Jonesy76

Never ran one in 1988 so I can't compare it to an original, however up against my DF-03 it bears up well. Really sensitive to steering input, but after tweaking my steering rods a bit it seems to be running beautifully straight and goes exactly where I want it. I'm running the rear suspension fairly firmed up (two spacers) to make it sit up as it does sit down a bit with the 23T TZ motor in it, and this has also helped it on jumps....... Yes........ It may only have been finished last night at 1am but this morning, and this evening on returning from work it's been jumped over my home made jump in my back garden. No breakages yet! Admittedly though it is a bit more nose-heavy than the DF-03 so it does nose down fairly well off jumps, unlike the DF-03 that keeps a fairly flat trajectory off its jumps and is pretty predictable.

From talking to the Hobby Co rep (Tamiya's UK Distributor) last week it seems like the UK's first batch of Avante 2011's have run out now, so the only ones left are ones that model shops already have on their shelves or in stock. More are expected later this year (November was being talked about), which makes me think that the re-re Avante is going to be one of those kits like the Sand Scorcher that will be tough to get hold of for a period which will only drive the want for them up. However this was before the awful natural disaster hit Japan last Friday. We may well find that stocks of the Avante become very thin on the ground. I for one am SOOOO pleased to have mine, but I also can't see Tamiya going to all the toruble to re-machine components for the Avante, and completely re-write the instruction manual only to offer it up as a limited run. They will have produced an initial limited run to see how they sold, prior to producing a bigger batch to satisfy the needs afterwards. Yes they're expensive........... .........but they're selling!!!!

One finished Avante! More pics to come on a slightly brighter day Goes like stink with that TZ motor too, but now I need some tyres and lock-nuts for the DF-03 wheels so I can use those for normal running.

Well I simply can't describe how overwhelmingly over-excited I am to have an Avante on my workbench! I may be 34 but I feel like a 14 year old right now finally having one of these amazing things in my own hands now........I think the wife is getting a bit fed up having various bits waved under her nose! Bodyshell all finished to box art standards already, as is ol' Paranoid Perry, but keeping with my habit of veering off on my own tangent Perry does have a gold rather than silver helmet. I didn't want to go off box-art with this one, but I still want my own quirks to it.........I may also have pinched the idea of two clear stripes on the undertray to show the carbon-fibre off! I always do my bodies first so that when the chassis is complete it's then a case of body on, battery in, and off we go! Rear suspension sorted last night, so front in line for assembly tonight before moving onto the shocks. Got a 23T TZ motor in there instead of the 25T GT tuned kit motor (will keep that in the blister), and that looks quite good with it's blue labels sticking out.

Hi Rob. The E-Trucker is a serious it of kit, but may be overkill for yourself. It's really designed for those Traxxas kind of drivers who are running dual motors and dual batteries for 14.4v. If you're keen on keeping your Clod to stock and running it on one battery (or Lipo) then it may be too much.........then again if it's up on an auction format and you can get it for a steal then go for it! Checked my brand new Super Stock TZ (just arrived this morning for my Avante that I pick up later today) and it does indeed have timing marks on the side of the bell housing.

I had the same fun and games with my progression from Blackfoot/MB to the twin motored Clod and TXT-1. I owned my first Clod about 5 months ago, and about 4 months ago took delivery of my first TXT-1. I sold the Clod soon afterwards but still have the TXT-1 running a few customised bits and bobs along the way. The Clod I owned was the Super Clodbuster Metallic edition which comes as stock with the TEU103 speed controller so I also have a bit of experience with that too. My happily ran twin Sport Tuned motors that I put in it for a while (one is now in my MB, and one went into my WW2 that I got rid of, as I returned my Clod to stock when I sold) so I know those will work with the TEU103 speed controller, and you'll get somewhere around a 25 minute run time using a 5000mah standard 7.2v nicad. I also have both TZ and RZ motors at home in my cars, and I haven't seen any timing marks on them (they also go like the clappers backwards when you get your wiring the wrong way round like a numpty!).......I'll check them out more closely when I get home. As far as my speed control goes when it came to re-building my TXT-1 (see here http://www.tamiyaclub.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=59431 ) I wanted to go for speed, especially as I tend to run my TXT-1 on a beach, rather than crawling with the thing, so it has a pair of LRP 19x2 motors in it for pure speed. The TXT-1 needs that as it's lower geared than the Clod (i.e. a stock TXT-1 on silver cans will be a lot slower than a Clod, but go up more) but twin motor ESC's are bloomin' expensive for the lower turn motors. My solution was to buy a no-limit Mtroniks ESC from Modelsport, and then wire the motors to it with a home made rig like in the photos on my TXT-1 rebuild page. The wiring loom was simple to make and only needed 6 soldered joints so it should be a piece of cake to create. This has worked faultlessly for 4 months now, and doesn't get anywhere near overheating even after 2 5000mah batteries (about 18mins on a beach run). To run a similar set-up for a clod you would just have to connect one motor in the opposite direction (the TXT-1 motors both turn in the same direction)

