ChuckATruck

My heng long leopard 2a6 is in need of some upgraded gearboxes. I'm probably going with taigen v2 steel gearboxes. The question is which way would be better 3:1 with the stock motors or 4:1 with 390 motors. I want it to be faster than my tiger 1 with 4:1's and still have plenty of torque for future upgrades such as metal tracks. Im also wanting to do the same thing to my Abrams eventually.

pcsguy88

Post #11 down.

http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/rc-t...er-coming.html

I'm 90% positive the 4:1's are going back into it.

shenlonco

My Feedback: (2)

Hey how fast does it go stock , should be a lot faster then like a tiger I or something ...or is it made stupid and go slow when it's supposed to be a fast tank?

ChuckATruck

I'm really leaning towards 4:1's with faster motors. My tiger is heavy with metal chassis tracks , road wheels and sprockets and its a beast . but if I put the same gearing in the Leo I'm thinking it's gonna be slower because the drive sprocket is smaller ? That's where the hot motors come into play. I'm not willing to upgrade electronics at this time, and it seems to me the #1 thing on everyone's list for electronics is sound, i personal dont care about sound at all Im into performance . it has to be able to climb and go through the yard

CaptainB

This is where all the metal additions start working against you. Lots of torque on a slow moving tank is fine - I get that - the Tiger 1 was a heavy beast and slow moving manoeuvres are more scale like with plenty of power. The modern tanks are fast moving so they need a motor/gearbox to provide this. I like the nylon stock gearboxes on these tanks as the speed is about right, power is good and they are quiet. In my opinion, adding metal to these modern tanks is a rainbow chase to get them running right. High torque gearboxes = slow speed = hotter motors to get the speed right which will pull more current and possibly blow your MFU so you need to upgrade the electronics as well. Adding more metal will only make this worse. I suspect most of us end up with a compromise but it does show you how this can get out of hand. I think this is where the Tamiya kits start to win and look cheap in comparison to a fully upgraded metal tank and their power to weight is excellent. Just an opinion.

cheers

CaptB

ChuckATruck

The problem I'm having with the nylon gears is that they start clicking when I go through grass or try to climb something. I'm not wanting to go crazy with the weight on the Leo just enough to get some traction. My tiger couldn't climb the loose hill in my backyard until I added some weight

CaptainB

Yes that's the clutch slipping in the gearbox due to over - torque on the drive. - so you don't overload the electronics and blow it. You could try bonding the clutch plates together with cyanoacrylate (superglue) to stop this but you will be putting your MFU at risk with this mod. - a lot of guys do this. It's actually a very sensible feature. You wont see it on the metal gearboxes so this is a real risk - especially for like for like gear ratio's. So a hot motor in a fast ratio metal gearbox will increase the risk which is why you probably need to upgrade the electronics as well - hey ho!!!!

Cheers

CaptB

superrod

My Feedback: (16)

Here is an issue you may face with the 4:1 that are a 90:1 ratio and the 3:1 that are 39:1 to get the same speed as the 3 you need to be close to 2 1/2 times the on the motor speed. Going to the 3:1 boxes and a motor that makes more low end torque but still stays under the amp rating may give you both of your goals. I have a ZTZ99A and the only boxes that will fit are the 3 to 1 mid lows. The difference between the V2's and the stock HL gear boxes is night and day. They had a lower ratio 39:1 verses 30:1 and the are still faster and climb better than stock and it has metal tracks drive gears and idlers. Each tank will be different based on the mix of parts and the running goal so it may take a little experimentation.
Jimmy

pcsguy88

I would have been completely happy with the V2 3:1 gears if I had not had the 4:1's in it for the past 2 weeks. Now that I'm use to a toy acting like an actual tank, it's hard for me to overlook the toyish jumpiness of the controls with the faster gearboxes which especially shows up when you shoot the cannon. I already have a metal Panzer III that handles like a Ferrari and a Panther that runs right in the middle of the spectrum, so having a torquey Leo is something new.

Like you, I have no desire to mess with aftermarket electronics and I just want to smash around in the yard. If the metal roadwheels (and possibly a bag of pennies or bb's) do not smooth out the bounciness that causes the the tank to look so toyish at speed, then I will take the 3:1's out and start experimenting with motors in the 4:1's.

The 3:1's are basically stock nylon gearbox performance with better motors, strength and quality all around. If you like how the Leo handles on the nylons, then definitely buy the 3:1's. Heck, if I do not like mine once it is weighted down, I'll sell you the ones I received on Wednesday for $50.

ChuckATruck

I currently have zincs with 390's in it. Its quick but linda balless in the grass and my problem is the 390 shafts are not really long enough for the pinion to get all the way into the gearset making it very weak. That being said the 4:1's gears are closer to the motor so the 390's should work

pcsguy88

The 3:1's will go from full speed to a a dead stop for a split second in longer grass when it gets bound in the sprocket (why are these modern tanks such grass hoovers?!?), but they will break free before your brain can tell the remote to stop. The 4:1's just tear the grass with barely a noticeable pause. My fear is that the weight required to stop the toyish bounce will also cause the sprockets to chew more grass.

