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The new Traxxas E-Maxx 16.8 comes with a single speed transmission that is the equivalent of second gear in previous versions of the truck. Traxxas offers a 2-Speed conversion kit in case you miss having access to the lower gear ratio. Installation is not complicated as long as you’re not afraid of your hex drivers. Traxxas includes easy-to-follow, very detailed instructions with the kit. However, just in case you are on the fence about whether or not to purchase it we will take you through the process to get you familiar with exactly what’s involved in the conversion prior to dropping your cash.

Assuming you can figure out how to remove the tranny from the chassis the first step is to open it up to gain access to the gears. Remove the main output shaft and its stock gear as shown here.

The package comes with everything necessary to make the conversion, including the micro shift servo and two gear ratios from which to choose.

From the new kit, locate the selector disc (center); two drive gears, the white nylon spacer and the grey Teflon washer. The drive gears mate up to either side of the selector with the shallow sides of the gears on the outside. The nylon spacer goes on one end and the washer on the other.

Place the selector fork onto the center disc as shown and install the whole unit back into the tranny case. The end with the white nylon spacer is placed on the spur gear (front) of the case.

5 x 11mm bearings are pressed into the shaft support and case half.

The kit gives you two gear ratio choices.  The wide ratio is 13/26 and the close ratio is 18/21. (The kit instructions include a list of gear ratio calculations to help you decide which one you may want.) The input shaft has a black spacer that is removed and the replaced with the chosen gear ratio.

The steel idler gear, which will be the new first gear, is inserted into the bearing in case. The gear that matches the chosen ratio is then keyed to the top of the idler.

The final step for the gear installation is to place the two halves of the tranny case together and secure them with the screws that were removed earlier. Install the unit back into the truck. Don’t forget to secure the center driveshafts to the tranny.

A small blue plug is removed from the case to allow the selector switch arm to exit the case.

The servo is held in place with two screws. Before mounting the servo saver you will need to route the servo lead to the receiver case and plug it into the third or aux. channel. Turn the radio and receiver on to center up the servo before installing the servo saver and linkage.

Shifting is activated by the micro servo included in the kit. The first step is to punch the block-off plate from the chassis using a small screwdriver or other similar tool.

This is what the completed two-speed conversion looks like. It is activated with the third channel switch on your transmitter.

Wrap Up
Installation is simple and relatively quick. The new first gear will give you the low end that is missing from the stock tranny. With the flip of a switch you will have the ability to climb over obstacles and through grass that may bog down other electric trucks. Since shifting is done manually you can leave it set in second gear for all out speed and access first gear only when you need a little more torque. Hopefully this will get you off the fence and onto the workbench now that you know just how easy it can be to add a first gear to your Traxxas E-Maxx tranny.

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