Hey Slippy, how's it going???

Ben wrote to Online Radio Control Car & Truck Mechanic:

"I am emailing you regarding a rc I have. I have the Traxxas rustler kit # 3706 ( I think) Anyway, I have an issue with what my buddy says is my slipper gear. Every time I take off on a fully charged battery, the slipper always makes a wine noise and then slowly drives up to speed. I have gone through my manual, and it says something about making the spring on the spur gear tighter. I have tried that, but it still slips. I have gone to my local hobby store and they sold me little red insert pegs. I replaced them and it helped a little but still slips. I even bought a new gear. What else can I do or did I maybe miss something? Please help me.
Ben, Wisconsin"


Thanks for the email Ben. I will start by saying that I don’t like the old slipper style clutch on the older Rustler kits. I too struggled sometimes and upgraded to the new style spur gear design. But, since you already bought new slipper pegs and new gear. We will start there. When you re build the spur gear slipper assembly, you may have taken out a certain number of little red pegs, and replaced them with the same number of little red slipper pegs. Ok Ben, you didn’t miss anything but here is what I would suggest. When I rebuilt my rustler slipper I added extra slipper pegs for added traction on the slipper rings. Also, by now I would imagine that those rings look pretty worn. You could buy new ones, but try this first. Lay some fine grit sand paper down on a smooth surface, sand grit up. Put the ring down, and lightly take the ring and move it in a circular pattern on the sand paper this will scuff the surface of the rings and get rid of that glaze on the rings.
Once you have some refinished slipper rings and those extra slipper pegs installed, put the slipper gear assembly together and adjust accordingly. You will notice that the “old” locknut setting will be over kill and you may need to back off the adjuster nut. This will hopefully try to make do with what you have already. I know it worked for me and many other Traxxas rustler, stampede and bandit models. Give it a shot, you won’t be disappointed. This does classify and basic drive train maintenance anyway, so it will do your truck some good.

ORCCTM Team