Ferruz

@matisse can you please let me know the lenght of your Schumacher turnbuckles for your Manta Ray? I'd like to order just the same for mine.

Aaah now I finally get it. Thank you. I didn't know that existed I'm going to get these for sure. One last thing, can I screw this ball connectors/nuts to the original kit screws or better get something like this instead? https://www.modelsport.co.uk/index.php?product_id=2071 I appreciate your help mate. @kid168 I have measured the upper arms to be 50mm front and 60mm back, eye to eye, so that's the lenght I'd like to start with and then of course work around it to modify camber as needed. As mentioned above, I though I found some suitable turnbuckles but they come with the ball end too(ball embedded in the adjuster) so I couldn't install them the way @matisse did, which I now prefere, so now I'll be back to researching. In the meantime I'm waiting for some 3x42mm steering turnbuckles, I might just wait for them to see if they are long enough for the back upper arms, maybe longer ball adjusters will do the trick? They sure would work in the front. Do my measurements match yours?

Thanks, though I didn't quite get it yet. How is the ball end attached to the screw? May I trouble you for a picture? I feel like I'm lost in a glass of water here, not getting something quite simple. And yet, given the bigger bore of the shock tower I'm not sure how you get that to work...

Found what I need! These turnbuckles are available in the lenght I need. I now have to figure out how to link them to the stock shock towers, which have a bigger bore. Any thoughts on what part can do the trick?

I am in the process of upgrading my Manta Ray's plastic upper arms to turnbuckles while keeping the original shock towers, exactly like you did. Personally, I've measured the arms to be 50mm front and 60mm back, eye to eye, and 55mm and 65mm total lenght. I've recently found perfectly suitable turnbuckles, they come with adjusters+inner ball, so I'd just need the screws to fit them. Problem is, the bigger bore on both rear and front shock towers. I've read through your Manta Force thread but, for some obscure reasons, your pics just wouldn't show which made it a bit hard to understand and I feel I've kinda missed out some info on the way. Fortunately I've managed to somehow download this key pic, which shows me you did find a great solution for that. Can you please tell me which part this is? sort of a kingpin? As it's exactly what I need. Also, can I fit a screw on this kingpin like you fit the ball end, or is the ball end part of it (in which case it wouldn't work with the turnbuckles I was gonna get)? Thank you!

That I do not know. I just never assembled them. I'm sure somebody else will know though

Not guilty! I've oder parts for Terra Scorcher and Manta Ray, it wasn't me.

Just made another order on RCMart, 100 USD worth of bits, pieces and particles for my cars. This will get me closer to being able to begin my Terra Scorcher build, though I just can't seem to be able to decide for a color scheme. In this case I find that Tamiya totally aced it with their box art, that color scheme is hard to beat unless you swap those super yellow CVAs for something else....which I just might....aaah what a rabbit hole!

The front ones are 97mm long, the rear ones are 101 mm. No links unfortunately, but no need for one: just look up rcdamper on the most famous auction site. Great online shop with a lot of bling parts, good customer service, dunno the availability with the covid situation though.

@MICHAELs TopForce17 Nice thread, thanks for the link, I think I've read it a while ago but it was good to do it again! I wasn't considering switching to Top Force towers, but I'll give it a thought, and in the meantime I'll still look for longer upper arms, maybe something else can fit mt stock towers. @kid168 the shocks are the ones from RCdamper

Not today but yesterday. A day at work is not the best way to spend your birthday, but it sure got better after that. I grabbed the Hornet and got it all out on the dandelions! Than a nice home cooked meal and a few sweet desserts, including this: Wow, this is a yummy kit and I find that the shell is really beautiful. I can't wait to start the build (as usual I need a few more things before I can start).

@MICHAELs TopForce17 Thank you. One doubt: those measurements are fine for the turnbuckles, but I wonder if the 3x42mm would be long enough to act as upper suspension arms, too. I measured the stock plastic ones, the front is 55 mm and the rear 66mm. Would it stretch the extra 13 and 23 mm with the right adjuster? Any experience in the matter? Thanks again

I can't believe what just happened to me I went to the garage/workshop to get a driver's helmet I finished painting yesterday, which turned out all nice and gleaming. On my way back my chipmunk friend hopped by, so I decided to take a moment with him. I pinned the toothpick with the freshly painted helmet in the seams of a bench and went off to feed the chippy around the corner, I reckon the whole thing lasted little longer than 5 minutes. Well, once back to where I left the helmet that's what I found: It's been completely ravaged. Scratches all over, masking tape torn off the face, the face itself all scratched away! What the badword I guess some bird or well, some chipmunk must have though that was a berry or something... funny and weird, anyway sure thing is, the wonderful wildlife of the area just totally wasted 5 or 6 hours of detail work so I'm quite bummed

I would like to equip my Manta Ray with adjustable tie rods/turnbuckles for the upper suspension arms and steering. I've seen many around with that upgrade but have never seen a specific tie rod hop up for this car. I assume any will do as long as within the right lenght? Does anybody have a specific item to suggest? The hop up would be for handling/setup purposes of course, though at this point I wouldn't mind it bringing some extra bling, so blue alloy parts would look best.

