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Diff Grease. Something between Ceramic and AW

skom25
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skom25 Newbie Copy

skom25

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Hi,

I am looking for diff grease for TT-02. I need something between Ceramic Grease/ SuperLube and AW.

Ceramic Grease/ SuperLube is too thin, so diff is totally loose. On the other hand, AW is way too sticky and I do not need diff which is so stiff.

Any recommendations?

Juggular Newbie Copy

Juggular

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Faucet grease might work. 

It's plastic safe because faucets have o-rings. It's designed not to be washed out in hot water.  

But it's rather close to AW grease in stickiness. I've done a stickiness test before, but I'll have to look for that after work.  I use faucet grease on off-roaders' ball diffs, so it can't be as sticky as AW grease. 

 

Andreas W Newbie Copy

Andreas W

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19 minutes ago, skom25 said:

Wow! Nice!

However, it is really expensive...

Oh yes, it us for sure. Like most other from that lovely brand ^_^. 

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Guest

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5 hours ago, Andreas W said:

If you can get it you have Kyosho diff grease in different grades. 

It is great stuff, it is well worth the price. 

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Sadly not sir I don't think I have ever used AW. 

skom25 Newbie Copy

skom25

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On 4/10/2025 at 4:28 AM, Pylon80 said:

Back side of the gears with Cera and front side/teeth with AWG. Works a treat for me 👍

Don't you have a problem that after short time both mix together?

BTW: Maybe I am wrong, but if I remember correctly, you ran TT-02 in Racing by Post or at least ran your TT-02 in similar conditions.

What Diff settings do you recommend?

Currently I used AW on front and "standard" grease on rear. Unfortunately, I have impression that car is bit "heavy" on front. Probably stiff front Diff works good when corners are quite fast, but on my tight tracks it does not work as expected.

On the other hand, when both Diffs are loose, car is bit unstable. This is the reason why I am looking for something in the middle.

 

skom25 Newbie Copy

skom25

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On 4/8/2025 at 11:01 PM, Juggular said:

Faucet grease might work. 

It's plastic safe because faucets have o-rings. It's designed not to be washed out in hot water.  

But it's rather close to AW grease in stickiness. I've done a stickiness test before, but I'll have to look for that after work.  I use faucet grease on off-roaders' ball diffs, so it can't be as sticky as AW grease. 

 

Maybe I will try Tamiya Ball Diff grease or just buy Silicone Grease, which is quite cheap.

Kyosho offer is really interesting and probably it is the best choice to have clear information about thickness, but more than 30 Euros for 3x10g jars is way too much...

Juggular Newbie Copy

Juggular

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On 4/11/2025 at 1:55 AM, skom25 said:

Maybe I will try Tamiya Ball Diff grease or just buy Silicone Grease, which is quite cheap.

Kyosho offer is really interesting and probably it is the best choice to have clear information about thickness, but more than 30 Euros for 3x10g jars is way too much...

Sorry, tax season got me busy.  

Tamiya ball diff grease is watery.  It's good if you enjoy having your RC car do the ballerina spin on one spot. 

For M-chassis, I might use the watery Tamiya Ball Diff grease.  But for something that's a bit more serious or off-road I would prefer faucet grease.  It's stickier.  

 

Ball diffs have a zone of engagement, for lack of a better term.  Off the top of my head, Tamiya diffs have like 30 degrees of workable zone.  Looser than that, it will slip. Tighter than that, it will almost-lock (or the bolt would snap).  I thought there had to be better grease than Tamiya's watery diff grease that was originally released for on-road cars.  By happy accident, I found facet grease. It was just the thing I was looking for.  It gives you a bit more angle to work with.  It starts to grip like 10 degrees before Tamiya diff grease does.  That's not a lot, but 40 degrees is a lot easier to work with than 30 degrees.  You can definitely feel the difference if you had used Tamiya diff grease before.  You don't have to tighten as much. You can get to the desired place with tiny bit less tightening.  The bolt is less likely to break if you are aiming for almost locking.  

I'm obsessed with ball bearings. I use various mix of oil and grease to re-lube them.  Ball diffs are the opposite.  Bearings should roll as free as possible.  Diffs should not.  If they roll slower, you've got a Limited Slip Differential.  If they roll free, it might as well be a gear diff.  

The concern for ball diffs is the balls grinding.  "Faucet grease" sounds as unprofessional as using hammer and nail on an RC car.  But as mentioned, faucet grease is supposed to stick to o-rings and pipes for years. And it's supposed to be non-toxic, because you and I drink water that passing by it.  I have a feeling that Tamiya Diff grease won't last a week if you use it in the faucet.  Which means faucet grease should stick better.  It also means it won't roll as fast. That's why people buy ball diffs, after all. 

