Brass bushings vs. Ball bearings

[Northern Farmer]

Just curious what the advantages are of running ball bearings instead of the tamiya brass bushings that come with the kit ?

[tc1cat]

The oil-lite bronze bushings are good for most of our applications except high speed. Bearings should be in the motor and tranny. Bearings are better for long wearing applications also. I don't think that the semis are run enough to cause the bushings to fail unless you are Joe using them to actually build something with long run times. Bearing will last longer in dirt than the bushings if they are sealed bearings. One thing you must watch is the oil or grease in the bearings. It must be plastic compatible or you will destroy any plastic close to the bearing. This is and was a major problem with some of the RC tanks as people were replacing the bushings with incorrect bearings.

On a side note, Tamiya is putting plastic bushing in some of its kits now. This tells me that they are getting cheaper plus they do not consider the models any more than just toys.

[Northern Farmer]

Wow thanks for the detailed response, much appreciated! :)