Pretty sure on a t-maxx, the "black" trans was the old style, the grey was more revo'ish and stronger with a better reverse mechanism.
The RRP gears are heavy and they do add some rotational mass, but it wasn't very noticeable on my 21TM revo. Might be more noticeable on a 3.3/2.5 engine.
I...
That's the same one my OS21TM has sheared off in my revo twice already.
I ended up getting RRP gears as I could see the pin gouging into the plastic of the gear (and I sheared the teeth of the main input gear once already), so guessing that started it to bend or put weird leverage on it. Also...
Now you need to leave the body off, hold the truck stationary on the ground so the wheels won't move and rev the engine to see where the power stops. Something between the flywheel and wheels won't spin. Could be a sheared pin in the trans since it doesn't sound like a front or rear only problem.
I did it once too. Took me a minute to figure out why the engine was bogging and the truck wasn't moving. Then I picked it up and realized I'm a moron.