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digitrc

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Posts posted by digitrc

  1. Hmm, could you become more specific?

    I mean what should I have in mind while building it?

    Any tricky steps while building it?

    They need careful lubrication (a little silicone grease on the main balls, a lot of black grease on the thrust) and careful tightening (hand tight and back 1/8th of a turn to start with). Because of this many people have problems the first few times they build a ball diff, it is something that only experience can really teach, you need to get the "feel" for when they are adjusted properly.

  2. The M-05 diff will only cause problems if you either lack experience in building ball diffs or try and run it far too tight.

    For "normal" settings it will cause no problems right out of the pack. You just need to take care with the build, because it is properly adjustable (unlike the TA03 diff which is not intended to be adjusted).

  3. Maplin in the UK also sell the Servisol silicone grease tube linked to by tamiya monkey - it's _very_ sticky. The spray stuff is much thinner, I have some with PTFE mixed in too also from Maplins.

    Personally I wouldn't use any of the silicone greases on gearboxes, they will slow it down quite a lot. Lord knows what that 151 grease in a spraycan actually is either!

    Bike shop suggestion is good. I use a small tub of Castrol LM Grease that I scooped out of a much larger tin.

  4. When you say you adjusted the ride height with the "bump stops" what exactly do you mean? Do you mean the droop screws? Because you should NEVER use the droop screws to adjust the ride height. They will take all the grip and handling away with them.

    Use the spring collars to adjust ride height. Set the droop so you have at least a couple of mm downtravel all round (check by lifting the car up from ride height, the suspension should sag before the wheels leave the ground).

    I'm sure your tyres are fine. I have put plenty of glue platches on tyres by mistake and for club racing they are OK. You can file them off with an emery board if it bothers you. I wouldn't have built the tyres up with Tamiya foam inserts personally but that doesn't mean they are fit for the bin. Most people buy the pre-mounts nowadays. It's true that a lot of people use lighter fluid as a tyre cleaner also, I use motor cleaner myself.

  5. sorry because as i said i am a newbie...what do you mean power poles?

    It's another kind of connector. Not so popular now as it was 5-10 years ago. Deans is as close to a standard as you will find now if you want concealed contacts.

    Personally I would solder direct to the motor as it is not a part you often replace.

  6. I don't know if it is a trick of the camera, but it looks like you might have the toe-in rear hubs on that car, and they might be on backwards (giving toe out). Or they might be bent. If that's the case, handling will REALLY suffer.

  7. "Lubricating" the comm like that also makes the motor very mucky by the end of the run. It will need cleaning out every time.

    I dabbled in comm drops a few years ago and feel that the disadvantage in terms of gunk outweighed the advantage of a boost at the start of the race. Others may disagree.

    For bashing, I wouldn't do it at all.

  8. Is it possible to use TS Colors for clear lexan bodys or only for white polycarbonate ones?

    No. You need a PS spray and paint from the inside.

    PS the white bodies are generally ABS

    PPS I'm sure someone will chime in about the time they repainted a lexan body on the outside with a TS spray but that is not the intended use!

  9. Oh ok… excuse my ignorance with a lack of knowledge but what do you mean by the internal spacer?

    What about 54000… overkill?

    There is an internal spacer supplied with the shocks to limit travel. It's the suggested way to build the shocks for an on-road mini but you could leave it out for more travel. All would be clear when you had them.

    #54000 are great for on-road but they don't have the option of running longer travel. You could try some touring size shocks (eg #42102). Depends how importance ground clearance and bump handling is to your rally project.

  10. Thanks for the links and advice greatly appreciated. I am going to get the M05RA tyres and I am thinking of getting these shocks for it TAM50519 or do people recommend something different?

    I would suggest the 50746 Super Mini shocks. They give much more compression travel, and if you build them without the internal spacer, they have plenty of downtravel for rally.

  11. I just purchased a Hotshot re release kit and haven't put it together yet. I'm brand new to this hobby and know very little, but from what i've read brushless is the way to go. I would like a well rounded setup as I'll be using this car on-road and off-road, but on fairly flat terrain. I think that most novice like my self are a little intimidated with the whole brushless setup. Could someone explain to me what is meant by 9T,13T, ect....and the kv that is associated with these motors as well as the 13T,14T and 15T associated with pinion gears.I've been told that the EZrun 9T Brushless/4300kv +35A v2 ESC 3 in 1 combo is the way to go. I'm open to all suggestions,I just don't wont a setup that is going to rip my car apart the first time out as this is only for fun,I'm not racing it. Thanks guys I'm just needing a little guidance.Also does anyone know of any good R/C books for beginners.

    Thanks!

    Items purchased for Hotshot so far:

    RC Channel multi-function metal suspension kit (TA95500)

    RC Channel 85 mm shock set (OP95850)

    Bearing Set

    The lowdown on brushless lingo...

    T or turns - the way the motor is wound, refers to the number of turns in the stator. Useful for comparing motors of the same type - not all motors are of the same type though (more later)

    KV - a measurement of the motors RPM per volt. NOT a measurement of power.

    T or teeth - on gears, a smaller pinion gives more acceleration, less top end and is a bit easier on the motor (generally)

    Other important lingo...

    Sensored/sensorless - the way the ESC reads the motors position. Most if not all racing ESCs are sensored which gives better low-end feel. Sensorless ESCs have rougher throttle feel and can sometimes "cog" or even run backwards unexpectedly, but are generally fine for bashing.

    540 - the standard size for a 1/10th RC car.

    Now, the EZRun system you mention is very popular and very good value. Bear in mind that it is sensorless so won't have the nice low speed feel of the more expensive sensored systems. Another thing to bear in mind is that the 9T motor they supply with the EZRun is actually a small 380 size motor in a large case, so doesn't have as much power as the 540 size motors (which are referred to as an x.5 motor by Hobbywing).

