Rally Chassis

[tonysmini]

If you take the shock apart completely you will find the spacer fitted on the inside on the steel shaft, removing this and fitting longer bottom eyes to the shock will extend it by 5 or 6mm, plus rally blocks will lift your chassis by almost 10mm in total.

The plastic motor mounts flex and bend in use, which is never good, so the alloy one is a good upgrade. Your motor with the 20t steel pinion should be fine.

[BigJag]

This a completely dismantled shock. The internal spacers can be seen in the middle of the picture.

This is a dismatled rear shock. Note the chunkier C piece. This clips onto the body of the shock. Taking up the space between the top of the shock and the spring. Is this a form of pre-loading?

This picture shows the two rear shocks. Left is a standard one. The one on the right has it's internal spacers removed and a longer eye fitted. The left of the picture the difference in eye sizes can be seen.

Even with the C piece fitted there is still a lot of play between the spring and the top of the shock. I assume the spring should fit snug between the top and bottom. How do I overcome this play issue? Should I get longer eyes? Or longer springs?

All help is much appreaciated.

Thankyou

[tonysmini]

You can fill the gap with another C Clip, and yes, they do preload the spring.

They are very long bottom eyes, it may be worth trial fitting the shock back on the chassis and making sure the suspension can move far enough to use all the extra length it's now got on the shock without the drive shafts binding.

If they do bind or the arms don't have enough travel, either fit the smaller eyes back on or refit the spacer in the shock.

I'm afraid it's a bit of trial and error to get the shock length right.

[BigJag]

Went to the LHS today. Asked for some damper oil. The started going on about oil weights. What oil weight do I require for the TA01?

Also where can I get some extra C-clip shock spacers. Would I need to get hold of a parts tree? If so which one?

My alloy motor mount should arrive tomorrow.

[TA-Mark]

40wt oil does the trick (#400 was the kit supplied damper fluid).

Grab the springs and give them a gentle stretch. Then play with them in you fingers for a bit compressing and gently stretching until all four springs are the same length when sat on the table without weight on them. They will now fit the dampers that have been built longer and the current spacers can be used to fine tune the pre-tension.

[BigJag]

40wt oil does the trick (#400 was the kit supplied damper fluid).

Grab the springs and give them a gentle stretch. Then play with them in you fingers for a bit compressing and gently stretching until all four springs are the same length when sat on the table without weight on them. They will now fit the dampers that have been built longer and the current spacers can be used to fine tune the pre-tension.

Wow! What an amazingly simple and effective solution. Thankyou very much.

The car runs very well. The alloy motor mount seems to have increased power and speed.

Here's a shot of the car prior to the lift.

Here's a shot after the lift.

Any suggestions for which Rally tyres to use. I'm struggling to find any. So a reputable supplier link would be helpful also.

[BigJag]

Here's some shots of my attempts at a velcro shell mounting system . It works very well.

[TA-Mark]

Any suggestions for which Rally tyres to use. I'm struggling to find any. So a reputable supplier link would be helpful also.

Tamiya #50476 Rally Block Tyres. They will fit straight onto the wheels you have or most other 1.9" tourer wheels. More than 10 matches for them on ebay so not uncommon tyres.

[BigJag]

Got a few days off work. So was messing around with the TA01. Had a few issues with shell mounting and steering servo. Which I sorted before taking it out for a run.

During the run I noticed it would judder. This got worse until the car refused to move at all. The motor was running yet no drive was being transferred. I picked the car up and rotated the wheels by hand. There seemed to be no diff issues or anyother drive train problems. Tried the controller again and everything seemed fine, aside from a horrible clicking/clanking sound coming from the rear gear box. Time for a strip down.

The motor came out first. Nothing seemed wrong there.

Took a look through the space left by the removal of the motor. The large plastic gear (spur gear?) that was visible seemed intact. There was some tell tale grey paste. Rotated this gear with the aid of a screwdriver. Eventually I found a flat spot on the gear. About six of the teeth had been flattened. I guess this was the problem.

I found the following in another thread.

The TA01 gearsets are a two piece spur, with an aluminium maingear that fits into the backside of the spurgear, and an aluminium idler gear. It's these two aluminium gears you want to avoid.

The TA02 spur/main gear is a single piece plastic gear and the idler gear is plastic. The plastic gears will outlast the aluminium ones by about 10 times (or more).

The rest of the gears in the sets are the same except for the rear diff gear. TA02 rear diff is a ball diff.\

Steel pinions can be obtained from Modelsport.co.uk. 0.6m pinion search. Avoid using Tamiya's aluminium 'AV' pinions.

I would also recommend using a metal motor mount, the plastic ones flex and put the mesh out between pinion an spur. Asiatees.com 16T-21T motor mount.

Credit to TA Mark for the above.

Looks like I need to get hold of a TA02 spur gearset.

The necessary part numbers would be appreaciated.

Thankyou.

I've had a look around and come across Part No:#53127 :Tamiya 53127 Skyline Speed-Tuned Gear Set (TA01/TA02).

I'm not sure if this is what I need. It seems to be more suitable for a touring car rather than a rally car.

Also found Tamiya 50529 TA01 4WD Car Plastic Gear Set TA-01 TA02. That seems to contain parts that won't be required.

[TA-Mark]

found Tamiya 50529 TA01 4WD Car Plastic Gear Set TA-01 TA02. That seems to contain parts that won't be required.

#50529 is the set you want. Contains all the gearbox gears in plastic and a 74 tooth spur. Good idea to replace all the gears at the same time so they all have the same wear rate. Worn gear on new gear is a mis-mesh.

