Anything I Need To Worry About On A Boomerang

[SegaFalcon]

My Little Brother brought himself a Boomerang on Ebay (Used my Ebay account) and I just want to know if theres any know problem areas on the Boomerang e.g Weak so and so.

I just need a little advanced warning so I dont have a peeved 10 year old on my hands, although he wont be too pleased when I beat him in a race

[SegaFalcon]

I take it no one knows then.

[HunterZero]

I take it no one knows then.

Steady on there, no need to bump post

The suspension arms, front knuckles, bumper and front gearbox are a traditional weakpoint on these cars. The main spur can also get cracked/damaged in a crash, and the differential gears are the same small metal ones from the Frog, so are prone to wear and chattering. These cars didn't come with ball bearings, so there could be wear in the drivetrain.

Gearboxes, joints and front arms are the same as the Hot Shot (prop/drive shafts and rear arms are different), with the metal diff bevel gears also being common to the Frog. Front knuckles are the same as on a TA-01, just blue instead of red. Dogbones are the black ones all round, same as Super Shot rear, these aren't too hard to get. Hot Shot rear ones would work on the front/rear on the Boomerang too. So parts shouldn't be too much of a problem for this car.

- James

[terry.sc]

I take it no one knows then.

Plenty of experts know, just most of them don't post in the forums any more.

6 hours is a bit short to expect answers, a lot of our members would be asleep then and some of us have jobs to keep us busy during the day.

Okay, known problems with the Boomerang. This has been covered in the past but searching is likely to throw up loads of pages.

Known problem areas are:

Bumper and mount

Front suspension

Steering

Battery cover

Gearboxes

Rear suspension.

Front bumper is hard plastic and better than the Hotshot one, but a hard impact can strip the thread in the bumper attachment to the gearbox and also break off the mounting points on the gearbox case. Front wishbones have loads of play and a CRP wishbone mount is needed to stop the upper wishbone moving. The pivot balls on the front uprights wear rapidly which gives lots of play in the suspension. As all the weight of the car is hanging on the lower ball in the upright this stresses the parts and can crack the uprights. An accident can also break the ball joints, which means a new upright as well. All these suspension parts are shared with the Hotshot, so should be an easy fix in a couple of months.

The rack steering is the best setup of all the Hotshot range, none of the nasty massive bump steer that's in the Hotshot, but the slider binds up when dirt gets between the rack and the chassis. You have to keep this clean to keep it working. Lugs can break off the battery hatch, so you can't fasten it closed.

Rear uprights are known for being fragile, the plastic seems too brittle for the part and they do crack. Unfortunately they aren't the same as the Hotshot so you will be stuck looking for original Boomerang parts. Rear wishbones are also known to break.

Diffs are a weak spot in the drivetrain, but at least you can get the parts for them these days. Tamiya have refined the diff since then, the crosspin in the centre of the outdrives in the Hotshot range wasn't fixed to an outdrive so the diff could move around, which damaged the bevels. The fix was to fit a set of 5x8 bearings between the 5x11 bearings and the diff cups to support the diffs.

Not a breakage but the monoshock front suspension with the soft plastic anti roll bar mounts doesn't help the handling at all.

Well, you asked what you need to worry about

[SegaFalcon]

Sorry about being impatient, Looks like theres quite a bit to be wary of, But then its not really my problem as my Brother can pay for the parts

[Wandy]

Front bumper is hard plastic and better than the Hotshot one...

Hmm, dunno about that Terry. The Boomerang bumper is the same as that of the Bigwig and I well remember the head on collision I had with a Hotshot on driving my 'Wig.....resulting in smashed to smithereens bumper and front wishbones. The Hotshot was barely scratched!

Rear uprights are known for being fragile, the plastic seems too brittle for the part and they do crack. Unfortunately they aren't the same as the Hotshot so you will be stuck looking for original Boomerang parts. Rear wishbones are also known to break.

They are also the same part as those used on the Hotshot 2 & Super Sabre, albeit in a different colour. Probably no stronger though but at least you have a wider scope of replacement parts to chose from!

[HunterZero]

All these suspension parts are shared with the Hotshot, so should be an easy fix in a couple of months.

