Lets fix the Savage Transmission

[JasonB]

The 29T and 32T gears (HPI 86084/86098) inside the tranny tend to granade or quickly wear eachother down to nothing depending on the batch; some are brittle and most are soft.

Both the 44T (HPI 100905) and the 18/23T (HPI 102514) are hardened and don't have this issue. Obviously HPI knows how to make a decent gear, but for some reason, they refuse to fix this problem.

First Attempt: I used GPM Delrin 32T (DSAV1232T) along with the HPI 29T because I figured metal on plastic works great with the pinion/spur, so why not in the tranny. I wanted to use a hard plastic gear, but I have been unable to locate one, so I figured I give delrin a go. My truck has never run so quiet, it was GREAT until . . . after about 10 min, the weak delrin gear broke; $11 down the drain. I really think a 32T gear made out of the same plastic that the 47T spur (HPI 76937) is made out of would be the ultimate fix for this transmission. It would be plenty strong, cheap, and very quiet.

Second Attempt: Some people have had success with the HPI Lightweight Drivegears (HPI 86274/86275). I'm currently running these and my experience is they are even weaker than the stock gears and wear down even quicker because they are so thin. I've got about 15 runs on them and they are already worn down to a point.

Third Attempt: Will be to go back to the stock gears, seal up the bottom half of the tranny with silicone or liquid gasket, and throw in a little synthetic, gear, or silicone oil (just enough to get the bottom of the lower gear wet).

Any other ideas; anyone fixed this thing yet??