TT02 build quality

[joshuaT 13]

So I've been out of the RC game for such a long time and found a rtr TT02 Mustang for a price I couldn't pass up. Yeah the guy built it and I ordered a bearing set so I pulled her all apart and made her spin better but it feels like it's poor quality in parts.  Just the steering has me questing whether it will even go straight or not. The kit for the alloy arms is almost $50, cheapers versions out there but I like to stick to Tamiya....why though..., because just holding the car without even running it and I can see so much play and has me wondering if it'll even go straight down the road.

I went thru and tightened all the screws just to be sure they weren't striped out and even the cups that hold the bearings for the wheels just seem off.

Is it just me or am I crazy?

[Kpowell911 1233]

Yea the TT02 in stock form has pretty poor steering. The Type S Model has improved steering, but theres not a huge amount you can do to the stock TT02 steering. I run a solid alloy servo horn as opposed to a servo saver which does firm things up, but its a pretty common issue people have

[Kowalski86 2178]

What you're experiencing is normal, a better servo saver and a set of Yeah Racing turnbuckles will help, the turnbuckles replace the sloppy fixed links.

The aluminum steering isn't really worth it, it helps but it's very expensive for what it is.

Some of the slop is due to the suspension arm design, some of its from the amount of plastic-on-plastic in the design.

I've owned a Type S (with the expensive shiny bellcranks), and several standard TT02s. I've found the best steering "upgrade" is to replace it with a different touring car altogether.

[Willy iine 17939]

I think a decent car to get from Tamiya in 2023 for veteran RC folks is the XV02-Pro... you can setup as on-road or rally no issue..extremely versatile for bashing.  But this is just me.

If one is more a beginner or just a casual RC person, I am sure the TT02 variants are an excellent choice.     My TT02B continues to be one of my favorite bashers in front of my house.

[Kpowell911 1233]

2 hours ago, Kowalski86 said:

I've found the best steering "upgrade" is to replace it with a different touring car altogether.

Unfortunately, this is the correct answer. I recently picked up a cheap ZD Racing clone type RC. It may even be an LRP S10. It was £30 with a brushless system and servo. I only bought it to store a shell on. Truth be told, its better than a TT02 in every way

[skom25 645]

I am not only one with similar opinion. Steering is probably the worst part of kit.

Yes, standard kit is poor. There are few Hop Ups which are needed to make it nice. I have TT-02B and with quite many Hop Ups, it is really nice car.

However, truth is that for price of kit and all upgrades, I would buy TD4 or XV-02 which are probably better kits. Good thing is that parts are really cheap.

Probably Tamiya is not best choice if you want cheap model. There are too many things which need to be improved straight from.the box.

[Kowalski86 2178]

1 hour ago, Kpowell911 said:

Unfortunately, this is the correct answer. I recently picked up a cheap ZD Racing clone type RC. It may even be an LRP S10. It was £30 with a brushless system and servo. I only bought it to store a shell on. Truth be told, its better than a TT02 in every way

I replaced my TT02 with an old TL01 (hey it was cheap and plenty hopped up!), it has its own downsides but the steering is certainly better. It it doesn't fall apart as easily either (stripped screws, dogbones, etc).

Ive been eyeballing the Losi V100, its $150 RTR, and it let's me skip the "sticker/$20 of paint/sourcing pinions of a weird ratio, bearings", stuff of Tamiyas on-road cars.

The main merit of the TT-02 is that it's easy to put together/work on, it makes for a great body/wheel holder for shelf queens!

[Sogogi 2418]

I think tt-02 is good enough for what it is. Now I think of it, I would enjoy more with stock tt-02 (with bearings) rather than tt-02 with bunch of hop ups. 

[TurnipJF 8780]

I think the TT-02 gets a lot of hate because of how basic the base spec version is - and I agree, it is very basic indeed. 

Having learned my lesson from having spent way too much upgrading base spec TT-01s, I went straight to the TT-02 Type S, which doesn't need much to bring it to the same level of performance as a TB-03 - quite a respectable club level racer. 

[Kowalski86 2178]

23 minutes ago, Sogogi said:

I think tt-02 is good enough for what it is. Now I think of it, I would enjoy more with stock tt-02 (with bearings) rather than tt-02 with bunch of hop ups. 

