gearing a t3

[rims']

i have a t3 with a p2k motor i'm not satisfied with the motor because i know it can go faster i want to regear it to go as fast as possible my gearing now is stock

[Gutter Ball]

The fast guys at our track are using 84/23. What were you using before?

[rims']

i think stock is 87/23

[Railman]

Gutter Ball, That sounds like buggy gearing, not truck gearing! I think he should be more in the range of a 19 or 20 at the most. I don't know why the manufacturer's suggest such tall gearing, but it's smoked a lot of motors. The above gearing for a 90' straightaway indoor track, & if the motor & batts are good it should run fast & cool.

[Gutter Ball]

Railman: Does sound weird eh? But I'm serious! The guys are willing to sacrifice motor life for more speed...and it's working! Warhawk wants to go as fast as possible :) I ran 88/18 (stock gearing) and was getting badly smoked on the straights! So I asked the top guys and their ratio is around 8.8. I run 88/24 and am keeping up okay.

[Drayken D]

I run P2K pro, gearing 22/84, and only went through one armature this season so far. on a T3.

[RustlerBoy]

Warhawk-

I use 19/87 for torque and 20 or 21/87 for max speed. You dont want to go any higher or you risk burning up a motor, ESC, and even hurting a btt pack

[Andrew the RC man]

My T3 is using 87/23.....it flys. i dont know what you guys say by 18-20 thats just stupid for racing. my T3 had a 19 in it and it was the slowest hunka junk ive ever driven. than i put a 23 in it and i got it going like 30-35

[staggsracing]

Well, I race my T3 once or twice a week and have it geared 17 or 18 X 87 and I win very often and I am not getting smoked on the straights. It depends a lot on your motor and what kind of power and RPM's it runs.

[Railman]

Thank you Staggsracing! I think that overgearing has become more popular with the introduction of all the high capacity batts. But just because you can get away with overgearing doesn't mean that it's the right way to go. It does take a well maintaned & well tuned motor to run lower gearing, but in my opinion it gives better punch, equal top end, & better durability out of all your equipment, not just the motor. I know of guys that win at the national level of competion that run low gearing. I like to run cool & I don't think thats stupid! :p

[staggsracing]

Exactly Railman.
I gear my truck so that I get a good jump out of the corners and can get over the jumps. I see people that over gear and cant get over the doubles or triples but they fly down a big straight. You want to reach top speed about 2/3 down your biggest straightaway. Some guys are still not up to top speed at the end of the straight. If I do fall behind on a straight to an overgeered guy, I will generally get by him by the second corner or jump. 75% of the track is turns and jumps. Set the truck up for that. ;)

[rcguy49]

try this gearing i use it in my car with a p2k.far some reason im accelerating faster than the guys running mods.try your gearing at 22/81.i also have a little trick that gives you better acceleration,but thats my little secret.

rcguy49 :D

[TC3 Benjammin]

Right on, staggsracing! To elaborate on what you've said, driving is the main objective. Be faster in the parts of the track that count, and you will be a better racer!
:D

[racerman333]

just a note, trinity RECOMMENDS that you gear the p2k 1 or 2 teeth higher than most stock motors. 20 is the recommended starting pinion with an 87 tooth spur gear, so 21 or 22 is fine, and it may get hot but it is fine as long as you can hold your finger on the can for at least 3 or 4 seconds.

rustlerboy-i do not see how you could burn up an esc or a battery by gearing it higher than 21/87. AFter all, it is a stock motor, not a mod. The worst you could do is possibly smoke the motor, which i have yet to do in 2+ years of racing a p2k, spitfire, and mvp.
BTW-how many weeks have you had your T3?

[Railman]

Guys, I just happened to think that there are a few elements that have been overlooked.
One is the type of track your running on. If it's a big outdoor track, you can usually keep up more momentum & don't need as much punch, & can & should run taller gearing. Another element is your driving style. To a degree your driving style has something to do with your gearing. Some people tend to square the corners more than others which requires more punch. Probably the biggest factor though is how good your batts & batt maintanance are. If you have good voltage, you can run a lower gearing & get a hard kick at the middle of long straigtaways. As far as what the average motor is these days, it's pretty hard to say. There's about a 4 tooth jump from a Rage/GM3 to a P2K. The Midnight/Paradox would fall pretty much right in the middle. The MVP I've not run & I've read all sorts of recomended gearing for them. Usually it's about what the Paradox motors ran at. Last but not least is the way a motor is tuned. If you run heavy brush springs with a full face, you can & need to run taller gearing. I prefer to run lighter springs with a reduced face brush, which allows the motor to spin more freely & get that kick on the straights. There are no simple answers to this stuff guys...it just all depends. ;)
By the way, 2 of my boys run 19 x 87 +-(T3, XXXT)& are as fast as any on the 90' straights. :D

[staggsracing]

I should add that I run an Integy Pro Tuned MVP 9.0. It has more RPMS and Torque than a standard MVP. The More R's help allow me to run smaller pinions also. If you cant get the RPM's you will have to gear up to get the needed speed. The opposite is true for a GM3. Lots of RPM but low on torque. Got to gear that sucker down or smoke city.

[Railman]

Staggs, That's a Big Jim Green tune job, Right? He has an excelent motorhead thread on another site. He is very practical about the way he looks at things, very honest & helpful. Thats the guy that designed the P2K while he worked for Trinity. Does your's have the square brush cut?

[Andrew the RC man]

i dont really think that 23/87 is over gearing for a P2k. now anything with more rpm its over gearing, but with 23 isntover with a P2k