Help me get my mesh perfect again

[Javage]

I've been searching and tinkering for hours and haven't got it right.

Breakdown:

Savage X 4.6 RTR, only mod is reverse added.

Stock 47t spur stripped after a crash, no biggie - just replace with 49t spur I had on hand and off we go.

But no go, I can not get it meshed properly. I thought I got the mesh right last night, when out and ran it, rolled and stripped that spur...

I've have noticed a couple issues that are probably hindering my mesh.

1) The truck doesn't want to roll in one direction without getting "hung up" like the brakes are fully locked. Move the reverse servo direction and the opposite happens when rolling. It also makes a grinding noise when I do roll it, so of course I loosened the mesh, but then the spur/CB don't mesh. I can't find the perfect median. Shouldn't the spur/CB spin freely when the truck is sitting still?

2) The clutch bell housing keeps sliding out, towards the tranny. This is causing the clutch shoes to have an unworn section(.5mm on motor side) when they grab, and also leaves about .5mm of untouched spur teeth(motor side) which looks new and the rest of the teeth are flattened from stripping. Took it apart, both bearings spin nice, washer is in place and so is the spacer on the end. But I can move the clutch bell horizontally when its assembled, is that correct to have that play or does it need to be shimmed?


I'm about to start tearing it down again and will snap some pics to help describe what I'm' talking about.

 

[f1n3sse]

blue loc###e your 4 mounting bolts, run them in just so they are loosely skimming your chassis, enough to move the engine back and forth freely and so you have the ability to nicely snug them with 1 turn of the wrench. cut a piece of notebook paper the length and with of your index finger and place it between your clutch bell and spur gear. with both thumbs push the engine evenly on both ends of your mounts and push semi hard to mesh them. then with 1 thumb and some decent force hold the engine in place with the mesh. Tighten one corner screw closest to the clutch bell snug but not tight, then tighten the opposite corner, and the same for the last 2 screws. spin your flywheel to release the paper or just pull it out and wait 24 hours for your loc###e to cure and you should not have any mesh issues ever, unless you have too large a cb/sg combo.

 

[f1n3sse]

after they are snug you can give them 1/2 turn, tight enough where your not destroying the heads

 

[Shaun]

what clutch bell are you running? if your using the stock 15t clutch bell the 47 t spur wont mesh atleast it never would for me so i bought a 18t clutchbell and it meshed perfectly the first time, i have heard alot of other people running into this as well for some reason, but no matter what i did it wouldnt mesh smoothly and i came here asked a few questions and presto haven't touched the mesh since! a combo of 47t spur and 18t clutch bell will be smooth and still gives you wheelie power but some speed as well..

 

[Javage]

Stock 17t clutch bell, 47t and 49t spurs. Also I noticed last night that the motor plate is SLIGHTLY bent, perhaps thats causing my alignment/mesh issues?

I also noticed the clutch bell is rubbing against one of the brake discs.

 

[Shaun]

yes if the motor plate is bent it could be your problem then cuz 47/17 should be ok i think... it doesnt take much to throw off the mesh..

 

[Javage]

Here is a couple pics, didn't turn out too good but hopefully they will help:

 

[IanRose]

What spur is in that picture?

 

[Javage]

Hpi plastic 47t and 49t, exactly same result on both.

 

[IanRose]

sounds like you checked all the obvious places. I think something could be loose that's not even near there. Like some screws on a tvp are loose? or a dog-bone is tweaking your transmission into a weird angle.

 

[Javage]

Heres the motor plate, slightly bent:

 

[MikeK1981]

IMO that's not bent all the bad. Once mounted to all the mounting points it should be ok. My suggestion would be to make sure you have lock###e on all metal to metal screws, shim you clutch bell properly, and upgrade to the steel HPI HD spur gears. I've run the same steel spur and racing clutch bell through two motors now. No issues. I ran a plastic one once just to see the difference in gearing cause it was all the LHS had in that particular size, lasted for a while but the LRP Z.28R Spec 3 ate it up at the dunes even with a good mesh.

 

[IanRose]

that might do it. try to flatten it out. Put it between to pieces of wood, and use a vice or hammer. I recommend vice because hammers often make things worse.

 

[Javage]

So what is the proper way to shim the clutch bell?

 

[MikeK1981]

You basically want to shim the free play out of it. Leave just a tiny bit of play so that it can still spin freely, but won't move in and out an excessive amount.

 

[double a]

from the looks of the gear the tops of the teeth are gone indicating an extremely loose mesh and the CB looks to have been hot and rubbing the front break disk
check your clutch shoes for wear and to much slippage which will cause the spur to melt the teeth away