I'll put a detailed update in my thread by Saturday once my roadwheels are painted, installed and I've had time to test different loads in the hull if they are required. The 3:1's actually perform exactly how I want them to turning and control wise when the battery is low enough to dim the headlights. Maybe a 6v battery is the answer.

shenlonco

My Feedback: (2)

Hi I have a great suggestion to try , take your gearboxes out and use a electric motor spray degreaser and degrease the slipper clutch unit...( I have not seen one yet so I do not know what it looks like) if it's degreased then get tamiya antiwear grease this stuff is like sticky glue and I use it in many open diff RC's and it works great... So what i am saying here is if you put it inside the clicker slipper clutch unit it will hopefully make it harder to slip and click but you still will have a clicker slipper unit that works to protect it.

Imex-Erik

If you really want to get the best of both, then I hate to say it but a better motor controller will give you the speed you want and the low speed torque as well. A Y-Cable can be used with your receiver with something like a Sabertooth and you can have the sounds of your stock motor controller and the control of a dedicated high end controller.
I know you didn't want to upgrade your electronics yet, but keep this in mind when you do. A 3:1 can easily push one of our metal Tiger 1 tanks even at slow speeds with enough torque if the motor controller is good enough. Using a motor controller separate from your MB would allow you to tune the top speed as well (using end points on the TX) then use the stick min/max options on the MB to set the sticks. If you use the min/max option on the aftermarket MB of choice (sets the min and max travel for sticks) AFTER you set your end points on the TX to get the speed you want you can get the full range of sounds from that MB. If you set the endpoints while connected to the board or do not do the min/max stick config after you will not get the full range of sounds.
Example:
-2 cell lipo @ 8.4V is just a hair too fast for you. Set end point on tx down a bit, removed a bit of top end speed.
-Set min/max of stick travel again on MB settings (each is different)
Even though you limited the max travel on the sticks and restricted the top speed of the tank, when you do the stick config in the MB settings the stick is seen as full travel.

I like the aftermarket robotic motor controllers myself. They are super reliable and are great quality. I've used both the 2x5 and 2x12 Sabertooths and even testing another now that has even more features. I'll try to get a video soon to show how much it makes a difference, motors are nice but if you dont have the guts to push them or the resolution to get fine speed adjustments then IMO the ESC should be looked at first.

Imex-Erik

Ok so please excuse the black box on the tank, it is a quick way to swap the motor controller from project to project and also reuses the case it was sent in A bit small for the Sherman yes I know, but what I wanted to show is that with a good motor controller you can use something like our first generation steel gearboxes (with brass bushings) and in a 3:1 ratio and still get the slow speed we all like and the torque to tear the yard up.
Please also note this is just a direct PWM connection from my receiver to the Sabertooth, it is running a small 2 cell lipo, has no expo on the transmitter, and is also not mixed. One stick per track, I actually like driving like this more personally but you could also mix the two channels with your tx and drive like normal as well. I am also without a lanyard or my Taranis so please forgive my noobness there. Grass is also not the Sherman's best friend, maybe I'll demonstrate this again in better detail with something like the Panther or Tiger 1 with much better grip, this would strain the gearboxes more and also allow better slow speed due to traction.
Video: https://youtu.be/bgsjeOuCkmE

Crius

Hey Harley, why don't I send you set of the steel 3/1s to try out? Then you can play with them and see which ones you like best. I think you said you have 4/1s in it now, right? I also have those motors from the water pumps that are pretty powerful if you want to try them. Just post here or PM me or give me a call this weekend and we'll hook something up. I still want to do something cool for you because of that awesome bridge you sent me. I brought it with me from the old house and even after sitting out all summer it's still in great shape and working well. For something you just knocked together (I think that's how you described it) it sure is a good piece of kit. So let me know how I can help with this current project of yours, Bro.

Crius

By the way, I think I finally found some wheels for the scout car you RCed for me, I just need to find the time to do something with it! And Horizon sent me a new MFU for it for free!

pcsguy88

I put up videos of my Leo running 4:1 gears in grass, bedrock and sand at the link above.

ChuckATruck

I have a set of zinc 3:1 in it now but I just nuked them . Gary I would gladly take the set of steel gears you got . I have a Leo and an Abrams so I'd like to but the 3:1 in one of them with stock motors and 4:1 in the other with faster motors.
Gary how did the move go? I can send you some $$ for shipping

Crius

The move went well and I'm pretty much settled in. I'll PM you a video. Let me dig out the gearbox box and I'll get something in the mail. Can the nuked zinc be repaired? I have lots of extra gears.

ChuckATruck

They can be repaired but why waste time, I killed them in the driveway LoL