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museguy

Neo Fighter Buggy (DT-03) Build

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Hi All,

Just clicked "Confirm" on the purchase of a Tamiya Neo Fighter Buggy (DT-03) Kit #58587 ($116 with shipping). I loved building my first RC car the TT-02 Subaru 99' Monte Carlo, Advice for First Time RC Car thread and now that I am finishing up that build want to start the next. I am curious about 2WD off road buggies and thought the Neo Fighter Buggy (DT-03) would be a good way to try out 2WD. 

The kit already comes with CVA shocks and I already have an ESC, battery, servo, and receiver. 

Are there any other "must have" hop ups for the Neo Fighter Buggy (DT-03) Build ?

Thank you all ! 

The Tamiya Club was great and very supportive for the TT-02 build, cheers. 

See below a specific question about bearings.

Notes:

  1. Servo
  2. Brushless Motor
  3. ESC
  4. Receiver
  5. Shocks
  6. Tires and Tires
  7. Rear Wing 
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Let me say..... ball bearings and some tires? Welcome to the DT03Lovers club.

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Good choice! I'd add rubber sealed bearings and a steel pinion. 

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3 minutes ago, mastino said:

Let me say..... ball bearings and some tires? Welcome to the DT03Lovers club.

Thank you @mastino !

I can say that I already love the TT-02 and many people seem to compare the TT-02 and the DT-03. 

Any suggestions for tires and wheels that can be used for both street and dirt ? 

Cheers

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21 minutes ago, TurnipJF said:

Good choice! I'd add rubber sealed bearings and a steel pinion. 

Hi @TurnipJF

Thank you for all of your support with my first build the TT-02, you have been great !

Is TRD considered one of the best for bearings ? 

Cheers

 

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Love the @stew_mac videos !

So impressivee what he has accomplished with the TT-02 and DT-03, I am definitely a fan. He is running a 19T pinion.

 

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Tyres appropriate to the surface you run on. The kit tyres aren't great. 

If going brushless 13.5 is a nice point on these. If sticking with buggy wheels rather than bigger ones like that video, 19t steel pinion and you are away. If going truck wheels then stick with the 17t. I have blitzer beetle wheels and Schumacher truck tyres on mine and it's super fun. You just need the aqroshot long axle front knuckles to fit them. For those comical wheels above you will need some kind of 12mm hex conversion on the front. 

Rear springs - much stiffer ones! I see you are in USA, so I'm not sure whether these are available but Core RC 2.6lb big bore springs are good. Otherwise the Tamiya DF03 spring set (yes DF, not DT) gives you a bunch of stiffer options. Kit fronts are fine. I use gold medium from the DF03 kit. 

Weight on the front - get some stick on wheel balance weights for full size car. It will be a few bucks for a 60gram strip on ebay. Stick as much as you can around the serbo and front of the car. 

With those unadjustable CVA shocks I would recommend thicker than kit oil. Try 40wt rear 45wt front. 

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Parts I'm running on mine :-

 

3racing diff joints, to run CVD's -

https://www.rcmart.com/3racing-diff-outer-joint-for-tamiya-tt-01-tt01-02-00019744

Yeah Racing CVD's - (but remove the wee grub screw, and add a dab of loctite)

https://www.rcmart.com/yeah-racing-g45-universal-steel-swing-shaft-for-tamiya-df03-tt02b-df03-015v2-00026617

 

Aluminium servo mount, tapped screws, so you can get a bit of tightness on them, and stiffen the front end a bit..-

https://www.rcmart.com/gpm-racing-aluminum-servo-mount-set-blue-for-tamiya-dt03-dt3024-b-00110326

 

Full Turnbuckle set. Something I put on all my cars, to allow tuning, but also allows for larger bore shocks on the front (I'm running schumachers big bores)-

https://www.rcmart.com/tamiya-dt-03-full-turnbuckle-set-54572-00038824

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Surface dependent, a simple tyre upgrade is just to replace the fronts with something softish and spikey. Solves the understeer and the stock rears are ok. I use ballistic buggy greens. I also find the car fun with truck wheels/tyres all round. 

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14 hours ago, museguy said:

Hi @TurnipJF

Thank you for all of your support with my first build the TT-02, you have been great !

Is TRD considered one of the best for bearings ? 

Cheers

 

I am UK-based, so I use RCBearings.co.uk for all my bearing needs. Never tried TRD. They look fine on the website though. :)

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Today I was ordering shock oil and found this chart helpful;

How to Convert CST to WT

https://www.teknorc.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Oil_Spring_Conversions_Chart.pdf

WT to CST Silicone Oil Conversion Chart

10wt = 100cst

15wt = 150cst

20wt = 200cst

25wt = 275cst

30wt = 350cst

35wt = 425cst

40wt = 500cst

45wt = 575cst

50wt = 650cst

55wt = 725cst

60wt = 800cst

70wt = 900cst

80wt = 1000cst

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2 hours ago, museguy said:

Today I was ordering shock oil and found this chart helpful;

How to Convert CST to WT

https://www.teknorc.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Oil_Spring_Conversions_Chart.pdf

WT to CST Silicone Oil Conversion Chart

 

Or just buy the 3 sets of Tamiya oil (#200 - #1000) and be done with. WT is a made up number that varies between brand anyway. 

 

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On 3/2/2022 at 8:44 AM, museguy said:

Today I was ordering shock oil and found this chart helpful;

How to Convert CST to WT

https://www.teknorc.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Oil_Spring_Conversions_Chart.pdf

WT to CST Silicone Oil Conversion Chart

10wt = 100cst

15wt = 150cst

20wt = 200cst

25wt = 275cst

30wt = 350cst

35wt = 425cst

40wt = 500cst

45wt = 575cst

50wt = 650cst

55wt = 725cst

60wt = 800cst

70wt = 900cst

80wt = 1000cst

Those charts are useful. I use Losi oils so when checking other setup sheets have to convert to CST to work out the equivalent WT from other brands. I found that Losi was good because I could buy a set with decent sized bottles and they're readily available for me. Just stick to a brand as it should be consistent across the whole range, if you try to mix and match brands you won't get consistent gaps between the WT. Most brands run their own WT rather than use CST, CST is better because its an actual measure, but if you can't get them then stick with something else. Tamiya use CST but sell tiny bottles which won't last long

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