DIFFERENT differentials - do you beg to differ?

[Apricot Slice]

Originally Posted by [LEFT

RogerM[/LEFT];461219]More contact area on the ball would mean you had to run it tighter to stop it slipping and it wouldn't be anywhere near as smooth

load = force/area

Once you get a groove worn on the plates that is when you have to replace them.

wouldn't a larger contact area mean more grip?

[SHY]

Originally Posted by fastinfastout

so the best drivers in the world are all wrong by going to gear diffs?

Is that the case for 2WD 1:10 OR???

Examples?

[Razer]

Originally Posted by fastinfastout

so the best drivers in the world are all wrong by going to gear diffs?

Not at all.

But they go to gear diffs in touring cars and 4wd. That's a different story all together.

I can try to make it more understandable with this statement though. It just as fast, but more unpredictable and harder to drive, on the plus side it means less maintenance.

[SHY]

This makes me think of front one-ways for 4WD. When I started with 1:10 OR a few years ago, I got the impression that everyone used them. It was simply faster.

But when I finally tried with a front diff everything went way better for myself! Much easier to control, and I really cannot say that I got more steering from the one-way either. And MUCH better in the air of course.

It's not always a good idea to copy the set-up from the very best drivers... unless you have out of this world hand-eye coordination, an easy to drive car is always faster on average!

[fastinfastout]

Originally Posted by SHY

Is that the case for 2WD 1:10 OR???

Examples?

Touring Car.

I'm not sure about gear diffs in 2wd's.

from what I have heard, ball diffs are more precise in 2wd. Have not heard of any AE team drivers using gear diffs.

[blue_pinky]

Originally Posted by fastinfastout

so the best drivers in the world are all wrong by going to gear diffs?

Hehe...slightly sweeping statement!!!

Whilst some of the worlds best may be driving gear diffs...in 1/10th offroad there are certainly a lot of the top guys who are still on Ball diffs! The 2 UK National winners from 2010 are both driving ball diffs, and will be again in 2011 as far as I know!

Sponsored drives aside , the top guys could drive any style of diff and make it look like the best thing since sliced bread!!!

I'm really interested to hear this talked about...from an average driver point of view the gear diff looks like a good idea. But from what I'm hearing...only from a building/maintenance/reliability point of view!

I'm really interested in running a durango for myself to see if I can tell the difference, so Razers comments on the lack of consistent driving feel are very interesting!

Good discussion

[fastinfastout]

Originally Posted by Razer

Not at all.

But they go to gear diffs in touring cars and 4wd. That's a different story all together.

I can try to make it more understandable with this statement though. It just as fast, but more unpredictable and harder to drive, on the plus side it means less maintenance.

harder to drive?

Well my durango is quite hard to drive compared to other 4wd's I have/had. Cannot put that down to the car itself or cos of the gear diffs. I have also heard of people using kyosho ball diffs in their durango's, so maybe you are right!

[fastinfastout]

Originally Posted by blue_pinky

Hehe...slightly sweeping statement!!!

Whilst some of the worlds best may be driving gear diffs...in 1/10th offroad there are certainly a lot of the top guys who are still on Ball diffs! The 2 UK National winners from 2010 are both driving ball diffs, and will be again in 2011 as far as I know!

Sponsored drives aside , the top guys could drive any style of diff and make it look like the best thing since sliced bread!!!

I'm really interested to hear this talked about...from an average driver point of view the gear diff looks like a good idea. But from what I'm hearing...only from a building/maintenance/reliability point of view!

I'm really interested in running a durango for myself to see if I can tell the difference, so Razers comments on the lack of consistent driving feel are very interesting!

Good discussion

maybe cos they dont have the gear diff option to use in their cars. Maybe they would be using gear diffs if an aftermarket company like SpecR produce them.

[SHY]

If I could just get my modded B44 diffs ready... I'd be really interested to hear how it feels to drive with gear diffs!

But there's guys on here that's tested gear diffs in their B44s, speak up!

Gayo for instance!

[fastinfastout]

this gear diff by specR, made for the tb03 'could possibly' fit some current offfroad 4wd's with some work.

http://www.spec-r.com/specrr2/module...roducts_id=108

I'm going to order a couple of these diffs, and see if they fit in some of my 4wd's eg. D4, zx5sp.

[Razer]

Keep opinions coming, this is one of the more interesting threads for me in a while

[Gayo]

Originally Posted by SHY

But there's guys on here that's tested gear diffs in their B44s, speak up!

Gayo for instance!

