mr-02 diff knowledge

General discussions, tutorials, help, upgrades, and new info about the Mini-Z / I-Waver line of RCs goes here.
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MafiaS
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mr-02 diff knowledge

Post by MafiaS »

Just playin around with my mr-02 tonight and i am starting to get the shitty diff problem...

One wheel seems to be spinning much more than the other at full throttle, and when i just touch the throttle only one wheel is actually spinning. Now obviously i may have to put some grease in that bad boy, but I wanted to know if there was perhaps some after market parts that would be best for my car? Or should i just stay with the stock set...

What you guys recommend? thanks!
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SuperFly
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Post by SuperFly »

Are you talking about the stock gear diff? If so, I wouldn't spend 10 minutes messing with that. Get a ball diff, Kyosho if you can swing it. The Kyosho ball diff is one of the few parts where the Kyosho one really is better and worth it.

I would put a ball diff up there with bearings and good tires as absolutely essential upgrade.
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Post by MafiaS »

Hmm, sounds good superfly, thanks man.

Best place to look for em on ebay or rcmart? Anything cheap around, i got my bearings from rcmart and I was happy.

***EDIT****

Superfly I was browsin through T.H. and found this call differential

http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wt ... LXKRE4&P=7

It is the iwaver one but is it a good alternative and should I be aware of any downfalls before actually purchasing the thing?

Thanks agian.
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Post by HACHI-RYOKU »

That's a good diff IMO. I have one in my MR-02. works perfectly. Some other people were complaining that the shaft was bent when they got theirs, but I think that was a long time ago and Iwaver fixed that because mine was perfectly straight.

Stay away from the Atomic diff. I also have one of those and it's not performing the same. It pulls to one side no matter how I adjust it.

I've also heard lots of good things about the Kyosho ball diff, but they're pricey. Don't get one from Atomic mods, they have the highest prices for Kyosho ball diffs that I've seen.
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Post by MafiaS »

Great! I am probably going to pick one up soon.

Are the Iwaver hop up parts just as good for the miniZ?

What Iwaver parts from tower hobbies should I stay away from?
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Post by SuperFly »

MafiaS wrote:Are the Iwaver hop up parts just as good for the miniZ?
I think iWaver parts are as good as iWaver cars: hit and miss. Sometimes you get a good one, sometimes you don't.

The thing about a diff is that it is an assembly of parts that all have to be perfectly straight, round or flat in order to function well. Also, a really good diff is second only to tires on my scale of important parts. Personally I wouldn't mess around with iWaver for that. You're going to save $20-$25 with iWaver over Kyosho on the diff, in a $300+ car.

I kind of lump parts into about 3 categories. IMO, the best are PN and Kyosho. The second tier is Atomic. The sketchiest quality (but also least expensive) are iWaver/firelap, Topcad and GPM. I don't have enough experience with 3Racing, Yeah, or any others to pass judgement.

edit:

dude, it's only $8.00 more for this
http://shop.tinyrc.com/product.php?prod ... t=0&page=1

you won't be sorry.
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Post by MafiaS »

Nice find there SuperFly,

Right now on my to-do list

- ball diff
- Gandini Foam tires (not sure which though)
- Better shock systems, mostly for the rear

So far I got the ball diff covered, Gandini foams most likely off of ausmicro...

Next onto the springs...
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Post by HACHI-RYOKU »

Soft wide gandinis for the back and hard thin in the front. Gandinis come four in a box, so getting two boxes (4 hard, 4 soft) will last you a long time. If you don't mind different wheels in the front, then you could probably go with soft gandinis in the back and regular stock tires in the front. Might look a little funny, but it performs very well.

As far as rear suspension, go with an oil shock if you can. Worth every penny.

Hey SF, did you try an Atomic ball diff? Just curious because mine is crap. May just be one bad one in a bunch of good ones though.
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Post by MafiaS »

Just baught a practically new mr-02 with a bunch of hop up parts, some already on, some still in the package.

Anyhow it came with a kyosho ball diff, but it was already installed on the car. I took apart the back end of the car and had to do some testing because i was noticing some twitching in the steering and motor connection. After all of that my kyosho ball diff is apart and when i tried to put it back together it was slippin' real bad...so bad that it wouldnt even spin the left wheel.

I was wondering if any of you guys have some sort of outline for me to follow when trying to reconfigure this diff, and what I should do to perhaps correct this. The diff as of right now is actually in pieces, so hopefully someone's got some kind of a step by step.

Thanks
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Post by SuperFly »

Do you have it all re-assembled correctly? From memory, starting on the spur gear side, it should go: retaining clip washer thing, bearing seated in blue alloy piece, diff plate (silver washer), spur gear with balls in holes, dab o grease in there, second diff plate, blue alloy piece with notch for pin in axle, rubber grommet, knurled nut, spacer. The knurled nut pushing against the rubber grommet is what applies pressure to the plate. If that's not tight enough, you won't transfer any power.
Last edited by SuperFly on Tue Mar 14, 2006 1:05 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by sg219 »

I have an Atomic diff in my IW02 and it seems to be just fine. :-o

Be sure to check out the Ausmicro shop!!

http://shop.ausmicro.net/
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Post by MafiaS »

Superfly thanks!

i think its two things happening at once.

Number one, the washer, i remember it poppin out at me once and I did not know where the fudge this thing came from, so I left it aside. Number two I think the knurled nut or w.e was not tight at all, because I remember lookin at it saying "this thing feels a lil loose to me, and why the hell isnt it spinning any power?"

I will hit the RC table 2morrow night, check it out, and get my lil beast back on track...

:-o Good man!
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Post by SuperFly »

SuperFly wrote:knurled nut pushing against the rubber grommet
:-D
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Post by HACHI-RYOKU »

Here's a some picks outlining the generals. Your ball diff should look very similar.

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The extra little washers are mostly used for spacing on the wheels. You can put them on either end to do small adjustments. You should at least put one on the gear side of the axle. Also, in my picks you may notice that I used screw tightener to hold the half-screw in place in the last pick. I recomend this as those things like to come loose and you'll get those symptoms that you were describing.

These pictures were taken in reverse order as I was taking it all apart to clean it.

Also, this may be redundant, but don't forget to tighten the adjustment. If it's too loose you'll get these same symptoms.

Hope this helps.
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Post by MafiaS »

Thanks for the pics Hachi, it should help me a ton...

Gonna check it out tonight or tomorrow once I gain some time.
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