Thommo

You will never look back ! It works really well on planetary gear diffs too like the Super Astute and OG Avante. Amazing stuff it is.

Sounds good to me. I strongly recommend 3 Racing ultra high viscosity gear diff oil. I think it's the most bang for buck Hop-Up investment out there for Tamiya's unsealed gear diffs. The right amount really limits the diff and its gloopy enough to not centrifuge out of the diff and make a mess of it. I've tried AW grease enough in diffs and will not use it ever again.... it's still way too loose and messy for me compared with the gloop. I've never tried Tamiya diff putty but would love to try that out some day.

Nice one..... it has a great vibe. What side gears are you thinking for the diff ? Will it be splined side gears and splined outdrives ? I've done this with TA02 side gears and outdrives in a DT02. I had to remove the thrust washers and not overtighten the diff cover. Tightening down the diff cover fully locked the diff. I used 3R ultra-high viscosity gear diff oil to slow things down and kept the cover slightly loose so the diff could still unlock if it had to. Whatever your using, compare the size and profile of the bevel gears also as a precaution.

It's Stadium Blitzer / Blitzer Beetle hubs that are identical to Bear Hawk hubs and are far easier to find due to re-re production. This = neutral rear toe and your DF01 / DF02 driveshafts drop straight in. If you want some rear toe in the answer is Super Astute rear hubs and the bearing mod to lose the extra 1mm and fit the same DF01 / DF02 driveshafts or universal shafts. I saw it first when @ThunderDragonCy used the bearing mod on a (non-Astute) project....... might have been the Cosworth Sierra Rally ? I'm interested now which car that was and when ?

Strange but I'm pretty sure the 11x5x3 bearing mod to fit Top Force driveshafts with OG Madcap and SA hubs was only arrived at in the last year or so.

That's impressive.....never seen it done before so max points to you for unique / original idea and application. Keep up the great work.

Not yet.... just spent the morning gathering spare parts for the second build which is a parts bin special with some magic sprinkles on top. I'm planning a build thread that includes both cars because the spare chassis and parts from the first build leads into the second car. There is no such thing as a spare chassis..... that's another project waiting to happen !

Shelf : Egress / Astute / Super Astute Runners: Astute / Durga / Holiday Buggy / Sand Viper / F150 (TA02T) / FJ (CC01) Projects: Super Astute-X / Super Astute Mid

@naturbo2000 Just finished an Xtra Speed carbon chassis conversion on my Super Astute-X . Build thread coming soon ! Great quality and I would say perfect finish and accuracy. You will not be dissapointed with this chassis !

Cool...... let's see which post gets the most likes then and that post is the winner !

Mrs Thommo decided to refresh our teenager's bedroom and they decided to remove all of the Star Wars Lego into my shed and straight onto my work station. Bad for my Tamiya but good for me..... there would be thousands $$$ worth of classic 2010 - 2020 built sets here including some double ups. Also a box of with approx 100 Star Wars mini figures. I'll post up a photo when I get it sorted and off of my desk and might even consider selling a few sets ! I still have the box (flattened) and the instructions for every set.

I'm feeling it..... the joy of the parts bin and the realisation that I nearly have enough parts in said parts bin for a complete build. I've done a few resto's but never a start from scratch build from spare parts. I'm grateful for this post in the TD2 thread that sparked my interest.... I have about 80% or more of spare parts to build a mid motor Super Astute. I just need a Top Force rear gear case, J-parts, damper mount and some hardware. I've measured up my spare Super Astute chassis plate and the Top Force rear gear case lines up perfectly with existing holes for gearbox mount and rear arms and axle location and will only need a few holes drilled to adapt the gear case. I already have Top Force rear arms, rear hubs and axles and TA02 diffs, gears and shafts in the spares. Just have to create a new battery location and trim the Astute body and under tray to allow for the Top Force mid motor position. The rest of the car will be made up from Astute / Madcap / Super Astute spares. Essentially this will look like a mid motor Super Astute (chassis / body / steering and front suspension) with Top Force rear gear case, arms, damper mount and with the dampers at the rear (as per Top Force). I'll do some swapsy to free up a set of Aeration Dampers for this project. Just sharing my thoughts while they are fresh and look out for a Builds thread when it all comes together !

Xtra-Speed chassis should do it !

Yeah correct the SA arms are much stronger so they just don't flex like the Madcap arms. The Madcap tub chassis might not allow for SA rear arms as easy as the Astute chassis does.... My experience is based on the Astute chassis so you might want to do some more homework on that first !

