skom25

Hi, I need your help, but first quick introduction. I crashed my TT-02B with aluminium shocks and unfortunately, one shaft is damaged. They are not available in my area, so I decided to use shaft from standard TT-02B. No big deal, because I will run it on asphalt, so I do not need much travel. As far as I know, TT-02B uses standard Buggy CVA shocks withouth o-rings inside. Now main issue: To keep balance of the car, I need to know, what is the length from the bottom of the REAR shock to the end of the shaft in stock TT-02B. I need this information, to know how many o-rings put inside, to limit travel. Is there anyone who can measure this? I am afraid, that I do not have any spares to check To be more precise, I need this distance from rear shock.

Update: I started with Carbon Shock Towers. Front was damaged after crash. I found small crack on the Top on probably chipped piece on one side. There is only one way to fix it: CA Glue. I put two layers of glue. My method is to put drop of glue on the edge/ chip and then spread it with toothpick. When it dried, I sanded edges using abrasive sponge #1000. Then I polished both towers with Tamiya Polishing Compound ( Coarse and Fine). I did this just to refresh parts a bit, not to remove all scratches. It does not make sense in runner. As you can see above, it is very easy to make edges Shiny. I do not like this effect, because it shows all imperfections. I prefer Semi Gloss finish, so I used sanding sponge #1000 once again. Then I installed both shock towers. I used conical washers but I am not sure if I like them. They are nice, but I have feeling that there are too many of them. I also added adjustable turnbuckles mounts. Nothing special, everything as in manual. Uprights. Too have the most secure connection and easy maintenance in future, I used screws and ball nuts. Just screw them through parts and use ball connectors. Then I installed uprights. To remove slope, I used: Front: 0.5 mm spacer + 0.2 mm shim Rear: 0.5 mm spacer + 0.3 mm shim Front is perfect: no play and upright is still totally free Rear was bit more tricky. At beginning, I used 1 mm spacer, but it was bit too tight. Probably 0.9 mm would be perfect. Then I switched to combination mentioned above, but there is tiny bit of play. Of course, I can still add 0.1 mm shim, but during maintenance it will be a horror. I prefer to have minimal amount of slope, than one more shim. Be aware, that I used new and used parts together. If you use only new parts, it is possible that my solution will not work for you. Of course, I used stainless shafts, because they are so much better than screwed standard shafts. Them I installed adjustable turnbuckles. On rear I used 3x32 turnbuckle as in manual. On front, I used 3x22 instead of 3x28. Why? Because with 3x32 there will be almost no space for adjustments, and 3x28 is not available in aluminium version. If you will run only on asphalt or not demanding Off Road, that combination will be perfect. If you have plan to jump etc. stick to 3x28. I will prepare separated Post, how to prepare turnbuckles quick, easy and without pain. I know that for some of you, it is annoying part. I think the same, but I finally found good method and I am able to prepare full set in around 20 - 30 minutes.

In terms of RC, I am like a man in the middle of the desert

Are you sure that you need to polish parts, if they are not rusty? Most of them have that black coating, which should not be removed I believe.

Be really careful with metal parts. Sometimes is better to say stop even if result is not perfect, than make one step too much and damage parts. Few days ago I destroyed to sets of bearings and few Hex Ball Connectors because of that 🙄

To be honest, I have not ran my XV-01 yet. I am still waiting to paint body and solve Radio issues 😟 Torque Tuned or Sport Tuned is safe choice, to have fun and do not think too much about maintenance. Stock Silver Can can be too slow. Are you aware that XV-01 requires really long cables and stock Silver Can has longer cables than other motors? XV-01 is the reason, why I learned to solder!

I really still do not understand, how it is possible that it is so badly damaged. It really looks like fake Asian videos, where they found rusty motorcycle in forest and try to restore it. These videos are quite funny, because they remove "rust" even from plastic elements Just to be clear: I do not suspect that you want to be Forum star. I just do not have idea, how someone spend so much money, then throw it somewhere ( salt water?) and leave like a garbage. I am not saint, because in anger I threw TT-02 on the ground few times, but at least I "recycled" around 80% of parts and cheaply can rebuild it.

Probably you are right, but it is still a lot of money. 3PV is not cheap thing, but it is also not super expensive. I can just buy it. 4PM costs a lot of money and I am not sure if I want to cry As I wrote, I am looking for durability. If it is the same on both, I will go for 3PV. If 4PM somehow is better, I can consider it. Functions on 3PV are enough for me, but I found few interesting on 4PM.

