StuartJP

Yo Max. Thanks for the info, interesting idea re: one way diff. Problem with the ball diff splines is that the outdrives strip, rather than the pot plates. I can totally get why the slipper clutch was invented. No more spending on this old dear :o)

Thanks guys, yep, I'd read about rubber cement / thread lock / glue to affix the splines in. Tried threadlock but that didn't hold. In fairness, I'd gone a bit mad and been racing it on high grip carpet with the drive shaft removed (i.e. 2wd) so all that brushless power is going through those small splines. I needed something reliable, i.e. you can't have your diff fail during a race so am not going to rely on rubber cement etc. Have put gear diffs back in front and rear and the drive shaft so it's back to 4wd dirt mode, which is what it's best at anyway :o)

Not long after this I realised that the puny outdrives on the ball diff soon strip, so this is the end of this project. Top Force is now a backyard basher / cat scarer. Racing with an Associated B5m instead.

FYI, I popped in a ball diff with ceramic balls and the one-piece thrust bearing. No more gears grinding, even with a LiPo and brushless 4370kv motor. Good diff action on carpet. Chuffed. Can just about keep up with Durango and Associated buggies. Hoping it won't need much / any maintenance.

Ditto. I'm racing mine now here http://dublinmodelracing.com

From what I've learned so far, this seems to be the checklist of things to do to protect the DF-01 gears.. Doable: Install one piece alloy motor mount (Pargu seems the best) Replace gearbox cover screws with bolts and nyloc nuts (to prevent gearbox cover lifting) Metal brace across bolt on gearbox cover LHS (to prevent gearbox cover lifting) On the lower LHS screw attaching the rear shock tower to the rear gearbox, replace with a bolt and nut (to prevent gearbox cover lifting) Swap the two-piece aluminium spur and idler with the TA-02 all-plastic gearset (the aluminium gears are soft) Reduce punch on the ESC Set throttle curve on the transmitter Install ball diff (one-piece thrust bearing and ceramic balls seem to be recommended) Use tyres with a bit less grip on high grip surfaces : Schumacher blocks are good for me on carpet Replace steel gear shafts with 5mm carbon fibre rod : cut my own and it works fine! (reduce rotational mass) Ball race the lot (reduce friction) Install weak motor :-) Mount the front ball differential and the one way gear at the front end Theoretical, but never done: Replace the spur gear with a slipper Replace the spur gear with a cush a.k.a. para strappi Anything else, is this all correct? Interestingly, I just found out about slipper eliminators. So some drivers are removing their slipper clutches to reduce rotational mass and have full power at all times. News to me.

Aha got it, thanks, great info Max. I take it you didn't manage to implement these ideas yet?

Hi Max, thanks for that. Yes, I've seen that page before actually, good photos. What is a cush? Can't find any info on that at all, and did you implement a "cush" and slipper clutch on a df-01? Be amazing to hear if you did and how. I've ordered the Manta Ray ball diff, 3mm ceramic balls and the one piece thrust bearing. Hoping to adjust the punch setting on my new ESC to reduce gear skipping aswell. Cheers, Stuart.

So, do ball diffs function also as a slipper clutch, to boot, via the belleville washers. Is that right?

A ball diff, right, I didn't think of that, thankyou very much! Stu.

Hi all. So I've totally upgraded my ancient Manta Ray into a raceable Top Force Evo carbon fibre alloy thingamajig. It's just a bit embarrassing at my local club when the gears grind when I land off a jump. Doesn't seem to be doing much harm so far but I wonder is there any way these days to protect the gearing when running a 10.5T brushless motor and a LiPo. Of course everyone else has slipper clutches. Any way to do something similar to a Top Force? Some sort of bolt on wotsit to the motor or a diff-***-slipper / slipperential to bung in the back? BTW, I took out the drive shaft so it's 2WD only now, so I can race in 2WD clubman. Cheers!

Yes! A very few races with my first and only Manta Ray in a school-based club. Only upgrade was a handful of plastic bearings swapped for ball bearings. No great results, main issue was dumping after a few laps then fighting with my brother over the one fast charger we had between us. Fun times! It saw more carpark action. Seem to remember Yokomo and Schumacher being the proper cars to run at the time. Anyway, found the Manta Ray again recently in a garage. It has been brought kicking and screaming into the 21st century, brushless motor, LiPo, 2.4GHz, etc. Started racing indoors on carpet with it. Quite hard to get to grips with but definitely capable.