doctormosfet

The front shocks are a bit long for an Avante or Egress, but really I think it depends on how you mount them. If you use an Egress front tower (which has the highest mounting point compared to the Avante or Avante 2001) and mount the bottom directly to the arm (like with the Avante), it might work. I wouldn't bet on it, though.

Since I already have the eBay postings up with all of the pictures, I'll keep this simple and post the corresponding links here. If you do not want to purchase through eBay, that is fine by me. Just PM me and we can work something out. If you would like to combine items and/or make an offer, that's cool too - the worst I can say is no. Any questions, feel free to ask. This stuff is taking up a bunch of space, and I need to get rid of it to make room for other projects... Vintage Tamiya TA02RS with FRP chassis and several hop-ups: http://www.ebay.com/itm/171163789192?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649 Tamiya TA02 with wide arms "hybrid" roller: http://www.ebay.com/itm/171150053825?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649 Tamiya Dirt Thrasher body and NIP decals (no wing): http://www.ebay.com/itm/171161620138?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649 Tamiya TA02/RS front universals (pair): http://www.ebay.com/itm/171148272669?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649 Tamiya TA02/RS rear universal: http://www.ebay.com/itm/171148279874?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649 Tamiya TA02W rear dogbones (pair): http://www.ebay.com/itm/171148282198?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649 Tamiya NIP Manta Ray/Blazing Star/Dirt Thrasher wheels (2 pair): http://www.ebay.com/itm/171148288567?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649 Tamiya NIP Manta Ray/Blazing Star/Dirt Thrasher yellow shock bodies and caps (full set): http://www.ebay.com/itm/171148292166?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649 Tamiya Egress lower carbon chassis plate with FRP and aluminum upper plates: http://www.ebay.com/itm/171148332567?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649

The Top Force is probably the most competent vintage 4wd Tamiya runner, with the Dyna Storm obviously being the most competent vintage 2wd runner. The Avante/Egress may look nice (I would know - I have four), but the Top Force has a better suspension geometry and is way better at handling jumps. It's not a perfect chassis (e.g., no slipper clutch, brittle plastics), but it's the best 4wd performer by a mile. I would argue it is more adjustable than the Avante. If we are excluding TRF, then I would be inclined to point towards the DB01 as the best modern runner, although in my opinion that is setting the bar pretty low. It uses plastics where it shouldn't and has too many suspension pieces compared to full-bore race chassis like the Associated B44. The drivetrain is also a pain in the butt to work on. You can spend a ton of money making everything better, but then what's the point? Might as well get a B44 or a Lazer ZX-5. The DB-01 is not meant to be a basher, and it's not quite raceworthy. If you want a 4wd buggy at the same price point, then I would rather get the HPI Cyber 10B. Too bad it was discontinued, but it was made like a proper buggy should be made. Again, same price point, but better plastics, hex screws all around, solid diff outdrives, the whole nine yards. But we are talking about Tamiyas here, and overall I would probably rather run the DB02 over the DB01. I don't like the center gear diff, but the rest of it looks okay. For modern 2wd, there aren't many choices, and in fact it appears the DN-01 is the only choice.

That is an awesome website you put together, btw. It was quite helpful when I did my Egress restoration.

