Forward-Only Conversion

Removing the reversing assembly, and the rest of it's associated components, is an fairly easy way to give your T-Maxx a little better performance on the bottom end. It's a modification often performed by racers, but many bashers see it as being beneficial as well.

When removing the reversing assembly from the transmission, you reduce the rotating mass of the internals. Less rotating mass is ultimately less weight that the motor has to spin inside the transmission. This gives a noticeable performance improvement in acceleration. In addition to this you also remove the servo associated with this function, which makes for a cleaner appearance and a slightly leaner T-Maxx. However if you frequently use reverse, this may not be an upgrade which suits your tastes very well.

There are a couple forward-only conversions available for the T-Maxx as shown below:

• Robinson Racing Forward Conversion
• Traxxas Forward Conversion

I chose the Traxxas version, and it comes with excellent instructions. You should have very little difficulty when installing this conversion if you follow the provided directions. From my understanding of the Robinson Racing kit, the instructions are not as detailed, nor does it provide screws to block off the open transmission holes. However the installation is similar to what's shown below for the Traxxas kit, and the screws can easily be purchased at your hobby or hardware store.

The first thing you'll need to do, is to remove the transmission from your T-Maxx.

Next, using a 2.0 mm hex wrench/driver, remove the pins from the output yokes. Then remove the output yokes themselves. Do this for both output yokes. The brake assembly on the front half of the transmission will need to be removed as well. A 2.5 mm hex wrench/driver will be needed on that assembly's screws.

Once the yokes and brake assembly are removed, your transmission should look like the following picture.

Now using a Phillips head screwdriver, remove the seven screws that hold the two halves of the transmission together.

The carefully separate the transmission as shown below.

Next you'll need to remove the pivot ball from the shifter arm. Unscrew it, with a small wrench or needle nose pliers.

After the pivot ball is removed, the reverse fork and assembly will simply slide out of the transmission. It helps to remove the larger set of gears first. They're called the two-speed assembly. Just make sure to keep the whole two-speed assembly together, as it will not be modified for what we are doing.

The idler gear is indicated in the picture below. It will need to be removed as well. However before it comes off...

...you'll need to remove the retaining screw that secures it with a 2.5 mm hex wrench/driver.

Once the screw has been removed, all the parts associated with the idler gear can be removed. There's several parts, so make sure you get them all.

Now you are ready to begin the reassembly of the transmission. Install the forward gear from the kit into the location shown below. Make sure the longer end of the rod faces the front of the transmission, which is the side the brake installs on.

Next insert the two-speed assembly as shown below. Once that's completed you can reassemble the transmission halves, and replace the screws that hold it together.

The last thing you need to do is to install the screws, provided in the kit, into the holes at the front of the transmission. This will seal and protect the transmission from dirt and debris. Once you've completed that, you can reinstall the transmission in your T-Maxx.

Traxxas also provides a copy of their Forward-Only Conversion online. You can find it here, but you will need the Adobe Acrobat Reader to view it.