BloodClod

The testing last weekend was promising but cut short when an errant buggy clipped my rear wheel and pulled the rear inner suspension pin out. On closer inspection, I found that the pins are actually a tad short to fit in the suspension blocks, and that there is about 2mm of forward-aft play. For anyone putting their TD2s under race conditions, you may wish to find or cut some 48mm hingepins to make that area a tad more bullet-proof.

Actually the common race wheels work fine with the stock suspension parts except that they will widen the car about to about 260mm which is 10mm wider than most legal race buggies. So if it is not a big deal where you run, it'll give you a tad more stability in the rear. The reason I swapped out the stock suspension is actually because my friend has broken 2 rear hubs in his short time of running the buggy. I haven't broken any myself, but I've also read online that others have found that a potential weak spot, so I decided to try the mod since I was prepping it for the track anyway. Other than that, I'm afraid I hadn't done enough testing with the prototype parts and the stock steering to determine any significant difference, but once I get the car in final spec that is something I would like to test. Years ago Team Durango released their buggy with the option to run different length rear driveshafts without altering track width. Supposedly shorter driveshafts (which I am now running) translate to more progressive on-power steering response. That would be an interesting setup option. Thank you! After last weekend's track day the Yokomo body decided to call it quits. I have a repro I am very tempted to paint for this car... and all the encouragement from this thread isn't helping change my mind! lol

Well I finally did it... I cut my stock TD2 body to fit this project. I'm pretty happy with it although I'll probably look at painting an alternative lid when I can decide on which one... That Yokomo 834b body is still a real possibility. Lol. Rebuilt most of the car today too as I'm looking to tune this car for the track now. Installed a gear diff, changed the shock oils and springs, adjusted droop, and refined some of the 3d printed parts for more strength. Wish me luck at the track tomorrow!

Thank you for sharing this awesome project. I thoroughly enjoyed reading about the entire build so far and there are so many interesting ideas you've tried - I particularly like the design of the arms that incorporate the carbon fibre strengtheners. Are you printing in PETG now?

This is a great suggestion. I will pick one up the next time I pop by the hobby store. I think it will give me more options in terms of adjusting the roll-center. @Verskis, @Man1c M0nk3y, @ThunderDragonCy Lol - it seems like there's not much love for the stock body eh? I like this Yokomo body because it is unique, iconic and very old school. This specific one is really beat up and in terrible shape... not to mention not custom cut for this chassis. I think if I do one up from scratch it would certainly look a little better. I do agree that the body doesn't seem proportional to the car... it's funny that the actual car it actually sat on was actually much shorter, narrower and with significantly smaller tires - how things have changed. I personally like the TD2 body. It is quite unique and I have a soft spot for 'capsule' shaped cabs. I only don't like the 2 little extra sidepods at the side that they put in to accommodate full size stick packs... but overall I think it's a pretty sleek. I probably will hack up the current stock shell... I've no use for it anyway if this is the configuration my TD2 will keep from now on.

The car was really good today at the track! The only problem I had was that some of the screws that threaded into the 3D parts would work themselves loose... I think I need to consider some threaded inserts for the high stress connections. But the car was keeping up with the X-rays, Mugens and Associateds and led the pack far more often than a plastic Tamiya buggy ever deserved to. Lol! And though I was going at full race pace the 3D parts held up - surprising! Time to finalize some of the parts and then rebuild the car. I must admit the body started out as a joke but I'm growing to like it! I have a repro of it so I might paint it up and use it for my TRF-TD2.

I'm sure the experts will know best but I'll share my experience having just put together a setup with TRF201 hubs which I believe offset wise are identical to the XV01 ones. The xv01 hubs move the outdrive inwards so some things to note: - the driveshaft will need to be shorter. The 64mm shafts from the TRF buggy rear is what I'm using. - I needed 3x 0.5mm shims (or 1x 1.5mm spacer) with inner diameter 5mm to space the outdrive inwards so the bone has enough engagement with the gearbox side outdrive. - I'm using universals from a DB01 (spec-wise should be identical with those from TRF series), and to convert to hex drive I needed the optional conversion hex from Tamiya. - on the plus side, the offset can now use standard race wheels and achieve the 250mm width. Hope that helps.

