Defective Heng Long Leopard II gearbox

[Navy chief]

20190304_075445.jpg left gearbox.jpg (34.2 KiB) Viewed 3572 times

Anyone buy one of these ? Manufactured incorrectly. See attached photos. Output shaft for drive gear 3mm too long.

[Navy chief]

20190303_210415.jpg binding box.jpg (28.8 KiB) Viewed 3570 times

Picture of installed item. Bulges tank body.

[Navy chief]

Purchase with caution. Many ebay sellers are listing these. Absolute junk. Seller gave me refund after submitting these photos.

[Navy chief]

Not sure why it posted upside down.

20190304_075846.jpg box.jpg (35.8 KiB) Viewed 3564 times

Box illustrates fits the Leopard II.

[BarryC]

Greetings,

In your first pic the output shaft "appears" to be steel as opposed as brass. Is it just the pic or was it actually steel?

I have these GBs in my Abrams and Challenger II without any issue.

Barry

[Navy chief]

Greetings,

In your first pic the output shaft "appears" to be steel as opposed as brass. Is it just the pic or was it actually steel?

I have these GBs in my Abrams and Challenger II without any issue.

Barry

Yes. The output shaft is steel. Not Brass as illustrated on the picture. Too bad. The design seems sturdy. Bearings throughout. If someone had access to a lathe, they could machine off 3mm from the output shaft end and it would work. May also have to drill and re-tap driver gear attachment screw hole.

How the heck could Heng Long ship these ? Maybe a one off mistake ? Probably not.

[Navy chief]

Maybe people get taken in by the brightness of colors.
Think one's on ebay at the moment.

Except for the out of spec output shaft, they are built quite well. I paid $60.00 U.S. dollars for it. Almost as much as a standard "steel" Heng Long gearbox here. The seller ,I'm sure did not know it was defective. Received an immediate refund.

[BarryC]

I did not know that the Ultimate II GBs came with a steel output shaft. I have seen the steel shaft sold separately but not already installed. Both of mine came with the brass shaft.

This is the installation in my Abrams. I had to turn the output shaft down in diameter but only to fit the added support bearing. Otherwise it was a one to one swap.

[Navy chief]

I envy your ability to access a lathe. I thought mine would be brass as well. The box and ebay advertisement illustrated brass. China sellers are a strange lot. I miss the ability to walk the streets of Hong Kong and haggle Tamiya parts. Hong Kong has become too high end for my wallet now.