Senton What to expect from sealed bearings vs. stock?

[Dulb_D]

I picked up a sealed bearings kit for my 2019 Senton 3S BLX and am wondering, considering I don't seam to currently have any bad stock bearings, would I notice anything if I just went ahead and replaced them now - like less heat from less resistance or anything? Just wondering if I should wait until enough time has passed or I run into an issue to replace or just replace them now even though the stock ones seem to be working well still.

*For clarification; beyond getting bearings that will stay cleaner, is there anything else you gain replacing your stock bearings with sealed ones from from FastEddy's for instance.

 

[Surchaufeur]

-more protected against the elements
-last longer
-a lot less outside stuff getting inside the bearings
And less heat the stock bearings on the 3-4s rigs are kinda known now tor melt some plastic parts for some reason i saw that more on the kraton 4s and outcast 4s but switching to sealed bearings is a must on almost every arrma rig

 

[jondilly1974]

We’ve had a few reports of melted yokes here and my guess was they were caused by bad bearings. If you don’t want to risk damaging something later, change them now. It’s a few hours of wrenching therapy. ✌?

 

[drjim]

I had maybe 5~6 packs run through my Senton when I took it 'off-line' to do some mods. The stock bearings didn't impress me at all. They're a bit loose, and a bit gritty feeling when you spin them. With so few runs on the truck they shouldn't have felt like that unless they were really cheap ones to start with.

I bought a full set from Avid, and have them in now, but still don't have the truck back together to run it as I'm scratching my head trying to figure out the linkage for the new servo I want to install.

I'm expecting to see smoother running, and maybe some longer run times. And I expect these bearings to last a lot longer than 5 or six packs!

 

[Skye Kaptain]

If unsealed bearings seize,
they wreck whatever they are housed in.

 

[Ari33]

Impossible to say without knowing how bad your old bearings were.
You will likely find a little extra run time and performance improvement but there are too many variables, so I very much doubt it would be noticeable.... unless your old bearings were in a really bad way.

 

[razorrc]

If you run in dirt, the stock bearings get dirty/gritty very fast, especially the power module slipper bearings and the outer hub bearings.

Random question, were people recommending swapping out to sealed bearings a long time ago? I noticed this when I bought my Granite 4x4 BLX and mentioned it right away in my review video, and now it seems like everyone is saying it. To be quite honest, the main reason I kept mentioning it is was so that that Arrma would start including sealed bearings in their kits instead of the metal shielded ones. Obviously it hasn't worked...

 

[Switchblade2k]

I picked up a sealed bearings kit for my 2019 Senton 3S BLX and am wondering, considering I don't seam to currently have any bad stock bearings, would I notice anything if I just went ahead and replaced them now - like less heat from less resistance or anything? Just wondering if I should wait until enough time has passed or I run into an issue to replace or just replace them now even though the stock ones seem to be working well still.

*For clarification; beyond getting bearings that will stay cleaner, is there anything else you gain replacing your stock bearings with sealed ones from from FastEddy's for instance.

The 3S bearings are very cheap. Change them and you will be amazed at how much smoother and quieter everything is. I had 2 runs through my Typhon 3S before my bearing got here and when they did I put them in right away. While changing them out I check each bearing and I had two of them that were "gravel buckets" and I didn't do anything in water or sand just my yard, driveway(asphalt) and a bit on dirt road. Anyways just change them and you'll see what I mean.

 

[drjim]

If you run in dirt, the stock bearings get dirty/gritty very fast, especially the power module slipper bearings and the outer hub bearings.

Random question, were people recommending swapping out to sealed bearings a long time ago? I noticed this when I bought my Granite 4x4 BLX and mentioned it right away in my review video, and now it seems like everyone is saying it. To be quite honest, the main reason I kept mentioning it is was so that that Arrma would start including sealed bearings in their kits instead of the metal shielded ones. Obviously it hasn't worked...

Yes, people have been using sealed bearings "for ever", or at least for the last 30+ years. When I was first into RC that long ago, people were putting sealed bearings into everything except carpet racers as they reduce the amount of junk that works it's way into the bearings.

We even had ceramic bearings way back then, but they cost significantly more than they do now. The first place I ever bought RC bearings from was Boca Bearing, and it's nice to see they're still around.

 

[Jimbobjr]

The sealed bearings aren’t that great either in my experience. The large inner wheel bearings fail the most for me. I’d only change the diff bearings if I had them apart. Others just change as you have things opened up.

The thing with bearings is as soon as you start fooling around with them, spraying wiping them with a rag, hitting them with air, or what ever, it pushes dirt into them and makes them crunchy. Doesn’t matter if they are sealed or not. And the sealed bearings aren’t really sealed either, if they were they would not spin. Little better than stock. If you want them to last don’t spray them or wipe them off, as a matter of fact the more dust and dirt that collects on the bearing body the better, as it is sealing it even more. jmho

 

[drjim]

The sealed bearings aren’t that great either in my experience. The large inner wheel bearings fail the most for me. I’d only change the diff bearings if I had them apart. Others just change as you have things opened up.

The thing with bearings is as soon as you start fooling around with them, spraying wiping them with a rag or what ever, it pushes dirt into them and makes them crunchy. Doesn’t matter if they are sealed or not. And the sealed bearings aren’t really sealed either, if they were they would not spin. Little better than stock. If you want them to last don’t spray them or wipe them off, as a matter of fact the more dust and dirt that collects on the bearing body the better, as it is sealing it even more.

Good advice for bearings. Spraying them with a cleaning solvent is something I've never done, even on my nitro cars, and they got pretty slimy!

All I've ever done is to gently wipe or brush excessive dirt off them, and saved the cleaners for places they were really dirty, like around the exhaust.

 

[Surchaufeur]

The sealed bearings aren’t that great either in my experience. The large inner wheel bearings fail the most for me. I’d only change the diff bearings if I had them apart. Others just change as you have things opened up.

The thing with bearings is as soon as you start fooling around with them, spraying wiping them with a rag, hitting them with air, or what ever, it pushes dirt into them and makes them crunchy. Doesn’t matter if they are sealed or not. And the sealed bearings aren’t really sealed either, if they were they would not spin. Little better than stock. If you want them to last don’t spray them or wipe them off, as a matter of fact the more dust and dirt that collects on the bearing body the better, as it is sealing it even more. jmho

What i cleaned my bearings 4-6 times now and they still work perfectly fine. I cant judge but there almost 0 junk inside my sealed bearings . Sometimes just a bit of black grease but no crunchiness if so rly minor.
I clean mine with alchool and a toothbrush
And i just noticed my dusl sealed bearings(one side shielded and one sealed rubber) in my diffs have some marine grease who leaked out from the crown and pinion gear? So bassicly my diff part is almost completly waterproof idk about the front diff i will need to take one side apart remove the driveshaft and look with my flashlight thats really good thing to have dual sealed bearing in the diffs when i think about it now