Gravel Hound

[scorcher-tec]

hi

i recently bought an ansman master smacker which is fun to drive but not exactly what i wanted (bad turning circle and stones get jammed in the transmission easily)

so i have been looking @ a gravel hound or rising storm.

if anyone owns one of these would you like to comment on its handling and reliability to help me make up my mind

much apreciated

mark

[Zak001]

EDIT.

[Henk4Focus]

Hey Zak, stop slandering the poor 02 chassis! I agree that it is somewhat low but it sure is a nice looking buggy. I like the Hound and own one but I've never had the guts to run it. It just looks to cool and I can't get myself to ruin it.

Must say the Sand Viper/Neo Falcon does make a lot of sense as a drifting bad handling super awesome beach buggy. My son Neo really enjoys his and when he gets to grips with the understeer he should be a "bad" little racer and I'll have my work cut out to try and beat him with my equally bad Mad Bull.

I'll get one if I was you Mark. I sold a XB Hound to one of my farmer friends and his son gives that buggy a beating and except for some serious scratches on the belly it has not been broken once. We jacked up the rear coils a little so it doesn't bottom out so easily and it makes a world of difference.

Henk

[taliesin]

Great buggy and tough as nails for bashing. I wouldn't race one, mind you, but for general abuse it's great.

They are belly-draggers and land most jumps with a resounding slap as the chassis bottoms out. Still, it doesn't seem to hurt anything and nothing has broken in 2 years of hard use other than the front shock tower, which is a bit fragile. It's also cheap and easy to fix.

I put taller tires on mine. Others have used DF-03 shock or spacers on the shock ends. Many have just ignored the low clearance and been fine.

Very strong gear box and generally a good runner. I'd recommend owning one for sure.

One caution - they don't do well in grass. If you are planning on running it on the lawn, think again. The low clearance will have it struggling or it just won't go at all if the grass is tall. Dirt/street fine, grass bad.

[tsan_derson]

It's definitely a tough little car. I picked one up (Rising Storm) a year and a half ago for very cheap. ($40 I think) Drove it only a few times outside with a 19 turn motor, and once even raced it indoors at 'FastCats' carpet offroad track. It's great for bashing, (maybe even casual use at the track) but the lack of a slipper and poor selection of gear ratios makes it a less than ideal candidate for racing.

Having said that, I have recently been thinking of rebuilding it, getting it up and running again. Just need some shocks, and a new body set and wing mount.

[scorcher-tec]

hi again

thanks for the input the gravel hound (df02) sounds similar to what i have in the smacker (probably better) i think i might save up and go for the df03 sorry if i upset any ardent df02 fans :/

thanks again

[Zak001]

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[Zak001]

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[Zak001]

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[scorcher-tec]

Id say the smacker would be a better buy , you've made the right choice and dont worry about upsetting the df02 fans.........theres not many of them left.

Which df03 are you thinking of getting??

Zak.

the keen hawk

looks good and not too much ££

[Zak001]

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[Zak001]

What motor are you going to run in it?

[scorcher-tec]

i am not one for absurd speed so maybe put a 23 or 21 turn motor just to pep it up.

i dont know what they are like to judge a good motor - still a raging newb at this but having fun

[TA-Mark]

I beg to differ. The DF02 will more than outlast the DF03. The DF03 has an aluminium gear wear problem on the mainshaft (10 to 20 runs with brushless and the gear is gone). Then it's buy 3 seperate gear bags to replace all the gears in the rear gearbox (so nice of Tamiya to put one of the three needed gears in each bag, mainshaft - slipper set, idler gear - bevel gears bag, diff gear - diff gears bag). I wouldn't recommend a DF03 to anybody! The only steel mainshaft gear available seems to be rare as hens teeth (Five Stars part). If you feel you must go with a Tamiya shaft drive buggy, go for the older DF01 chassis (MantaRay, Blazing Star, Dirt Thrasher, Top Force).

In the 3 years that I have owned all 3, the Rising Storm DF02 is still on it's first set of gears and has broken nothing, and the chassis is stock apart from some longer dampers to get some more ground clearance. The DF03MS has been through 4 gearsets in the same amount of time with much less runtime (been through 9 mainshafts total over 3 DF03's). The DF03 has no thrust bearing in the ball differentials. If the set screw jams in the outdrive it will either undo the diff or do it up so tight it snaps the set screw (I've snapped 3 of these now). I have retired my DF03s as a bad joke (read: raided parts off them for better chassis and tossed the rest in the parts bin). All 3 buggys (DF01,DF02,DF03) were using the same motor/ESC combinations to fit into club level class racing. My DF01 is 15yrs old and still going strong.

