I have some little gold looking flakes coming out with the grease in my long tail go devil... what is that? I am assuming metal or a bearing or something that is shaving off as it turns... but im not sure as I havent rebuilt the seals or whatever in the shaft before. So somebody tell me what that stuff is please and any more advice would be icing on the cake!

BRASS!

from a bushing.

k good to know, wasnt sure what they were made of... is that normal? also how do i know when it is time to rebuild?

oh yeah and thanks for fast reply!

if it was mine,id check to make sure there aint a bunch of slack,try moving the prop up and down.
maybe unbolt u joint and slide out the shaft looking for a ring on it,this could cause a weak spot in the shaft over time.
other than that keep it greased and drive it like you stole it.

ps....im not the expert,thats just what id do.lol.

at a minimum, I would pull the shaft and take a look.

you shouldn't be getting any metal, so the only question is whether or not the damage already done warrants repair/replacement or not. for the money, I'd go with replacement of shaft and seals/bearings/bushings. getting stranded sux.

ok there is no slack in anything for sure, it turns back a little properly like gd says it should and everything is very solid feeling and it runs very smooth, but the shaft looks like it seats up pretty close to the tube on the motor end but it doesnt touch and it stays in that position when it turns, almost like it isnt perfectly straight through the tube... if it ran low on grease would i get that brass wearing? there is a good possibility it did.... also what are we talking cost for shaft and bearing and seals etc replacement?

a little over a hundred for a shaft, every thing else is cheap ($15-25)

yes, running dry of grease will cause metal wear.

pull your shaft and see if there is a wear ring where the bushings or bearings ride. if so, replace. if not, I would go with it, but change the lower seal out and keep it greased.