DeadMeat666

As per the Tamiya DF02 manual, the stock spur gear should be 70t. I did notice that the TT01 does have 61t stock and 55t as an optional part, and they seem to look like they'd fit in a DF02. Strange thing is, I don't think the DF02 is meant to take spur gears smaller than 70t. Even so, dropping down so drastically is most likely not a good idea, as it makes the gearing too high (not enough torque, too much load on the motor, etc) Out of curiosity, what pinion size was the buggy running with the 61t spur?

Locking the diff of the Lunchbox is very possible, and in fact I've done it. One of the more elegant solutions for this is to install a diff locking block assembly (found on Shapeways) that replaces the 3 spider gears. It really helps the Lunchbox maintain wheelies without the typical side-to-side bobbing that occurs as the rear wheels gyrate at different speeds otherwise. It also makes the LB all that much more effective on loose sand.

I'm currently building a Turbo Optima, and I must say I'm somewhat disappointed. I'd heard members on this forum and elsewhere singing the praises of Kyosho's high quality kits, and having built a Turbo Scorpion recently, I can relate. BUT, the Turbo Optima has so far failed to meet my expectations. List if issues I've had so far (off the top of my head): - One of the aluminum steering knuckles was ruined after I apparently tightened the ball-end a little too much. The ball end is no longer holding on to the thread. I've ordered another pair of knuckles. - As I was installing the front sway-bar links, one of them split clear in half, rendering it useless. I've ordered a complete set of sway-bars for that one tiny black plastic piece. - All four lower suspension arms are sticking, i.e. they're not free enough to fall under their own weight when installed. The rears are worse than the fronts. - There is about 1mm of in and out play in all the drive axles when fitted in the outer wheel hubs. That's more than any comparably-priced Tamiya, which is saying something. - Several of the suspension balls inside the upper turnbuckle suspension rods, as well as those in the steering rods are not very free, with some sticking (not rotating freely) in the rod ends more than others. All this and I haven't even finished the build! For context, I've recently built over 20 models from new, with most of them being Tamiyas, and I've hardly had any such problems with them while building. I was tempted to get into the Kyosho Legendary series because I heard that their quality is top notch. Not what I've found sadly, unless I'm doing it wrong somehow? Feel free to chime in if you've found similar issues.

Fixed, so this post is no longer relevant Please ignore

Love this . To begin with, RC is (for a vast majority of us) a hobby, and that alone makes it unessential. Ignoring that, there are some RC spare parts that some may consider 'essential' because their cars can't run without them. On a third level, there are some RC add-ons (or hopups) that some consider 'essential' because they fix a fatal flaw in an RC car (A5 part comes to mind as an example) On a FOURTH level, some hopups are 'essential' because they have a tangible and positive effect on the car's performance And on a FIFTH level, there's @nel33 Disclaimer: I'm NOT poking fun at nell33 or anyone here; I'm just as guilty of this way of thinking as the next guy. I just found it funny that our hobby has gotten us THIS dissociated from reality.

I have a spare built TT02 chassis with a prepainted Chinese Lambo body I don't really need, but with shipping from here to the UK pushing USD 60, I don't know if you'd be interested lol. Pic of the chassis below. One of the screws on the steering set is missing, but it does come with rally wheels/tires, and the aforementioned hideous lambo body:

Seems I was worried about nothing. The bumper and hardware were already in the box, so I suppose any F103 (as long as it's a standard wheelbase) will do just fine. Apologies for the dark picture. Lights were off.

Looks like a one-way adjustable torque splitter, and apparently there is no modern version. Check the 7 minute mark onwards.

So you're saying if I find an F103RM (the latest iteration of the chassis), the 'spade looking bumper' should slot right in and I can use the lemans body?

It makes a very big difference. That's when the front of the LB is actually on the ground. When it pulls a wheelie, there is no difference at all

I hadn't considered that! It looks like you may be right from a casual web search of packaged body sets. I'll have to peek inside the box when I go home tonight to make sure. If that's the case, then I suppose any F103 would do right? Even though I did notice that not all F103's have a 260mm wheelbase. Also, some F103's have a single screwhole up front, while I believe the LM has 3 across, to fit the TC-type bumper and body posts. Any tips on what to look for?