There are a few other problems associated with the DF02 apart from the low ground clearance. The balance of the buggy is one sided with the battery down one side, so it's doesn't jump well unless you weight the lighter side, then when you change to a different capacity battery you need to adjust the amount of weight to keep it balanced. The suspension is very sloppy out of the box and needs to be shimmed or the wheels/suspension arms wobble everywhere at high speed. The dogbones and outdrives are the large plastic type, there are upgrades in steel, but that's another expense. The standard plastic steering drag link is a bit soft and will deform if you catch a front wheel on something and then jam on the chassis (replace with alloy). The main propshaft is plastic. The gear ratios of the DF02 are suitable upto 4600Kv, but I wouldn't fit a brushless without some serious driveline upgrades (metal instead of plastic shafts).

If brand is of no concern and you just want a sealed shaftdrive buggy look at the HPI Cyber 10b. I'm extremely happy with the one I bought a month orso ago. They are designed to handle a 5700Kv brushless, so very tough. There is a slipper clutch available (which I have fitted). They have thrust bearings in the ball diffs (no diffs coming undone or snapping). It's like they took all the best features of the DF01, DF02, and DF03 and a few that the Tamiya's should have and put them all in the one buggy. I run mine at club level racing with a 5700Kv MambaMax on 25C 7.4v Li-Po. Only wear in the buggy I've had is tyres to date.

If it must be Tamiya and you don't care whether it's belt or shaft drive, go for the BD01 or DB01R belt drive.

[Henk4Focus]

Yes the gravel hound is a very nice looking buggy but then again so was my ex , Ive always thought it looks great and I dont mean to slander it but its just not up to the job. What do you want me to do, give scorcher the guy who asked the wrong info just because it looks good, its a bad buy and its not worth spending the money on.

Zak.

Its not a great buggy at all, maybe you should read your own post and have a re think........a very strong gearbox??? ...what have you being running in it......a silvercan haha, see how long it lasts with some real power, it doesn't take much working out, theres no way the gearbox will last long with a high powered motor.......a lunchbox gearbox is twice as strong as the df02....and you can run brushless in those everyday....says alot for the df02 ....Ive been in the hobby for over 20 years and to say that the df02 has a very strong gearbox is just a complete joke........and whats this.........caution they dont do well in grass......isn;'t it an offroad buggy......you say dirt is fine.....yeah as long as the dirt is smooth and without stones to bang on the bottom of the chassis......great on the street, if you can forgive all the other problems but its meant for offroad and I say again its just not up to the job.

Im getting really sick of people trying to justife the df02.....years this rubbish has been going on, you'd think that poeple would come to their senses by now....lets face it, its one of the worst offroad chassis of late that Tamiya's made.

Zak.

Geez Zak, chill out!

[Zak001]

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[Zak001]

Geez Zak, chill out!

Yeah I no and your right Henk but I see red when the DF02 is praised up....I am chillin now though and its not like me to get like that, its a long story as far as the df02 is concerned.

[phantom photon]

I agree with TA-Mark. The drivetrain on the DF-02 is well up to the job of running high power motors. I have been running a DF-02 with brushless and lipo for well over a year and a half now with absolutely no problems whatsoever. The only thing I have done is replaced the driveshaft for a metal one. Granted the ground clearance is nothing to write home about but the chassis can take the punishment (althought it might not look so pretty anymore ) and so far nothing has broken

[Henk4Focus]

Yeah I no and your right Henk but I see red when the DF02 is praised up....I am chillin now though and its not like me to get like that, its a long story as far as the df02 is concerned.

Cheers Mate, I'm glad to hear that. Enjoy the weekend.

Henk

[Zak001]

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[Henk4Focus]

Why??

[Zak001]

Cheers Mate, I'm glad to hear that. Enjoy the weekend.

Henk

You to mate...

Looks like some good weather for some RC fun have to make the most of it in the UK.

[Zak001]

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[SteelRat]

With the danger of Zak blowing a gasket, I'm going to add a bit of +1 Love for the DF02.

Got mine (a Plasma Edge) for Christmas, stuffed a 8.5 Brushless and 2S LiPo in there, and it's as happy as larry.

Yes the suspension is a bit sloppy (Tobe ally damper set sorted that). Yes the ground clearence is terrible (adjustable dampers and 1.9" crawler wheels and tyres sorted that), but from what I've seen it's a tough little car.

Maybe you just had some bad luck with yours Zak?

[TA-Mark]

, lets all go out an buy a df02 becuase they are obviously great for running brushless...lets hope Tamiya re release them in 20 years time. I just give up and am obviously just wasting my time.

I wouldn't buy again nor recommend either the DF02 or DF03 now that I've owned them both and know their weaknesses. The DF01 isn't much chop either unless you upgrade a few things and make a brace for the rear gearcover which doesn't have enough screws. All 3 shaftdrive examples of 4WD from Tamiya have their misgivings (There's TL01b too, but we just won't go there). None of them are suitable for brushless (or low turn brushed) out of the box. To clarify, after you do all the upgrades, the DF01 is the longest lasting of the three

If you had not replaced that plastic propshaft with a metal one in the DF02 before fitting a brushless I don't doubt that you chewed through a few spur/pinion gears.