So, What Have You Done Today?

[Daves956]

Geez Dave I thought I was doing good with Dying the rims!

I needed a new set of rims for the SC-10 4X4 and the local hobby shop only had White. Well I remembered I had some Black Dye. Problem solved!

Worked like a champ

Those do look good, I'll have to try that some time.

I could have gotten to the TXT but I got sidetracked. I started watching the NHRA Winternationals from Pamona and had to see how Courtney Force finished. Turned out she's now the first female funny car winner there. I'm not a big fan of her sponser but any company smart enough to sponser her can't be all bad. It was RC related since she drives the Traxxas car. Ya, drives top fuel funny cars for a living, sponcered by an RC company and bears no resemblance to her dad. Where were girls like that when I was that age?

[LOVE THE FOX]

Those do look good, I'll have to try that some time.

I could have gotten to the TXT but I got sidetracked. I started watching the NHRA Winternationals from Pamona and had to see how Courtney Force finished. Turned out she's now the first female funny car winner there. I'm not a big fan of her sponser but any company smart enough to sponser her can't be all bad. It was RC related since she drives the Traxxas car. Ya, drives top fuel funny cars for a living, sponcered by an RC company and bears no resemblance to her dad. Where were girls like that when I was that age?

You aren't kidding!Oh they were in Alaska :-)

[LOVE THE FOX]

I almost forgot Dave. I grabbed this at the Hobby Shop as well. I am now putting it all together.

The stock tires are really good on the Wraith but I needed to add weight around the rims. It get a little top heave at times. I haen't had real good luck getting tires off when glued. Iv'e tried boiling but didn't work.

So I got the Axial Beadlock rims

Super Swamper tires

Wheel Weights

Aluminum Shock upgrade.

Nothing big but I can't wait to run it with the weight on the rims

[Daves956]

I almost forgot Dave. I grabbed this at the Hobby Shop as well. I am now putting it all together.

The stock tires are really good on the Wraith but I needed to add weight around the rims. It get a little top heave at times. I haen't had real good luck getting tires off when glued. Iv'e tried boiling but didn't work.

So I got the Axial Beadlock rims

Super Swamper tires

Wheel Weights

Aluminum Shock upgrade.

Nothing big but I can't wait to run it with the weight on the rims

Have you tried the debonding stuff on the wheels to get the tires off?

A friend of mine hollows out the center of the foam inserts for his crawler tires and uses buckshot inside the tire for weight. It always rolls to the bottom where you want the weight anyway

[lawdog]

Yesterday my wife and daughter went out for the day, so I could do some "work" on my RCs...bought paints for my 70 Nova project body, and will begin testing strips of Lexan to see what effects work best. Then, I tore down the slipping rear diff in my DF-03ra, to discover the diff cap screw had come completely free. Fortunately, no damage to the rest of the diff/balls, so I put it back together, re-lubed, and then tightened the diff. Went and had a lovely bash session at a local schoolyard that's a mixture of grass, sandy dirt, and pavement.

Things were going great until I tried to hook up my HPI Savage XS Flux...I had a Venom lipo battery with their "universal" connector on it, set to the Dean's plug. Well, the Venom plug adapter came off, and I tried to plug the battery in "blind"/without looking under the shell. The connector went in reversed (!), and I heard a sizzle and smelled something very bad. I quickly pulled the connector apart and dropped the truck, but the lipo swelled/blew up. I got it out without a full-blown fire, but I have no idea what damage it did to the electrics in the truck. I'm praying for "none", but I suspect the ESC may be a goner. I have ordered a new battery, and will keep my fingers crossed until then. Could be an expensive mistake...

[djmcnz]

...I tore down the slipping rear diff in my DF-03ra, to discover the diff screw had come completely free. Fortunately, no damage to the rest of the diff/balls...

That's astonishingly lucky...

...and I heard a sizzle and smelled something very bad. I quickly pulled the connector apart and dropped the truck, but the lipo swelled/blew up. I got it out without a full-blown fire...

...not so much.

Pics please!

[lawdog]

Ha...video would have been quite funny. I did feel lucky about the diff issue, but karma's a *****, I guess.

That's astonishingly lucky...

...not so much.

Pics please!

[Grastens]

Another run, this one with a full battery:

The car is actually quite an interesting runner on mixed snow/ice courses, such as on this section. It was curious enough for me to contribute a review of the Striker on Tamiyaclub...

[matman]

Yesterday my wife and daughter went out for the day, so I could do some "work" on my RCs...bought paints for my 70 Nova project body, and will begin testing strips of Lexan to see what effects work best. Then, I tore down the slipping rear diff in my DF-03ra, to discover the diff cap screw had come completely free. Fortunately, no damage to the rest of the diff/balls, so I put it back together, re-lubed, and then tightened the diff. Went and had a lovely bash session at a local schoolyard that's a mixture of grass, sandy dirt, and pavement.

Things were going great until I tried to hook up my HPI Savage XS Flux...I had a Venom lipo battery with their "universal" connector on it, set to the Dean's plug. Well, the Venom plug adapter came off, and I tried to plug the battery in "blind"/without looking under the shell. The connector went in reversed (!), and I heard a sizzle and smelled something very bad. I quickly pulled the connector apart and dropped the truck, but the lipo swelled/blew up. I got it out without a full-blown fire, but I have no idea what damage it did to the electrics in the truck. I'm praying for "none", but I suspect the ESC may be a goner. I have ordered a new battery, and will keep my fingers crossed until then. Could be an expensive mistake...

Now i have done the same thing & fried everything . esc , servo's ( in 1/8 buggy ) All new . Cost

me alot to fix , so i would say you may need , esc & servo + battery .

Hope all is good .