Wanna see something hideous? It's a local holiday today so I wanted to take the TD2 to the track and as I haven't cut the existing shell to fit yet (I need more time to mourn hacking up a perfectly good body), I tried my luck in my used body bin to see if there was anything that may fit... Only one did without much work... It was an ancient and beat up vintage 834b body. In a sense it truly is hideous, but strangely it also looks somewhat cool in a trollish sort of way. This certainly isn't going to be the final body on this car but today it's surely going to turn some heads.... AWAY that is! Lol! As the thread title says, a different take... What say you, "That's a travesty! My eyes! My eyes!" or "is it wrong I don't hate it?"

What was I thinking? Please do forgive my ignorance. Lol! Tonight I decided I would try to fit a TRF rear hub on the TD2. I've heard that the stock hub is prone to breakage and although I've not had issues myself, my buddy has broken 2 in 2 weeks of running... So I thought I would give this a shot. Thanks to the guys here on Tamiyaclub I have a good idea of how it all goes together so how hard could it be right?! Lol... Kudos to the guys who figure out how to retrofit parts from different cars together... This kinda work ain't easy! Took me the better part of the evening looking for the parts in my stash of old stuff and then trying to figure out what shims and spacers I needed and where... I think it all looks pretty decent now but the workspace is in a mess. Looking forward to giving this new rear setup a test on the track.

The box wrench balancing tool is pure brilliance. Tamiya should market it on all their kits - "special balancing tool included!" lol!

Very nice re-arrangement! I like how you used the hole in the chassis (in front of the battery) to install a battery stop. Have you ever had chance to check the weight balance? I am curious if such a layout would bias the weight to the left but I suspect it should be quite balanced. Also, how do you have the battery secured? Love the white rear shocks btw!

Was filled with anticipation today as I took my buggy to the track for it's first track run. Asked a buddy to film some video of the car going around the track. I hope to do a more detailed video when the project is closer to complete, but for anyone interested, here's 3-minutes worth of the car doing laps at the local astroturf track. I definitely noted down some things I would need to fine tune for the setup, but for a first run, it far exceeded my expectations.

I totally get what you mean. I bought my TD4 and TD2 for it's quirky "tamiya-ness" too. I admit that my little project undoes the most unique feature of the TD2, but it''s still essentially a Tamiya and I will definitely get a kick giving the Associated, Mugen, TLR and Yokomo guys a run for their money with my budget Tamiya. lol!

I think it was your posts about the td2 on the track that I remember reading with great interest. How awesome to give them big racing brands a run for their money with a Tamiya! Love the BBX. It isn't a race car but that gearbox is an awesome foundation for one imo. I think that 3 link rear suspension setup has potential for loamy low grip conditions too...

Thanks for the kind words. I actually have little issue with the oddness of the platforms. Perhaps my wish would be for the big T to have given these cars a bit more development, some more tuning options since they are the closest to track cars that we're getting. I think most of the car is pretty decent in terms of durability with the exception of the rear hub. I haven't broken one myself but a buddy of mine has gone through a couple. Transmission parts are common with some other cars I think so they should be available for a while... Heh... They could release the td4 with another bulbous body and call it the egress 2024 and upset everyone all over again. Lol. I liked both the DB01 and DB02. The 02 was simply too fragile out of the box and cursed with that gigantic body. I felt it had character though and still holding on to mine though it has never seen track time given the DB01 was such a tank that performed so well.

After a frantic evening of cobbling parts and electronics together I think the car is ready for a light test tomorrow. Light test because all the front end parts are 3D printed prototypes and there is almost zero setup on the car other than checking the ride height and camber. Probably will find lots to refine but I'm most keen to determine if the concept is worth the effort to continue. Here are some pre-run pics. I think she looks pretty decent... At least not going to be boring at the track. Lol!

Thank you. Yes, that's a Kyosho hard wing which I thought fit the overall look. All this BBX talk makes me want to take the car out for a run... it is awesome fun at the track.

That is a fine example of a TD2. Thank you for sharing. fingers crossed for a TD2 Pro...