Combine that with a steel 21 tooth ARW0600-21 (RW Racing) or RRP1121 (Robinson Racing) pinion.

The speed tuned gearset is better suited to onroad running with standard motors. Set contains 2 spur gears.

The 69 tooth and 66 tooth spur gears are the speed tuned gearset.

[BigJag]

#50529 is the set you want. Contains all the gearbox gears in plastic and a 74 tooth spur. Good idea to replace all the gears at the same time so they all have the same wear rate. Worn gear on new gear is a mis-mesh.

Combine that with a steel 21 tooth ARW0600-21 (RW Racing)

Thanks TA-Mark.

I'd already ordered a set of the gears. I've also ordered the suggested pinion from modelsport.co.uk. Any suggestion for which grease to use. I usually use a silicone one from the LHS.

There seems to have been various types used in this car. Including what looks like oil. During the clean up I found lots of different coloured types of lubricant.

[BigJag]

Finally got round to fitting these.

Got as far as this.

Got stuck when it came to the diff gear/axle.

Managed to strip it down to the following state.

Can't seem to get this opened up. I don't have a manual to refer to either.

Can someone give me some pointers please.

Thankyou

[Madmuz77]

You can take the diff apart by putting an allen key in the outdrive & undoing the nut with a box wrench.

be careful if you rebuild the diff as the thrust washers have to go in proper order & direction, & be sure to use ball diff grease.

below is a pic of the back of the Manta Ray ball diff hop up packet(same diff) so you can see which way they have to go, sorry about the small pic.

Hope this helps.

[BigJag]

Finally got a 959. From the Tamiyaclub meet in Nottingham. Cheers Purple Bugsy.

Ran it for a bit today. Then quickly put it away, after I barrel rolled it a couple of times. It grips very well. I expected it to be a little looser. Changes direction instantly. I was driving on block paving. It didn't like long grass.

The scratches on the shell were there when I got it.

Let me know what you think of it, please. Any tips and advice will be gladly received too. Particularly about those nifty looking shocks. They look complicated.

It will be run. In a more open area though. At least until I have the hang of it.

[Grastens]

The chassis looks great! Is the car running original tires or the DF-03ra block pattern types?

[speedy_w_beans]

EDIT: Didn't realize this thread started in 2009 and started replying about using a TT01 as a rally chassis. Never mind.

-Paul

[BigJag]

The chassis looks great! Is the car running original tires or the DF-03ra block pattern types?

Don't know. It has white wheels, as opposed to the classic yellow ones.

[TA-Mark]

Don't know. It has white wheels, as opposed to the classic yellow ones.

They look the same as the wheels and tyres that's in the Repsol Escort TA02 kit.

[Sayer]

Yeah those are pretty clearly standard touring wheels with Rally blocks. The original wheels were closer to M-chassis sized and the rally block pattern was different.

[BigJag]

The chassis looks great! Is the car running original tires or the DF-03ra block pattern types?

Not sure how great it will look when I get home tonight. managed to step on it after someone drove it towards my feet. The back sat down and it was definetley rubbing somewhere. still ran though. After it flipped and did a barrell roll. I decided it had had enough. Haven't taken a good look yet. Fearing the worst.

During the run I noticed that the turning circle seems exceptionally large. Is that normal?

Otherwise it was fast and responsive. With a Lipo in, it tore through some 5cm tall grass.Really need to find an open area for it though. It deserves it.

Hope the damage isn't too bad.

[BigJag]

It's bad. The top rear left hand strut has snapped off at its mounting point. It's missing too. The metal body post and anything attached to it has gone.

I doubt a replacement will be easy to find. Anyone have one?

Part numbers would be most helpful.

[redzone]

Not sure about that, but you can use the M05ra wheels & tyres on the 959 chassis if you want it to look right. It will sit lower though due to the smaller overall diameter.

[njmlondon]

Nice looking 959!

They are very fragile though! the suspension arms break if you just look at them. The good news is that there is almost a continuous stream of parts on ebay and some fo the more delicate pieces have been remodelled in alloy which again you will find on ebay.

Re the wheels, I think the 1.9 sized touring wheels are a better fit than both the original yellow ones and also the M sized wheels. If you have a look in my showroom (http://www.tamiyaclub.com/showroom_model.asp?cid=12694&sid=396) the bottom photo shows the prototype 959 and my 959 with wheels like yours. See what you think.

Re finding parts numbers, have a look here... http://www.tamiyaclub.com/manual.asp?id=59

[BigJag]

Wow. Your car looks fantastic. EBay seems to be bearing fruit in the search for parts.

Anyone have any idea about the large turning circle. Is it due to the large wheels fitted?

Will it improve if I go for the M class wheels?

You can see behind and to the right of the top of the spring where it broke off. All that is missing.

That's a pic from the manual. I think I need parts BS4, C4, E7, E9 , and SM4. You may need to click on the thumbnail.

Have I missed any?

[Splended]

Wow. Your car looks fantastic. EBay seems to be bearing fruit in the search for parts.

Anyone have any idea about the large turning circle. Is it due to the large wheels fitted?

Will it improve if I go for the M class wheels?

You can see behind and to the right of the top of the spring where it broke off. All that is missing.

That's a pic from the manual. I think I need parts BS4, C4, E7, E9 , and SM4. You may need to click on the thumbnail.

Have I missed any?

From what I can see in the photo you need BS5, C5, E7, E9 and SM4. I have all these parts both new and used. Just drop me an PM if you are interested.

About the large turning circle I would have checked for binding in the steering mechanism/servo saver and if the steering servo is moving properly.