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Blackfoot Thorp Differential questions

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Bought an old Blackfoot off eBay that had an old Thorp drive. Cleanup on the truck is going well and it seems that it’s a pretty solid truck and the Thorp looks to be barely used. 
 

Anyway, I’m cleaning it up before I reassemble the gearbox and have a couple questions:

1: whatever lubricant they used on it is so thick it’s really difficult to clean it off, any suggestions?

2: what should I lube the thrust bearing with 

3: what should I lube the ball diff with

4: should I put some cera-grease on it once it is back together

5: pinion gear suggestions?

Any tips would be great and appreciated! Thanks

aikuUYc.jpg

 

 

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1. Warm water dish soap toothbrush and elbow grease…

2. Tamiya ball diff grease

3. see #2

4. I don’t like to mix greases, so I would use more #2.

5. Thorp extra long with CRP adjustable motor mount.

 

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1. Metal balls could take alcohol or some other harsh chemicals.  But not the plastic.  So I agree with @Frog Jumper that dish soap would be better for the gear.  

2. People us thicker moly grease. I suppose you can use plumber's grease.  

3. I use plumber's grease for off-road vehicles.  Tamiya's ball diff grease is fine for on-road vehicles.  But in my opinion, plumber's grease gives you a bit more traction between the balls and the ring plates.  I installed bigger tires on my TLT-1 and that put strains on center differential.  I had snapped the screw holding the ball diff together a couple times.  If I knew about plumber's grease then, I wouldn't have broken them.  You don't have to tighten as much to get the same grip.  That makes ball diffs more adjustable.  

YiFE5DS.jpg

Plumber's grease doesn't sound premium, but chances are you drink water that passed by this grease.  In my opinion it's better than Tamiya's ball diff grease.  It's designed to stick to faucets' o-rings without being washed out even in hot water for years.  It's rubber and plastic safe. 

If the thickness of ball diff grease is 1 and AW grease is 10, this is like 3.  Just a little bit thicker than ball diff grease. But that makes all the difference.  It's only $4.  You could try Tamiya's ball diff grease first, wipe that off and try this for comparison.  You can build 30 ball diffs with this stuff.   

4.  I haven't tried cera grease but now I am thinking maybe I should test it to see if it's better than Teflon grease made for model trains that I use on all of my RC cars.  (I use Labelle 106, it's thinner than 206) 

8T2eMA0.jpg

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The grease I’m trying to clean off is very thick and sticky.  I may give the plumbers grease a try after seeing how much Tamiya charges for their “choice” grease.

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I restored an old Blackfoot for a friend a while back - it had a Thorpe diff and was SO stuck together that I initially thought it had a spool (locker) instead of a diff.

Electric motor cleaner worked like a charm. I think I may have soaked the gear for a little bit even. Soap/water will take forever and make a mess.

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