Unfortunately I also think it is unlikely this platform will see any further development. After the initial buzz there just doesn't seem to be anymore news regarding or options for the TD-series. Pity though, I think the cars were really good platforms with some little issues to fix. For one thing I wish Tamiya would have gone with a more conventional gearbox and chassis design where the 2 were kept separate - would have been easier to be creative with custom work. As it is we are pretty much stuck with working with the stock chassis - it's interesting, but presents a number of limitations to someone like me who really tries not to drill holes or hack up stock parts unless absolutely necessary. :)

Thanks. It was one of those 'aha' moments that only came organically after I had designed and mocked up the front bulkhead and shocktower. Looked at the space and wondered if a servo could fit there and it barely does - lol! The part I designed for the servo mount also bolts the main chassis to the front kick-up plate and to the upper brace so it gives much needed stiffness to the whole front-end. Hope all works out in testing. :) It's been on my mind for sometime. I had tried to see how I could work around the stock bulkhead to add a shock tower but just couldn't work it out. Decided to try mocking up a new bulkhead and the ideas suddenly started to come alive. Thank you. If it works it would ease tuning tremendously. It was a nightmare working on the inboard shocks. Everytime I needed to change piston or oil it would require so much disassembly... just to do a bench drop test to figure I needed to re-do it all again. For me, part of the issue was also finding equivalent replacements for the stock plastic shocks (which though were in the ballpark in terms of handling - leaked) - it was a headache because most of the racing world has gone big-bore and it was challenging to find the right oil and pistons... not to mention springs of not just the right spring-rate but length as well. I would love for Tamiya to come up with an option kit like this! The body can't fit now unless I cut the front end... and I won't do it until I have done some testing and am minimally convinced it's worth keeping the car in this configuration. :)

Thanks. I'm half hearted about cutting the front end off the TD2 shell but if the mods work well I will likely go that way because I do like the uniqueness of the Tamiya body... I'm trying to retain the driver figure as well if possible. I actually have options for the battery now because I've managed to move the steering servo into the space where the inboard shocks were (I'm quite pleased with how that turned out). I'm going for a more traditional lengthwise layout first (as shown in the pics). But I can also fit the pack transversely into the whole space just behind the servo now. I think moving the pack so far forward would be a fun experiment - I just have to work out a retaining system to hold the pack securely.

Although it seems to have lost some favor in the general Tamiya-sphere, the TD2 (and TD4) is for me still one of the more interesting releases in recent years. They are the closest to racing buggies that we have now... But with a distinct Tamiya-ness about them. Mine ran decently out of the box at my local track where I wanted to make it somewhat competitive... But as soon as I tried to tune that inboard front end suspension it would drive me a little nuts. It was near impossible to find something that worked once I swapped out the stock plastic shocks for something more race-spec... Oils, pistons and springs were hard to match with the cantilevered setup. It didn't help that making changes was quite an involved process. So much as I loved the unique front suspension, I decided to do the unthinkable and remove it (please forgive me)... And tried to design a more standard race setup for the a TD2 so I could continue my road to race-tuning this car. Here is as prototype front end that I finally put together after a number of deficient designs. It's still a work in progress, but I think I'm almost ready to do some light track testing... If it works I'll fabricate some of the parts in carbon and continue refining from there. Is there anyone else out there with some love for the TD2?

Be interested to see what other bodies can potentially fit this buggy too. Here's something I whipped up to hit the track while I took my time to paint the stock shell. Was going for a kyosho scorpion inspired look.

Love the race update. Please keep them coming. Are you using the updated metal bevel gears in the transmission or the sick plastic? In my experience the plastic certainly wouldn't handle hard running on a high grip astroturf track.

Here's a revised electronics layout on the TD4. I think this is possible with a minimum of shaving down battery retainers at the sides of the car. Overall, I think it's a nice clean look and does away with the need for clips and screws for the battery removal/install. Simplified steering setup should provide slightly improved steering response too. Weather has not allowed me to run this yet but I expect it should do fine with the overall lower CG. I also bought a set of non-tamiya hop ups - the front cantilevers, steering bellcranks, steering bridge and also servo mounts are all nice blue aluminum parts but totally non-tamiya. They also cost a total of US$20. If anyone is interested, the finishing of the parts is pretty decent and the aluminum, though probably softer than what Tamiya should be using - is probably gonna work fine. The problem with them is they come fitted with terrible bearings and if you want them to work right there's some elbow grease needed to get those out and to fit some proper ones. I'll provide more info on what I had to do if anyone's interested.