0xdeadbeef

Can't find anything like that in my (rather short) Reely Bulldog manual. There was also only one shim on each side. But I see your point. I actually didn't consider the beveling. Of course shifting the ring gear to the side also adds/removes pressure on/from the driveshaft pinion (at the price of backlash I guess). I would think I'd need quite a bit of offset to improve the situation, so I'd need some fitting shims. Anyway, I already ordered the replacement front diff, so let's hope it's working better.

OK, thanks. Now all I'm missing is the steel pinion. And, well, the new front diff even though I might try the juddering diff first once the brushless conversion is finished.

Sorry, another stupid question: got the steel driveshaft today but the screws are extremely loose compared to the ones in the plastic driveshaft. Besides the thread in the original screw is longer. Anyway, even the original screws sit loose in the metal driveshaft. Is this supposed to be this way and did you just fix the two screws with Loctite or is there something I overlook?

Hm, which shims exactly? My impression is that the drive pinion might be a bit too high (reaching too far inside the gearbox) and thus skews the ring gear. So if at all, I'd need to remove/reduce a shim but I somewhat doubt there's one below the drive pinion. Or is there one? Didn't take it apart. Besides, I didn't really find out why it gets stuck at a certain position. The gears actually looked OK. Maybe additionally the whole ring gear is slightly bent or whatever but it didn't really look like it, either. For the moment, I kinda gave up and ordered a new front diff. I'm not really looking forward to exchange it though. Unscrewing and fastening all the damn screws with this small Allen key is a PITA and after the 2nd time it feels the plastic threads won't survive much more screw/unscrew cycles.

I recently bought a Reely Bulldog (which is another VRX Octane / FTX Outlaw incarnation) on eBay. Unfortunately, only after I removed the motor for a brushless conversion (ongoing since I'm waiting for parts) I noticed that the front diff wasn't exactly running smooth. My first impression was that it was skipping teeth, so I took the whole front assembly apart to take a look inside the front gearbox. However, when I finally got access to the actual differential, everything looked perfectly fine. The only thing I noticed was that the differential was somewhat skewed inside the gearbox. It looks like the side is pushed up that sits on the bevel gear from the axle - which is to be expected to some degree I guess. Anyway, as long as the gearbox is open, the diff is running smoothly but as soon as I close it tight, the initial problem is back. I guess what happens is that closing the gearbox forces the differential closer to the bevel gear and some (invisible) roughness in the gears leads to the judder. Actually, there are two or three teeth where the differential nearly gets stuck when the axle is turned by hand. So to make a long story short: is this normal for a new diff and will disappear after some running-in or is this something to be concerned about and that will lead to a total failure sooner or later? Like at the moment, I'm considering buying a fully assembled FTX Carnage front diff (which should be the same as the Outlaw's diff) since I can't really see how to fix this issue with my diff and there doesn't seem to be a complete front diff as spare from Reely for the Bulldog or from FTX for the Outlaw. However, if this behavior is normal, this would be a bit like pouring money down the drain.