9 replies to this topic

[bromvw]

At some point i want to build a road car with the option to fit loads of different bodys . The obvious choice seems to be the TT-01 . I know absolutely nothing about these having never built one . Can anyone tell me the variants ? Whats needed in terms of hop ups ? Sorry for the noob questions .

[Daves956]

The biggest difference is belt drive or shaft drive, both have their high and low points. There have been a load of them sold so parts are everywhere and the same is true for hop ups. Even here in the Tamiya desert I can get tt parts anywhere. I have an early shaft drive hare and the only mandatory upgrade besides the obviuos gears and bearings was the switch to an ali shaft vs the stock plastic. At speed the plastic one was everywhere. I have a 22 pitch pinion with a brushed 15 turn HPI ESC and motor in mine on a NIMH 7.2 battery. It's really fast and a kick to run. The only issue I have fairly regularly is debris in the front steering links. A small rock will get in and can't get out of the pan chassis. It's mostly how and where mine gets run. It did take me a long time to find the sweet setup for it but once found it's been fun.

[taliesin]

Depends a bit on what you want out of it. The TT-01 can be blinged to death with upgrades, and you can easily surpass the value of the car, at which point you might want to consider buying a better car from the beginning. For racing buy a belt driven TA-05. I still like the TT-01 as a cheap and cheerful basher because of the shaft drive (lots of debris where I run and belts die fast).

For a casual runner/basher the TT-01 is great. Bearings, steel pinion and oil shocks are good upgrades.. Want a bit more performance, add metal propshaft and motor mounts, better motor, and maybe a racing steering upgrade, as the stock steering setup is marginal.


If you want a super cheap runner with tones of body options, the TL-01 is another choice. You can buy a package of various body posts and the sky is the limit for body choices. Bearings, steel pinion, oil shocks and ESC are about all you need.

Want to drift with either one on a budget, buy two pair of Tamiya Super Drift tires on sale for $8/each and call it good. I didn't even bother to lock the diffs, they do OK as is, but would probably be much better with the rear locked.

Hope that gives you some options.

[speedy_w_beans]

If you're intersted in a TT01, go for a TT01 Type E chassis (introduced in 2008) instead of the original TT01 (introduced in 2003). The original TT01s have one-piece gearbox/damper stay parts, and they don't have an upper deck for stiffness. The newer TT01 Type E chassis has separate gearbox and damper stay parts, include the upper deck stiffener, and have revised (better) steering linkage.

Once you've ruled out the few remaining original TT01 kits still on the market and are shopping for a TT01 Type E, here's a comparison between the variants.

TT01 Type Es include plastic cups, plastic prop shaft, plastic axle shafts, nylon bushings, friction dampers, and fixed length arms. Usually bundled with TEU ESC and silver can.
TT01D Type Es include plastic cups, plastic prop shaft, plastic axle shafts, bearings, oil dampers, and adjustable camber links. Usually bundled with TEU ESC, sport tuned motor, and maybe LED lighting.
TT01R Type Es include metal cups, aluminum prop shaft, metal axle shafts, bearings, oil dampers, and adjustable camber links. Bundled with "lightly tuned" motor, but no ESC or lighting.

Realistically, you're going to want bearings and oil dampers at a minimum, so the TT01D is probably the lowest spec kit to consider. Personally, I've bought two TT01R Type Es for all the nice metal parts and have maybe ten bodies to use between them.

The only exception I've made is buying the 58323 Schnitzer M3 Sport Evo because I wanted the body so badly and the kit price was good. I stared at the basic original TT01 bags of parts for awhile trying to decide if I was going to build it or keep it for spare parts, but I finally broke down and built it out of curiosity to see why people tend to look down on TT01s. The nylon bushings work, but are going to wear down quickly. The dampers don't damp at all. The steering rack is probably the loosest rack I've ever seen; it's a design compromise given the solid links between it and the knuckles. The plastic prop shaft is too flexible and will chatter at speed. So I'm at a crossroads with this chassis -- either I'll get the 3Racing TT01 M conversion chassis and turn it into a 4WD M-series for a Mini Cooper body, or I'll get 3Racing bearings, dampers, aluminum prop shaft, and steering rack to fix the inherent problems, or I'll just use this chassis for showing off bodies on the shelf and skip putting electronics in it (haven't decided yet).

The Schnitzer M3 bottom-of-the-barrel-original TT01 chassis is at the opposite end of the spectrum from the TT01R Type E in the world of TT01 kits.

Since I own both TT01R Type Es and a few TB03s, I will say there is a significant difference between the two shaft-drive chassis. If you have any interest in light club racing or want a nice handling chassis for general road driving, the TB03 is much more capable. The TB03 is equipped like a TT01R Type E, but there is much less slop in the suspension and that translates into a better road experience. Also, the TB03 shares some family parts with the TA05, TB Evo, and at least one TRF chassis, so the availability of hopups is good depending on what you want to do. I agree with taliesin that a TA05 is also a good choice for light club racing. However, if you're interested in doing a rally conversion, beginning drifting, or leisure road racing, then the TT01R Type E is the better choice as it is more adaptable to these variations with less cost.

Hope these thoughts help.

