Pretty much done with the PLA drive train. I think I have about 30 minutes of actual drive time use on this thing.
Is this where I should look for a metal drive train?
or
I’m going with the second option. I tried the first and was not happy with the results. I liked the all metal differentials for the front and rear, and am using the recommended parts there, but did not care for the plastic main drive and used the second link for that. The parts are still on the way for the main drive, but I see no reason it won’t work.
Although I had already bought the parts for the first option and am using them for the front and rear, the central differential is from a Hobby King vehicle that uses a front and rear differential that I would have used had I not already bought the others. The advantage is that the input spur gear is incorporated and you won’t have to mess with bolting the bearing holder on the front of the differential box. The price is right too. The parts are used on both brushless electric and nitro vehicles, so I would think them pretty rugged.
For the first option you remove a metal gear from a differential that is used for either the front or rear and replace it with a printed plastic one. Getting the gears to mesh properly is fiddley and you have to drill out the printed gear so the rubber seals fit properly. There is no input drive gear included for the front and rear so they have to be purchased separately, a bearing holder printed and mounted to the outside plastic differential case and the differential shimmed to mesh the drive gear with big differential gear. This is less of a problem than the first, but still, if I had it to do over, I’d go with the single piece front and rear.