Final Gear & Counter Gear for Sand Scorcher Buggy Champ

[Jamlot 1]

In the gearbox of a re-release Sand Scorcher or Buggy Champ, has anyone replaced the 2 nylon gears (the Final Gear and the Counter Gear) with stronger, metal-type gears? If so, where can I find these type of gears?

I am not looking to go with the Hopup Differential but rather just replace the gears.

-- Jeff

[GregM 1109]

I do not have any clue about the SRB gearbox, are the plastic gears that weak? On the chassis types that I mostly use (DT-02, Hornet, TT-01) they are holding up fine and it is often only the weak alloy pinion that needs a steel replacement.

Again, I'm just curious.

[THE SMOOTHEE 56]

The stock counter gear from the Super Champ is brass if you are in search of something a little stronger. As for the final, I can't recall having seen a brass "spool type" final gear. I have seen quite a few brass balldiff types from a few different manufacturers though. Just because I don't remember seeing a brass spool type final doesn't mean they're not out there. I'm sure others with more knowledge than myself will help out here soon.

[Mokei Kagaku 2706]

As for the final, I can't recall having seen a brass "spool type" final gear. ..... Just because I don't remember seeing a brass spool type final doesn't mean they're not out there.

CRP, but also maybe others, made the final gear (also without diff) in brass back in the eighties. Not too easy to find these days though.

The middle gear, both the one in brass for the Super Champ and from CRP (brass too) are also relatively rare, so there is a simpler solution. Get an extra upper gear and cut the shaft to the correct length for the middle gear. Both gears have 20 teeth.

As for whether replacing the plastic gears with metal gears is really necessary; when run with mild motors on low traction surfaces, which is what the SRB is best suited for, the plastic gears hold pretty well. Because the middle gear has 20 teeth and the final gear 40 teeth and is worn by two gears instead of one (of which one is of "harder" brass), the middle gear will virtually without exception wear out much before the final gear, so having a brass middle gear is more important than having a brass final gear.

Unless you intend to run very hot motors on high traction surfaces, which the SRB is totally unsuited for (imho), replacing just the middle gear with an upper gear with the shaft shortened will most likely suffice, and it's easy and cheap. With the brass middle gear, the wear on the plastic final gear will however be somewhat bigger than with the plastic middle gear, so having a spare gear available at any time is a good insurance.

[Jamlot 1]

Thank you folks for the replies. All three of you make very good points. GREGM, the plastic gears are not weak but rather I was asking to see if this was something I should be concerned about down the line. I'll definitely look into replacing the alloy pinion, though. SMOOTHEE, thank you for the heads up about the brass gear in the Super Champ. I'll look for one as a possible replacement down the line. MOKEI, your point about if it's really necessary to replace the gears when running with mild motors is well taken. I'll just be playing with the SRBs on a nearby dirt field and not really racing them so maybe I'm just overly concerned about these gears for no reason.

Thanks again, guys.

-- Jeff