Hello.... Another Newbie Introduction

[Arms14 0]

First of all, Hello!

Now some background, my first Tamiya was a Mitsubishi Pajero in about 1986 I reckon (I would have been 10ish). I loved that car, well apart from being 10 and just ragging it to bits in the street and constantly smashing the hard shell to bits, I also didn't have a clue about the set up as my dad built it for me. I just ran it till it broke then he fixed it and I ran it etc etc you get the idea.

A few years after the Pajero met its end, I got a Monster Beetle. Being a little older I took some interest in this one (not mechanically) but I gave it a custom paint job (with marker pens) and random stickers. Well that was that......... right up until I decided to get myself TL-01 chassis car (2nd hand off ebay). Now I know very little about anything to do with RC cars as you can see, but I am pretty smart (or so I think) and willing to research/listen and learn.

My initial problem with the car was.....

When I got on the power (full throttle) it cut out and spat, so I could never get full speed while running. In fact, from a stand still if I engaged full throttle it just did not move.

MOTOR: Initially I was not entirely sure what size motor I had in it either (not standard), as the car was second hand it came with a Kyosho Endoplasma motor in it (Yellow with a green frog type creature on it) I have since discovered that they are not referred to in the main as Kyosho Endoplasma but as Kyosho Endo's. (seems also that the rc plane guys like them) I have also been a bit daring and taken the engine out of the chassis. It says it's a 16 turn (double wind) motor. It also has a 21 pinion on it.

SPEED CONTROLLER: That car has an Mtroniks (Max Fet Sport RV) fitted, which I initially thought was causing my problems.

I hooked up my buddies speed controller (standard TEU-101BK) and while it was held off the ground it ran at stupid speed, so much that it popped a tyre off the wheel. I have since bought some great new black spoked wheels with the tyres pre-glued.

I completed the cutting and painting of the shell (metallic blue) and stickered it all up yesterday. Looks really good for a first go I think. (How do I add a pic link?)

Anyway, last night I was at my mates again and he has spares, motors and ESC's and stuff so I figured I would play about till I worked out what was wrong so I could then buy whatever it was that needed fixing.

I did every possible chop and change:

My motor with a new ESC (standard TEU101-bk) we knew this would fry quickly because of the motor, but it still had problems anyway.

Another (stock) motor with my ESC - still problems

Changed out the receiver (still problems)

Swapped the transmitter, better, but - still problems

This just seems to be going nowhere. Right up until I decided to try a new battery. Bingo....... works like a dream. I now have a super fast rc that looks great.

Phew......and relax.

I am now in the process of figuring out what I can do to make it even better. Hop-ups seem to be my next step. It already has ball raced bearings (is that the right term?) I would like to change the shocks for oil filled ones and possibly look at making them bigger to give a higher ride? Can I do that?

I would like to have a road set up (Porsche Shell) and I want to get an off-road ish one by getting the Stadium Raider wheels or similar and another shell, maybe a truck body of some kind. Any tips or suggestions would be gratefully received!!

Sorry, that wasn't supposed to be that long. I really just wanted to say HI and thanks for accepting me into your club.

ARMS

[VinceVegaUK 0]

Hay,

Im new too, just built my 1st Tamiya TT-01 Skyline z Tune, have fun and see you around!

Later

VV

[blakeatron 16]

Hello and welcome - just a caution, this hobby gets expensive!

if i were you i would set up the tl for road and get a buggy or similar for off-road. When i started i just had the one (a ta) and tried using it for both conditions, and just got fed up with having to change the bits over all the time!

Have a look through the showrooms here, and check with the site sponsors to get inspiration and ideas for mods and hop-ups

[Arms14 0]

Hey VV, I just took a look at your car.......excellent matey, you did a really good job there. I am kinda ashamed to stick mine up now

I see you are based in Manchester. I am up in Stockport every now and then (my company is based in Bredbury) is there anywhere decent round there to drive the cars about?

[VinceVegaUK 0]

Hey VV, I just took a look at your car.......excellent matey, you did a really good job there. I am kinda ashamed to stick mine up now

I see you are based in Manchester. I am up in Stockport every now and then (my company is based in Bredbury) is there anywhere decent round there to drive the cars about?

I got some info from the guys here on the forums and there is Poynton model car club who race at Poynton Civic Hall, or Stockport Model Car Club which terry.sc runs on Thursdays at Cheadle Village Hall and one in Wrexham which looks well cool CLICK HERE I haven't been any where with it yet so i will let you know when i do or get yourself in touch with the clubs like i did.

Later

VV

[Wrc action 0]

Hi Arms.

