Unlike the other gearboxes in Tamiya's series, the universal gearbox has a thin metal frame, making it the smallest Tamiya gearbox. The final two gears are metal, making for a tough output. A worm gear allows for the high gear ratio options of 101:1, 269:1, and 719:1. The main output shaft can be oriented in four different directions, and a small, auxiliary output shaft turns perpendicularly to the main output shaft.

The motor is rated for 3 volts but will typically work fine up to 6 volts. When using this product with the dual serial motor controller (or any motor driver based on an H-bridge), keep in mind that up to a few volts (depending on the load) are lost on the transistors of the H-bridge, so that a 4.5 volt battery delivers about 3 volts to the motors, giving them a reasonable amount of power. Motor overheating can be caused by excessive stalling, even at very low voltages. We recommend that you use stall-detection sensors, or just watch your robot, to make sure that it doesn't stall for more than a few seconds at a time.

The 3mm, hexagonal output shaft is compatible with all four types of Tamiya wheels.

(Note: This gearbox uses the 18100 motor variant)

See 'Which Wheel' tab for suitable wheels type HEX for a tight fit.