Terra Crusher HELP

[TmoDrew 0]

Hi All. Although I've been a member here for a little while, I think (as far as i can remember) that this is my first post for help from anyone out there that may know, or have had a Terra Crusher (43501/TGM-02).

I've had this truck for years...bought it back in 2003/2004 New from a LHS. It has been a great truck for the first year or so that I had it. I now have two Terra Crushers, both of which I am trying to restore and get running again, so i can go out and have fun like I do with my Ofna/Hobao Hyper ST Pro Kit w/ LRP Z28R engine.

1 Terra Crusher has been fully restored to stock (just like out of the box w/reverse - some misc parts). The other Terra Crusher was modified for BB engine, FOC etc which ran great for a while, but then seems to have had the same transmission problems as the stock TC I have. They both now exhibit the same behaviour, which i think is a transmission issue.

I have 'rebuilt' the transmission, all gears are good, clutches/shoes new,trans main shaft and two speed clutches new and everything seems to be put back together properly...shims...everything. When I turn the wheels by hand, the spur spins, trans inards spin, brakes spin and drive shafts spin (therefore the trans seems to be ok when rotational force is at a min).

With wheels supsended (not on ground) and engine is running (seems to run fine), the wheels rotate forward at idle and when giving some throttle. when throttling up, seems the spur, brakes and drive shafts spin faster...Good News, right? NOT!

When I put the truck on the ground and give it throttle, it barely moves!! Give it throttle to speed up the engine and rotation of trans...but it doesn't move. Seems to me that something in the tranny keeps slipping, and that the weight of the truck while on the ground is enough to stop the truck from moving like it used to. When I lift truck up to suspend the wheels, they start spinning again...I DONT GET IT. WHAT AM I MISSING HERE? All the parts in transmission are new.

Is there anything I can do to get these beasts moving again? I've read some posts on the internet about roughing up the inside of the tranny clutch bells on forward clutch (main shaft), as well as adding small aluminium pieces under stock aluminium tabs in the fwd clutchbell and two speed shoes...Does this make sense? If anyone can help, or advise, I'd greatly appreciate it. I'm at wits end w/ these trucks. as much as i love them, i may have to sell them and get an HPI product (more reliability and support)

I dont want to sell them, as i am 'attached to them' lol. I may write this same mail to Tamiya support to see if their tech staff may be able to advise...THANKS EVERYONE FOR READING THIS POST AND HELPING ME IF POSSIBLE, any and all advise is appreciated.. I'm praying for time and patience , and hopefully will get to bash these beasts once again...soon. lol.

AnDrew

[MadInventor 3884]

Sounds to me like a clutch problem. If the revs on the engine pick up when you give it more throttle but it doesn't move then something is either not engaged or slipping. Have you checked that all grub screws on drive cups are tight ?. I'd also check that all the drive pins are in place, particularly the one for the spur gear. When you rev the engine, ddo some parts of the trans spin but not others ??

More diagnostic info please

[TmoDrew 0]

Sounds to me like a clutch problem. If the revs on the engine pick up when you give it more throttle but it doesn't move then something is either not engaged or slipping. Have you checked that all grub screws on drive cups are tight ?. I'd also check that all the drive pins are in place, particularly the one for the spur gear. When you rev the engine, ddo some parts of the trans spin but not others ??

More diagnostic info please

Hi! Thank you for replying. I've been patiently watching TC to see if anyone out there could help me out w/ this truck...

wheels supsended, motor running and reving, wheels spin (not as much force as there should be) - ur right, something slipping somewhere.

checked driveline for loose screws, engine clutch, spur condition/tightness etc.

when revving engine with truck on ground, engine speeds up,spur seems to spin faster but truck doesn't move

Haven't had much time lately to start it up and try what someone else replied on another site. SEE HIS REPLY BELOW...

will try 'warming clutch with forward/reverse action before taking trans apart again to verify spur drive pin and clutch shoes...

Thanks again for your reply and help. Much appreciated!

After months of storage you

have to warm up the forward clutch before each run . After starting it up , give it

little gas forward and backwards till it warms up .

4 things to do !

