HL Panther G Metal Gearbox woes

[Bill_pe]

Hello,

I'm looking for some advice on replacing or repairing a metal gearbox.

I recently got a HL Panther G with metal tracks, gears and sprockets. I ran it for about an hour on a hardwood and laminate floor before painting it.

I put it back together the other day (I never removed the gearbox, just taped it up to avoid paint/varnish) and ran it for about 10 minutes on a stone floor in my kitchen, when the right side track stopped rotating but the motor was clearly still running.

I lifted off the top and ran it and found the last two gears had stripped. The axles holding the gears look slightly out of alignment which probably speeded up the stripping.

As you can imagine I'm not happy with specifically getting metal gears to find they break after about an hour on a perfectly flat and frictionless floor.

Is it possible to get replacements for these two stripped cogs? Or assuming I will use this tank outside on dirt and some grass that i just upgrade to the Asiatam 3:1 gears? If I get the Asiatam gears, do I need to get a mounting plate also? I've read they don't always match up to the screw holes of the Panther G.

Ironic that even a model Panther final drive is rubbish!If only the Germans could have blamed poor Chinese QA/metal tolerances.

[twelvebears]

Don't waste time with the stock boxes, the 'metal' gears a just soft white metal and hardly better than nylon gears.

The Asiatam boxes are well worth the cost and miles better, and even worth a bit of fiddling, though they should go in OK.

I'm sure Forgebear, Steve at Welsh Dragon or Dominique at rctank.de will let you know if there will be any complications with installation.

[Saxondog]

I have the Tiger with Asiatam gearboxes and lower Asiatam hull,for almost two years I have run this tank with no problems period. The Asiatam and Tamiya gearboxes are much better value. Their are some things to do that will prolong the life of these units.But that is another issue,if you do upgrade use the search option to find the post on Run-in,or Cam grinding compound. This will take you to a post on running in new gearboxes.

Saxondog

Asiatam Tiger lower hull with 3:1 Asiatam gearboxes w/ Graupner 400 motors

[LMN118]

While I've not had any problems with the softer white metal gears like everything else with these tanks they do occasionally fail in the quality department.

Really the plastic gears are not that bad. Your other options for this tank is there is a steel geared version available that uses the same box so no fitting issues (if any) to worry about. Regarding replacement gears, you might be able to find generic gears that fit that box but it will probably be easier to replace the whole box.

An economy option would be to see if anyone has plastic gears available for you to use in the meantime.

[Bill_pe]

Thanks for the advice. I figured I'd skip out directly replacing the standard metal gears and the Asiatam gears are only 10 quid more than the steel ones.

I did mail the guys are Welshdragon regarding fitting them, I'd like to know before I purchase as I'm not exactly a master of modding models like some of the guys here and don't have all the tools needed.

I'm hoping my Tiger with the white metal gears last a little longer. So far so good though. I must admit, once I saw the various upgrades I could get I was tempted.

[Bill_pe]

I contacted Forgebear and he was extremely helpful and sent me a replacement gear box for a bargain.

Definately appreciated and can't recommend more. I figure one day I'll get a dramel and tapping tool and replace them with the Asiatam boxes when these wear out.