Whats the big deal with in tube gearing?

[Abhishek R]

Originally Posted by cad321

This thread isn't meant to an insult to any type of drive train or style of building, merely a genuine question. Over my time on chief delphi I have seen countless numbers of drivetrains where the gears are all on the inside of the tube their chassis is made from. What are the benefits to this? To me this would seem like a poor decision as it makes maintenance on your sub system difficult at best. Should you strip a gear or need to lube up your transmission, it is very tight with little to no openings. Speaking of tight space, getting the gears inside the tubing to begin with seems like a challenge. Surely its doable (heck teams do it) but it seems like it would take an incredible amount of time ensuring they're seated correctly before it is assembled.

Again this is just me trying to understand the benefits to other designs to aid in the build in years to come. In no way do I feel that this style of building is bad, I may even find I prefer it once I've heard others opinions. Obviously all designs differ slightly, but this seems to be a common theme among a lot of them.

Do you mean the transmission gears itself are in the tubing, or the chain, or both?