I've already posted a vehicle but still, when talking favourite runners I just have to mention my Big Boss. A 32 year old RC car that gets driven as often and as hard as if it was yesterday's most basic re release, with hardly any issues, in every weather and temperature imaginable. It definitely earned its stripes, I swore to myself I'd go easier on it from now on but it's so much fun it's hard not to just bust through everything!

Made a list of parts I need for my coming Terra Scorcher build, then started filling up my online cart at RCMart. A5 part, steel pinion, a servo, a hard steel shaft for my Manta Ray. And it's quite a few coins already. Still in need of transmitter/receiver and paint, but I still haven't figured out a color scheme. In the meantime, my lady seems to have found out why Munchy the chipmunk is so keen on rc cars: no kidding, turns out he himself is a Tamia 🤣 https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tamias

@TurnipJF and @Juggular Thanks guys for your prompt help, really. It is much appreciated. After reading your comments, Tamiya's clunky steel shaft definity seems to me the way to go. I'm going to place an order for one as soon as shipping costs allow it. And in the meantime, why not test the coathanger and see how noisy it gets!

I am extremely thankful for such timely and detailed explanation. And now I finally seem to grasp the difference between 4WD and AWD It was worth snapping the prop shaft as it lead to your post! I am also happy to know that there's nothing wrong witg the car itself. To be honest, I've never even tried the "coat hanger" stock shaft as in all the threads I've researched before I even got the Manta Ray, I read that literally everybody was bashing it so hard that I ordered an alloy one right away with the motor mount. It's always better to test out things for yourself... Anyway, your explanation makes so much sense that you've sold me the coat hanger in one post! I will definitely try it on the car before I consider buying another alloy shaft, and if I like how it runs I'll just keep it that way. 👍 just too bad I don't have it with me at the moment, but I'll be able to go get it soon. Thanks again @Juggular!

Time to resume the thread for the last chapter of this project: the driver! First off, in order to make room for it I got rid of the infamous plastic buckle and replaced it with a velcro strap, which serves the purpose better and more discreetly. Next thing was to figure out a mounting bracket for the driver, ideally something adjustable, to be able to make it sit at the right level and out of the way of battery and electronics. That too is now figured out, took me some trial and error but I'm happy with the result. Simple, functional and relatively light, I'm gonna have to turn a screw to shift the driver when mounting/replacing the battery, but I can live with that. Now it's finally time to have some fun painting! This will be my little, off-road version tribute to one of my all time favourite F1 drivers, Ronnie Peterson, gone way too soon but never forgotten. I have close to zero stickers small enough to help me recreate anything on a helmet, so I might challenge myself and see how far I can get with just paint, in any case it will be fun to try Am quite excited as this is the very last step after which the car will be finally complete.

@GTodd I really like that vintage racing look! Great built, bud. How does it drive? It's gotta be fun I'm sure...

Man that setup looks FUN!! 😜

I've re assembled the Manta Ray, that was partly stripped down (mostly the electronics) after yesterday's accidental swim in the ditch. Much to my surprise, everything worked perfectly. Great! The car definitely stayed at least 20 long seconds under two feet of water, so I'm quite amazed and very happy that I had no damage at all. This is the second time in two weeks (last week was the Hornet, less time underwater but a little longer to recover). At This point I feel like saying that, even thought they can't walk on the water like a Traxxxas or Jesus Christ, Tamiyas can definitely take some accidental scubadiving! But... you know there's always something coming... I was enjoying a celebratory run, all happy for the zero trouble had, when this happened: I am quite baffled Like, really?? The prop shaft snapped just like that, out of the blue while the car was pacing on flat tarmac. I've checked everything and found absolutely nothing loose or suspicious. Only thing I can think of, it might have eventually snapped due to all the gravel and pebbles occasionally getting stuck around it, so it finally gave up now and this is unrelated to the dip in the water. I'd value your opinion on the matter. Should I worry and investigate further, or should I just go ahead and get a new prop shaft and call it a day? Did that ever happen to you? At a closer look, the extremity of the shaft that snapped doesn't look that tough anyway, so it probably doesn't last "forever" unlike what I though.

Got this today! I'll have to wait a few days until my birthday to open the box

In other news, the FedEx guy showed up with my Terra Scorcher today! I wasn't expecting it so soon, given the situation. I realized I still don't have the A5 part support, the 3 extra 1150 bearings, a servo and a receiver, and most important I haven't yet figured out a color scheme. But happy that it's here! I'll have to wait a few more days until my birthday to open the box tough. By the way, I assume I'll need a steel pinion too as a basic hop-up. What is the stock pinion of the Terra Scorcher? 15T?

I somehow lost control and drove the Manta Ray straaaaight in the ditch. In a rush to get there I wiped out and also fell in the ditch 😂 I was amazed at the dumbness of those few moments... I didn't really hit the water but the car did, I reckon it stayed underwater for at least 20 seconds. It was the ONLY part or the ditch deep enough for the car to completely sink 🤬 Now trying my best to dry everything up properly. Guarded prognosis.