TT-01 Discussion

[Naomi]

I'm new to the forums, and pretty new to RC racing, but I've been building real cars for years. I'm really looking for some guidance to the chassis I recently bought, a TT-01. I splurged a little and went ahead and bought the kits that would make a big difference, and coincidentally the most expensive kits. Here's a list of my purchases over the last week -

TT-01 XB Chassis

TT-01 RS540 Motor

TT-01 IV Bearings

TT-01 Shock / Damper Kit

TT-01 Rear / Ball Differential

TT-01 Front One-Way unit

2400 MAH Cells x2

3300 MAH Cells x2

I bought the kits that I knew would help, as I've said above, I build normal cars, so you can understand the giddy, almost childish feeling I felt when I saw a tiny differential; I knew I had to have it. I'm going to be building it with a lot of photos, that way people won't have any questions at all about the TT-01 chassis. It seems like there is an information void in regard to the chassis itself, but not neccessarily a lot of reviews. I plan on building it piece by piece, and really seeing how much difference these upgrades make.

Here is where I need your help. It seems like I bought the most expensive upgrades with the understanding that they'd be the ones that helped the baby car's performance the most, but now there's a sea of smaller parts that I'm really unclear of their purpose. I see all these tiny gears and 'racing' Tamiya parts, but I'm just not sure what else is going to actually boost the performance of the car. Anyone who could help me select which parts to purchase next would be doing me a great favor. I was told the RS540 was a superb motor, so I will probably stick with it for a bit right now. As to the making of the shaft and drivetrain of the baby car, I'd like anyone with any based knowledge of it to post their ideas or suggestions. I'll be posting the building / upgrading / performance of the chassis in less than a week. Thanks in advance.

EDIT

MOTORS - I'd really like it if someone could tell me how the RS540 would perform against other motors. If there is a much faster engine, or maybe just a higher quality engine, I'd like it to be listed as a post, or maybe linked. Although I've been building cars for years and years, and drive a very fast one, none of my experience is helping me select or detect a faster motor. Brushless and such make no sense to me.. Could someone please explain this term, as well as the 'turn' of the motor?

I'd also perhaps like some tips on the differential settings. I know how to fiddle with them on a real car, but an RC car is quite different. Does anyone have some concrete recommendations for the differential settings in an RC car?

I'd also like to perhaps find a site where I could buy different shells for the chassis. The default chassis comes with a Focus (the kind of car I drive), and I'm happy with that, but I'd also like to try and find a Puegeot or Toyota shells to go with it. If anyone knows a good site as to where to purchase just the shells (finished or unfinished), I'd appreciate the links.

[fatboyslim]

Which RS540 motor did you buy??

The one in the kit is pretty much ok for general mucking about.

There are much faster motors but obviously they use the battery much quicker, also top-spec modified motors require much more maintenance.

Brushless motors basically have no brushes, they are incredibly quick but also require special speed controllers and neither are very cheap!!

The 'TURN' in a motors spec is how many times the wire is wound around the armature, so a 27 turn motor has the wire wound round 27 times an 8 turn has it wound 8 times.

The LOWER the turn the faster the motor.

Then you have 'WINDS' which is how many strands of wire are used so a motor referred to as a 23 turn single has 23 turns of single strand wire wound round the armature whereas a 19 turn quad has 19 turns of 4 strands of wire wound round

Winds affect the torque of a motor but I can never remember which way round it is!!

I think that a single wind has more torque than a quad wind, no doubt someone will clarify that

It all depends what you want the car to do??

Fast=shorter run times=harder to control+more damage if you crash!!

Slow=longer run times=easier to control=less crash damage.

Bodyshells should be available at your local model shop

[Naomi]

Thank you very much.

The RS540 is the 'sport tuned' model of the 540 motor, the vendor told me it was a much more superior motor to the one that came with the XB kit, so I purchased it. When you say require 'speed controllers,' do you mean the ESC controller? I know the XB models come with that, but do you mean something more elaborate, and do you have a link to an online shop with them available? I do not have a model car outlet in my area, and all of my shopping has to be done exclusively online.

[theshopkeeper]

The speed controller in the XB Focus is reliable but it is a limited power output unit - it will take either the silver motor that comes with the car or the black sport tuned motor (I assume this is what you have). It should be a special sport tune motor at that - one with spade connectors on the wires rather than the rounded bullets that other motors use, you may want to check that. It is an unusual speed control unit since is combines both the speed function and the receiver function in one unit - in most cars they are separated out.

Unless you're looking for lightening fast accelleration and high top speed, in which case you would need a different motor and a different speed controller + receiver unit, you can massively boost the top speed of a TT01 by upgrading the gearing - albeit at a slight detriment to your accelleration times.

Using the packs 50357, 50477 and 53665 gives you all the combinations needed to give you around 6 or more different gear ratios to experiment with.

In fact, and incredibly, the combination of 50477 and 53665 even with the silver motor means the car is a very similar speed to the TGS Nitro powered version of the same chassis.

