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Im rebuilding a 6-Gear Tanny I got today (all bearings), and when I got down to the "Axle Drive Gears", one wouldnt come off. The Screw came out fine, but the Gear just WONT come off. I tried prying on it a little, but didnt wont to mess anything up. It feels REAL solid in there. It doesnt budge at all.
What do I do about it?

The White Plastic gears semm a bit "wobbly" also, even with the Bearings. Is that normal? Could/Should they be Shimmed, or just let em ride?

Is there a "cap" to cover the exposed Top Shaft/Bearing?

A lot of times those axle gears can be a real bugger to get off, especially because of the bearings, and oftentimes (back in the day) we used to use a little Liquid Wrench sprayed inside the bolt hole to loosen them. And they'd eventually pry off with a little carefull finagling.

There's a recent thread here, I think I read it yesterday or the day before, in which someone had a link to Jay Hawlsey's dad's tips on rebuilding or building those old-style 6-gear-ers.......a must read for you for sure.............

ya might try a little heat and wd40
the wobble is normal because its only supported by one bearing
the manual say use double sided tape to cover the hole......there is a aftermarket aluminum button to also cover the bearing...hot trick i believe

Hmm, dont have any Liquid Wrench handy. Maybe some WD-40 will work. Im gonna go spray it down now, and let it set while I finish catching up here.

Thanks for the FAST replys, Guys!!!

Edit: So, no need to Shim the Plastic Gears?

you could shim it if you want, can't hurt.
To stop the wobble in the bottom gears use 3/8x5/8 bearings in place of the felt seals.

Got it!! Man, that thing was ON there. I should have a Complete Early 6-Gear Semi-Shelfer by Monday. I'll HAVE to Run it, but probably not much, Im working on a couple others for Running. Im trying to get this one really, really Proper...and keep it that way.

Bugle wrote:you could shim it if you want, can't hurt.
To stop the wobble in the bottom gears use 3/8x5/8 bearings in place of the felt seals.

Awesome, I probably would have been asking about that next, as there are NO Felt Seals in it anyway.

Im so excited!!

RocketRob wrote: There's a recent thread here, I think I read it yesterday or the day before, in which someone had a link to Jay Hawlsey's dad's tips on rebuilding or building those old-style 6-gear-ers.......a must read for you for sure.............

Anybody got a link to that thread? Im looking, but cant seem to find it.

Thanks scr8p!! Im getting to it right now!! Probably be a long night. LOL

Hopefully have some Pics tomorrow!!

One more thing....Is it like the Stealth, no lube on the Gears? I didnt see anything about it in the Article. Its got some kind of grease ALL through the whole thing right now. The Bearings seem to be Packed with Grease.

No lube neccessary.................


Back in the day, to "break in" the gears to one another, we'd take graphite powder or a gritty-style of toothpaste (after replacing good bearings with old ones) coat everything pretty good and run the tranny on a electric drill for 5 or 10 minutes.
Then take the whole thing apart again, clean out all the residue, wash and dry all the plastic bits and clean the metal parts with motor spray, replace the bearings (after cleaning and re-oiling them) and put it all back together dry..........give it a spin and you should be ready to go.

So, I take it that is a VERY light oiling on those Bearings, to keep it from slinging throughout the Gears?

MONSTER wrote:So, I take it that is a VERY light oiling on those Bearings, to keep it from slinging throughout the Gears?

Bearing oil is very light and is kept within the seals of the bearing itself and should not have the chance to sling through the gearbox. Good luck.

Having no "RC Bearing Lube" (OR LHS) handy, what other commmonly available Lubes could be substituted?

I use marvel mystery oil. It works great on bearings, and as an after-run fluid for the nitros. A quart will likely last fo many years. I bought a small applicator tipped bottle of oil from the lhs and when it ran out I refilled with the MM oil.