Honda CR-V on an alternative chassis

[Mokei Kagaku]

When Tamiya released the Honda CR-V model in 1996, it immeditately bothered me a bit that it came on the CC-01 chassis with its live rear axle instead of a full independent suspension front and rear like the real car. So when I bought the kit, I put aside a body with the intention of mounting it on a chassis with a more authentic suspension.

Though it would have been easy enough to use a TL-01 or TA01/TA02 with the wheelbase extended to the appropriate 267mm, it didn't feel quite right and there were enough other models to deal with all these years that have passed since the release.

So, when Tamiya released the GF-02 chassis, I considered it to be a suitable chassis for the CR-V and went ahead with the few modifications required to make it fit. It still remains to find suitable body mounts and fit proper shocks, but you get an idea. Finally a suitable chassis, almost 30 years later.

[Grumpy pants]

You are a very patient man @Mokei Kagaku 👏

[JimBear]

Put on smaller rims and tyres instead of bigger ones ... It strikes me that the GF-02 has almost no overhang at all. Will be interesting to hear how it drives.

What I also wonder is if it would be possible to fit the portals from the GF-01 on the GF-02?

[Honza]

11 hours ago, JimBear said:

What I also wonder is if it would be possible to fit the portals from the GF-01 on the GF-02?

It still uses TL-01 uprights, so yes, they should work. But it would end up wider, because GF-02 has longer CB arms.

[Mokei Kagaku]

20 hours ago, JimBear said:

Put on smaller rims and tyres instead of bigger ones ... It strikes me that the GF-02 has almost no overhang at all. Will be interesting to hear how it drives.

What I also wonder is if it would be possible to fit the portals from the GF-01 on the GF-02?

I bought one GF-02 first, but have the intention of mounting the Tamiya Humvee body on a GF-02 with portals too. Needless to say, the rear suspension arms would have to be flipped for a suitable wheelbase. However, when checking for feasibility, it turned out that the Humvee body will sit too high on the chassis when using Humvee wheels and tires, even without portals. Without portals, it should be possible to get it low enough by shaving off the front body post mounts. Probably still not enough to allow for portals to be fitted without the body sitting too high too. 

[Mokei Kagaku]

8 hours ago, Honza said:

It still uses TL-01 uprights, so yes, they should work. But it would end up wider, because GF-02 has longer CB arms.

That's why I fitted TL01- instead of the original CB-suspension arms to make the chassis narrow enough for the CR-V body. I haven't checked the resulting width with TL01 suspension arms in combination with portals though. If it should be too wide (for the humvee body), there's always the possibility to use the M03/M04 suspension arms, but with arms that short, suspension performance will surely suffer. So maybe TL01 or CB arms with M05Ra uprights and hubs is the best compromise of (added) ground clearance and suspension performance rather than the combination of portals and M03/M04 arms?

[Mokei Kagaku]

On 4/28/2024 at 2:10 PM, Grumpy pants said:

You are a very patient man @Mokei Kagaku 👏

I guess I am, but it's a sign of stupidity and/or ignorance too.  After all, nobody lives forever and considering all the friends and family members who have passed since I got the CR-V kit and that I'm not getting any younger either, waiting this long for a more suitable (imho) chassis, could easily have been in vain.