I think the best way to enjoy a TT02, is to just throw some QoL hop ups at it (bearings, shocks, turnbuckles, servo saver) and drive the snot out of it.

Or, treat it as a shelf queen that you can occasionally drive indoors.

[Willy iine 17939]

22 minutes ago, Sogogi said:

I think tt-02 is good enough for what it is. Now I think of it, I would enjoy more with stock tt-02 (with bearings) rather than tt-02 with bunch of hop ups. 

I agree completely.  Some cars are best performers in their basic forms as they are wallet friendly and big bang for the buck.  

I would say this about the MB01 as well.. they share similar parts with the TT02 and best kept as bare as possible.. well, for me at least.  

[IXLR8 587]

48 minutes ago, Kowalski86 said:

I replaced my TT02 with an old TL01 (hey it was cheap and plenty hopped up!), it has its own downsides but the steering is certainly better.

Ive been eyeballing the Losi V100, its $150 RTR, and it let's me skip the "sticker/$20 of paint/sourcing pinions of a weird ratio, bearings", stuff of Tamiyas on-road cars.

The main merit of the TT-02 is that it's easy to put together/work on, it makes for a great body/wheel holder for shelf queens!

I agree, the TT-02 makes a great display stand for my favorite body shells.  

By chance, have you driven a Kyosho Fazer?  I have Vaterra V100, Losi V100 (identical chassis/electrics) and two Kyosho Fazers and the Fazers are vastly suppier to the V100's in every way.  The Kyoshos are faster out of the box, have better handling, oil shocks, and the nicest RTR radio systems I've seen so far.  And, they are priced similarly or maybe even a little cheaper than Losi depending on which model you're looking at.

[alvinlwh 5292]

1 hour ago, Kpowell911 said:

Unfortunately, this is the correct answer. I recently picked up a cheap ZD Racing clone type RC. It may even be an LRP S10. It was £30 with a brushless system and servo. I only bought it to store a shell on. Truth be told, its better than a TT02 in every way

The LRP kits are amazing especially considering what they cost.

[Kowalski86 2178]

1 hour ago, IXLR8 said:

I agree, the TT-02 makes a great display stand for my favorite body shells.  

By chance, have you driven a Kyosho Fazer? 

I have not had the opportunity to drive a Fazer, aren't they a little more expensive than the V100?

[IXLR8 587]

2 hours ago, Kowalski86 said:

I have not had the opportunity to drive a Fazer, aren't they a little more expensive than the V100?

Fazer prices ranges between $220 to $246 and Horizon normally had the Losi V100's priced around $259.  However, I just check and Horizon currently has the '69 Camaro and Chevy C10 V100's sale priced at $150.  That's a huge discount - perhaps they are liquidating remaining inventory?  I really don't like the car but at that price, one could spend the $110 savings on better electronics and shocks.  For instance, the supplied servo doesn't center and is slower than molasses.  The supplied "shocks" are really just pogo sticks with some very viscous grease-like substance wrapping the exterior that causes them to dampen for the first minute of run time.  Then, the car just bounces.

On the plus side, that V100 bodies do look very nice.  I have the '69 and '70 V100 Camaros and both actually perform very well -- while setting on the shelf. 

[markbt73 4931]

My TT02 is box-stock with ball bearings, and it tracks dead straight. Steering is pretty sharp, actually, although it needs more lock. It does torque-steer a little, turns more easily one way than the other under power, but that's a shaft-drive thing, not a TT02 thing. But the slop doesn't seem to affect it much, really. My advice is to go drive it, and then see what you think.

I do have a Fazer as well (the kit version), and it is a lot tighter steering and suspension, but the drivetrain is a lot noisier. And if you think Tamiya alloy pinions are a problem, Kyosho specs a plastic pinion for the Fazer. And the kit includes bearings and oil shocks, but doesn't come with a body or a motor, so value-wise, it's a wash.

[Kowalski86 2178]

45 minutes ago, IXLR8 said:

Fazer prices ranges between $220 to $246 and Horizon normally had the Losi V100's priced around $259.  However, I just check and Horizon currently has the '69 Camaro and Chevy C10 V100's sale priced at $150.  That's a huge discount - perhaps they are liquidating remaining inventory?

I'd likely replace the electronics, but I am worried about Horizon canning the V100. Before they canned it, the Losi 22S SCT was $150 for a while.