You can find these parts in the Parts Shop on this site, links in the signature below.

[Naomi]

I was, indeed, searching for gearing information at the very time you posted this message, and it's quite good one, as well! Thank you for helping me out with this, as knowledge of real cars only lends me the idea of what the parts would do in theory. So it's very helpful to have some actual RC knowledge here to help me.

This part shop you speak of, I've been to it once or twice, even looked through it. I used the search feature to find the parts, and added them up to about 18 GBP. How much will the shipping be overseas, to the uSA? I'm going to search for a shop more affordable, as the British Tamiya parts always seem to be a little bit inflated since they're vastly more popular than in the uSA.

Whoever's shop this is, it's quite nice!

EDIT

Also, I was slightly confused by these pieces when I looked further into them, it seems like only a mixture of two will work, like a pinion and a wheel, not two pinions and a wheel. Is this true? I would be buying 4 pinion gears and 2 other gears to mix and match to what I liked best, correct? Are you sure the one you posted would yield the best results? I'm not looking for insane acceleration, I'd like OK accelerationa nd GOOD top speed. I'd appreciate your assistance in this matter!

[fatboyslim]

It's 'The Shopkeepers' shop!!

If you're in the uSA then you can order direct from Tamiya uSA

[Naomi]

Everytime I've looked at Tamiya uSA, they don't seem to actually sell parts. It almost seems like the entire site is more like a brochure than a shop. Maybe I'm just not being perceptive enough.. I'll take a look, and try to get the pieces bought, but I'm unsure if I'll be successful.

EDIT

After looking, I still see no shopping options.. It seems there's only information for the parts, but no actual purchase order available.

[theshopkeeper]

For TamiyaUSA there is a phone number somewhere on the site.

You are quite right about the pinions, for some reason Tamiya put them all in pairs but most chassis can only use even or odd numbered pinions, so everyone ends up with lots they can't use....

[Naomi]

If you have all three handy, I may buy them from you? Would that be alright?

I'm searching your site for 53665 but currently can't find it. How much will the shipping be?

[theshopkeeper]

Maybe using the wrong search box - you need to use the one on the right for spare parts. Shipping on three of these would be £2.00, and the items would cost £6.80 each since we would deduct the VAT/Tax if ordered on our site.

[Naomi]

I checked my local Hobby Town, but they didn't have it. I also checked with your site, and it's super complex to simply order something.

Would you accept PayPal and not use your uK based delivery system and just stick them in a box and send them over here?

[julesbristol]

I have a TT-01 and have spent 6 months modifying it. The only things that make a difference in my opinion are: motor - go for a 10 turn one (pay no more than £20/$40 on ebay), a no limit speed controller (ditto price, this will cope with any motor), steel bearings for the insides and wheels, and good tyres (the ones that come withathe TT-01 are only good for indoors on a smooth surface. Everything else you can buy will help the car last and might make it a bit lighter, but will cost loads. Ebay is the absolute best place to buy from, and there are lots of reliable worlde sellers out there.

[theshopkeeper]

quote:Originally posted by Naomi

I checked my local Hobby Town, but they didn't have it. I also checked with your site, and it's super complex to simply order something.

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Sorry, don't understand. You simply type what you want into a box, add your name and address and your payment. Surely anything else is more complex?

Unless we're talking about two different sites?

[mr_pushrod]

quote:Originally posted by julesbristol

I have a TT-01 and have spent 6 months modifying it. The only things that make a difference in my opinion are: motor - go for a 10 turn one (pay no more than £20/$40 on ebay), a no limit speed controller (ditto price, this will cope with any motor), steel bearings for the insides and wheels, and good tyres (the ones that come withathe TT-01 are only good for indoors on a smooth surface. Everything else you can buy will help the car last and might make it a bit lighter, but will cost loads. Ebay is the absolute best place to buy from, and there are lots of reliable worlde sellers out there.

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id="quote">id="quote">

I'd say you would want the heatsink, metal motor mount and alloy prop if you were running a 10 to be honest. The gearing may also have to be revised as well with such a high RPM motor. I would probably spend much more than £20 for an ESC, making sure it came from a reputable brand such as LRP or Novak. Getting a no name speed controller will mean you probably won't be able to get it repaired if it goes pop. £20 will also only get you a basic 10 turn, a more expensive one will be faster and have a longer lifespan. As for differentials, the ball diff will give you greater traction as it acts like a limited slip diff while a front one way increases turn in. The one way is good for open spaces but isn't so good on a tighter track as it gives rear only brakes.

[Naomi]

I placed the order.. I'd appreciate it if you could process it quickly, although I'm sure you'd do that anyway. If there are any hang-ups, I may just have to go someplace else to get it due to the long wait times I get when I'm in the uS and receiving foreign packages. Hopefully it will go smoothly.

[theshopkeeper]

Doubt there will be a problem, mail to the uS only usually takes a few days - it's the customs which hold it up.

[theshopkeeper]

It's in the post.