-Paul

[atf300]

If you're intersted in a TT01, go for a TT01 Type E chassis (introduced in 2008) instead of the original TT01 (introduced in 2003). The original TT01s have one-piece gearbox/damper stay parts, and they don't have an upper deck for stiffness. The newer TT01 Type E chassis has separate gearbox and damper stay parts, include the upper deck stiffener, and have revised (better) steering linkage.

Once you've ruled out the few remaining original TT01 kits still on the market and are shopping for a TT01 Type E, here's a comparison between the variants.

TT01 Type Es include plastic cups, plastic prop shaft, plastic axle shafts, nylon bushings, friction dampers, and fixed length arms. Usually bundled with TEU ESC and silver can.
TT01D Type Es include plastic cups, plastic prop shaft, plastic axle shafts, bearings, oil dampers, and adjustable camber links. Usually bundled with TEU ESC, sport tuned motor, and maybe LED lighting.
TT01R Type Es include metal cups, aluminum prop shaft, metal axle shafts, bearings, oil dampers, and adjustable camber links. Bundled with "lightly tuned" motor, but no ESC or lighting.

Realistically, you're going to want bearings and oil dampers at a minimum, so the TT01D is probably the lowest spec kit to consider. Personally, I've bought two TT01R Type Es for all the nice metal parts and have maybe ten bodies to use between them.

The only exception I've made is buying the 58323 Schnitzer M3 Sport Evo because I wanted the body so badly and the kit price was good. I stared at the basic original TT01 bags of parts for awhile trying to decide if I was going to build it or keep it for spare parts, but I finally broke down and built it out of curiosity to see why people tend to look down on TT01s. The nylon bushings work, but are going to wear down quickly. The dampers don't damp at all. The steering rack is probably the loosest rack I've ever seen; it's a design compromise given the solid links between it and the knuckles. The plastic prop shaft is too flexible and will chatter at speed. So I'm at a crossroads with this chassis -- either I'll get the 3Racing TT01 M conversion chassis and turn it into a 4WD M-series for a Mini Cooper body, or I'll get 3Racing bearings, dampers, aluminum prop shaft, and steering rack to fix the inherent problems, or I'll just use this chassis for showing off bodies on the shelf and skip putting electronics in it (haven't decided yet).

The Schnitzer M3 bottom-of-the-barrel-original TT01 chassis is at the opposite end of the spectrum from the TT01R Type E in the world of TT01 kits.

Since I own both TT01R Type Es and a few TB03s, I will say there is a significant difference between the two shaft-drive chassis. If you have any interest in light club racing or want a nice handling chassis for general road driving, the TB03 is much more capable. The TB03 is equipped like a TT01R Type E, but there is much less slop in the suspension and that translates into a better road experience. Also, the TB03 shares some family parts with the TA05, TB Evo, and at least one TRF chassis, so the availability of hopups is good depending on what you want to do. I agree with taliesin that a TA05 is also a good choice for light club racing. However, if you're interested in doing a rally conversion, beginning drifting, or leisure road racing, then the TT01R Type E is the better choice as it is more adaptable to these variations with less cost.

Hope these thoughts help.

-Paul

Excellent write up ! I just wish they would do normal oil dampers with the E kit. Bearings I can buy for cheap , no cheap alternative for shocks , that reminds me I need to find some shocks for my girlfriends tt01e.

[speedy_w_beans]

Excellent write up ! I just wish they would do normal oil dampers with the E kit. Bearings I can buy for cheap , no cheap alternative for shocks , that reminds me I need to find some shocks for my girlfriends tt01e.

I found 3Racing aluminum dampers for the TT01 for $23 at the usual auction site, part number TT01-14/LB/V2. Just search for "3Racing TT01" and it's one of the first things that pop up. Looks like the bearing set goes for $12-$13 as well.

-Paul

[bromvw]

Great info guys . Very informative . As you know i like to modify bodys and put my own stamp on things . The idea of having a chassis that lends itself to this appeals a lot . Looks like i'll be buying a TT-01 at some stage and then finding shells for it . I like the idea of a non tamiya farrari body . There are a few that tamiya have never offered that come up now and again on evil bay and they just beg to be made into decent runners with a proper chassis and modern electrics .

[bromvw]

I may have found a Ferrari 250 LM 'toy' rc body from the 70's thats just begging to be made in to a funtional rc runner . My mind might have being made up

[Kevin_Mc]

i have both a TT-01 chassis and a TT-01E.

The TT-01 needed a few hop-ups tomake it drive properly but i got them nice and cheap from a member on here - an aluminium propshaft, carbon upper deck, alloy motor mount and an alloy steering setup to remove a lot of the slop from the plastic setup.
The TT-01E I cobbled together purely from spare parts i had lying about. It comes with a strong plastic upper deck to reinforce the chassis and a steering set up with no slop in it.

After reading this thread i fancy building a TT-01R E, need to think of a decent 4x4 shell to base it round.

EDITED TO ADD: I also have three TL-01 chassis', one completely standard, one with just ballraces and the third hopped up with dampers, ballraces, ESC...

I've also got a fourth one arriving soon so i can cut it down to M-chassis size, its such a versatile chassis due to its sandwich design

[GregM]

@Bromvw: As I have a TT-01E, I think it's a nice chassis to start onroad driving. You can read my thoughts about it here: http://www.tamiyaclu...showtopic=66490