebuild front and rear, but for now I will wait. Parts and bearings are on order. Car drives much nicer with new fluids, hopefully it lasts. Thanks for all the help.
 
Went through all differentials and drive train today, I just changed the fluids on front and rear (100k) and changed to 500k in rebuilt center. Front differential was what I would consider low on grease, but other than that, I didn't find anything that I would say was bad, but I am a newbie.

At sometime I know I will have to rebuild front and rear, but for now I will wait. Parts and bearings are on order. Car drives much nicer with new fluids, hopefully it lasts. Thanks for all the help.
That heavy of a weight oil in the differentials is to much for bashing and field running. Thick oils can cause a differential to act like a locked differential, kinda like a posi traction rear end in a real car, causing handling, performance and heat problems. Keep a close eye on it after every run.
 
That heavy of a weight oil in the differentials is to much for bashing and field running. Thick oils can cause a differential to act like a locked differential, kinda like a posi traction rear end in a real car, causing handling, performance and heat problems. Keep a close eye on it after every run.
Pretty sure I'm running 100/500/100 in my outcast. Works well for me and doesn't constantly unload power to the front when I lean on the throttle quite a bit. I'm running 4S with a 15T bell and 3.8" trenchers. I know I'm running 500 in the center, but can't recall if I'm running 50 or 100 in the front and rear. Pretty sure 100.

I only bash in grass and at skate parks. Very very rare I see dirt, gravel or sand.
 
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