As already mentioned It will become a drag swaping the parts over espically after that muddy off road run or that wet and grimy february car park bash that coats the car in a thin film of grit and oil.

TL-01 hotups - Ball bearings is the correct term and they are key, Oil shocks yes best bet is ebay for those, Then look at lightweight parts for the drivetrain, a larger motor if you want more power and also better tyres/aerodynamics for the shell i.e. the porsche for which i believe hpi make a 190mm wide 911 gt3.

The tyres and shell will make a huge impact so experiment and remember that different shapes do have different aero properties. A hatchback like the focus WRC has a lot less rear grip than that of a Subaru Impreza with its large rear wing.

What you could do If you want to keep your spares bill to a minimum is to get a TL01 based off roader as thus letting them share a good number of components tho to be frankly the TL01 is an old chassis in design and whilst good second hand as a basher if you where to look for on off road basher I would look at something like a DF02/DF03 based car.

Best regards and welcome to the club.

Ryck

[Arms14 0]

Thanks for the replies fellas.

VV that Wrexham track looks awesome. I might have to take a trip there on my way past one day. At the moment, as mentioned, I have very very little rc driving experience so I am content with ripping it around some unused car parks near my house. 4 of my mates (all 30+ years lol) have cars and we are going to get together weekends, it would be great to have a track or circuit to give it a bit of proper competition.

Ryck: I hadn't even considered the aerodynamics of the shells. I like the look of the 911 turbo and at the moment the Endo motor has enough kick for me to be going on with while learning. After reading what you and Blakeatron have said about the chopping and changing from road to off road, I reckon I might get myself an off roader for bashing. Is there any actual difference in the set up of the Stadium Raider to say my 911 though. I though it was simply bigger off road wheels and that was it? If it is, then I think investing in a set of them and a truck body will do me for now....while I keep my eye out for a good priced off roader. Ebay here I come again.

Ok I am in the process of uploading the 911 pics...... better to post them here or start a new thread? I only have a few and they are not as well staged as VV's

[Wrc action 0]

yeah i have driven the wrexham track and it was very entertaining at the north west nutters meet there back in october.

From memory the stadim raider also has a wider track and supension than the stock TL01. the other problem comes in the shape of the gear ratios as the TL-1 ratios max out at just over 7:1 whilst a buggy is generally the early teens to one due to the larger wheel sizes, this means that ure motor will be under greater strain and wear out quicker should u just bolt bigger tyres on the car.

Also one thing u must do when taking a TL01 off road is make a guard for the motor can. I have one somewhere that I made outof a sheet of lightweight metal. otherwise its all to easy to take out the motor in a puddle or on rough terrain.

A 911 should be good for aero tho u might want to add some front fins if like me you hate understeer with a passion :@

Pics I would post them in this thread, otherwise the front page of disscusions gets very crowded and also all the relivant material is here as well.

Best regards

Ryck

[Arms14 0]

Sorry Ryck, being a noob again. What do you mean about maxing out at 7:1 ? Is there anyway you can dumb that down so I can understand it?

Photos in about 10 mins... just loading them into photobucket now.

[Arms14 0]

I hope this works, the pics are not great (I will try harder in future)

They should be in order from oldest to newest, so you can see where I started and where I am now. I am pretty pleased for my first attempt and I think the black wheels make a massive difference too. I haven't shown you the other side (I let my 5 yr old daughter apply those decals hahahaha oops)

[Wrc action 0]

looks like you have done some good work there -

Every car has adjustable rations for the drive train.

You can adjust the ratio to get the best out of the motor, so if you are on an open track where acceleration isnt needed as much then u are best of with a lower ratio say 5:1 in order to get more top speed. here 5 turns of the motor is 1 turn of the wheels.

Meanwhile on a tight track where acceleration is needed a ratio of 7:1 whilst giving a lower top end will be much more benefical as u will gain gd acceleration.

Now with off roading as the tyres are larger so the ratio needs to be higher in order to cope with moving the extra rotational mass, the TL01 doesnt have this abilty. as thus u end up with poor acceleration and high motor wear compared to buggy ratio of around 10/11:1

hope this explains things better.

Ryck

[Arms14 0]

looks like you have done some good work there -

Every car has adjustable rations for the drive train.

You can adjust the ratio to get the best out of the motor, so if you are on an open track where acceleration isnt needed as much then u are best of with a lower ratio say 5:1 in order to get more top speed. here 5 turns of the motor is 1 turn of the wheels.

Meanwhile on a tight track where acceleration is needed a ratio of 7:1 whilst giving a lower top end will be much more benefical as u will gain gd acceleration.

