RC10Talk - The Net's Largest Vintage R/C Community

I've recently done a few stealths, and in looking through the posts on this forum, I've only managed to find bits and pieces of a few members input. I've seen everything from using toothpaste to break the gears in, to sanding the diff discs. If the mods are cool with it, I think it might be a good sticky to add everyones input and opinions as to what works best for building the stealth trans properly. Also tips as to making it smooth as possible and longevity with brushless power and lipos. Run the box dry or lubed? All metal gear advice?

black grease on thrust bearing
silicone grease on diff balls
run stock gears dry
b4 top shaft and slipper assembly

other than gluing the diff rings to the outdrives, i've never done anything special. just built them the way they're supposed to be.

for the plastic gears, no lube needed. with an all metal gear train, a drop or two of a decent oil is all you need.

good grease on thrust bearing, silicone grease on diff balls.

for diff rings and flat thrust washers, if they are used, I will sand them flat on a piece of glass or cast iron with some oil on emery paper until the surface is uniform. for grooved thrust washers, you will need to replace if they feel gritty.

I'll re-use and test build to see if it's smooth after a cleaning, otherwise, I'll replace thrust bearing and all balls until it's smooth.

this pretty much holds true for any ball diff.

I think it was Reg or someone who mentioned using toothpaste on the gears and a dremel to turn the gearbox at high rpms?
Back in the day I remember a couple of guys using Bardhal on their pinion/spur gears and a few of them used it in the transmssion. Of course that was six gear days and not sure if it would apply to the stealth. That stuff is pretty much what Lucas oil additive is today. Made for some silent running transmissions. Ever see the Lucas oil clear displays with the gears and hand crank at automotive parts stores?

I know exactly what you are talking about! I personally used a bit of the 20wt shock oil in my old 6 gear tranny, worked great.

I have a stealth that spins really freely today but part of me still wants to lube it with something just because it's a gear box!

Looking at a new ball bearings for another trans I'm working on. Any improvements in using the ceramic bearings over the standard bearings? They are quite a bit higher priced.

Unless you are hardcore racing, I dunno that I would use ceramic. They are like 5 times the price, I bet you could change out the steel bearings 5 times over a much longer life cycle.

Maybe they are better with water though? since maybe they wouldn't rust up?

I dunno, just the way I see it....your results may vary....

Yep, $5 each vs $1 each. It is going on a racer, but only to be raced every now and then.

Stick with regular bearings, I don't think there is a need to go ceramic unless you just like spending $$$

Whatever bearings you do use, I have found that if you blow all the chinese grease out of them with motor spray and relube with a light oil makes the tranny spin much better.

+1 on the B4 top shaft and slipper. You can get these parted out of new T4, B4, or SC10's on ebay for cheap.

+1 on sanding the rings. I usually go with 400grit followed with 800grit for the diff rings, doing both sides. Same with the thrust washers except I go one step further with 1200grit. Always use carbide balls, preferably new ones with a new diff build. Always use a new diff lock nut as well. If you ever have to go back through it, reuse the diff balls and flip ALL of the rings and you are good to go. You will need to replace the thrust balls every time though. Many times people will rebuild their diff using new rings and diff balls but reuse the thrust assembly, then wonder why their diff still feels crunchy. Many times the thrust bearing is the main culprit.

Don't overtighten the case screws. Seems like a no brainer, but some guys don't seem to know their own strength. I've seen a bunch of em torqued to the max. You know, when the plastic around the screw head is mushroomed and a brighter color of white than the rest of the case.... Funny, they never spin too smoothly when done like that.

Thanks for the tips Brandon! I did go ahead and purchase ceramics from Avid for the trans, and even found ceramic ball bearings for the diff. Probably overkill for my situation, but what the heck. The trans I'm doing for my runner is gonna be an all metal gear trans too, so might as well do it up right. I also purchased ceramic diff and thrust balls. Haven't seen much talk of them?
Aside from sanding the diff rings and thrust washers, any thoughts on polishing gears on an all metal geared trans? Thinking of using a dremel with a little metal polish.

I love the ceramic diff balls vs. the carbide ones.
I run 3500kv brushless system in my stealth with the b4 topshaft/v2 slipper mod.
Smooth as butter and one of the most quiet rigs at the track which always gets people asking "What have you DONE to that old gold pan!!!???" hahaha.

Sorry to steal your thread, but what size bearing is needed for stealth?

I found something, but don't know if these are right ones...

2x 5/32 x 5/16 for diff?
2x 3/8 x 5/8
4x 3/16 x 3/8

Stealth Bearing Sizes...

6ea. 5/64" balls - Thrust bearing (black grease)
12ea. 3/32" balls - Differential (go ceramic) and silicon diff lube
2ea. 3/8 x 5/8 bearing (bottom hole/outdrive, 1 per side) (6903)
2ea. 5/32 x 5/16 (inside the diff/outdrive assembly) (6589)
4ea. 3/8 x 3/16 unflanged. (6906)

Here's about any manual you could need for an RC10.
http://www.teamassociated.com/manuals/RC10/

askbob wrote:Thanks for the tips Brandon! I did go ahead and purchase ceramics from Avid for the trans, and even found ceramic ball bearings for the diff. Probably overkill for my situation, but what the heck. The trans I'm doing for my runner is gonna be an all metal gear trans too, so might as well do it up right. I also purchased ceramic diff and thrust balls. Haven't seen much talk of them?
Aside from sanding the diff rings and thrust washers, any thoughts on polishing gears on an all metal geared trans? Thinking of using a dremel with a little metal polish.

Where did you find the steel diff gear for the 2,25 ??
I already have the RRP steel idler for my build

Morten