... except the steering knuckles themselves, which are different. As noted above, the Boomerang ones are the same as the ones on the TA01, just blue instead of red.

You can change the uprights to the later production version Hot Shot ones, but you need to then swap the drive shafts for the shorter ones from the Hot Shot front, or the brown ones from the Super Shot front.

- James

[SegaFalcon]

Should I tell my brother now that he cant play with it he can only look at it or shall I wait till later lol

[terry.sc]

Hmm, dunno about that Terry. The Boomerang bumper is the same as that of the Bigwig and I well remember the head on collision I had with a Hotshot on driving my 'Wig.....resulting in smashed to smithereens bumper and front wishbones.

The Boomerang bumper gives more protection to the chassis and suspension than the first version Hotshot one which was so soft that when it hit anything the bumper bent and the suspension and gearbox took the full impact.

Also the Boomerang type steering knuckles are used on many other cars including the TA01s and the Manta Ray, they are also used in the Hotshot rerelease, just in red.

[Dr*ftK*ng]

The Boomerang bumper gives more protection to the chassis and suspension than the first version Hotshot one which was so soft that when it hit anything the bumper bent and the suspension and gearbox took the full impact.

Also the Boomerang type steering knuckles are used on many other cars including the TA01s and the Manta Ray, they are also used in the Hotshot rerelease, just in red.

just buy it !!!

[SegaFalcon]

Just buy what? If your reffering to the boomerang, its already bought and paid for.

[Wandy]

The Boomerang bumper gives more protection to the chassis and suspension than the first version Hotshot one which was so soft that when it hit anything the bumper bent and the suspension and gearbox took the full impact.

Oh yeah I agree with that. The series 1 Hotshot bumper was little more than a cosmetic add on. I always think, when watching the insane jumps that were performed by the car in the promo vid, that it must have been wrecked by the time they had finished filming it.

Pity though because it was a much nicer looking bumper set up than the one that replaced it.

[HunterZero]

Also the Boomerang type steering knuckles are used on many other cars including the TA01s and the Manta Ray, they are also used in the Hotshot rerelease, just in red.

Ah, interesting - another minor change on the new Hot Shot. Couldn't see that from the photos I saw. The front and rear dogbones must be equal length too.

- James

[kontemax]

Nothing to worry about Boomerang. Believe me, it has been my first car and I abused it a lot.

All things the people said about the front end, the steering plate, the rear arms is real but all these things didn't stop me to use the car.

You can have some trick to avoid the problems and use more cure I had at the time but believe me, the car will go on anyway.

Cheers

Max

[HunterZero]

Ah, interesting - another minor change on the new Hot Shot. Couldn't see that from the photos I saw. The front and rear dogbones must be equal length too.

- James

And the first pics of the Hot Shot box internals are up, looks like it does come with the older style knuckles, not the TA01/Boomerang style ones on the D parts tree. So it wasn't changed after all.

On an interesting aside, the first kits pictured here look like they come with 2 D parts trees.

- James

[terry.sc]

The D uprights are still on the sprue but they are listed as unused parts in the manual. A pair of the newer uprights are included in the kit. You can check the manual here http://www.tamiya.com/japan/rc/rcmanual/hot_shot.pdf and don't forget Miramars review of the kit here http://www.tamiyablog.com/

And yes, the kits come with a second set of D parts to use as spares.

[SegaFalcon]

Nothing to worry about Boomerang. Believe me, it has been my first car and I abused it a lot.

All things the people said about the front end, the steering plate, the rear arms is real but all these things didn't stop me to use the car.

You can have some trick to avoid the problems and use more cure I had at the time but believe me, the car will go on anyway.

Cheers

Max

Fair enough, Its going to have to take quite a bit of abuse as its going to be used by a 10 year old whose only R/C exsperiance is from the AA battery powerd cars from Nikko.

[HunterZero]

The D uprights are still on the sprue but they are listed as unused parts in the manual. A pair of the newer uprights are included in the kit. You can check the manual here http://www.tamiya.com/japan/rc/rcmanual/hot_shot.pdf and don't forget Miramars review of the kit here http://www.tamiyablog.com/

And yes, the kits come with a second set of D parts to use as spares.

