Thread: Polycarbonate side plates for lighter gearboxes
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Unread 21-04-2012, 13:45
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Re: Polycarbonate side plates for lighter gearboxes
Quote:
Originally Posted by thefro526 View Post
Chris, not to argue with you, but the Polycarbonate (Lexan is a brand name) side-plates on the Toughbox have been known to crack. I've never seen one fail during a match, but I have seen plates with plenty of spider cracks after a season's worth of abuse. That being said, I'd stay far away from using Polycarb or any other plastic for the side plate in a drive transmission.

OP, if you're looking to save some weight from your gearboxes, it's worth playing with lighter gears first - Like Chris said above. West Coast Products and AndyMark sell drop in replacement AL gears (1/3rd the weight of a comparable steel gear) for many of the standard toughbox ratios.
you can also pocket a steel gear out to about that weight as well. Working on an off-season upgrade I found it was easy to remove 60% of the mass of a steel gear with no practical strength reduction. With a little more time on the mill one could probably get it down to 25% of its starting mass.