RC Tank Warfare community hobby forum

Hi all
Im running a HL tiger that weighs about 13lbs, and has metal gearboxes fitted. The problem is that since adding the metal wheels there looks like flexing on the gearbox sides and gears slipping when used. There is also some play where the shafts come out into the drive wheels. The metal gearboxes fitted to it are light grey in colour with a single nylon gear (i think these are reduction ones) & ive seen them on fleabay for about £17. Will the brass gearboxes be ok to use and handle the extra weight ? As these are £40...ish i wondered if anyone could shed any light, as i dont want to spend that amount if they would be no good
Many thanks
Mark

The brass boxes are better than the pressed metal ones ( the ones everybody calls an upgrade?? grey and very light )
If you are show driving on smooth surfaces you will probably never have an issue with the brass ones, make sure you get the newer version 2.0 as the old version does have alignment issues etc.
Brass will allow some cross country but they are not the strongest, They are best for realistic speed and makes your tiger look and act a bit more like a tank.
If you are okay with a higher speed and want to cross country then buy the steel gears. The black steel gears don't quit regardless of how hard you push them. Steel ones are cheaper than the brass as well.
Most on here will agree but everybody has their own thing with likes and dislikes.
Me - steel all the way but I drive my tank like a tank. its fast but it will climb and run over everything I find.

Hi jeman ,
The problem that you have will also be made worse by the plastic hull flexing.....Is it an Asiatam hull or a standard Heng long ?? Either way is will be worth adding some crossbracing between the two gearboxes. The single plastic 'first' gear in the gear-train is a standard mod to convert a ordinary metal gearbox set into a 3:1 reduction unit ...here is a post on how to do it....
http://www.rctankwarfare.co.uk/forums/v ... =38&t=4981
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Are there any of the metal cross bracing 'rods' on your gearboxes ??..they are very visible and clamp the two steel plates of the gearbox together it help prevent this flexing that you are seeing.....It is possible that who ever converted the gearboxes did not put them back in after conversion...here is a photo of the gearboxes on my Tiger.....It is all braced 'left right and centre' to ensure that it is Totally rigid... .....sorry about the 'Writing ' on the photo but it was altered to send to another Forum member who had problems with a KV-1.....you can see the 'gearbox cross-brace mod' that I am referring to..it is just in front of the first piece on angle aluminium.....and it is made out of threaded M3 bar and a spare metal gearbox support....the standard ones are in the gearboxes..and there are two brass ones per gearbox.....
I have coverted these gearboxes to 3:1....but I have used a Metal first gear because the motors are Graupner 480 races and I wanted to be sure of no mishaps....
.Alb

Hi
Sorry I forgot to add this bit about the 'Modellbau' sproket / final drive shaft support that is also worth investing in .....Here is a number, and the item picture to show the axle supports on 'Welsh Dragons ebay site' Steve is a member of the forum....and it is probably worth checking his actual on line store to see if the items are any cheaper when bought directly !......at the very least you will save him the Ebay costs...which are a bit steep .......I ought to buy a pair as well as a ' Belt ,Braces......washing line and tow rope' precaution on MY Tiger......
Alb.
120894389105
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I have those shaft supports. I think there are a couple if sizes so you need to get the right one for your gearbox shaft. If you try to force the wrong size on they just break. I also recomend the asiatam as the best upgrade for the tiger.

I would invest in the black steel TUs or the asiatam black steel 3:1s

where can one buy the Asiatam steel 3 to 1 gears? serious strength and scale speed is an awesome combo

tomhugill wrote:I would invest in the black steel TUs or the asiatam black steel 3:1s

Steve @ Welsh Dragon Models sells them. I think there in the HL Tiger section. Last set of Asiatam gearboxes I bought from Steve came with both long and short drive shafts so will fit any tank, but probably worth checking first.

Thanks for your comments guys !
Ive now purchased some Black Steel gearboxes with 18,000rpm motors. Im reinforcing the hull with struts that Dietrich has very kindly helped me with info on how he did his. Ive done some already and am really pleased with it so more mods are in the pipline

Thanks once again all

Regards
Mark