Argh I didn't want to give my poor advice as I feel I didn't gave the gear diffs a fair test, but if you want it, here it goes :

B44 : I tried with the help of Olivier "The Brain" Langlet Durango diffs on my B44. I liked the adjustability, running stiffer diffs (specially front) helped to make the car less twitchy. Sadly the diffs leaked (solved now with Kyosho o-rings and good grease). As I fell in love with K-cars, I sold my B44 quickly. I sold the Langlet-made transmission to a mate (hey, I gave the money back to Olivier!) and he seems to like them on his B44.

CR2 : I built my car with the Desert Truck gear diff. Franckly I found the car bad, a bit twitchy on carpet and hopelessly understeery on slippy indoor floor. Again I sold the car quickly but I'm afraid all the problems came from the gear diff. It was also badly made with very soft outdrives, not something I would recommend to anyone.

So, to sum it up, I feel that to perform well and if you run on different kinds of tracks like me, gear diffs have to be tweaked to each track to perform best, so they actually give more work on the car, not less. They are also heavier and quite messy. I didn't feel they gave me any edge on track, so unless experience shows that a gear diff is faster, I will stick with ball diffs.

Wow, lots of english words for me

[SHY]

...

[qatmix]

On Tc Gear diffs are for the Mod racer running on large sweeping tracks at 65mph.

I tried one in my car and Its almost like a spool, I could muck about with different oils but a ball diff is much easier to tune (a slight twist on the screw) And if you make a ball diff properly they last for ages before maintenance on 10.5 or less.

[Razer]

Originally Posted by qatmix

On Tc Gear diffs are for the Mod racer running on large sweeping tracks at 65mph.

I tried one in my car and Its almost like a spool, I could muck about with different oils but a ball diff is much easier to tune (a slight twist on the screw) And if you make a ball diff properly they last for ages before maintenance on 10.5 or less.

That's also something to bring into the equation.

High power brushless motors is what starts this problem. I remember running the TC3 in modified, and on a hot summer day with a 12 turn(european limit), I got about 6-8 packs of running through the original diff with plastic outdrives. And I remember the power as very good, it spun all four of my Sorex 36, fully sauced and heated.

Try that diff now with a 3.5-5.5 turn, and you've come to a dead stop in probably two minutes....

I run an 8,5 turn in my 2wd, and my diffs last for 2-3 practice days on carpet. That is usually around 900 laps with high grip, and outdoors they last a lot longer.

What I have figured out is that your balls and rings should match. I tried running ceramic balls, and they're great. Never wear them. But the rings get crappy in half the time because all the wear is on the rings, so the overall value of using ceramic balls is low.

[SHY]

Yeah, I didn't make very good friends with ceramic balls either!

My experience is also that the diff lasts longer with steel balls. I also find it easier to adjust the diff with steel balls. It feels a bit on/off with the ceramic balls (too loose or too tight is very close to each other).

And as I understand most UK racers just re-use the steel balls and only grind down the rings. Which must mean that even the steel balls don't wear. Never tried myself though, always replace the balls...

[jimmy]

Originally Posted by SHY

This makes me think of front one-ways for 4WD. When I started with 1:10 OR a few years ago, I got the impression that everyone used them. It was simply faster.

But when I finally tried with a front diff everything went way better for myself! Much easier to control, and I really cannot say that I got more steering from the one-way either. And MUCH better in the air of course.

It's not always a good idea to copy the set-up from the very best drivers... unless you have out of this world hand-eye coordination, an easy to drive car is always faster on average!

I was talking to someone this week about oneways - and they made a point I'd not considered and that's just the sheer power and speed of the cars might be too much for a one way now. A lot of drivers I knew running one-ways in years gone by have stopped running them.

[mark christopher]

Originally Posted by jimmy

I was talking to someone this week about oneways - and they made a point I'd not considered and that's just the sheer power and speed of the cars might be too much for a one way now. A lot of drivers I knew running one-ways in years gone by have stopped running them.

10th and 8th ic run then... so they should not be weak?

[Cockerill]

Originally Posted by mark christopher

10th and 8th ic run then... so they should not be weak?

It's not necessarily strength, but other reasons. For me, the amount of speed we now carry into corners means I need the braking that you can't get from a one-way.

[Jan Larsen]

Precisely. The biggest problem with one-ways today is the inability to brake. I tried one in my Tamiya 511 on a big outdoor track. At the end of the 50m, 105km/h straight (we had a speed gun) there was a hairpin. With the oneway I had to brake almost 20 meters before. With the diff I could get that down to 5 meters and 4 tenths on the laptime. Its the sheer amount of speed we carry towards the corner that dictates the need for brakes and the main reason oneways arent used anymore, at least not in the faster classes.