MadAnt
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Posts posted by MadAnt
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7 hours ago, toyolien said:
Option 2: Put them on the car that has it's suspension 'tested' the most.
I agree with that, do that one.
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Battery seems fine. The problem is with the car's electronics.
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7 hours ago, Andreas W said:
Knowing what I know now 2 shorties and one square pack would have been enough for me, if I just had modified the battery compartments to fit from day one.
The shorties work in so many applications, and using a bit of foam, they work great in my Hornets and Grasshoppers, which is all they run now so I bought more lol.
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I get that I collected things over the years, but I'm scratching my head on this one. Why did I feel the need to keep all of these. The shorty and oval packs make sense, but I feel this is too much now and I have two more that are not in the pictures. The old Venom packs were always used in crawlers. The one Power Hobby 3s I won in a raffle. I don't need all of these, I think it's time to thin the herd.
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I'll blow your mind. All these spur gears work in the TT02. Two of them are meant for the TT02, the rest are not, but making them work is cake. Just a little bit trimming is needed for the TT01 spur gear.
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6 hours ago, Losi XXT-CR said:
Thanks all.
The Type S sounds like it is the way to go.
This is what I think I'd go for, plus a body and some paint, so around £200 all in.
My only other question is steering. I see some people say about the slop in the steering on the TT-02.
Does the Type S use the exact same setup? In the manual it looks a little different, adjustable turnbuckles instead of fixed links, but is the bridge different too?
I've seen these steering kits, but don't know if they would be suitable:
https://www.modelsport.co.uk/product/fastrax-tamiya-tt-02-aluminium-steering-set-431583
The Tamiya kit does say Type S and looks different to the above ones:
https://www.modelsport.co.uk/product/tamiya-tt-02-aluminium-steering-set-1331366
Also considerably steep money when you consider the price of the entire kit.
Big nope to the high speed gear set. Modify the TT01 spur gears for the most effective speed increase.
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3 hours ago, Hotshot’07 said:
Sorry for late response, Thinking I might have to do a complete electric redo of esc, receiver and other parts wondering if anyone knows which ones will fit for complete redo? But also have a question of if anyone knows where to get a new set of tyres for the king cab?
The King Cab is quite old, but if you plan on having it be a runner, then most modern 2.2 truck tires should fit on the rims. A set of HPI Yokohama Geolander tires should do fine. Just be careful running the truck, parts are getting harder to find for them.
Now I'm thinking maybe I should sell my Hilux Monster Racer because it's not in good enough shape to be a shelf queen and stuff is to rare to run. 🤔
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Ok, so I have a guide now for anyone who wants to replace their weak plastic rear control arms on their own Hotshot 2, Boomerang or whatever uses the same-ish rear suspension with something better.
Keep in mind that I typed everything on mobile, so some editing may still need to be done.
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It has been well known that the control arms for the Hotshot II and other models using the same parts are not really that durable. Tamiya could have made them thicker out of a different material like nylon, but instead they made them as light as possible using what I believe is polycarbonate. Well...if you have broken the rear control arms, then I have a DIY conversion that might work. No, it not some chinese metal control arm kit, we want something that still has some flexibility, like the rear control arms from a stock Traxxas Bandit. Yup! That's what we will use, stock Traxxas Bandit rear control arms, which you can find in almost any hobby store in the USA.
Just a disclaimer, use the proper safety devices and practices when using power tools and dealing with toxic materials. Doing this modification may cause some clearance issues between the original rear wheels and the pins, (fine for 2.2 buggy wheels). Shimming and additional grinding will be necessary for use with the original rear wheels.
Tools you will need:
A rotary tool, but keep speeds slow.
A drill(could be used instead of a rotary tool).
A 3mm or 1/8th inch drill bit.
A burr or course grinding stone bit.
A file or low grit sand paper.
Parts you will need:
Traxxas Bandit stock rear lower control arms.
2x M3×30 or 40mm screws.
2x M3 lock nuts.
Maybe some additional screws for the upper links.
TL01 rear knuckles/uprights or equivalent.
M3 spacers or washers(size will depend).
3mm rod ends, but length will depend.
3mm threaded rod or turnbuckle, but length will depend.
Ok, let's get started with the Traxxas Bandit rear control arms. This is what we need the power tools for. Using a burr or a grind disk/stone you need to remove a good part of the raised rib/boss where the shock mounting holes are, making it flat with the surface. This is necessary to keep the factory shocks in a close enough position to operate correctly but also not be too close to the motor on one side. Then when that is done pick the farthest outside hole (maybe 2nd most outside if you want) as the shock mounting hole and put in the shock end and lower spring retainer to see where and how much material needs to be removed to have the normal amount of movement for proper operation.
