TL-01b chassis and other things

[cheapskate]

If I buy the baja champ with servo and esc, will the radio unit I got with the cross tiger control it or will I need a new controller?

Has anyone got any experience of mixing and matching parts between the cross tiger and the baja(I was thinking of buying another cross tiger as a source for spares)?

I would like to get a really cheap clear body that will mount on the chassis (my 4 yr old daughter wants a pink car with princesses, fairies, and unicorns) any suggestions?

Also is there anyway of reducing the top speed of these things (i realise most of you are probably trying to achieve the opposite of this!)?

I do have others but this post is far too long already so i will save those for another time. Thanks for reading if you made it this far.

[MikeT]

I'm sorry but i can't help you with the compatability, i just don't know.

Reducing top speed, there are a number of ways of doing this! Firstly, you can get a motor such as a TruckPuller 2, this is a 80x1 motor, meaning it is very slow revving, but very torquey. This will power your car to a fast walking pace, you can always go with something less extreme like a 55turn lathe motor, ( the lower the amount of turns, the higher revving the motor ) this will be about the pace of a jog.

Another idea would be gear ratios, i know from experience these are not very adjustable on the TL-01 Chassis ( Baja Champ ) But you can always have the lowest pinion witht he stock ( Silver-Can ) motor, this will increase acceleration, but decrease top speed!

Hope this helped!

Mike

[DJTheo]

Woudln't recommend using clone parts as spares as their moulding and material quality is poor, rather get a used Tamiya TL01 for stronger spares, used TL01s cost very few nowadays.

Cheers

[theshopkeeper]

Use the TL01B spares (Baja Champ) they are a direct fit and cheaper than the clone parts.  There is no compatibility or fit issue.

The clear body you mention would be the one for the Stadium Raider, part 1825188.

[cheapskate]

Thanks for the answers, I would still like to get a genuine Tamiya, given that swopping parts between the cross tiger and the baja champ would not be a good idea, I'm no longer tied to buying one using the tl-01b chassis. Having said that, the chassis (even on the cross tiger) appears to be durable and therefore i have no objection to it.

So should I buy I baja champ? (which is probably just about in my price range) or would you recommend something else?

BTW if it helps I run mainly on short grass and like to do the odd jump! Another reason I like the idea of the baja champ is it can be built as either 4wd or 2wd and I would like to try both at some stage.

[MikeT]

cheapskate, theoretically, it can be built as 2wd, BUT it will not HANDLE like a car that was MEANT TO BE 2wd.

Personally, i'd look at getting a Gravel Hound, Rising Storm or for a little more, Dark Impact! The TL01 chassis is very dated now, the Gravel Hound and RS are based on the TT01 chassis.

Tamiya have a fair few buggies on the market now!

Thundershot Re-Re ( 4WD )

DT-02 Super Fighter G ( 2WD )

DT-02 Desert Gator ( 2WD )

Frog Re-Re ( 2WD )

DF03 Dark Impact ( 4WD )

DT-02 Sand Viper ( 2WD )

Persoanlly, i'd spend the bit more and get the Dark Impact, as the people that have had them have given them glowing reviews! See Here;

http://www.tamiyaclub.com/showroom_model.a...304&sid=488

http://www.tamiyaclub.com/showroom_model.a...303&sid=488

I realise this is quite a long post, and if you've read this far your doing well [Y]

[essexboyracer]

As an owner of the Baja Champ and Dark impact, i'd like to say a couple of words about both.

The Baja Champ is quite a neat first buggy. Although it only has 3 pinion options (which allow change of speed with a set motor) it works well with the silver can motor it is supplied with, and is not to fast. Also spares are easily obtainable and cheap, and it is a low maintainance car, so once built it just will need a clean from time to time. Doesn't come with ball races or Oil shocks though, and it's rubbish if you just remove the prop shaft to make it 2wd.

The Dark impact I would not recommend except if you are planning to race. It can be tricky to get the front driveshafts to stay in, and I had to spend £30 to get universals for it (after a driveshaft pinged out and got lost). It is a *great* car nontheless, and as long as you can afford the universal drive shafts for the front (1 pair) it will be a tough car. The Dark Impact also has ball differentials front and rear, which may need tweaking every now and then which may be a pain if you're not racing it.

As a final word, I've been very impressed with my mate's Desert Gator, I would heartily recommend this as a first car. It comes with Oil Shock's and ball bearings as standard, and can be got for a good price. It is also low maintainance (my mate never does any) and is tough as well!

- Will.

[cheapskate]

Again thanks for the replies but why is it rubbish as a 2wd? The blackfoot xtreme basically uses the tl01 chassis so obviously Tamiya thinks the chassis is capable of running as a 2wd.

[DJTheo]

I think there is a misunderstanding there, propably fault of Tamiyausa. The Wild Dagger chassis is very different from TL01 and is not called from Tamiya as TL01, WD has 2 independant gearboxes, while TL01 has a combined chassis/gearbox design, check the exploded views http://www.tamiyausa.com/pdf/exp/58309e.pdf http://www.tamiyausa.com/pdf/exp/58283e.pdf

Cheers

[Guest joelvardy]

well my first car was a fighter buggy RX this is almost indestructible and the cheapest buggy tamiya do

as for lowering the speed it is a crude way but at events like model expo at the tamiya track set up for little kids (we've all had a go) they limit the speed buy screwing in a screw on the controller leaver this method also could be useful as he gets better and can handle faster speeds as you can just take out the screw and it will be full speed

[cheapskate]

ok i know everyone is saying don't do this but if I was stupid enough to want to try running a baja champ as a 2wd is all I have to do is take out the prop shaft? or do other bits fall out if i do this? 