Update: When you tighten diff covers, you will find that they are not perfectly straight. It is good idea to put diff into chassis and use something as ruler, to see if it is straight. Just rotate and check. Previously I tightened unscrewed when distance between cover and ruler increased and screwed when it was too close. This time I only tightened them, to not end with loose screw. I am pretty sure that you will not be able to make it perfectly straight. It does not matter so much at the end, because TT-02 has some design slope, so gears will not be blocked. In worst scenario, you will just feel bit more resistance at some points. However, it is worth to try to improve situation a bit. Then I used aluminium self adhesive foil, to make shims. 3x15 mm stripes are enough. Put tape on place and press with bearing, so you will have perfect finish. If you use standard chassis and standard diff covers, it probably should be enough to use them only on chassis. If you use FRP parts, even only diff cover, use shims on both surfaces. Now diffs sit tight in chassis, but other bearings still has some play, so everything should be fine. All drivetrain parts. - SRX joints - Aluminium shaft - High Speed Gear Set + 70T Spur I recommend to use SRX joints, because the wear much slower than standard aluminium. Now you can dry fit whole drivetrain, even without screwing diff covers. Just put them on chassis. Install all elements, rotate and try to feel if there are "tight" spots. If there is only difference in sound of meshing gears or bit of resistance, it is totally fine. You should worry only when gears will be blocked, which rather will not happen. Now you can assembly everything. I prefer to use small amount of grease, so gears are only "wet". If you use more, you will find most of the grease on chassis and cover after few seconds with motor turned on. As I wrote before, I prefer to use 2 mm shorter screws than in manual. I can clearly feel when parts are tight. In that case, I used 3x8 mm screws to mount diff covers and 3x10 Blue Aluminium screws ( as in manual) to attach that small bearing holder on front. Holes are much deeper in that place, so there is no issue with 3x10 screws. If I can recommend only one Hop Up for TT-02 or TT-02B, it will be steering. Stock solution is very, very bad. I used 3x12 grub screws, because I did not have 3x10. Does not matter. Screw them into chassis and leave 5 mm outside. Screw posts tightly on grub screws and install rest of parts. Do not forget about two 0.1 mm shims on both sides of arms! I used conical washers and 3x6 screws on top, because they look nice and I do not have to use additional washers. Additional info about FRP parts. They seem to have "looser" fit than standard parts. I wrote above about diffs. With stock parts I used only one shim on chassis, with FRP I had to add foil on both halves. When previously I used also FRP chassis, I added shims also to shaft bearings slots, because they were totally loose. I found that suspension mounts in FRP chassis has more slope than in standard version. If you install suspension on standard chassis, connection is almost stiff, with tiny amount of slope. With FRP chassis, there is much more play. It almost feels like downgrade. It seems that standard parts shrink a bit more during production process.

I used this combination in the past and it was bit too slow with ST motor. Maybe 18T?

I think I have two options now: - Futaba 3PV - Futaba 4PM 3PV is like my Sanwa MX-6. In terms of functionalities, it is good enough for me. 4PM seems to be on next level. Much more functions, adjustable trigger, wheel etc. It seems that 4PM is obvious choice and looks like Radio for long years. However, it is two times more expensive than 3PV. What do you think? If Sanwa MX-6 was good enough, should I go for 3PV or it is better to buy 4PM? I will use it for my own "Racing by Post", maybe one day will even try to start in that competition. I will not race my cars, because it is not my goal. I am really somewhere in the middle between those two and at this moment, I am not able to tell which one I should choose, so all comments are welcome.

Hi, I have a plan to use Torque Tuned or Sport Tuned motor in my TT-02B which will be used on asphalt only. What is safe FDR for mentioned motors in Buggy? Safe, I mean that motor will be able to run on full RPM range and not struggle. I used 22T pinion with 70T spur in TT-02, which I believe was about 8.3 FDR. It was nice, maybe lacked Top Speed just a tiny bit. TT-02 has much smaller wheels, so which pinion I should use in TT-02B to have similar performance?

Hi, I am looking for new radio and I found, that some receivers have really short antenna wire. I have TT-02B Gun Metal painted body. I read that in that case, antenna should be above body. It can be problematic, if antenna wire is so short. Is this still legit with current Radio systems?

Update: Diffs. They are simple, cheap and easy to build. I like them a lot, however, there is one issue which I will describe in next update. I started with sanding. If you cut parts from sprue, there is a chance, that there will be some sharp pieces. I like to sand all gears first, to be sure that surface will be smooth. It is bit harder with that big internal gears, because they are not flat. I used piece of plastic with hole. You can make a hole in sand paper, put it on that plastic element and then rotate gear. You can also use piece of paper as on photo below, but it will take more time. Then I cleaned everything and dried. Put grease on each element. Remember to use it also on back of the gears, because they will touch diff body and cross, because gears rotate on it. You can install diff cup on bottom, to rotate diff and spread grease. I used AW grease, around 0.4g per diff. If you have that small jar with AW grease, it is 1g. If you want totally loose diff, use small amount of normal grease. Be aware, that it will be really loose. If you rotate one wheel, opposite will rotate freely. My diffs are just a bit locked. If you want really stiff diff, you need to use a lot of AW. When I built TT-02, I used around 1.5g only in one diff! Use small amount of grease ( not AW! ) and tighten screws. Now it is time for tricky part, which is very annoying if you want to do it right. Update soon.

