I ground a flat spot on mine, you really need it given the amount of torque these motors produce. I also use some locktite on the setscrew. If you do those two things you should rarely have a pinion come loose.
i never grind them, one less thing that can damage the motor! i soaked my pinions in denatured alcohol to remove all residues and once they dried picked one added small amount of locktite and haven't spun one yet! i change pinions frequently.
If you don't grind the flat spot and your pinion slips will anything bad happen have a 1515/1y I am putting together and it scares me to grind on my 300buck motor
I lost 2 pinions on my 1515/2.5D before I finally broke down and ground a flat spot on my shaft, I too was scared because it's a pricey motor but it turned out great and haven't had a single problem since. Also loc-tite usually has a 24hr curing time so be sure to give it enough time to set before you bash on it Good luck.
The wisest mind has something yet to learn. (George Santayana)
I ground the shaft on mine. I never use loctite, and the pinion doesn't come loose. I don't grind the last 1mm or 2, so if the pinion does start to come loose it shouldn't be able to slide past the ridge at the end of the shaft.
I ground a flat spot on mine too, but I did have to also use lock-tite to keep the stupid grub screw from coming out. But that may be because I'm using a metal pinion on a metal spur.
I don't understand why they just don't come with a flat spot from the factory. It would be easier on us, and then there wouldn't be any warranty issues to deal with. How much more would it cost them?
@ nl12- You're in Pensacola? I was stationed there about 4 years ago. Do they still have the red clay off-road track by the mall? I know they got a nice asphalt on-road track setup as I was leaving. I have some pics of us running out there, I'll try to track them down.
Last edited by Matthew_Armeni; 12.14.2007 at 12:46 PM.
I ground flat spots on both of my Neu's but I don't use locktite anymore. Every time I use locktite on grub screws I end up breaking off the tip of the hex driver in the grub, It is a total pain using a Dremel cut off wheel to remove the pinion gear.
Cen ME16 Sidewinder 5700
CRT.5 MM + 1509 1y
FLM Rustler MM & 7L
E-Maxx Hv maxx 6.5 + FLM E-Maxx
Stock E-Maxx for friends to bash
8ight-t 1515 1y in the works