Just remove enough at the top and top corner to have just enough clearance, no more than that. Then with that done, use a file or sand paper to clean up the rough areas.
Shortening the outer pins and removing extra material will be necessary for use with original wheels.
Next, the inside pin hole ends are just a little bit too close to fit. That's an easy fix, just file or grind the front inner screw pin ear/boss on the control arm until it just fits over the lower control arm boss on the transmission case on the car.
The the hard part is now done. Now if you noticed, the Bandit control arms are not the same length as the old control arms and the stock rear knuckles will not fit. More on that soon.
So to keep everything more than satisfactory using the original screw pins, put a drop of thin CA glue in the hinge pin holes of the new control arms just to coat the walls of the holes. Then once the glue has dried, drill the holes out trying with just one pass with a 3mm or 1/8th inch drill bit. The reasoning for this is because the pins Traxxas uses that are a little bit larger in diameter, so we want to fill the gap in a little bit for the Tamiya screw pins. Still trying to keep everything satisfactory because of the size difference from the original parts, use TL01 or equivalent rear knuckles/uprights along with some spacers to keep the knuckles centered enough when mounted in the control arm. Many things can be used as spacers, I used plastic washers and unused shock pistons lol.
Now the upper suspension links are needed. There are many choices for rod ends and turnbuckles, so I can't tell you the exact parts you want. Just make sure everything fits well enough and allow you to have -1 degree or so of camber. You can use threaded rod or fancy adjustable turnbuckles like I did, if it works, it works. Attach the upper ball end links to the rear of the upper control arm boss on the gear case using M3×30 or 40mm machine screws and locknuts.
With everything assembled make sure there are no issues. The lower shock ends should be able to use the original step spacers/bushings, which can be flipped around if needed. The rear wheels will be toed in a bit which may help with handling like on modern buggies. With this conversion done, the rear track width should still be within the ballpark of the original while still allowing plenty of room for the dog bone shafts to properly float without issues when the suspension goes through it's full motion of travel.
Just optional, but another thing that can be done is replacing the factory shock lower spring retainers to gain more clearance by the control arm.
Anyway, feel free to leave a comment if you have good ideas to add, just want to add a friendly message, tried this yourself and want to show it off, or have any questions.
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I own a TT02 Type S, it handles great, but I do not have anywhere to race it, maybe someday. Anyway, if the Type S is allowed in the racing class you desire to run, then go for it if the price is right. Also, if you need more speed out of the TT02 but gearing is the limitation, you can modify the smaller TT01 spur gears to work.
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My parts finally arrived, but I have already solved some of the issues. Hmmm... I guess I will start getting things ready to put together a tutorial for people who want better rear control arms on their Hotshot II/Boomerang or whatever else is related.
Maybe I will make some more bumpers too, I have an idea for a jig tool to make the process easier.
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Hotshot II parts.
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The front suspension arms and knuckles on the re-re SRB's is better and beefier. If you are going to go convert to coil over shocks and make the car a runner, swapping the vintage suspension components out and using the modern parts would be beneficial with the added durability.
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Looks so sharp! I have an OG SS, the body was pretty bad when I got it. I tried to restore the body, but my repair skills did not hide and everything, but it looked good from 10 feet away, lol. Then one day I was doing something with the sand scorcher indoors, which I forgot what and I got some random radio interference and damaged the paint job from a reck going into some chairs and a table. I wanted to throw up, it was bad. I attempted to fix some of it and blended the french blue paint, but the white paint I could not fix because I did not have a match for it. So a big sticker now hides it's scar. It was never going to be perfect anyway. It did not have the correct mirrors, door handles and glass, but at least it still looks good from 20 feet away, lol😂
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Had some time again to run the hotshot 2 and see what else is going to break under normal driving. Two things I found that need addressing (other than a few cracks). First, the rear springs have a little too much preload. I did raise the ride height, but I did that by replacing the lower shock end/retainer, so the springs sit as they did before. Second, the screw fitment in the holes of the front sway bar mounts is not tight, so they have wiggle room and rely on the clamping force of the screws to not move a little bit. The problem is that the mounts can move just a little with a good whack, which will effect how the car sits causing it to not drive straight.
Ok, so other than fixing some old cracked plastics, those two flaws are the last things I want to fix. I will need to find some shorter springs, the rear springs are about the right amount of stiffness, but like I said, there is a little too much preload. Then for the sway bar brackets I have tightened the screws down with washers for more bite, but because the screws are in plastic, I don't like making the screws very tight and I might just use counter sink screws to center in the bracket holes.
Those are the spring retainers from my super clodbuster shocks. They are taller and give a little bit more room by the control arms.
