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I have seen numerous pictures of RC cars from practically every brand that have exposed gears, open gearboxes, unenclosed chains & belts. Often it's on racer's cars, no doubt to reduce running weight. But each time I see it, it makes me cringe a bit. Is it that rare that a little stone chip, piece of twig or some other foreign object gets sucked up into the components enough to foul up the drivetrain, cause premature wear, or even cause a sudden jam, or is this just foolhardy?

I don't have an opinion other to say that I want a car to perform reliably and not have anything damage or prematurely wear the drive components or cause a sudden jam.

What do the rest of you think?

I don't have any personal experience with anything like this but I believe that if there is an easy way to protect your components then do it.

if you talking about "racers" cars, i think the tracks are usually pretty well groomed clay without any stones or twigs.. not saying it could never happen.. if its indoor, i doubt there would be any stones at all if they have a pure clay track (if its a soil mix then sure).

alot of cars now seem to be getting away from dust covers, look at all the mid motor cars now, no gear covers at all, and 4wd cars too... I guess if they are all out racing, go for the gusto and make the car lighter, what the hell. for a hobby racer, its probably worth running it unless you have deep pockets, i dont think the "lightness" makes a difference nowadays anyway with motors and lipos the way they are.

I run an X-6^2 on a sand/clay mixture track and I have not had to change out a spur or pinion in almost 2 seasons running without a gear cover. I also have a Dynotech Delta Sprint that has a completely open gearbox, on this car I replace the bevel and pinon gear once a season due the wear and tear from dust particles.

I think on most mid motor cars, the bodies are keeping the dirt out anyways.

I've always felt that gear covers merely gave a dirt particle a chance over and over again to mess things up by trapping it like a mulching mower. I prefer to leave things open. Just let a grain of sand try to stand between my spur and pinion...

Back in the day you'd see belt or chain drives that were open and these were running on true dirt tracks where they'd get really dirty. Hardly anyone back then, myself included, ever ran a gear cover. I never had a problem with dirt stripping anything out. My biggest issue was that if a pinion came off, it was gone. A gear cover just let me keep my pinion with the car in the event it came off. Is there premature wear when dirt and other particles get inside? Probably. I'd rebuild the diff and clean everything often enough that it never really seemed to matter though.

IMO it all depends on WHERE you are running. Even on a non- blue groove clay track, if its well groomed, your gears will be fine. I used to race that way, and never really had any issue. That said, I don't have anyplace to "race" now, so I drive where I can find some terrain. I haven't yet managed to score a gear cover for my Ultima Pro, and I have ONE cluster gear. Judging from the minor wear I'm seeing (It WAS a new gear) after only a few runs, I need to get a cover. Especially with the trouble finding that cluster gear....