I am excited about the Egress rere, if not as a runner, then certainly as a shelf queen partner to my restored Egress. As for the driveability issues with the Avante... Folks, this is where you have to just man up and put the track time in , because complaining about the chassis won't make it perform better. I have four Avante series chassis (2011, 2001, Egress, 2011 Black Special). My 2011 is a runner. In the beginning, I had significant problems with bump steer, as has been discussed on this thread. On a smooth track, this is really not an issue, obviously, but on bumpy tracks, it's difficult to deal with. The hi cap dampers helped a bit to soften the chassis' response to bumps. I tried messing around with the adjustable front and rear trailing arms to increase the track width, but this is a pointless effort, because any setting wider than stock increases the risk of the diff outdrives popping out, and/or increases the risk of the dogbones popping out of the diff outdrives. Your best bet for running wider is to use the Traxxas offset hex wheel hubs, which add ~ 5mm per side of track width. This will give the wheels more leverage on the shocks, so that they are effectively softer over bumps. Even without that, though, this chassis can still be manageable to drive if you put the time in. The biggest problem I had was not so much the bump steer, but instead the slow response of the steering. If the car is behaving wildly, you should have the reaction time to correct for it, but on this chassis the steering response felt quite laggy. I was initially using a Hitec HS 605 servo, with which I had problems with both steering speed and bump steer. I then switched to a torquier servo, which I figured would brute force the wheels in a straight line better, to address at least some of the bump steer. It seemed to help, but the steering was still quite laggy, despite my using this servo in other chassis with no steering speed problems. I recently switched to a much faster HS 7966 servo for the Avante. I've yet to run it with the new servo, but I suspect I will be able to get it to react quicker. Ideally, you would want to spend big bucks on a high speed, high torque servo, like the HS 7940TH. As this is not my weekly racer, though, I'm just not going there with this chassis. I do like the idea that has been mentioned here of shortening the steering plate. All that really does is reduce the steering tie rod angle between the inner and outer ball studs at full compression. It is the severity of this angle that determines bump steer. More angle at full compression = more bump steer, and less mid-corner steering. I had given some thought to taking the ball stud on the steering plate and simply mounting it facing upwards rather than downwards, and then maybe putting a slightly taller ballstud on the steering hub. This will reduce the tie rod angle at full compression (less bump steer), although at zero compression the angle will be larger, leading to more ackerman (inside wheel turns at a sharper angle). Some have argued that ackerman improves turn-in, but that really depends on the optimal scrub angle of the tire, which depends on the tire compound. On initial turn-in, the inside and outside tires contribute equally to cornering grip, but the maximum grip a tire generates under cornering is dictated by the scrub angle, which is what generates the friction required to create grip. Since the inside wheel is turning at a sharper angle with more ackerman, it will only contribute to more turn-in if the tire compound requires a larger scrub angle to generate more grip. Regardless, since the Avante comes with a center diff (or a one-way if you have the torque splitter), you really don't have to worry about turn-in differences due to ackerman, since the center diff or one-way will have a much greater impact due to simply rotating the chassis on turn-in. Many of the issues with this chassis can be tuned out to some extent, if you are patient with it and are willing to even fab some of your own parts. I think the Egress rere will be a better runner than the Avante 2011 rere. The longer wheelbase should make it more stable, and the more stand-up front shock angle should make the front bounce less. The only thing is breaking those front arms. One thing I'll give the Avante credit for is mounting front trailing arms on rocker arms with a damper - the front will take some pretty heavy hits before breaking anything.

In the context of r/c, 3d printing is a godsend to vintage enthusiasts. Rather than spend hours trolling through eBay to find that one part that one person has and will only sell for several multiples of its intrinsic value, we can just make it ourselves. Durability is not a concern if you can economically print as many of these parts as you want. This will mean more vintage chassis will come off of their shelf prisons and onto the racetrack, where they were meant to be in the first place.

You may want to stick with the FRP chassis on the Avante 2001. If you run on bumpy dirt, the chassis flex will help keep the car more planted, and the FRP chassis on the 2001 will flex more than the Fibre-Lyte chassis. I have an Egress with Fibre-Lyte carbon, and it is no doubt one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen, but for racing you may want to stick with the FRP chassis, if you're on a bumpy surface. You can start with a 10.5 motor and see how the center diff handles it. I run a 10.5 on my Avante 2011 (not 2001, although I have one of those too and will run it in time ), with the center diff and front and rear ball diffs, and the center diff seems to handle it okay. I had previously run a 7.5 in there, and it was just too much power for the center diff. You may want to upgrade the center balls with carbide balls for longevity. If you run modern rims and tires, just remember that the larger diameter will increase your ride height. Good for jumping performance, but the chassis will tend to roll more. The Avante series, despite all of its adjustability, had very few options for shock mounting. So if you want to pull the ride height back down with modern rims, you'll need to add downtravel limters on the shock shafts, on the inside of the shock body. The undertray is something you will need to watch out for. 3 body clips to hold something that will see serious abuse is no good. Mine fell off on my 2011 at the front mounting points, and I regularly lost the rear clip. Eventually, I just mounted it like on a B44, where I reamed holes for some of the screws that mount to the front and rear gearboxes. That will hold the undertray in place, and with some manual dexterity, you can still load and unload your battery without removing the undertray. A significant problem I have noticed when running my 2011 is that the steering is a little "laggy," for lack of a better term. It does not like to change direction very quickly, despite my running the racing steering rack (which has much less slop) and a relatively quick servo. I've yet to figure out the appropriate fix, but just bear this in mind as you're going around the track, because what it means is that you have to make sure you're lined up for a jump before committing to the jump.

And do you have any pictures of it that you can refer me to?

How much for the Yokomo Works '93?