1) Remove the farward clutch shoe , inner flat section that sits on the shaft, a piece

of rectangular shim approx, 18mmx7mmx(1mm thick) need to be place there .

DIY 2 piece aluminium, brass or stainless steel .Mine was missing. Glue it .

2) On the forward shoe there are 2 gripping points . Stuff the head of a phillips

screwdriver or a wedge shape needle file , leave it there for an hour to push the

gripping point outwards.

3) Use solvent to clean the inner part of the forward clutch.

4) Go to Youtube , terracrusher frat geagbox and adjust yr linkages properly.

[TmoDrew 0]

so, although it was raining today, i decided i had a little time to start up the terra crusher and figure out what was going on. I did do the above...(warm up forward clutch), then i noticed it start to grab properly. It now goes forward and reverse!!! WOOHOO. still seems as though it could use more forward "grip", but for now, i'm happy its going both ways. I still may take the tranny apart one of these days and spread the gripping points on the forward clutch shoes to see if they will help give more torque upon forward movement.

Next thing to work on is the transmission shifting between gears. While running it today, i didn't hear it shift at all. Not sure if its stuck in first or second gear...will have to play around w/ that when the weather isnt so wet. The engine seems to be getting really hot too. i measured it upwards of 220 degrees or so. whenever it reached this temp, or above, i lost a lot of compression. Its the stock FS motor, so i didn't expect much from it.

Anyone have any suggestions for a good/powerful/fast .18 engine which will drop right in to the TC? I'll keep working on this one and update w/ progress.

In the meantime, ANY TERRA CRUSHER HEADS OUT THERE? Looking for some Terra Crusher buddies...

[MRAJB 0]

On 11/13/2011 at 2:17 PM, TmoDrew said:

Hi! Thank you for replying. I've been patiently watching TC to see if anyone out there could help me out w/ this truck...

wheels supsended, motor running and reving, wheels spin (not as much force as there should be) - ur right, something slipping somewhere.

checked driveline for loose screws, engine clutch, spur condition/tightness etc.

when revving engine with truck on ground, engine speeds up,spur seems to spin faster but truck doesn't move

Haven't had much time lately to start it up and try what someone else replied on another site. SEE HIS REPLY BELOW...

will try 'warming clutch with forward/reverse action before taking trans apart again to verify spur drive pin and clutch shoes...

Thanks again for your reply and help. Much appreciated!

After months of storage you

have to warm up the forward clutch before each run . After starting it up , give it

little gas forward and backwards till it warms up .

4 things to do !

1) Remove the farward clutch shoe , inner flat section that sits on the shaft, a piece

of rectangular shim approx, 18mmx7mmx(1mm thick) need to be place there .

DIY 2 piece aluminium, brass or stainless steel .Mine was missing. Glue it .

2) On the forward shoe there are 2 gripping points . Stuff the head of a phillips

screwdriver or a wedge shape needle file , leave it there for an hour to push the

gripping point outwards.

3) Use solvent to clean the inner part of the forward clutch.

4) Go to Youtube , terracrusher frat geagbox and adjust yr linkages properly.

 

I know back from the dead, but can anyone provides some pointers on how to fix a slipped transmission?  Where do I puish the gripping points out?  Does the transmission need to be removed from the truck to do this?  I'm not quite understanding the three items in the list.

 

[MRAJB 0]

Anyone?

[wolfdogstinkus 1893]

Just sold my Terra Crusher, but it had a similar problem.  Wouldn't move till engine was warm. It was really slow, noisy, dirty and dangerous for the kids so I got rid. Sorry can't help. Did feel like clutch was slipping.

[MRAJB 0]

Thanks.  Yeah seems like mine is slipping.  The truck moves, but barely.  Any resistncae and the truck rev's but won't go anywhere.  My issues is once I take the transmission apart, how do I fix it?

[wolfdogstinkus 1893]

"The truck moves but barely", mine was a bit like that, but improved after a minute of idling. ( It lacked the punch I was used to from electric) really slow take off. 

I spent more time cleaning it or fixing it, so it had to go., Nice truck though, just wish it was fast.