Translation help needed (Japanese I think)

[futureworks]

Hi

I bought this vintage Tech Racing aftermarket hop up ages ago, believing it is a rear sway bar for a TA01/02. Having looked at the instruction sheet in the pack, it also appears to reference ‘FF’ so I’m wondering a) what the header card text actually says, and b) what the instruction sheet says, including about whether this will fit FF01 cars as well. Can anyone help please?

[ad456]

Here's what my iPhone came up with, it does reference a "Potato Screw" so might well be a bit wrong.

[futureworks]

Thanks, it does seem to be indicating that it is also designed to work on the rear of  FF01….unless I’m misinterpreting what the ‘FF’ reference means.

[ad456]

It looks that way. Hopefully someone may chime in that can understand Japanese better than an Apple algorithm

 

[Frog Jumper]

“FF” may indicated “front”???

[futureworks]

18 minutes ago, Frog Jumper said:

“FF” may indicated “front”???

I’d toyed with that notion as well, but didn’t make sense with the apparent differentiation between FF and 4WD in that bottom left hand box on the instruction sheet, and the FF01 kits from back in the day had FF emblazoned on the box lid. What we really need is someone with the language skills!

[Frog Jumper]

I’m supposed to go see my mom today.  I’ll ask her, she is Japanese.

[Willy iine]

I don't see any reference to the FF01 on there..  but it does say to bend at 18mm if FF...I'd  give it a try, nothing loose at this point (?)

[Frog Jumper]

Someone with an FF and TA chassis should chime in, but based on some random googlez, the chassis rear ends are similar???  I don’t know for sure.

I bet it will work on the FF01 chassis…

 

[futureworks]

2 hours ago, Frog Jumper said:

Someone with an FF and TA chassis should chime in, but based on some random googlez, the chassis rear ends are similar???  I don’t know for sure.

I bet it will work on the FF01 chassis…

 

Good shout - I put my FF01 side by side with a chassis which has the original 4WD/TA01/2 parts with the rear damper mounts in the same line, and put a ruler on top of both mounts as a horizontal check. Should work (albeit 4WD sway bars bend towards the front as they connect to the lower suspension arms at their fronts, FWD bars need to point back as the connecting point on the lower arms is at the rear), but am keen to find out what those instructions really say.

 

[Willy iine]

On 2/5/2023 at 10:02 AM, futureworks said:

Good shout - I put my FF01 side by side with a chassis which has the original 4WD/TA01/2 parts with the rear damper mounts in the same line, and put a ruler on top of both mounts as a horizontal check. Should work (albeit 4WD sway bars bend towards the front as they connect to the lower suspension arms at their fronts, FWD bars need to point back as the connecting point on the lower arms is at the rear), but am keen to find out what those instructions really say.

 

 

It doesn't.  I posted above, there is no reference to the FF01... just days if FF bend at 18mm.   

 

[Frog Jumper]

2 hours ago, Willy iine said:

It doesn't.  I posted above, there is no reference to the FF01... just days if FF bend at 18mm.   

 

Then the next question would be:  can the TA cars be set up as FF (front drive front motor)???  I suppose you could set it up as 4wd and then disengage the rear drive???  I don’t know this series of chassis.  I just like a good mystery!

[Frog Jumper]

Worked with mom and an online translator.  Pretty rough…

Header card:

Big at the top:

“super stabilizer (rear)”

Then fine print along the bottom roughly translates to:

”For Tamiya touring car TA…”

“It is for creating rear grip balance. Show off your force at each corner”

 

[Pablo68]

I understand the parts in katakana, not the kanji though. The translation isn't too bad as far as I can tell.

[futureworks]

So my latest thinking based on research into other Tech Racing aftermarket parts from this era is that the company appears to have a tendency to use one generic instruction sheet for different variants of the same parts. They do a FF01 rear upper arm and brace set for example, one set which is designed for the standard chassis, and another which has extra parts in the bag as it’s designed to use on a FF01 where the FRP or carbon chassis upgrade has been done. Both these parts have different parts numbers and header cards, but the same instruction sheet from what I’ve seen on the web.
 

So I think that’s what we have here, an instruction sheet covering a rear and a front Stabilizer set, with the header card indicating this one is the rear set. The FF reference could be a reference to Front (jury still out on that imo) but irrespective the bottom left box definitely depicts a top down view of a FF01/TA01/2 front hub. I also found this pic of a variant of  the same set as I have but fitted to the front, i.e. 90% identical basic parts, with slight differences to a couple of them. It is definitely a different set as the connecting rods, whilst identical in design (in that they have a flange where the ball connector screw up to on the thread), the ones in my pack are very much longer, so designed for the rear only. The other thing that is clear from the instructions is that the set is designed to be mounted using a longer threaded screw through the body mounting hole. 

My best approach, as I’m wanting this for a FF01 rear, is I think to experiment. I don’t want to bend the stabilizer wire in the pack until I know if and how it will fit, so I’ve stripped a length of gardening wire which is malleable and bends easily, and will try out fitting the set using that to begin with.