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Maybe. If you go that route, you will need to have a zip tie around the upper and lower control arms to hold them in their sockets.
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For those that feel the Hornet Evo is unnecessary, that's fine, don't buy one.
For those who think the Hornet Evo is interesting or that are curious, buy one.
Everyone has their opinions. I'm buying one even though I own a few hornets and grasshoppers, which are all vintage by the way and only one of them stays on the shelf. I've modified enough with the Ampro suspension upgrades or random stuff to change but not completely ruin the charm. I've cut and modified parts and junk just to make my ideas works and get the results I want. The new Hornet evo could open more possibilities for those who want to modify their stock regular hoppers and hornets and whatnot without spending hours re-engineering things with countless failures or cutting and drilling a thousand times to make stuff work. Maybe people just want a modified hornet without needing to modify a hornet? That's cool too.
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Fantastic, I love it.👍
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When you can't find what you're looking for, make it.
Ok, I have some progress for the front bumper. The first thing I addressed was the broken skid plate/mount. The styrene repair did not hold so I made a new more flexible and durable front skid plate out of 3mm ABS. It was a lot of cutting and grinding, but it came out good in the end and fits well using some bushings and other junk as spacers. Then I moved on to making the new bumper. When I was working with the expanded PVC, I realized it was too soft. So help the new bumper made from this softer material I also fabbed an inner ABS bumper just to stiffen things up, but yet still have flexibility. Next time I'll just fabricate the bumper out of ABS, which should be better depending on how I design it. Anyway, I'm gonna go easier on the car now on, I was only driving it hard to test out my modifications. I did not test the car tonight, but I kept punching the front for a bit to see how it hold up to that.
The new bumper is more narrow than the factory piece, which I think makes the Hotshot 2 look a bit less goofy than before.
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6 hours ago, Losi XXT-CR said:
I may have misread elsewhere, but isn't the Torque Tuned a 25 turn sealed motor and the Sport Tuned a 27 turn sealed motor with advanced timing? In which case, wouldn't the 25 turn motor generally outperform the 27 turn one?
Like everyone has said, the Sport Tuned is a 23 turn motor. I own both Torque Tuned and the black can Sport Tuned motors, and from my experience, I can tell you the 25 turn Torque Tuned motor is just a little bit slower.
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Ok, next up to fix is the front bumper, because it's awful and does not really absorb impacts that well in the front. So I went and picked up a sheet 3mm expanded PVC and 3mm ABS. I know it seems like a lot of material in the pic below, but the price was right and I can make many more things with what I have left.
The explanded PVC is very flexible, but I will need to bend and shape it to keep it from staying deformed, and the ABS will work great if I cut the right shape out of it.
Stay tuned!
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1 hour ago, alvinlwh said:
That is exactly what is happening right now. They replaced AIB (Asbesto Insulation Boards) with MDF (Medium Density Fiber boards) and now MDF is said to be the next asbestos (different cancer though). Furthermore, hardwood and softwood dust are also known to cause cancer.
People are living longer than ever, but the health police(that's what I'm calling them) keep coming up with new ways to scare everyone from the things we have been living with our whole lives. Lol, it's that silly when you think about.
Now of course I don't deny some things are bad for health like asbestos and lead and what-not, but people do need to use common sense.
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I'm sure one cancer causing material or ingredient will just be replaced with another cancer causing material or ingredient, lol, that's the way things have been done for decades.
The Hotshot II, Cool But Flawed (Improved With Traxxas Parts!)
in Vintage Tamiya Discussion
Posted
Just got finished running two lipo pack through the old hotshot 2. I had some shorter black springs, I don't remember what they go to, but they seemed to be as stiff as the stock rear springs, which is what I was looking to have less preload. I wanted to see if they would make a difference, so I slapped them on with some spacers and today I took the buggy out for a little rip. Front end performance is still a bit weird, but the car was more controllable with the new rear springs. Testing the car at the Top Secret parking lot, which was covered in dust and gravel, had many cracks, patches and small holes, the old Hotshot 2 handled it well and better than ever. The rear suspension soaked up the bumps and dips and continued to keep the going straight. Cornering had even improved, with the rear end staying planted more often while the car leaned over in the truns, was just a better experience. So it's a step in the right direction, front shock may need some thicker oil though, I'll have to see, but I might have thicker stuff somewhere.
Anyway, did some light jumping, getting some 8 inches of air off pf a curb, staying stable the hole time. Also, my homemade bumper has some scars now from hitting a few things, but it did it's job of absorbing the impacts well, even though they were lighter impacts, it's still an improvement over stock.
Overall, I'd say it was a good run session.