Honza

This is very broad topic that probably cannot be summed up in a single post. I'll try to cover some basics and direct you for further research. First, I'd recommend looking up Tom3D and CNC Kitchen for various material, printers and printing techniques tips. Of course, there are many other sources of information, these are just first that come to mind. First thing you should know about 3D printing is, that it cannot achieve same strength as injection moulded parts, with exception of industrial SLS printers. Especially FDM technology (which is probably one you'll end up with if you want functional parts) is prone to delamination of print layers. You can reduce this issue with right print settings and certain materials, but it never disappear. This needs to be addressed in design and print orientation. SLA printers are capable of finer details at the cost of weaker parts - as they are basically just plastic particles bonded by epoxy resin. This is very subjective, especially now when new generation of consumer oriented printers shows up. Until recently, I'd say go for Prusa - which IMO is good balance between price, support/documentation, capabilities and DIY approach. But the i3 is becoming obsolete, Mini is limited in size and XL is expensive (assuming they'll even ship). Also, it still has that reprap look.. Creality is another well known brand - but their base printers lack many quality of life features and their supports relies hardly on community, which often leads to rabbit hole of tinkering and upgrading (my experience 😀) There are new brands Bambulab or Anker that are supposedly directed to accessible user friendly machines - but there isn't much available info yet. This is just tip of the iceberg, there are many other options. There are "Basic materials" - PLA, PETG and ASA (which replaces ABS) - none of them is really stronger than plastic that Tamiya uses, but they are easy to print (ASA printing temperature might be beyond limit of cheaper printers) and you can often add material to weak points to make the parts usable. These materials are also relatively cheap, with 15-30$ per spool. Nylon and Polycarbonate are plastic that Tamiya uses and can also be printed - but they are more challenging, both require enclosure and drybox and limited layer strength is still present. There are carbon fiber variants, but since the fibers don't run across layers, they've same limitation. Running costs depend on your energy costs - typical printer consumes 150-200W on average - but high temperature prints can go beyond that Depends on what you want to print. Even small printers are large enough for majority of RC parts, but even larger ones are too small for whole bathtub or body. 3D printer is just a tool - which means it also requires knowledge and skill like any other tool. It's more accessible than other manufacturing technologies, but It's still far from Star Trek replicator 😀 That leads to another question: Scanning is not really an option - tools to do that are expensive and result still needs lots of post-processing. However, RC parts are often very simple shapes, consisting of various primitives connected together, which can be easily replicated in a CAD program. Currently one of the most used is Fusion360, which has free of charge licence for individuals - although it's becoming more and more limited, I think it's good introduction with tons of tutorials available. 3D printer itself requires a slicer program to generate code for the machine - there are two main "competing" free programs - PrusaSlicer (itself is fork of Slic3r and forks into other projects) and Ultimaker Cura - which one you choose is a matter of preference, each have its strength and you have to try it yourself.

Do you have right suspension mounts on the rear axle? Inner split mounts are same as the front ones on the first glance, but they create 1,5° toe-in.

As mentioned, typical 1:10 body is 180-190mm wide with 257mm wheelbase regardless of the original size. Extreme example is Formula E body, with original being 177cm wide and 310cm wheelbase. M-chassis bodies are a bit more accurate thanks to more wheelbase options and smaller wheels.

Yep, it was quite fun. I used a (2D) scanner to get an accurate picture of all edges to use as templates, but thanks to the angle it needed some scaling to make it perfect (or at least good enough to fit) I originally planned to put threaded standoffs in between the parts to improve rigidity, but the part hold well without it. You can always use M3 nuts as inserts - I often use them in horizontal holes, it helps to hold the print together. What's wrong with the shock tower? The thick inserts between the shock and arm? Or is it too flexible? It's a good reference for design of the printed part though - you can print only ribs to print as perimeters with just 1-2mm plane on top or bottom - the space between perimeters can be easily bridged. It saves material and looks lighter, like a production part.

It looks great The MF01 is truly versatile platform, isn't it? Can't wait to see it in JP livery What do you need? I already have some designs that can be used as reference The original Tamiya part changes draft angle in that area for some reason... It'd be a bit challenging to replicate this, so I just went with it. I think that the original part had a little space there, too.. If the one piece design holds, I could make some changes to make it easier to print that way. Maybe I could shave a few millimeters to get to that 180mm target and add some material for better strength, too 😀 It was originally designed as close replica of the original to investigate strength of the 3D printed parts. It eventually cracked even when printed on side, but my use was a bit more.. rough... 😀

@Pylon80 Even high mounted servo usually doesn't interfere with body. Servo in bumper (it's great that TT has same bumper in rear)/ btw) provides lower CG and more weight on front, but shocks have to be moved to the other side of arms and proper steering geometry is a bit more challenging. One potential issue I can see with such conversion is shape of the bathtub - it's quite wide in the rear, which might limit available steering angle. TB03 had a bit more space there + wider axles

What about running the entire chassis backwards? I did it back in the day with TB03 to make a front motor layout. You need to reverse differentials in the cases and figure out steering (I placed the servo on a plate above the motor).

