CR-01 Non-Tamiya hop ups – Forum Novice

[LewisA]

Hi everyone,

Had my Rock Socker for a few months, loved the build but am disappointed by its performance – seems I’m not the only one.

So I drive it “backwards” – rear wheel steering.  I reckon it climbs better when the front wheels stay straight and with the weight of the battery over the back axle.  I have secured a heavy padlock on the front axle where the front steering servo would sit which adds useful weight.  I swapped the front and rear bumpers so that the shell fits the other way around. 

Locked diffs are obviously necessary but significantly reduce manoeuvrability – rear wheel steering seems to help.  I might buy a three channel transmitter and add front steering but only as a last resort!

I have zip-tied the suspension – loved that mod.

Tamiya chassis Hop-ups are all out of stock so can anyone recommend good alternatives? 

(Bent lower arms, shocks/dampers, tyres/wheels, springs, drive shafts, etc)

I don’t want to spend £££ but it is fun to try and make it better

hanks,

Lewis

[Frog Jumper]

Love the Master Lock Mod!

Terry

[LewisA]

Thanks, perfect fit and much quicker than sticking wheel weights round the wheel hubs!  Way too many screws holding the beads in place

[Badcrumble]

I like the addition of serious weight!

I don't know about better but for fun I ditched the Tamiya cantilever suspension for standard dampers as part of a conversion to a monster truck.

I had a set of secondhand Proline Powerstrokes available. Cheaper options will be out there.

JunFac driveshafts are cheap(er) alternatives to the Tamiya hop-ups.

[LewisA]

3 hours ago, Badcrumble said:

I like the addition of serious weight!

I don't know about better but for fun I ditched the Tamiya cantilever suspension for standard dampers as part of a conversion to a monster truck.

I had a set of secondhand Proline Powerstrokes available. Cheaper options will be out there.

JunFac driveshafts are cheap(er) alternatives to the Tamiya hop-ups.

Padlock weight is great, keeps the nose down on steep climbs. 
Thanks for drive shaft recommendation, I’ve not broken any yet and kit came with two spares, but when I break my first one I’ll check out the JunFac 

cheers

lewis

[Nikko85]

Can you not get a Y harness to just control both wheels with channel 1?

That way it would just be the cost of a servo, if you don't have a spare and not a whole rc/rx unit.

4 wheel steering will also make it steer much more tightly.

 

[LewisA]

37 minutes ago, Nikko85 said:

Can you not get a Y harness to just control both wheels with channel 1?

That way it would just be the cost of a servo, if you don't have a spare and not a whole rc/rx unit.

4 wheel steering will also make it steer much more tightly.

 

Sounds good, can you help with a link to a y harness?  (I’ve loads to catch up on on RC stuff having not built anything for about 25 years)

[Nikko85]

https://www.amazon.co.uk/TOOHUI-Y-Cables-Standard-Y-Harness-Extensions/dp/B07GX2TSR8

Something like this. Essentially it doubles up the signal from channel 1 so it can split into two servos and they both do the same function.

However you might need something to reverse one of the servos, otherwise the car won't turn properly as both sets of wheels would point in the same direction. I don't have a CR01 so I'm not sure if a standard Y harness will work or you'll need something that can reverse one of the signals, perhaps someone else here can advise?

PS I really love the look of the CR01 and I know it's not that modern, but the rock socker looks great.

 

 

[davidwj95]

I turned my CR01 into a monster truck because I preferred using my hilift for the scale trail type driving. I converted to 4 wheel steering using a second servo on the back axle and a Y harness so both go into one channel. The steering is considerably tighter now although I also run open diffs. 

 

 

[bRIBEGuy]

When I still had my CR01 (Unimog), I found that 4WS was the best mod for increased performance.  Beyond that, it REALLY depends what you want out of the rig.  As many here have pointed out/discovered, the CR01 is sort of a crappy scale/trail truck, and will easily have circles run around it by an SCX10 (or anything similar).  Non-Tamiya tires will help a lot as well if you are going to aim for more "performance", but the CR01 (in my opinion) excels in near stock form for mild trail "bashing".  With 4WS, stock tires, and a locked (or near locked) rear diff, I found the truck to be a lot of fun on 2S if you weren't being too "serious".  Replace finesse with more throttle, and slide and bounce your way thru a fun run.

[LewisA]

8 hours ago, bRIBEGuy said:

When I still had my CR01 (Unimog), I found that 4WS was the best mod for increased performance.  Beyond that, it REALLY depends what you want out of the rig.  As many here have pointed out/discovered, the CR01 is sort of a crappy scale/trail truck, and will easily have circles run around it by an SCX10 (or anything similar).  Non-Tamiya tires will help a lot as well if you are going to aim for more "performance", but the CR01 (in my opinion) excels in near stock form for mild trail "bashing".  With 4WS, stock tires, and a locked (or near locked) rear diff, I found the truck to be a lot of fun on 2S if you weren't being too "serious".  Replace finesse with more throttle, and slide and bounce your way thru a fun run.

Cheers, can you recommend any non Tamiya tyres?  The price of their hop up versions is mad!

Agree that the car is a bit rowdy in stock form and is faster than expected but nonetheless great fun to drive off road.  And I like the shell although it’s a bit busy with all the stickers.  Easy to do as a first attempt after all these years.  Wish I’d painted the red roll bars as the stickers are taking a bashing!