    Couldn't say whether this is a good balance of power for a Hotshot - others will have direct experience of upgrading the motor. My personal feeling is that the old Tamiya cars are well suited to the kit motor or maybe a Sport Tuned, and that much more power than that will start to rip the car apart. The Hotshot is 1985 technology - the fastest modified motors at the time were barely any quicker than a Sport Tuned is now!

    Hope this helps.

  12. Can anyone please tell me what model these wheels originally came off?

    I'd like some, but want fronts to match the rears.

    post-36150-1296369357_thumb.jpg

    Those are HPI Super Star wheels which used to be an option parts (don't think they ever came with a 2wd buggy kit).

    Not available new in those sizes any more... will be a vintage hunt to get some! Those might be the white versions dyed.

  13. I am converting a TA01 to a DF01 for Racing Lancer Dakar shell.

    I have a selection of Diffs I could put in it. It will be running EZRUN 4300 with 16 pinion.

    I was thinking

    Gear Diff Front - Ball Rear (Standard TA01)

    or

    Ball Front - Locked Rear

    I want to get plenty of grip, but without inducing loads of under steer.

    Any thoughts?

    Generally you want a looser diff setting in the rear, and I wouldn't run a locked diff on a car that might go off-road.

    Ball diff front and gear diff rear would be my choice.

  14. I have a question about sanding the thrust washers/rings of the ball diff. Some people swear to using sandpapers to polish them up, other people say it works better to roughen them up a bit so the grip of the balls on the rings is better. And there's another group, probably quite large too, that don't actually sand the rings at all.

    I've sanded a pair of rings try out if quite a rough sandpaper works. I used 240 grit, which I know should be way too rough - so I'll be sanding it finer in a minute - but I couldn't resist assembling the diff to check out how it feels - and actually the diff feels pretty good when you turn it :o

    Anyway, I'll be buying several types of sandpaper in a minute, so I can choose how fine I want it... But I was still wondering: Is there a proven difference between the rougher and the finer sanding jobs on the diff rings? :D And to how rough a sandpaper can you go before you should be worrying about the diff balls? ;)

    Any non-polished sanded finish will wear smooth in a very short space of time. I don't think the "rough" diff prep is worth it, and I have always had very good results with just leaving the parts as they are, degreasing them and assembling them. I think the design of the outdrives/pulleys and the lubrication of the thrust bearing has much more impact on the diff smoothness than the materials and preparation of the balls and plates.

  15. Hey Homer, I seriously considered signing up for a blog, but I wasn't sure how long this was going to run for and how many people would be interested in reading. It seems lame to set up a blog that only gets 2 or 3 followers. Plus plenty of people (myself included) prefer to read just a few main forums and don't like to follow hundreds of blogs all over the web. I myself will often read a bunch of threads on TC during my lunchbreak, but don't follow links to blog sites because I never know what pop-ups these free blog site are going to open on my office screen :D

    Anyhoo, no really interesting news. My LiPos have arrived, but still no word on the charger. It's too late to expect it before Monday's race, so I might have to see if I can find a local RC friend this weekend who can charge the packs for me so at least I can enjoy Monday's racing.

    You could be waiting forever for that charger... don't let a back order get in the way of your racing! Hopefully there's still time to cancel that order with Apex and go down to the model shop in Bath to get yourself a LiPo charger. I'm sure they stock one, if not even the shops in Bristol stock LiPo chargers!

    PS I guess from your race day and location that you go to the club at Melksham? You'd be very welcome at the club in Chippenham on Tuesday nights too, or at the CWIC series that Chippenham run at the leisure centre in Melksham (forgotten it's name for the moment).

  16. Hi, had a mishap cutting out a shell for my Hornet, and I now have a cut about 2mm long which goes straight up at the point the the body goes around the front suspension arm. The actual shape is cut out fine around the arm, but there is the small cut which is a pain. The body is going to be pretty much a display shell.

    My plan is to spray it up, cover the split on the outside with a tiny bit of sellotape (or maybe a small sticker) and on the inside cover it in a thin layer of ShooGoo with a small off-cut from the shell pressed onto it (inside the body) along the line of the crack. I think that should hold it firm and be plenty strong enough (especially for a body which will hardly be run). Does anyone have any suggestions of a better way to do this? I don't really want to scrap the shell....

    Thanks

    ps - sorry if I don't acknowledge any replies quickly, am and and about quite a bit 'till the weekend....

    If it is only a small mis-cut in a shell that isn't going to get much use, I doubt you need to do anything. But if you feel you must do something, a shoo-goo patch is a sound idea, or you can get some body repair tape which is very thin aluminium tape - Tamiya do it amongst others.

  17. Hi Guys,

    I wondered (no hoped :huh: ) if anyone can help me here. I have been trying with no success to get hold of some RC Track system called Road Rails www.roaddome.com from the United States. Initially a gent called Steve was very helpful and said he would get a quote for shipping, several emails and phone calls and three weeks later nobody there seems interested in selling one? There site states they are taking orders and indeed there phone message says they are taking orders and shipping, but for one reason or another nobody is answering now, maybe one of US cousins might know?

    Failing this does anyone know of a portable RC system like this I can use for shows/exhibitions etc.. i've also looked at RCP Tracks but it is more for Mini-Z's and the barrier system is too small. I'm after something hassle free not wanting to butcher drain pipes everytime i go somewhere.

    Any help would be appreciated.

    Thanks

    Chris

    A common alternative in the UK is square section downpipe, connected by timber blocks, held onto the floor with velcro, and with some kind of rounded/soft end for the corner apexes.

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