[Daves956]

I made an important discovery. Even though a Tazer 10T ESC is Lipo compatable, it's not compatable with ALL Lipos. If the cars makes an unexpected full power movement for a brief second then all the lights go out, it's a good sign the battery is ok, but that's about it for the electronics. Just trust me on this one.

[djmcnz]

I made an important discovery. Even though a Tazer 10T ESC is Lipo compatable, it's not compatable with ALL Lipos. If the cars makes an unexpected full power movement for a brief second then all the lights go out, it's a good sign the battery is ok, but that's about it for the electronics. Just trust me on this one.

I want to trust you but how does that work? A battery is a battery for all intents and purposes (excluding sub-par packs). Sounds like it's glitching to me... does it only happen with one battery?

[Daves956]

I want to trust you but how does that work? A battery is a battery for all intents and purposes (excluding sub-par packs). Sounds like it's glitching to me... does it only happen with one battery?

It might be the 3 cell thing. I've got a couple more of that type ESC but I'll pass on trying it again just to be sure.

[wolfdogstinkus]

Fixed the gearbox on the DT-02, then broke the front shock tower for the 2nd time, on my 2nd battery pack. Was only using the 2s lipo this time.

Just clipped a kerb again, it was only a little bump.

Are the 3racing shock towers any good?.

[Percymon]

Doh ! - alloy/arbon parts are all well n good, but that impact shock has to go somewhere, so think about what else might fail if the tower doesn't - the last thing you want is to stop breaking towers at the expense of chassis tubs !

[MadInventor]

Started building a fake radiator housing for my 6x6. Got the basic frame cut out and made some radiator mesh from a fan grill out of an old PC.

[djmcnz]

Fixed the gearbox on the DT-02, then broke the front shock tower for the 2nd time, on my 2nd battery pack. Was only using the 2s lipo this time.

Just clipped a kerb again, it was only a little bump.

Ka-pow! That's not so good.

If it's really quite brittle ("only a little bump") then just about any replacement will be better I would think! Lateral impacts (e.g. sliding into a curb) are pretty much the worst though because almost nothing is anticipating impact loads from those directions. In this case it could be a freak accident and as Percymon says, if the tower didn't break perhaps something else might have?

[wolfdogstinkus]

Thanks for the advice guys, I was thinking about replacing the upper arms with ball joints and turnbuckles which will hopefully take some of the impact away from the shock tower as hopefully they will pop off rather than breaking something.

The Mrs was not happy, I had only just fixed it today.

Cant find the 3racing towers at the moment, out of stock at stella and none on ebay.

[djmcnz]

The Mrs was not happy, I had only just fixed it today.

Feel for you bro.

Thanks for the advice guys, I was thinking about replacing the upper arms with ball joints and turnbuckles which will hopefully take some of the impact away from the shock tower as hopefully they will pop off rather than breaking something.

Is that top brace between the towers stock? That'll take a whole lot of absorption out of the tower, even it is stock I'd try without it... may make it worse also of course!

Cupped ball studs will certainly be better than fixed adjusters if they're going to take load! Get good ball studs though, not the cheap chromed steel ones if possible.

[djmcnz]

I've spent the last 90 mins labouring over a battery and motor upgrade... I have the shopping cart loaded up (6000mah/80C+LRPX20/6.5T - ), also with some other stuff I need but haven't had the strength to punch 'buy' just yet... it's a few hundred Euro and that's not easy to swallow...

Not so humble that I can't admit I chickened out... it will need to wait for another day. I compensated with some essentials like screws, washers, oils and lubes (not very exciting really) but the amount triggered some heavy discounts and free-bees (sp?) from RC-Mart Chinese New Year sale. I'm aiming to make my 511 the most bulletproof one around.

[F2 Stu]

Doh ! - alloy/arbon parts are all well n good, but that impact shock has to go somewhere, so think about what else might fail if the tower doesn't - the last thing you want is to stop breaking towers at the expense of chassis tubs !

+1

shock tower on the DF02 is a weak point, fitted an alloy one and the tub got wrecked instead!

[Percymon]

Thanks for the advice guys, I was thinking about replacing the upper arms with ball joints and turnbuckles which will hopefully take some of the impact away from the shock tower as hopefully they will pop off rather than breaking something.

sounds like you're on the right track -try to make the weak point one that will break in a defined way, and one that is a simple, cost free fix !

[GregM]

Fixed the gearbox on the DT-02, then broke the front shock tower for the 2nd time, on my 2nd battery pack. Was only using the 2s lipo this time.

Just clipped a kerb again, it was only a little bump.

http://i228.photobucket.com/albums/ee242/wolfdogstinkus/Tamiya/DSCF5924_zps723b96b9.jpg

Too bad. Carson Modelsport offers an alloy strut #405007 for front shock tower reinforcement. This is an upgrade recommended by the majority of the Tamiya FighterCup (DT-02) racers. Depending on what bodyshell you use, you may have to modify your shell for fitting the strut.

[wolfdogstinkus]

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Is that top brace between the towers stock? That'll take a whole lot of absorption out of the tower, even it is stock I'd try without it... may make it worse also of course!

I put that on the 2nd shock tower, the first shock tower didn't have it and it broke in a similar place but on the other side, I see what you mean that it might make it worse by not letting it flex.

[mr crispy]

Fitted the gold panel decals to my BF3

[Percymon]

Last night i progressed the DB-01R rebuild..

discovered that a TA05 one way diff is not the same as a DB-01 unit - the one way bit is the same but the diff outdrive cups are half the length. Gear diff outdrives might work but thay also have a hole through the shaft section which may cause wear on the one way bearing.

so ball diffs installed front and rear - easy option

All built up now, just motor to solder and install, plus fabricate a CF battery strap that will work with my nice new thick lipo pack !