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MattyW

How much grease to use

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Hey guys

just starting my first build, a Toyota Land Cruiser 40 pickup, 4x4 

the 3g grease that comes with the kit, really doesn't seem like sit enough to grease everything it says needs greasing in the manual. 

So I didn't apply much grease to the inside of the spur diff and all the counter gears and shafts inside the chassis. To try and make sure I don't run out for the stuff that needs greasing later in the build. I basically used a brush to thinly spread it on. So it just shone rather that having a visible thick grease layer.

my question is, have I made a mistake? Should I go back and add more inside the spur diff and on the outside off all the cogs?

and what about on the front arms, the cogs that go inside the chassis?

i bought a steel pinion so thought I didn't need loads on that.

does everyone find Tamiya don't supply enough for a full build?

if I need more, any advise on what to buy for the gears please?

Thanks

Matt

 

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Use as little as possible inside the gearbox. I run non anywhere else, I find it just attracts dirt and increases wear.

I assume you have replaced the white things with bearings?

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Thanks Nobbi! That's great to hear as its basically what I have done so far.

yeah I swapped all plastic bearings for metal ones and as mentioned I also swapped to a steel pinion. 

I'll keep going as is though. So you think don't bother with grease in places like the arms and suspension?

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MattyW,

As with Nobbi I avoid using grease on the suspension bits or the drive axles.  It just collects dust and dirt creating a grinding paste to increase the wear on those moving parts.  If you want some added lubrication on those other parts you could try some powdered graphite.  I got a bottle used by wood block car derby guys.  the bottle has a long snout that directs the powder where I need it.  I'll rub it into the metal parts like dog bone ends or even some plastic parts like the suspension nubs ends that go into the chassis tub on say a Grasshopper front A-arms.

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Interesting.

When my son's car over Christmas I used the one tube supplied as sparingly as possible as there didn't seem enough.

When building mine last week I used silicon grease from work, so I had plenty, and used it a bit more liberally!

I like the sound of the graphite powder though!

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I remember using a similar product on locks. You sprinkle the powder onto the key and insert it into the lock, lubricating it as it passes through.

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Also, if you're using ball bearings instead of the white bushings (those white ring-looking things), do NOT put any grease on the axles

With grease, less is more. It attracts dirt and crap, and mixed with sand it will actually work as a sanding agent.

I build most of my cars dry. My CC01 has a very (!) light coat on the gears inside of the gearbox, but none on the spur or pinion. Everything else, including the rear axle, is dry.

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Beware of graphite on plastic parts!

 

When researching my first build, lubrication was one of the areas I looked into in some detail as I wanted my Mad Bull to be capable of beach running. And what I found out about graphite powder might surprise some of you.

 

Microscopically speaking, graphite powder is a bunch of very fine but rather rough graphite particles that are ground finer and rounder by the surfaces they are lubricating until they act as a collection of tiny little ball bearings, allowing the surfaces to slip past each other with minimal friction. However this only really works properly if the surfaces in question are harder than the graphite particles and capable of grinding them smooth. It is thus great for lubricating metal-to-metal points of contact.

 

However the majority of plastic parts used in our models are not as hard as the graphite particles, and thus instead of the particles being ground down by the parts, the parts are ground down by the particles! Not the outcome we want at all!

 

It was therefore recommended to me that surfaces exposed to the weather are lubricated with a dry wax chain lube as sold at bicycle shops. This is softer than the plastics, and won't erode them. And like graphite powder, it won't pick up dirt from the environment.

 

(I daresay I was a tad sceptical if the above, until my mate showed me a pair of plastic TT-01 drive cups that had seen a season's use on his rally car. One had been lubricated with wax chain lube, the other with graphite powder, and the wear to the latter was noticeably greater.)

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Good one! I use graphite powder solely on the uni-joints in my CVD-axles, so with that being metal-on-metal makes that I'm in the clear. But for anyone thinking about doing that with plastic parts is great advice!

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Thanks for the info, great help.

I am familiar with the wax lubricant from cycling.

On a bike chain the wax flakes off when contaminated (allegedly). It is in a solvent carrier that evaporates off leaving the PTFE base on the chain. I use this as a base layer before using conventional oil as a corrosion barrier on the outside of the chain.

The wax lubricant is no help with anti corrosion, but that may not be an issue here.

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Everything that gets exposed to salt water gets a light coating of WD40 on the CC01. Works a treat. Not afterwards, obviously, but before playing on the beach.

A few months ago my DT03 and the ocean decided to get a little too well-acquanted, and because I put copious amounts of WD40 on the screws and things like the hinge pins beforehand it survived without rusting everything in sight.

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I use motorcycle chain wax in gearboxes and find it works well with little mess. I have not used grease since my first build but not everyone has chain wax sitting about.

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Im in the UK, is this a good option please...

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/muc-off-dry-lube-120ml/rp-prod122762?gs=1&gclid=Cj0KEQiAhs3DBRDmu-rVkuif0N8BEiQAWuUJr7bKzTTas-AdzeNsVrR0z7pm8fuHhyaSthllK8fGN7UaAqpK8P8HAQ&gclsrc=aw.ds

and if so, are you guys saying that this type of lube would be good for the gear diffs please?  so everything that goes inside the chassis including the cogs on the gearbox joints? 

i currently have the stock Tamiya grease on all of these but so far have not got much further in the build. so i might not use any more of the tamiya grease on stuff like the uprights and arms.

i did add a little actually to the screw that turns to allow the upper arm to move. is that cool or should i rub that off please?

 

 

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8 hours ago, TurnipJF said:

It was therefore recommended to me that surfaces exposed to the weather are lubricated with a dry wax chain lube as sold at bicycle shops. This is softer than the plastics, and won't erode them. And like graphite powder, it won't pick up dirt from the environment.

And this is why I love this forum. I'm learning stuff all the time. Thank you!

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Another lubricant I have found useful is powdered white (mica) lubricant. Same idea as graphite, but not as abrasive. Comes from the Panef company, and really works great on plastic parts. Particularly effective against the "Tamiya creak" of suspension parts that you so often hear. Lasts forever, too; I bought a tube probably 20 years ago now, and still have half of it.

http://panef.com/lubricants.htm

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I just completed my first build (Lunchbox) so obviously I'm no expert but I used more than 3\4 of the tube of Tamiya grease on the rear end. My Dad, who has built many kits in the past, recommended spending the majority of the grease on the rear and none on exposed parts (axles, shocks, etc.) Because it attracts a lot of dirt/debris.

This all echoed with advice I had received from my Grandfather years ago regarding greasing for mechanical parts so that's the route I went.

Then again if you guys are running them everywhere from drenched to completely dry I'd say Tamiya parts are forgiving enough to do whatever you want with them! :D

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I slather my gearboxes in grease. Making sure it gets into all the teeth. Funny how one experience many many moons ago changes your outlook on something. I once saw a gearbox of a friends Hornet that had been made with NO grease. It was newer than my grasshopper with the 540 motor and it was slower than badword. a quick look inside showed why! From that point on i greased the badword out of everything XD.

 

edit. Wow we are prudish...The Devils home is replaced with "badword".

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The plastic gears are, by nature of them being plastic, self-lubricating. If you ever build something with a metal gearbox (3-speed, semi-truck, tank possibly?) I'd grease that thing more than Elvis greased his hair. With a plastic drivetrain I feel it's not that necessary.

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