Me too! It's not very common in RC industry and it also highlights the 3D printed parts. That's advantage of designing the entire car in CAD - the cover fits perfectly. It worked well despite the large openings in front and rear - nothing got into electronics.

The project is not dead. I just took a break and focused on another project. Anyway, got new Square wide angle driveshafts, TRF420 knuckles and redesigned the steering again to reach full 50° steerinng angle. Now I'm limited by dampers, but turn radius is already tight enough to keep me on the track even after bad entry. I didn't take photos unfortunately - and now I have some cleaning to do 😀

I know even more interesting mod: https://embieracing.com/blog/2022/07/embieracing-carbon-chassis-rebuild-kit-for-tamiya-xv01-allinone/ Anyway, author of the rear motor mod claims that the weight distribution is close to 50:50, which could work. Most of modded XVs used in CZ move the battery rearwards, because stock configuration has too much weight on the front. I always thought that it'd be interesting to swap front and rear gearboxes, but with motor in front of rear axle (like TA03F Vs TA03R) - routing the belt would be challenging though... This is quite common solution that works well. But I never liked it either 😀 Early versions had outer tie rod ends in front of wheels, which was later regulated in some championships because it looked awful.

I made a topic in "TC designs" once I knew that I'll be able to finish it It documents progress and some thoughts behind the design. It's a redesigned rear portion of the chassis, replacing parts A2/4 and B10/11. My aim was maximum compatibility with minimum extra parts needed for conversion - once I do a few more tests and fix some issues, I'll upload the files. The arms are from previous project, as I've been experimenting with a "full size" MF01X for some time Edit: now I noticed you even responded in the topic 😀

The arm was printed more than a year ago and survived several crashes. I guess that PLA became more brittle over time. It's been also printed with thin walls and little infill. Anyway, it's better to break the arm than its mounting.

Tested my TL-02 (mid motored MF-01X) today. It doesn't look like it, but it was a success 😁

How big is the difference? Electronics placement is almost identical, so weight distribution should be close enough to get an idea how a pure FWD feels. Problem could be XV's weight.

You can just remove rear gears from the XV01 and give it a try - That's basically what Tamiya has done with FF04.

@Pylon80 is right, the orifinal XV spur is made to fit standard mount, slipper (with the plastic bit with smaller hole) and a ball differential (with the bit with larger hole) - you can either use any other standard spur for standard mount (maybe it'd work with a ball diff, too) or Tamiya buggy slipper spur for slipper. Yes, the 9,6 ratio sounds more like a buggy. I'd go for something between 8,5 and 7, depending on conditions. XV02 have worse cooling compared to 01, so maybe that's why Tamiya went for a safer ratio.

The 51000 horn needs to be extended by about 1cm to work in MF01 - If you have piece of aluminium or G-10, you can make a little plate that will work, but 54159 is a better looking variant.

I already have cad model of 257mm extension - I think that I could make a 10mm variant in a few minutes the only problem would be that there's no space for screw that'd hold it together - but I think that chassis halves will hold everything together.

Yep, I hope that desktop SLS printers become a thing, just like FFF and Salad in recent years. That's exactly how I use it, this chassis has my version of LA arms, which work with TB02 uprights, because originals are not available... Plus, I've been finally able to realize my vision of TL-02 chassis, while also improving MF-01X

Did a first few meters with my TL-02Ra (MF-01X mid motor) prototype

So, it took a bit longer, but it's already done first few meters on its own It's just missing the crosspin in rear bevel gear, I need to drill a new hole to driveshaft currently it's in 254mm config, I'll do a custom center piece (with cable management space ) later.

I heard about that, but that's not fake 48dp, that's just wrong. If anything could be called fake 48p, it's m0.5, which Tamiya for some reason used on DF03, but 0.6 is more like 42dp - I think that Traxxas sometimes lists its pinions like that.

There's fake 48p?

You can go for the faster ratio - XV01 has smaller wheels than buggy, effectively reducing speed and load. If you intend to drive on dirt, I would recommend gears with larger teeth, 48p or m0.6. XV uses standard gear mount, so any spur that supports four hole mounts will fit.

For me, it's combination. How Tamiya manages to come up with unique chassis while reusing common parts. Sometimes it's getting close to Lego