Ah, that's cool... that the D parts tree comes with the older front uprights means these parts are available for the older Hot Shots. Guess they just didn't bother changing the mold! Interesting that they include two sets of parts trees with the uprights on them, then don't use those parts! Very odd.

What's interesting is that the front dogbones included are short ones. So despite the manual saying the uprights on the D parts are unused, it's perfectly fine to use them.

- James

[nigeninja]

Don't bother about what might break just run it until it does ,I love all the hotshot type range and run them all and I don't get that many breaks,the only thing I would say is what has been said b4 is the bumper will break on a boomer,what I did is screwed it to the centre of the chassis with two self tapping screws as well as the two screws on the outside.So far its not broke

[SegaFalcon]

I do have a spare Falcon bumper, will it fit on a boomerang as an alternitive?

[nigeninja]

Ar well funny you should say that about the Falcon bumber cos yep I've fitted that to one of my boomers,again you have to drill and screw into the chassis and also make three new holes in the bumper the four original holes in the bumper are not used.I think there's a pic in my show room(super boomer)

[Wandy]

....and don't forget Miramars review of the kit here http://www.tamiyablog.com/

Miramar just doesn't like the poor old Hotshot!

It seems Tamiya can't win here. They get pilloried in some quarters for bringing out re-releases that are near identical to the original (Hotshot) - including some of the old faults - and then from other quarters they get criticised for reviving an old classic, albeit with radically improved, and therefore different, design (Avante Mk2).

I think they've got it spot on with the Hotshot....they have improved everything they possibly could without changing the looks/design of the car. If things like bump steer, suspension slop and weak points have not been improved it will be because they can't do it without making the buggy look very different to the original....and at the end of the day I would say 99% of the members of this club will want the cars re-released in the exact form of 20 years ago - warts 'n all - over a radically changed, yet improved, design and look.

[SegaFalcon]

Just got confromation of it being sent so hopefully it will be here real soon, my brother may be a little peeved within a moth or so as Ive arranged to buy a Nitro off a friend so he definatly will be left eating the dust

[terry.sc]

Miramar just doesn't like the poor old Hotshot!

Sorry but he does, same as me and I agree with everything he has said. Both of us actually ran them on racetracks back then and it is impossible to forget about all the defects, at least they had a go at fixing a lot of them in the rerelease. The problem is a lot of people either haven't actually run one, or got one as an upgrade from a Nikko and thought it was a great performer, so look back at it through rose tinted spectacles.

Don't get us wrong, it doesn't mean they are terrible cars. They are still fun to run (as long as you don't expect any precision handling) but if you are used to modern chassis it can be very disappointing. Even my much modified runner Hotshot never gets a run because I much prefer the better performance from my Optima of the same era.

In a similar way in a previous thread a couple of members discovered just what we coped with when we raced a Frog and was surprised that it wasn't the racer they thought it was http://www.tamiyaclub.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=30946

[Wandy]

Sorry but he does, same as me and I agree with everything he has said. Both of us actually ran them on racetracks back then and it is impossible to forget about all the defects, at least they had a go at fixing a lot of them in the rerelease. The problem is a lot of people either haven't actually run one, or got one as an upgrade from a Nikko and thought it was a great performer, so look back at it through rose tinted spectacles.

Yeah but my point is that there is little use in whining at the company if they haven't brought a 20 year old design up to modern standards. At the end of the day if Tamiya had re-released all of these '80s buggies without any improvements then very few people would still complain. The re-releases are surely being aimed at modellers and back yard bashers, not serious racers.

Don't get us wrong, it doesn't mean they are terrible cars. They are still fun to run (as long as you don't expect any precision handling) but if you are used to modern chassis it can be very disappointing. Even my much modified runner Hotshot never gets a run because I much prefer the better performance from my Optima of the same era.

I think you just nailed on the head what these re-re's are about....simply fun to run and not much more........having said that I CAN understand Miramar's point about not giving the re-release the other improvements that were incorporated on the Hotshot2, Boomerang, Bigwig etc and would not affect the cosmetics of the car. Makes little sense really.