RyantheRed

Thanks for your help Skom, I finaly found a 501x dif joint! Ive been looking for a very long time! Hope your build is going well. Happy Holidays.

I know lipos can start a car. My jump start pack is lipo. I also set up my kids electric motor cycle to 3s lipo. Ive done a fair bit of research to do this. Ive never thought about running lipos as a car battery becuase lipos dont like cold and automotive charging systems dont match lipo charging systems but 12 volts is 12 volts, If i was playing with my rc car in the desert and my car battery went dead, I would try it if that all i had. I bet if you had a high enough C rating it would work just fine. Or at least the fire would keep you warm until help arived.

Yes, depends on how dead your car battery is but yes it would. A rc lipo of good quality could probably run you motor bike great. Its the charging requirements of lipo that would be an issue but you could easily over come that issue with some thought and research i bet.

I am playing with the belt set-up above in my TT-02BR as well... all i did was flipped the diffs. The gearing feels a little high but not too bad. Its sounds super quiet now and is pretty rad over all. Yeah, the traditional gears are way better and i have no idea what my gear ratio is now ... but come on, its is a really really fun and cool experiment.

I saw one of the other TC members built one recently with the carbon fiber chassis version, it came out looking super clean and rad!... a little overkill maybe for what this particular kit is and can do. I mean, a sport tuned motor is nuts and overkill in one of these. I have never been afraid of overkill but I agree with you, especially on this model... I mean, your basicly buying the box art and it really is a work of art. Anyway, i feel your pain brother.

Amazon might be a pain in the a$$ but you could box the whole mess return it and start over if you want, its a fun build anyway... my brother just built one of these with no reported issues, its definitely a wierd defect... Maybe the plastic was not mixed properly during that specific molding or something?

So sorry this happened to you, super bum deal brother... I have this stupid personal rule with my tamiyas that when an original part breaks, i am compelled to upgrade it with hopups or if unavailable- Aftermarket parts. That would have been and expensive break for me... Have any of you ever had any luck with Tamiya making something like this right for an odvious manufacturing defect in a new kit like this? Ive never even tried. The hobby shop you got it from might help make it right as well. Yeah, The decals are probably over $30... Might be worth a shot and maybe at least take the "miffed" off if you get some satisfaction. That shouldnt have happened to you. Its a new kit- I sort of expect stuff like that with vintage kits, but that sucks!

Agree that Lipos arent perfect... I just had new and properly stored/maintained upper-middle end quality shorty pack pop and split the case the other day, dealer basicly did nothing. Offered me a replacement one at cost? (Jesh.. no thanks) I still wouldnt want to going back to Nimh. I just like the advancements in lipo and we all waited a long time for those advancements- most of us have used Nimh for decades and are well experianced with them as well, for me its just that these graphine lipos are really cool- Nothing wrong Nimh and they work fine in our Tamiyas too. To each their own... for example: I run Deans on everything. I cut and replace with Deans as step one. I know there are better conectors but i feel like Darth Vader at this point, its too late for me, son... If i ever decided to switch connectors. That would be a sole crushing nightmare. I definitely have too many RCs and batteries for that.

That has 12 cell capabilities. It could over spin the conrad which would likely push us into another ice age. I would bury that deep in the earth if i were you. I mean, I have a coat. The question is, do you?

Also, 4wd buggies usually have wider tires in the front. More rotating weight and are also driving and fighting the servo more. I dont know if you "need" a more powerfull servo. It might be fine. Its probably already stronger than the tamiya servo saver that comes with the kit.

I dont see multiples of this listings for this item in US Ebay. Its a wierd export buisness model these "sellers" have going on in asia. They dont actually have the product and are middle people but can usually procure it. I have bought lots of rare parts and kits this way from japan. (Emphasis on Japan) I have never been burned. Sometimes the thing your are buying is already sold but then they give you back your money in a few days. They say something like "the product was lost in the warehouse we are sorry for the inconvenience" but they dont usually burn you. This is a buisness for them. You can look at their reputation if your worried. The other thing is, they probably have no idea what it is they are selling or even what its for. However, if you can find the origional listing on a different site AND you trust the site you could buy it that way that might be better maybe. Most of time you cant find it or arnt allowed buy it. So they are kind of just exporters. That dosnt mean you wont get burned, but i never have. Note... i found 3 instances of 99 raybrig kits (TA03) being sold on ebay since 2021 so Its hard to get for sure and this price is upper mid range in the history.

That one ebay right now looks pretty darn mint to me. Maybe some rough spots in the body but if it was the one that i was looking for, I would probably grab that one with out hesitation. I bet you could pop the dent in the body with a heat gun. They quit making that kit 20 years ago. More will pop up for sure, but it could be a while before you find one that nice in the box again.

+1 for gear lash being the most critical factor. Probably the best way to make a mess of your gears and most who are new to the hobby have to learn this through trial and error. Maybe some never get it. Probably why tamiya makes the pinons so soft in the entry level kits. More forgiving maybe to protect the plastic spurs saves the whole gearbox and sacrifices the pinon which is easier to change. I dont lubricant pinons unless the gear box is very sealed. Very fine dust in the high desert and that creates more problems but i dont have issues, generally, with aluminum pinons. I mean the pinon will wear out eventually but not before most of the car does... I have always attributed my success to setting the lash correctly. I do not like pastic bearings/bushings though. I dont build a kit with them. I should though, plastic bushings would probably last a lot longer than ball bearings in my environment. But, i dont want to use them so i dont. Maybe ill save them all and make a big necklace with them some day.

The alignment looks fine. Should be fine. If its not an alignment issue, then you shouldnt prematurely wear the belt. I just read your were wondering about the shimming of the slipper and the diffs. If you end up with a belt not staight, it could be an issue. But that looks nice and square to me.