I brought this before Christmas with the intention of building it to run with my DF-03RA, however all I managed before Christmas was to assemble the gearbox and steering assembly. Since then it's sat in it's box waiting for me to find the time to finish it and build it, but those nasty people at Tamiya then find something to tempt me with and now I have an Avante on order. The rule now is one in and one out so the M-05RA is going to have to be the sacrificial lamb. I finally finished building it this weekend and it has just been tested in my lounge on carpet. It's fully ball-raced, with uprated 3Racing aluminium oil-filled shocks, and a Tamiya Super Stock TZ 23T motor. The body has been perfectly finished to box art, and all spares (including different springs for the shocks) are still in the box. I'm selling it complete with it's TEU104 speed-controller, Futaba Attack radio gear, Futaba servo, 5000mah 7.2v battery, and an Ansmann fast charger. £170

They're certainly not flying off the shelves, but there aren't a lot knocking around full stop apparently. Who cares though? As a kid I had posters on my wall of the Avante from Radio Controlled Model Car magazine, and the Tamiya catalogue. Never knew that they were fragile, just that it was the most amazing four wheel drive buggy that Tamiya made, and that I never would be able to afford one. Now I can, and I'm itching to get my mitts on it.......and I'm **** well going to run it too!

I gave in to temptation! 1 Avante on it's way to me, and by the sounds of things from the Tamiya rep there aren't a lot left now in the UK. Seems stocks of the cars are not that high yet so this could well become a bit like the Sand Scorcher was.

I'd say sod the Clod and grab one of these superb TXT-1 bargains out there first! I've had both the Clod and the TXT-1 within the last 6 months.........the TXT-1 is so much more truck than the Clod, hence why I sold my Clod and now only have my TXT-1. Yes the Clod has infinitely more customisation things for it seeing as it's been around for Millenia, but straight out of the box the TXT-1 is superb. Three of my local stores still have Boomerangs (deepest darkest Norfolk) so they're not running out of stock yet. If you're insistent on buying only what you list on here then I would go with the Boomerang and Lunchbox option. Straight out of the box without modification they're the more fun........especially the Lunchy.

I got great results with the Yeah Racing dampers on my Lunchy, and they're a bit more adjustable than the Ansmann ones. 80mm I think is what you should be looking for (or 75mm in Ansmann lengths). http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/RC-Buggy-Car-Alloy-8...d7#ht_866wt_689 You also get two different strengths of spring provided, although you have to buy your own shock oil for them.

The original shell was a bit stickered up, but got cleaned up and is now residing in the garage with the Monster Beetle (awaiting fitment of its new front suspension after a hard landing broke it). I tend to use ceramic grease from my bike building as it's superb at protecting wear, but also keeps everything moving nicely which is superb for this TXT-1 which is a high velocity job for blasting around a beach.

Well I had a bit of Ford ASBO orange left over, so after a purchase of another HPI shell the TXT-1 now looks like this Bit more fun! All I need now is a Dixie horn to go on the spare 4th channel!

I've been making cool tracks around the garden with the TXT-1 too! Same huge tyres as the Clod and it leaves superb tyre tracks, but I never get home from work in time to get some photos of it. Hopefully if the snow is still here this weekend I'll get some piccies after my Christmas dinner!