21 minutes ago, markbt73 said:

I do have a Fazer as well (the kit version), and it is a lot tighter steering and suspension, but the drivetrain is a lot noisier. And if you think Tamiya alloy pinions are a problem, Kyosho specs a plastic pinion for the Fazer.

I dunno what to think of that. Alloy pinions can at least be recycled, plastic? Why not just say "Pinion Not Included" at that point?

[alvinlwh 5292]

11 hours ago, joshuaT said:

a price I couldn't pass up

And then you see the price of everything else to bring it up to a decent level!

[Kowalski86 2178]

33 minutes ago, alvinlwh said:

And then you see the price of everything else to bring it up to a decent level!

Let's see, Ill bring up some of my own estimations that I made for my last TT02 project.

TT02 Kit=$110

Bearings=$15 (Using a cheaper brand)

Good Pinion Gear= $5

Tamiya Oil shocks= $25

Not including paint or a servo, $45 of that is to just make it something close to being "hobby grade". So $155 for a bare bones touring car.

To "fix" some of the slop in the steering, that's another $25 for a servo saver, low friction suspension balls, and turnbuckles. So now we're at $180 for something more drivable, but this doesn't fix the issue of the front dogbones popping out (and you spending an hour wandering about the street looking for them).

[one_hit 1011]

The TT-02 is an entry level kit. Just like in 1:1, you can’t expect a Corolla to perform like a Supra. 
 

The TL-01 is not an upgrade over the TT-02. It has a less efficient drivetrain, only accepts stick packs, has a higher CoG, lacks any adjustability, and being a monocoque chassis, gear maintenance is a hassle. The only thing better on it is less steering slop due to the tie rods being connected directly to the servo saver. If it were competitive, you’d still see it in races just like you still see people running TA05’s. 
 

Most of the steering slop can be fixed for little money. Get the YR or Chinese clone aluminum steering set and a better servo saver. You don’t need the low friction suspension balls or tie rods if just bashing on the street. Just run and have fun, and upgrade as your skills improve, or as funds allow it. 

[IXLR8 587]

2 hours ago, markbt73 said:

My TT02 is box-stock with ball bearings, and it tracks dead straight. Steering is pretty sharp, actually, although it needs more lock. It does torque-steer a little, turns more easily one way than the other under power, but that's a shaft-drive thing, not a TT02 thing. But the slop doesn't seem to affect it much, really. My advice is to go drive it, and then see what you think.

I do have a Fazer as well (the kit version), and it is a lot tighter steering and suspension, but the drivetrain is a lot noisier. And if you think Tamiya alloy pinions are a problem, Kyosho specs a plastic pinion for the Fazer. And the kit includes bearings and oil shocks, but doesn't come with a body or a motor, so value-wise, it's a wash.

Fazer RTR's have plastic pinions as well - which are noisy.  Replace them with a steel pinion and the drivetrain is quiet.

Seems like an odd thing for Kyosho to do as the rest of the car is high quality.  I reckon they saved 35 cents.  

[alvinlwh 5292]

5 hours ago, Kowalski86 said:

just make it something close to being "hobby grade"

Exactly. All these and it is still not made it pass "toy grade".

[one_hit 1011]

It was very cheap for me to make a “hobby grade” TT-02 from bits and pieces. It actually turned out cheaper than buying a new TT-02 kit with the plastic junk. For $27 I was able to buy bearings, aluminum steering set, aluminum motor mount, aluminum propeller shaft, steel universal driveshafts with diff cups. I only needed to get the plastic CVA super mini shocks, high torque servo saver, tub, A parts, B parts, D parts and G parts, foam bumper and the hopup suspension shafts. Those are all cheap from PJ.

[alvinlwh 5292]

1 hour ago, one_hit said:

It was very cheap for me to make a “hobby grade” TT-02 from bits and pieces.

But the OP wants to stick with Tamiya.

19 hours ago, joshuaT said:

but I like to stick to Tamiya

Which when the same parts are  totalled up, will cost more than a base TT-02 kit.

[skom25 645]

My experience based on last build of 02B shows one, clear thing:

If you want to buy kit and upgrade it, go straight for TT-02BR or in case of Touring Cars, TT-02R.

Buying basic kit and upgrades is waste of money.