Good to know! In TT-02 if you use 3x10 screws, they will reach to the bottom of the hole. It is not bad, but sometimes I had feeling that I am not tightening elements together, but more try to tighten screw, despite elements were still loose. I remember that I read somewhere, that it is enough if you use that rule, to find how much thread should be in element: Screw Diameter x 1.5 Tamiya use M3 screws, so 4.5 mm of thread should be enough. Of course it depends on material, so if we are talking about rather soft plastic, not metal, bit more will be fine. I think around 6 mm of screw in element is totally fine.

Here you can see example, what will happen if you go to the bottom of the hole in TT-02. It is diff cover. Believe me, you are not able to feel earlier that you reached the end. Despite it is FRP parts, it is still much softer than parts from higher end kits.

I use stainless machine screws. Stock TT-02B comes with Self Tapping screws, which is like a joke in 2024. Machine screws are very cheap and if you prepare thread, you can screw/ unscrew them many times without issues.

Update: I will not show each step of build, because it is too obvious. I will show my Tips and Tricks and thing which I have done differently than in manual. Threads: I use Tamiya Thread Forming Tap and grease, which is highly recommended. If you not use it, there is a really high chance, that you will melt plastic or threads will be damaged. I use Ball Diff Grease, because I just have it and it is easy to remove it after process. In XV-01 I threaded holes to the bottom, when I just felt that tool stopped. Do not do this in TT-02 and other kits which use rather soft material! You can easily make an hole on the bottom or deform material. First I use 2.5 mm hex key with o-ring. I put it into hole: Then I use o-ring on Tap to know where to stop, but I set o-ring around 1.5 mm lower, to not reach to the bottom of the hole. You can also see brush and grease. I use brush to add tiny amount of grease before each hole. TT-02 is bit weird chassis and walls are very, very thin in few points. You have to be very careful, otherwise you will just go through element as I wrote above. This hole is bit tight. You a lot of grease and do not hurry. Here you cannot go crazy deep, because you will end up with hole in diff compartment. Exactly the same situation here. I went only 5 mm deep. I found interesting fact about this hole. TT-02 uses here 3x10, TT-02B 3x8 screw. If you use 3x10 screw in TT-02, you will see white marks on side of diff compartment, because walls are so thin, that there is no enough space for thread. I note all changes in manual. Here you can see that I marked that 5 mm is enough and that I used 3x10 instead of 3x12 mm screw. Probably in most places I will use 2 mm shorter screws. If you use screws as in manual, you will find that they screw a bit tight at the end. All parts ready for assembly. I did not sand any parts. Arms are bit tight and move with bit of resistance, but after some time they will wear and it will be better. At rear I used M3x10 mm screw with integrated washer. If you do not have that type of screw, you have to use washer, despite manual does not mention this. If you will not use it, screw head will go through bumper. Arms installed. Be careful with screw mentioned above and blue visible on photo. They screw into rather soft material. After I installed everything, I like to check all screws once again. You can quickly tighten them with more or less the same torque, because you hold key in the same way. If you install them at beginning, it is hard to tighten them equally.

Maybe just use standard, black part? What happened?

Tamiya Connector is fine for SS with NiMh. Deans connector, even "Secure" version with cap fits hole in chassis. It is tight fit, but no issues at all. However, I really cannot recommend SS motor. They are getting HOT very quick, they are very fragile and needs a lot of maintenance. They have nice power, but you will have a lot issues and performance drop over time. Of course, if XV-01 is one of ten cars you have and you will run it once per month, it is totally fine. If it will be "daily" RC, you will start to have issues really fast.

Exactly. I had also situation, where I lost control when car was 5 meters (!) away from me. It crashed hard. Fail Safe was not configured, so it was totally scary when it started to run on top speed without control and there were some people and kids around. I will just buy new radio probably next week. Now I think about Futaba 3PV, but I need to read a bit more.

I am not sure if RC is shrinking, but I am sure that Tamiya is bit "outdated". I bought small can of white paint this week and I paid around 6 Euros, so it is not so bad here.

Receivers price. If you have one or two cars, it is fine. If you have more, it starts to be small fortune.

My second thought is that this Super Bio Eco Natural Degreaser also added few cents. I am not sure at all.

It was also my thought. I ran all cars with exactly same setup and had issue only in TT-02. Of course, it happened sometimes in other two, but it was like once per 10 packs, not once per ten laps or even more often. I tried to move antenna etc, but I cannot understand how it is possible that it worked fine on sunday, then I just removed receiver box cover, checked everything, assembled again and I had Brown Outs every ten seconds.