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Hey guys, sorry it took so long but all of my parts finally came in for the Hotshot build! Shipping things to Canada takes forever sometimes. I'm going to start on the build before the New Year but I'll be in Alabama for work for a few weeks after that so updates will be a bit delayed! So I've got an original YOU-G bumper and aluminum wing, Pro Line rims that I painted white with Prime and Shadow 4WD slicks, MIP ball bearing differentials, a Futaba high torque metal gear servo, a special edition Copperhead 10 ESC, a HobbyStar 540 V3 10.5T SPEC motor, a Futaba 3PRKA transmitter and receiver combo, a Fast Eddy ball bearing kit and finally a Hotshot Dart body by TBG. Let me know if you have any suggestions for other hop ups! Thanks guys and wish me luck

This is my short wheelbase XV-01 or what I call the XV-01S. This conversion shortens the standard 257mm wheelbase to 237mm wheelbase allowing you to use the original TA03fs bodies such as the Peugeot 206 and Corolla WRC, or any of the short TA03rs bodies as well. I always enjoyed playing with the TA03FS but as we know parts are not cheap and hard to come by, and are known to crack easily. I then bought the XV-01 Long Damper Spec and enjoyed the durability and performance compared to the TA-03fs. I wanted a strong platform in which I could use the old short bodies, so the XV-01 made the most sense as it is front engine 4wd. Thus the XV-01S was born. Parts List: Upgraded parts include: Ball diff for front and rear (TA06), metal 18t pulley front and rear. Running a tamiya 10.5t sensored motor with the TBLE-02s esc with the tamiya fan. Stock gearing on 2s. metal gear Spectrum servo with gyro. The pictures below show the XV01S next to the original TA03fs for comparison.

Hi all, I've recently started my DT-03 Racing Fighter build, and I'm incorporating a number a Tamiya and after-market Hop-Up options (as one does). One such upgrade is the Tamiya DT-02 Ball Differential Set (#53863); despite being designated for a DT-02, this is listed as a upgrade for the DT-03 chassis. After assembling the diff itself and installing it into the gearbox assembly, I noticed the drive cups that came with the ball diff set were considerably smaller than the kit supplied drive cups. I've attached a photo below to illustrate this. The trouble is, this make it impossible to use the kit supplied dog bones (they simply won't fit in the small drive cups), and I can't swap the larger kit supplied drive cups as the interface to the differential itself is completely different. Now, I do have on order a set if steel alloy CVD drive shafts from GPM (part number DT3264SC), which I purchased prior to starting this build. The reason is because I will be running a 10.5T brushless motor with a 2S LiPo in this car and it's my understanding the stock plastic drive cups and dog bones become a weak point when power goes up. However, in light of this recent discovery, my question is will the GPM CVD drive shaft set work with the smaller drive cups of this ball differential? If not, what CVDs do I need to source that will fit these smaller drive cups? Should I be looking to replace the small drive cups with something larger instead? Any help at all would be greatly appreciated. Cheers! Michael

I'm not very good at ball diffs. I completely melted the one in my DF03 and had to buy hardened outdrives. I snapped the bolt in my Mad Monkey diff after one day of racing. The diff in my B4.1 Worlds FT held up to a couple of seasons racing, but I was so worried about breaking it that once set, I never touched it. Last week I put a Tamiya SRB ball diff into my vintage lightweight racer project. I had it done up reasonably tight, so there was still some diff action but it was stiff. On Sunday it lasted 1 lap on astro (with Frog tyres and a fairly hot mod motor, not sure what as the label has come off, I thought it was an old 19x1 but it feels faster, possibly a 15x1) before I lost all drive. I figured the motor was too hot, there was too much traction, and I'd stripped something in the box. However when I finally got around to checking yesterday, I found the diff had come completely loose. There was nothing in the instructions about using threadlock, so I assumed the diff would hold together if it was done up tight enough. But how tight should it be? Should it be so tight that there's barely any diff action? Right now if I turn one wheel, it turns the motor - not the opposite wheel. If I lock the spur then it will turn the other wheel, but it's pretty tight. Will that give me any diff action on track, or will I be running as if I have a spool? The SRB diff isn't cheap. Should I assemble with threadlock so I can run it looser and get some diff action? It seems the diff wants to slip if it isn't done up fairly tight. Or should I swap to a slower motor to save the diff balls from meltdown?

Yes people, I own the holy graal of the Astute serie but unfortunatelly I don't own the instruction sheet and one diff cup is missing. Can someone scans and posts the instruction and has someone this cup please? Many thanks. Max

hello cruel world. i was rebuilding the gearbox on my monster frog (aka kermit the hulk) and was putting in the monster beetle thorp ball diff i have. well i have no idea how it happened but i managed to lose a part. what's worse, i have no idea what the part is called to try to look for a replacement. the part in question - great! another piece just fell apart as i'm writing this - fits inside the longer half of the metal parts which reduce the diameter of the opening so as to fit the end of the drive cup (the one that connects to the half shaft/dogbone). the opening currently is hexagonal and it pretty perfectly fits around the outside of a wheel lock nut (7mm?). but the also hexagonal end of the cup is much smaller. the other part that fell apart seems to be a tiny bearing in the middle. a pic will make this easier to describe: click the pic to see a bigger pic. can anyone help??