Now with off roading as the tyres are larger so the ratio needs to be higher in order to cope with moving the extra rotational mass, the TL01 doesnt have this abilty. as thus u end up with poor acceleration and high motor wear compared to buggy ratio of around 10/11:1

hope this explains things better.

Ryck

Thanks. I think I have ruined it today buy spraying the windows silver. I got a bit trigger happy and couldn't wait to get the smoke tint. Dummy!

Ahhhh I see. Ok I will get my researching head on now and figure out how to adjust the rations for the drive train (whatever that is). While I am at it Ryck (sorry to go on) what are the differences between pinions? I have 21 at the moment...... what is my current set up best for? 16t Endo with 21 pinion? Cheers fella.

I promise I will be using this site loads to pick up snippets of info and use the hints and tips forum alot, I am not going to bug you forever...honest!

[m.l.field 0]

Is there any actual difference in the set up of the Stadium Raider to say my 911 though. I though it was simply bigger off road wheels and that was it? If it is, then I think investing in a set of them and a truck body will do me for now....while I keep my eye out for a good priced off roader. Ebay here I come again.

That's about it for the Stadium Raider, bigger wheels with spike tyres (the same size I think as 4wd buggy fronts), a pickup body, and a little frame that lifts the front body mounts. Normal 1.9 touring car rims with Hummer or BFG tyres will also give about the same diameter and look a little more real. As already said you may want to lower the gearing with the bigger wheels so a 19T pinion may be needed, the lowest a TL-01 will take without getting the Dremel out.

[Arms14 0]

That's about it for the Stadium Raider, bigger wheels with spike tyres (the same size I think as 4wd buggy fronts), a pickup body, and a little frame that lifts the front body mounts. Normal 1.9 touring car rims with Hummer or BFG tyres will also give about the same diameter and look a little more real. As already said you may want to lower the gearing with the bigger wheels so a 19T pinion may be needed, the lowest a TL-01 will take without getting the Dremel out.

So when Ryck was talking about adjusting the cars drive train. Is replacing the pinion with a different size what he means?

Ok have I got this right?

Bigger Wheels require a bigger pinion so that the motor doesn't have to spin so many times to move the wheel around once? Ryck said the max on a TL-01 was 7:1 (7 motor spins to 1 wheel turn)

I see the TL-01 has holes for 23, 21, 19 with 19 looking like the smallest (as it mounts the motor closest to the spur, then 21 then 23? Am I right. If so, what ratios go with what pinions?

If I have got that right so far I am doing ok. I had a look for wheels and tyres and it looks like the 4wd buggy front (from the pictures) look about the right size and width. When you said 1.9 touring car rims, is that 1.9" I measured my current wheels and they look like 1.9" diameter. Could I put say 2.2" rims and tyres on?

What is the max so it will still turn?

Can anyone help me please?

P.S I think I might have to start posting my questions in different threads now. This is getting a bit long and others may not be able to help cos they don't read it.

[Wrc action 0]

So when Ryck was talking about adjusting the cars drive train. Is replacing the pinion with a different size what he means?

Ok have I got this right?

Bigger Wheels require a bigger pinion so that the motor doesn't have to spin so many times to move the wheel around once? Ryck said the max on a TL-01 was 7:1 (7 motor spins to 1 wheel turn)

I see the TL-01 has holes for 23, 21, 19 with 19 looking like the smallest (as it mounts the motor closest to the spur, then 21 then 23? Am I right. If so, what ratios go with what pinions?

If I have got that right so far I am doing ok. I had a look for wheels and tyres and it looks like the 4wd buggy front (from the pictures) look about the right size and width. When you said 1.9 touring car rims, is that 1.9" I measured my current wheels and they look like 1.9" diameter. Could I put say 2.2" rims and tyres on?

What is the max so it will still turn?

Can anyone help me please?

P.S I think I might have to start posting my questions in different threads now. This is getting a bit long and others may not be able to help cos they don't read it.

Yeah as I said the gear ratio is due to the pinion.

Now smaller pinion means higher ratio. More turns of motor to one turn of the wheels

Nope wrong - Larger wheels need a higher ratio. As youve got a larger circumfrance of tyre and the tyre is of a larger mass therefore the motor will need to do more work and be under more strain moving the rotational mass. its all GCSE maths and pretty simple of work with.

I wouldnt put 2.2's on the car as for starters they most likely wouldnt fit and secondly ure motor would be under so much strain it wouldnt last very long, and ure acceleration would be awful.

Best to go for 1.9 cut BFG tyres. like these on my Race Touareg.

of which full details can be found here http://www.tamiyaclub.com/forum/index.php?...=37294&st=0

Remember that a car is a load of complex factors that all affect each other, Big tyres isnt all u need to go off road.