Alternatively as you're in Scotland go onto rcbearings.co.uk Order in the morning and if you're lucky you'll get them the next day. If not next day always the day after. All my cars have those bearings in including my now sold Clod, and you could spin a wheel and even with the friction of the diff they would still spin for 13 seconds! Very good value too

Hi Rob, Well I had 8 Yeah Racing oil filled jobs on mine for looks mainly. Soft springs fitted and soft oil and it ran like a demon........way way WAY less bouncy than those awful stock things. Got mine for £10.49 a pair from eBay here in the UK (stick "100mm shocks" in the eBay search function and it should find them), and got some shock oil from the same seller (he has a website called Racing Punk). Not sure about using longer shocks. Technically it should be possible, but you're going to end up shrinking an already short wheelbase for such a big truck, and it may well affect steering if you're not going to use separate servos. I'd go for 100mm shocks but maybe a little bit of trimming of the black plastic bathtub to try and get more vertical movement........or go mental with an aftermarket chassis. That's the problem with clods.......... Once you start modding there is no going back, and there's too much to play with!

Could go into the re-re forums or the Monster Truck forums..... However....... Go on eBay, stick "80mm shocks" into the search line and your should find some pairs for about £10.49. They're silver aluminium jobs from Yeah Racing and I have them on my Monster Beetle, Blackfoot, Clod, TXT-1, and my now sold Lunchy. You'll just need some shock oil for them as they don't come with any in them. I've brought them all from the seller (Racing Punk) and his turn around is usually post them out the same day. They work for the third shock mod too if you use the soft spring and some soft oil. The body mounts are provided in the metal parts bag of the re-re Lunchboxes so I you haven't still got that you may need to hunt for some on eBay too.........some 3mm nuts and bolts are handy too!

Looks like a whole host of fun! Sadly my only working car at the moment is my Lancia Delta DF-03ra and that doesn't have the ground clearance for snow. My Monster Beetle snapped a shock mount out of the front left knuckle 3 days ago, and the same running session resulted in a cracked rear gearbox casing for my TXT-1. I'm currently awaiting a new gearbox casing and hoping that the snow doesn't melt here in Norfolk.

I have a DF-03ra and it goes like stink and handles beautifully........ok so the Lancia Delta body is a bit fragile, and one heavy impact with a post by my mates 10 year old son did crack it, but I have a Scooby shell in paint for it at the moment anyway. I have a TB-01 in the post somewhere (come on Royal Mail) And a visit to Wonderland Models in Edinburgh yesterday did result in the purchase of the M-05ra with the Alpine shell. Oil filled shocks and full ball-races are on order and then all badword will break loose! Going to leave it with the stock silver can motor for the time being so that the wife and any little RC fans can use it without having the silly poke of the Super Stock motors.

I've just built the Lancia Delta on the DF-03ra chassis and it goes like stink (with a Super Stock motor on board) on a variety of surfaces. The build is pretty enjoyable too. Come this weekend I'll hopefully be able to tell you what the TB-01 is like because I've just won a NiB Subaru Impreza German champ on the TB-01 chassis. They'll both have the same Futaba radio gear, and Super Stock motors so it should be a good comparison.

I know it's more of a Focus colour, but you can't go far wrong with the classic Asbo orange!

Well I lost out to a sniper on the Celica, however as witnessed on another thread I've now got a classic Lancia Delta Integrale on the DF-03ra chassis. The DF-03ra is actually a nice build, and the chassis seems to handle beautifully as well as going like stink with the Super Stock TZ motor on board it. However eBay is my friend today! ....... Just won a brand new, unbuilt and in box TB-01 with the '99 German Champion Subaru Impreza bodyshell on it. I already have a nice Super Stock motor ready for it, and an ESC to replace the MSC in the box. Looking forward to the build now.

The motor came from Tonys Tamiya Parts from eBay, so much kudos to him too for getting it out so promptly.

One thing you have to say for the Delta......... That body is one serious challenge to get the decals onto it correctly. This has taken me 2 and a half hours to get spot on, and that's not including the time with the spray cans beforehand. Now when I build the chassis tomorrow I'll have a perfect body to go straight onto it.

The nice people at Modelsport. Very useful for when you absolutely, definately have to have a car to build over the weekend!