prevent my rear Merv diff from stripping?

[FireDrake001]

I have a mini e revo and upgraded to brushless and have for a stripped rear diff. I heard that the issue is supposedly the fact that the rear bulkhead is I. Two sections and too much slop allows stripping the rear diff. Has anyone has experience in this? And if so what do I do?

 

[RCbuzz]

How old is the unit? 2s or 3s? Motor kV?

First gen Merv's supposedly had bad tolerances on the bulkheads that caused early diff failures.

I would stick to 2s (3s causes issues), and replace the rear bulkhead with a new diff, fresh bearings always helps too.

 

[slick2500]

How old is the unit? 2s or 3s? Motor kV?

First gen Merv's supposedly had bad tolerances on the bulkheads that caused early diff failures.

I would stick to 2s (3s causes issues), and replace the rear bulkhead with a new diff, fresh bearings always helps too.

If he bought it in the past 8 years it likely already has the new bulkheads.

I have a mini e revo and upgraded to brushless and have for a stripped rear diff. I heard that the issue is supposedly the fact that the rear bulkhead is I. Two sections and too much slop allows stripping the rear diff. Has anyone has experience in this? And if so what do I do?

Shim the diffs

Add the Traxxas center diff https://www.amainhobbies.com/traxxa...hdF7p4WRFUVmkqp2cDDX7eRXFW1JeEpRoCRZ0QAvD_BwE

 

[Michael24]

What slick said!

 

[RCbuzz]

That is pretty cool they make a center diff for the Merv, although, I have not had any trouble with the slipper yet.

 

[slick2500]

That is pretty cool they make a center diff for the Merv, although, I have not had any trouble with the slipper yet.

It does a few things, it helps save the diffs and it makes the car drive way different, it feels a lot less wheelie happy now, much more planted to the ground.

 

[FireDrake001]

How old is the unit? 2s or 3s? Motor kV?

First gen Merv's supposedly had bad tolerances on the bulkheads that caused early diff failures.

I would stick to 2s (3s causes issues), and replace the rear bulkhead with a new diff, fresh bearings always helps too.

I got it bran new as a mini slash about 3 or 4 years ago. It had only been brushed till the last 5 runs. I run on 3s and I imagine that has a lot to do with it. Shimming it and adding hot racing gears in the rear would most likely fix it I was thinking.

 

[slick2500]

I got it bran new as a mini slash about 3 or 4 years ago. It had only been brushed till the last 5 runs. I run on 3s and I imagine that has a lot to do with it. Shimming it and adding hot racing gears in the rear would most likely fix it I was thinking.

Skip the Hot Racing gears they are overpriced for what they are. Do the center diff and shim the diffs.

 

[FireDrake001]

Skip the Hot Racing gears they are overpriced for what they are. Do the center diff and shim the diffs.

Does shimming it really eliminate this stripping? Money is never an obstacle so I don’t mind putting some more upgrades in this truck to get more performance out of it

 

[RCbuzz]

Does shimming it really eliminate this stripping? Money is never an obstacle so I don’t mind putting some more upgrades in this truck to get more performance out of it

Most definitely, poor gear mesh can ruin some of the best gears.

Not to say there are not other factors at play but for sure it helps.

 

[SrC]

Shimming the gears is usually a given. No matter what.
Jumping to uprade gears without even considering shimming, you are just missing this fundamental step. One that will usually be the fix.

 

[FireDrake001]

Shimming the gears is usually a given. No matter what.
Jumping to uprade gears without even considering shimming, you are just missing this fundamental step. One that will usually be the fix.

Well shimming and upgrading was the first thing I was going to do. The diff crown gear is ruined. I might as well find a decent replacement and yes definitely get some shims. Why they made the bulkhead in two pieces doesn’t make sense to me and is stupid

 

[slick2500]

Does shimming it really eliminate this stripping? Money is never an obstacle so I don’t mind putting some more upgrades in this truck to get more performance out of it

Yes it helps tremendously.

Shimming the gears is usually a given. No matter what.
Jumping to uprade gears without even considering shimming, you are just missing this fundamental step. One that will usually be the fix.

And the Hot Racing diffs need to be shimmed anyway or they will strip as well.

Well shimming and upgrading was the first thing I was going to do. The diff crown gear is ruined. I might as well find a decent replacement and yes definitely get some shims. Why they made the bulkhead in two pieces doesn’t make sense to me and is stupid

A lot of rc cars of yesteryear are made with gearboxes like that. Going back to the 80's split gearboxes were a common thing. But Traxxas could have designed them so they were held together via screws like the 1/10 Revo instead of the plates on the end, the chassis at the top and the lower skid plate on the bottom. Very stupid design imho which allows too much flex under heavy loads. I would do the Hot Racing bulkheads before I did the diffs but that is just me.

Are you the guy from Rctalk that I was talking to about the shocks for the Merv?

 

[FireDrake001]

Yes it helps tremendously.



And the Hot Racing diffs need to be shimmed anyway or they will strip as well.



A lot of rc cars of yesteryear are made with gearboxes like that. Going back to the 80's split gearboxes were a common thing. But Traxxas could have designed them so they were held together via screws like the 1/10 Revo instead of the plates on the end, the chassis at the top and the lower skid plate on the bottom. Very stupid design imho which allows too much flex under heavy loads. I would do the Hot Racing bulkheads before I did the diffs but that is just me.

Are you the guy from Rctalk that I was talking to about the shocks for the Merv?

No I am not. I am curious what weight of fluid should I use once I get the gtr shocks that are aluminum? The stock suspension is crap

 

[Rowdyray]

Yeah, if it was origanilly a brushed version and converted to brushless, good luck. Not sure what the deal is. My grandson found that out the hard way. He bought one that had been converted 5 or 6 years ago. Tons of parts came with it. (for good reason) Sounded like a good deal. NOT. He could barely get a 2S battery pack through it without something breaking. 3S destroyed it.

I finally bought him a new brushless slider from a parts breaker last Christmas. He put all his parts on it, and it's a totally different RC. Can rip 3S and now the only things that break are from abuse. Like clipping a parked car at full speed. That was on him. Lol.

 

[slick2500]

No I am not. I am curious what weight of fluid should I use once I get the gtr shocks that are aluminum? The stock suspension is crap

https://reddit.com/r/Traxxas/s/vGvbWxIqFk

One change to his recommendations is to go Hot Racing shocks instead of the Traxxas aluminum GTRs, the Traxxas aluminum GTR shocks still leak out of the bottom cap like the stock plastic ones and they cost twice as much as the Hot Racing.

 

[FireDrake001]

https://reddit.com/r/Traxxas/s/vGvbWxIqFk

One change to his recommendations is to go Hot Racing shocks instead of the Traxxas aluminum GTRs, the Traxxas aluminum GTR shocks still leak out of the bottom cap like the stock plastic ones and they cost twice as much as the Hot Racing.

Thanks for the advice! I didn’t know they made some for it

 

[slick2500]

Thanks for the advice! I didn’t know they made some for it

Yeah they are fairly cheap as well I think they are $11.99 a pair.

 

[slick2500]

Skip the Hot Racing gears they are overpriced for what they are. Do the center diff and shim the diffs.

I could have sworn the Hot Racing gear sets were $80 each but they are only $44 which is still a bit overpriced but not as bad as I though they were.

One thing I wish they still made for this platform, that I had on my Merv that got stolen , are The Toyz chassis braces. Those were a godsend. They went out of production many years ago though


You can see the chassis braces in this pic.