Quote:
Originally Posted by azjc
I have only used motor braking in my BL rigs and I have never had any damage like you have in the picture, including setups with more power than you are using, IMO the problem is more deep rooted
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Agreed. I doubt the mechanical front brake had anything to do with the failure. By supporting the rear of the motor on the chassis, the chassis flex will affect gear mesh(chassis flexes between the rear brace and the center diff - the front and rear of the motor is supported on opposite sides of this flex and assumes the load in this configuration). Not saying this is the root cause, either, but it is likely a factor. An aluminum front diff bulk will strengthen the mount the way it is(front plastic allows some flex, but at least everything attached to the diff flexes together without the rear brace). The way those teeth broke(at the very bottom of the teeth), my guess is that the gear mesh got jammed tight from flex/mesh change and was a factor in the failure. That pinion is likely a year old as well, so fatigue likely played a role in the failure as well (our current pinions use better steel than that version as well).
I use 50% brake strength as start point, and then dial in(out) the rest on my radio. I also use a brake curve. I don't think mechanical front brake will actually do anything for you - a hybrid setup with mechanical rear would allow you to effectively tune bias, but a front mechanical brake only won't allow you to get more rear brake or a rear bias. Motor braking by itself will allow the diff to bias the braking power, but the diff is usually unloaded somewhat to the front when accelerating, so when you hit the brakes, the front "feels it first" anyways and a mechanical front brake alone is counter-productive IMO.