Awesome ! Following with great interest. Note : I can walk you through my set up if you stick with the Madcap rear arms. The easiest solution though is just fitting rear arms from Super Astute (2018). The Madcap rear arm mounts will need a little trim if you go with SA rear arms but otherwise they are a direct fit. SA (2018) rear arms are still available and eliminate the problem straight up which is why the SA was able to run upper links with ball connectors.

Sure thing ! Going back to your OG plastic Madcap upper arms and screw pins would be an improvement. Upper links with ball adjusters just allows the hub to twist horribly when under power using Madcap or Astute rear arms . Give the hub a twist in the opposite to rotation of the driveshaft to check. The twisting is the suspension arm flexing but only because the swivel action of the ball adjusters on the upper link are allowing it to move. Below set up the hub and arm cannot twist because the 3mm shafts with E'clips (hinge pins) prevent that movement.

Every time an E'clip pops off and goes projectile, guess what direction it goes in.... That's right it heads in the direction of the nearest Conrad every time. Mystery solved !

Here's another rumour..... I heard a Conrad was found in the outback with a huge bunch of lost 3mm E'clips stuck on it !

Strongly reccomend using a 37mm shaft with E'clips to connect the rear hub to the suspension arm as per Super Astute. What ever power you're putting into it is loading into those hubs and arms and then into the arm mounts to the chassis..

Yeah, I do use a hinge pin (shaft) at the outer end also. The front upper part of the Madcap hub is trimmed off. The hinge pin goes through the hub after running a 3mm drill through it. The upper link has a ball adjuster on it but with a DB01 suspension ball inside it and then an O'ring behind the E-clip to eliminate play and put some pressure on the link. The DB01 suspension ball and O'ring is the trick here.... it keeps things tight and with hinges at both ends, the hub cannot twist under load. Before I learned this, the Madcap rear suspension arms twisted so much (on landings mostly) I had lower arms pull completely out of the short Astute BB4 screw pins in the rear hub and driveshaft ejection or both ! One time the driveshaft just spat out while cornering. Each time was on grippy astro.

This is a bit tricky to explain but with Madcap rear suspension arms coupled with ball end / ball adjuster type upper links the result can be driveshaft ejection. With Madcap rear arms and upper links with ball ends, the rotation of the adjuster on the ball allows the rear arms to flex under torque load and it can be enough to spit out a driveshaft. Pinch the top and bottom of a rear hub between thumb and forefinger and rotate the hub ( in the opposite direction to driveshaft rotation ). This assimilates the torque reaction through the rear hub under acceleration and you will see what I'm trying to describe. If your worried about the amount of flex or if the car spits out a driveshaft the answer is actually to go back to standard so the upper link hinges on a pin and therefore it hinges on one axis only. I use a modified Astute set up coupled with the flexible Madcap or Astute rear arms.... its the original hinge pin and the original inboard Astute B5 part with 4mm threaded shaft. This prevents the hub from twisting backwards as it better secures the entire rear suspension allowing it to only hinge on one axis which is the normal suspension travel up and down. Turnbuckles / upper links with ball end and ball adjuster are only a Hop-Up when using Super Astute rear suspension arms and this is because the SA rear arms do not flex under torque load. I hope this is helpful but again.... only a problem if you eject a driveshaft.

When Tommy G had hair ! I grew up with the D'Gen / Late Show etc and I confirm that this is "comedy GOLD".... I recommend you have a little look at episodes of "****scared" and "Charlie the Wonder Dog" if you have a Golden Retriever ! "Graham and the Colonel" were super stars of sports broadcasting back then ! Thanks @c64orinoco for the reminder !

When I first started running Li-Po in my Astute runners 10 years ago, I could not believe how it transformed the car. Even the 540 silver can on the vintage runner just lit up and the dynamics of steering, suspension and especially jumps was completely different and I could clear the double. Astute with a 2S battery was just a completely different animal. One TC member here was shocked at how fast and nimble the 540 Astute was and questioned if it was really a stock 540. Even better than performance though was the reduced breakages on impact or bad landings.... I've actually only broken one steering link and no broken bulkheads or suspension arm mounts on 2S and I'm convinced that the lighter weight is a contributing factor !

PS34 - Bright Red PS30 - Brilliant Blue Don't take my word for it though.... check a few online images etc. I think these are the sharpest red and blue IMO

I'm using a Futaba S3003 in my Super Astute. I just re-route the servo wiring under the battery. Foam tape raises the battery enough for wiring to run beneath it, then some aluminium tape over the wiring for tidiness. How's your build going, is there a thread for it ?