Apologies for exhuming an old thread, but it may be worthwhile to mention that the Ampro "Wide" HD arms for the IFS on the lunchbox are very solid indeed; I don't see how they're going break with normal use, unless normal use involves running the LB headfirst into a wall at over 50 km/h. I bought a set from Shapeways, and couldn't be happier with the result. You'd have to make your own upper arms out of turnbuckles, but that is very easy. Here's a pic or 2:

Ok here's a doozey: I recently 'acquired' a bodyset that I've been after for a while, thinking it was a standard 257mm/190mm touring car size. After receiving it, I discovered that it actually belongs on an F103RS chassis, and NOT a touring car. Now, the dimensions of this body are close enough so that I could just adapt it to fit, but after seeing it on the F103RS chassis, with the F1 foam wheels, I decided that I like it better that way. The F103RS, and its cousin the F103LM (which are both essentially F103s with attachments to fit a lemans type body included) are long out of production, but the F103 GT is still in production. However as some are aware, the F103 GT uses standard touring car wheels, not F1 foam wheels. Assuming I get an F103 GT for the chassis, what would I need to convert it to use F1 wheels instead of TC wheels/tires? And, does what I'm doing even make sense? Should I instead get a normal F103, and risk never finding the lemans bodypost bits? Help!

How do you know the difference? They all look pretty alike to me. That reddish-brown color with the T-shaped pins. Do you buy them from Dean himself?

I thought the connectors that come on most Tamiya motors are 3.5mm, not 4mm. Either way I've never had any issues with them overheating or melting.

To add to @Mad Ax's advice, a useful tip I learned is to change the battery plug one wire at a time to avoid having the bare wires make contact. Cut one wire, solder it on to the new plug, then cut the other wire and solder that onto the new plug. As for the plug holder (or jig), most of the ones out there are made of aluminum. I bought one, and they work fine for plastic plugs. HOWEVER, if you use them for banana plugs, they're a pain because as we all know, aluminum is a very good conductor of heat. Word on the street is that they even make heatsinks out of them! This means that it is very difficult to get banana plugs hot enough for the solder to stick when they're sitting in the jig lol. So in summary, plug holders are great for plugs, horrible for banana plugs/terminals.

It's usually a good idea to standardize your plugs across all your cars, or at least the ones you use often. There are several options, and they all have advantages and disadvantages. Deans: Very small, so easy to fit in tight spaces, but a little fiddly to solder and kind of a pain to plug/unplug for the same reason. XT60: Larger, easier to solder, but make a big lump due to their size. There are also other types. Just consider carefully, choose one and stick with it.

Some Cross aluminum c-hubs and knuckles for the M02, from a very nice gentleman I met on FB marketplace (shipped all the way from Mexico!): JC Racing 2.2 inch wheels and tires. There's a funny story behind this one. I made this order 4 days ago, so I was naturally surprized when it showed up yesterday (shipping from the UK to KSA typically takes weeks). I later realized that THIS was the order I made in July; I just happened to have made the exact same order 4 days ago as well, having forgotten about the July order :

You are right! I knew there was something weird with my original assumption; thanks for the correction Regarding point 4), your gut feeling is also correct. I'm running 30,000 in front diff and 7,500 in the rear, and it seems to work a treat on tarmac. Also @BuggyGuy, regarding the shocks, GF01 aluminum shocks are pretty much the same as the CC01 alu shocks, only in different (nicer) colors, so they're a drop-in replacement on the XV01 LDS as well. Pic of mine for reference (and because everyone likes pics):

Do let me know how it goes! I've tried driving a TT02 in RWD with a brushless system in it and it was hilarious for the first 2 minutes of non-stop donuts, and then really boring after that. I also tried it with a brushed Torque Tuned motor, and strangely enough it wasn't much better. Unless I drove it like an elderly person, it would spin out at the slightest provocation, with no way of catching it. Edit: Sorry for going so far off topic! I'll stop now

There is a reason that most manufacturers do not make/sell a RWD on-road kit. Since physics doesn't scale very well from 1:1 to 1:10, RWD RC cars tend to be much more of a handful to drive than you'd expect. The average RC car weighs about 1.5kg, and can go around 40km/h for the faster ones. Scaled up to 1:1, that translates into a car that weighs 15kg and goes 400km/h. I'm sure you can tell from this very simplistic hypothetical that it would be hard for such a road car to put the power down effectively through just the rear tires without spinning out. M Chassis cars are scaled down a little from 1:10, and are designed to go slower than standard touring cars. That being said, it's universally known that the FWD M Chassis cars are much easier to manage than the RWD ones. F1 RC cars only manage to do it by having much larger and grippier foam tires, and practically no suspension. And they're STILL quite a handful at speed!

I need to correct myself on this. It's not the final drive ratio that's being impacted by the bigger wheels, it's the rollout. Same effect, but different factor. And yes, that's what is causing the esc to cut out sometimes. Bearings may be enough to stop that from happening. Try and see.

I dunno man, they seem pretty far off in the pic Joking aside, Those larger wheels are changing your final drive ratio, so getting a smaller pinion would be a good idea, as @TurnipJF has already mentioned.

Since you're an engineer, the following link may be of interest: https://escapements.wordpress.com/2011/12/19/screwed-in-japan/