TA-03RS belt tensioner, where did it go?

[Scorchio]

I've just been checking out some TA-03RS chassis type cars and noticed it has a central belt tensioner. Now I have a TA-03RS-TRF and there is no tensioner at all [?] the holes are there on the upper deck and a couple of the black plastic parts in the box but nothing in picture or manual.

Did somebody decide it was a bad idea? seems to me like it could be quite handy. Can anyone tell me if its available sepparately?

Cheers

[scoobs]

Hmm... It *may* be because the lower spec TA03 cars have the standard belts which tend to stretch over time. The belt tensioner can therefore adjust for the stretching.

The TRF's and so on might be designed more for running with the higher-spec belts (aramid things) which apparently don't stretch - hence no need for the tensioner...

That's only a guess though...

[yannick]

yes, that is correct, it's a hop-up belt and it doesn't need a tensioner

[Scorchio]

Thanks guys [] I really thought I was missing out on something there [8D]

[system11]

I've got the same chassis - no tensioner seems a poor design... At some rpm the upper and lower parts of the belt shimmy madly up and down, can't be healthy. I've checked, replaced, checked again the pulleys and so on for potential defect, it just won't go away. I don't know if it does this under load so to speak - have only run the car up in the air.

[El Mexican]

Im sorry but I disagree. A TA-03R Raybrig '99 I used to have included a belt tensioner even though the kit came with lots of hopups, including an aramid fiber belt. And yes, it did wobble considerably without the tensioner at high RPM.

[system11]

To be honest looking at the kit, it looks like they had planned a tensioner for these - there are mounting holes in exactly the right place on top of the crossover that covers the battery. Mine shimmies an awful lot (thankfully not enough to touch anything but it's **** close where the top deck joins the front gearbox), mostly at lower to mid RPM - take it right up and it's comparatively smooth. If anyone knows of an aftermarket tensioner set for these cars let me know. I've toyed around with a few ideas, but nothing that would stand up to the abuse properly. I'm running it with a Novak brushless setup, it sounds like it's going to explode every time you crank the speed up!

One idea I did have was to find two slightly larger gears for the drive belt.. I think one with more teeth was available for the car - presumably it had a slightly larger diameter, two of those might do the trick.

Other slight downside is I thought carbon fibre was supposed to be light? ;-) The car weighs slightly more than my standard TA03. Pictures of the car so far are in my showroom, the shell is halfway through being cut ready for wash + paint. It has several aluminium parts that are plastic as standard, and I dropped the wide axle kit with spacer in favour of actual wide wheels, and put some universals on the back instead.

[thesuper]

system11...i've got the FS and R versions and using two 16 tooth pulleys on the FS eliminated the need for any type of tensioner.

although, IF you're using the carbon chassis with your RS, and you still wanted a tensioner...there is one included with the TA03F Pro that's very nice and svelte.

check out the manual for the TA03F Pro...step 30. you'll see what i mean. i was going to post that portion but didn't know if it was ok to do so.

how much more did it weigh with the carbon chassis?

[system11]

We don't have any weighing scales :/

Actually now I pick them up together (I finished the build at last, just waiting for the 16T pulleys), there's not a /huge/ difference there in weight.

Doing the window border decals on the PIAA are a PITA