Pokey Broke

Pokey's broken. The heat of firefighting competition a couple years ago--accidentally bashing into walls at full speed in particular--left Pokey's otherwise excellent Tamiya Double Gearbox in sad, noisy shape. A quick exploratory surgery revealed that both plastic 8-tooth (8T) pinion gears are cracked. Rats.

Pokey in pieces; broken, purple pinion gear

Pinion gear crack is on left, runs parallel to shaft

Fortunately, Tamiya has an inexpensive replacement set of plastic and metal pinion gears, TAM15289,  Mini 4WD 8T Metal and Plastic Pinion Gear Set.  Cool.  The set I ordered arrived a few days ago and after installation, Pokey's geartrain is restored to full, smooth, silent health. Next up, equipping the plucky little robot with bluetooth remote control and telemetry capability. Articles to follow.

Incidentally, there are other pinion gear alternatives. You'd need a 48 pitch, 8T pinion gear for 2mm shaft. I don't know how to measure pressure angle or pitch diameter, so I guess you'd have to experiment such as with gears from this web store or maybe this one.