[Guest joelvardy]

possibly the black parts that fit into the prop shaft and that will lead to some gears I would say have it 4WD

[cheapskate]

**** that's a shame it's just as a 4wd it's just too.................. stable!

[mr_pushrod]

ok i know everyone is saying don't do this but if I was stupid enough to want to try running a baja champ as a 2wd is all I have to do is take out the prop shaft? or do other bits fall out if i do this? 

Technically you could do it and you'd probably find that you won't damage it. However, the Baja Champ was never designed to be 2WD so wouldn't handle at all. It would be heavier than a 2WD as you would have all the front gearbox internals still there and even if these were removed, the weight distribution wouldn't suit. Just remember that you could get a 2WD buggy for under £30 including radio off ebay without too much effort.

[cheapskate]

Thanks once again to everyone who has taken the time to reply, much appreciated.

Still a little confused re the chassis being designed for 2 or 4wd. I accept that the blackfoot does'nt use the same chassis as the baja champ, but, and it's a big but, it does use the same chassis as the twin detonator which is 4wd, plus the twin has 2 motors and gearboxes, so the weight distribution must be completely different, so are you saying that one or other of those 2 is rubbish?

Essexboyracer, I assume from your comment you tried it as a 2wd, what did'nt you like about it?

As is often the case, I have decided to ignore all your good advice and do it anyway! Although not at this moment in time to a baja champ. I have removed the propshaft from my son's cross tiger and as soon as it stops raining I will be giving it a go!

Incidently, I have devised an incredibly imaginative way of sealing the hole in the casing through which the propshaft used to go and if any of you ever want details of this I would be delighted to send you a schematic (my wife says it looks like a piece of electrical tape wrapped around a wall plug but what does she know??)

[jozza]

I'm with the others on the Baja Champ; there is a subtle difference between the TL01-B and Twin Detonator/Wild Dagger chassis. They share many parts like the wishbones and so on, but the chassis are different in the way the gearboxes are located.

As you've said, the 4WD is quite precise, but I personally like to have a mixture, sometimes the precise handling of the Champ makes it fun in a different way to the handling of a rear wheel drive buggy. I'd suggest that if you want a 2WD buggy then look for one that was designed to be 2WD from the start.

One thing to watch on the Baja Champ is that the points where the suspension arms are attached to the chassis are a known weak point, and when they crack you need to dismantle the gearboxes to replace the chassis. Having said that, I've had mine for 3 years now and only had to replace the chassis parts once.

[jimbo858]

Still a little confused re the chassis being designed for 2 or 4wd. I accept that the blackfoot does'nt use the same chassis as the baja champ, but, and it's a big but, it does use the same chassis as the twin detonator which is 4wd, plus the twin has 2 motors and gearboxes, so the weight distribution must be completely different, so are you saying that one or other of those 2 is rubbish?...

The chassis for the TD/WD/DB is VERY different from the TL01B chassis. With the TD/WD/DB trucks there are two independent gearboxes and motors. So, if you remove the front gear box; you also remove the weight of the; motor, dogbones, AND gears.  With the TL01B or the Cross Tiger, it's a shaft driven 4WD setup where both gearboxes work together. So, if you removed just the drive shaft between the front and rear gearboxes it would only be 2WD. But, you still have all that weight up in front because of the extra gears that are still in the front gearbox. I'm sure you could probably remove all of the gears and the drive shaft between the gearboxes. But, that's a pain...

oh and I have the Cross Tiger (aka Bonzer) and a Wild Dagger.  I've gotta say that the quality between the two are very similar...  at least to me they are.

[DJTheo]

As everyone said, the TL01 and WD chassis are very different, but I think there is a misunderstanding here. If you have the Cross Tiger then its closer to a TL01, also monster trucks are more fun and off road vehicles, so making them 2WD won't be such a big loss, I and I guess others thought you wanted to convert a TL01 buggy or touring car to a 2WD which really is no good.

Cheers

[cheapskate]

Thanks again for the replies, just spent an hour thrashing the 2wd cross tiger in the park, not a huge amount of difference (to my untrained eye at least), you have to feed the power in a bit more gently when pulling away but the car is still very stable on turns etc. Obviously if I was doing obstacles (is it called crawling?) the loss of 4wd would make a huge difference but then I would'nt use the 2wd version for that. The whole thing is still too **** stable so I'm now thinking of putting some different wheels/tyres on it. I was thinking of the paddle type of tyre that appears to come with the grasshopper, that should loosen up the rear end somewhat, will they fit on my car? any other suggestions would be welcome.

Are there any other tyres that will fit on my wheels? (I realise this is a really nobbish question, but having looked at the parts section at Time Tunnel, I'm now even more confused than I was before! That's not critercism of TT, I'm just a person who does'nt respond well when offered a choice!! I should have been around when the model T was about, life would have been much easier!)

[cheapskate]

Ok I think I have partly answered my own question in that the wheels from the grasshopper don't appear to have the right kind of connector so I assume they won't fit. However, the wheels from the baja champ will fit ( I think) but they have those nasty grippy tyres, if i get the baja wheels can u get paddle tyres for these wheels?

[mr_pushrod]

The TL-01B takes the same 12mm hex as the majority of modern vehicles so Baja Champ wheels will indeed fit. There are no paddle tyres for these however, you would need to use 2.2" truck wheels and tyres which could make the car overgeared and liable to overheat.