I had bought tiny dab of fountain pen grease for $4.  After I learned that it's just faucet grease, I just buy a thumb-sized tube for $4.  I'm sure there are similar things wherever faucets are sold.  

https://www.amazon.com/Danco-80360-Waterproof-Faucet-Grease/dp/B000DZFUNY/ref=sr_1_6?crid=1*******MLS0SNLS&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.TBLDCghJ4wdxmChhWHV2WJKUQZuH1X4jz7YnyfzpYgzJ63Jsd1OfKlc1RGDZRvTNNcxl2O1NqWauClFFp6WPCFVGxEn28vZqMptk-zy5P_7l3UY3U8yXkBRK-iBSdH3RXKvMAiUl5QOUdi87Mari90i7L9s7yWngWhAL7pF_gxppV_N9YhzIlpB3za1lmw-ctMyjZN-hJuxqq6s8YPrgkdWehNQLt0eejlqfYQFKOGQ.Wv4_SAc0bT9xKcC0tqaQiJLV0hLobAFLVGr_oWLt7fU&dib_tag=se&keywords=faucet+grease&qid=1744455796&sprefix=faucet+grease%2Caps%2C114&sr=8-6

Below is 1/4 inch a steel ball. I dabbed a tiny bit of faucet grease.  It can stick to my finger for about 1 second. (Since I had to take photos, I couldn't use the stopwatch or anything. I just counted One Mississippi and it fell down.)  It's stickier than Tamiya diff grease (which is thinner than ceramic grease). I've just tested Super Lube. It won't stick. So I can tell you for sure that this faucet grease is stickier than Super Lube too.  I'm sure it's not as sticky as AW grease. (Sorry, I don't want to touch that stuff. I'll let somebody else have the honor.) 

8vP04Ar.gif

 

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skom25 Newbie Copy

skom25

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@Juggular thank you!

I will try to find something, but when I translate "faucet grease" I see products which are just Silicone Grease.

Maybe I will order one and check. It is not very expensive.

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On 4/12/2025 at 3:13 PM, alvinlwh said:

rXxZ4fB.jpg

£5 or so. Last forever. 

This is good stuff. I ordered some on Saturday after seeing this, good call sir. 

Pylon80 Newbie Copy

Pylon80

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On 4/10/2025 at 10:44 PM, skom25 said:

Don't you have a problem that after short time both mix together?

BTW: Maybe I am wrong, but if I remember correctly, you ran TT-02 in Racing by Post or at least ran your TT-02 in similar conditions.

What Diff settings do you recommend?

Currently I used AW on front and "standard" grease on rear. Unfortunately, I have impression that car is bit "heavy" on front. Probably stiff front Diff works good when corners are quite fast, but on my tight tracks it does not work as expected.

On the other hand, when both Diffs are loose, car is bit unstable. This is the reason why I am looking for something in the middle.

 

Regardless of what grease you use, the diff action will free up after a rather short time (30min?) and you will need to open up the car, open the diffs, clean and regrease. There is nothing you can do about it except using oil filled gear diffs.

For RBP I used the stock diffs, mainly because they weight next to nothing and I wanted (and obtained) a very light car for the 380 project.

Front I use AWD. I do not "pack" the diff as it is a waste of grease and doesn't do anything more compared to just a coat. It's very stiff when you do both the front and the back of each gear.

I also tried diff putty but the result is too stiff and kills all the steering (running outdoors in the dust) and the car was really unpleasant to drive.

At the rear I do Cera and AWG as described in the previous post.

Now all that being said, I switched to a one way at the front and I really like it although I almost had to relearn how to drive: very limited breaking, but awesome on-power traction and most overall amount of steering, which was my priority for RBP.

If I was in the mood to spend even more at this already outrageous project 🤣 I would probably get 2 XV-02 ball-diffs but at 50 bucks a piece that's out of the question! I once had the old TT-01 ball diff and it was terrible, with hard and soft spots no matter how well I sanded the plates. I sold it.

alvinlwh Newbie Copy

alvinlwh

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On 4/12/2025 at 6:03 PM, skom25 said:

It is the same here. I am just not sure, if it the same as "Faucet Grease" mentioned by @Juggular

Get some, try it. It is cheaper than the TRF stuff you usually get. I got this silicon grease, and a number of other grease from them as well. 

bRhYWFW.jpg

The ACF-50 is handy on my 1:1 bike as well. 

skom25 Newbie Copy

skom25

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36 minutes ago, Pylon80 said:

Now all that being said, I switched to a one way at the front and I really like it although I almost had to relearn how to drive: very limited breaking, but awesome on-power traction and most overall amount of steering, which was my priority for RBP.

I remember that I asked about this some time ago. I do not remember service interval from your Post but it was quite short. I am just too lazy :D

14 minutes ago, alvinlwh said:

Get some, try it. It is cheaper than the TRF stuff you usually get

I will. In fact I have not ordered it yet, because shipping cost is more or less the same as cost of grease. Maybe I will find it somewhere locally ( it is not so easy as you might expect).

alvinlwh Newbie Copy

alvinlwh

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3 hours ago, skom25 said:

shipping cost

Don't order that cheap stuff from UK, that will be silly. Just look in your local DIY or hardware shop for some generic branded stuff will do. 

skom25 Newbie Copy

skom25

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4 hours ago, alvinlwh said:

Don't order that cheap stuff from UK, that will be silly. Just look in your local DIY or hardware shop for some generic branded stuff will do. 

I meant that even in Poland shipping cost is the same as grease ;)

I need to explain one thing here:

I live in Capital city. There are no small shops around, only huge DIY markets. So what is the problem?

Silicone Grease ( 60 ml) of totally unknown brand costs almost 15 Euros (!!!).

So I have two options:

- Wait and buy it together with other things I will need

- Go to shop in my family town

I just wanted to explain this, because now it looks like I am bit stupid and do not know how/ where to buy Silicone Grease :P

 

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