Percymon 2184 Posted November 11, 2011 used thunder dragon arrived today, which looks to be 95% complete - the body needs a tidy and some new decals but i'm thinking i should use it as a runner body and buy another for the shelf. Looking through the manuals the only differences betwen the Thunder Drgaon and Thunder Shot seems to be the body shell itself and the orientation of the front body post (turned through 180'). similarly the Fire Dragon body seems to use the same moutning points , although both these use different shock towers to the Thunder cars Is this correct ? I'd like to use either the ThunderShot or (less so on account of the different suspension set -ups) the Fire Dragon body as the selfer Can someone confirm above differnces/likeness please Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ideal2k 3 Posted November 11, 2011 Thunder shot & dragon: Tall, narrow rear shock mount Single front shock No rear stabilizer Solid upper arm links Dog bones all around Fire dragon: Wide shock mounts, f+r front and rear stabilizer solid upper arm links four shocks unsure about dogbone situation Terra Scorcher: Wide shock mounts f+r stabilizer ADJUSTABLE upper arm links full ball bearing set universal shafts front white wheels So clearly the Terra Scorcher was the king of these. The Norwegian distributer strangely sold the Fire Dragon much later, after the Terra Scorcher was off the market, and then bundled it with a Dynatech 01R. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Percymon 2184 Posted November 11, 2011 Given a Fire Dragon body might look a bit odd on the chassis i have (3 yellow shocks, not four red ones) , i'll go for the Thundershot body for the shelf and clean up the current Thunder Dragon one for trunning. Thanks Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ideal2k 3 Posted November 11, 2011 Fire dragon has yellow shocks. Red shocks would be hot shot II or super sabre. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
actualday 7 Posted November 11, 2011 Fire dragon has yellow shocks.Red shocks would be hot shot II or super sabre. I concur with the differences outlined above... on a practical point these cars really were great fun to drive, with one down side.... they were very predictable! I unfortunatley [as a teenager] got bored with mine running it on Tarmac and so passed it onto a family member... Hop it up, however, as i later learned and the transformation is great fun. I am not sure the gear boxes could handle brushless to be honest, but a hotter Brushed motor would definately add great fun. well done on your purchase, i really hope Tamiya rerelease this rerelease again!! 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Percymon 2184 Posted November 11, 2011 I have a brushless 450 outrunner motor, 2600kV i think so i'm half tempted to try that, especially as the rotating motor can is chrome and red anodized. Just ordered new bumper, new Thunder Shot body, decals and a set of wheels (got one set in store already) Only question now is tyres - i think these car use an odd diameter so perhaps i'm stuck with the 50344 spikes ? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
taliesin 260 Posted November 11, 2011 Tires are a goofy size, so I just used regular drive hexes and wheels/tires from the Gravel Hound. Cheap as chips and nobody likes them much so they're easy to snap up on fleabay. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ideal2k 3 Posted November 11, 2011 2600kv should be perfect. Just for a little thing I did based on the Tamiya motors: Acto-Power: 3583KV Dynatech 02H: 3472KV Dynatech 01R: 3050KV Technipower: 2819KV GT-Tuned: 2638KV Technigold: 2638KV Sport Tuned: 2541KV Technituned: 2388KV Mabuchi standard 540: 2094KV (but some say they might be only 1600kv, depending on the model/make of the silvercan) This list may or may not be accurate, I have based this on RPM numbers off the internet so if the sources are wrong, then my numbers are wrong. But as you can see, the technigold is about 2600KV, so a motor of that capacity would be perfect. My personal opinion is that the Dynatech 02H is the fastest motor possible to run in one of these, as it will make the car go crazy fast. I used to have one in mine in years gone by, and it was pretty much too fast for the chassis, in my opinion. So if you go with 2600kv that should be a bit more suited to the chassis. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Percymon 2184 Posted November 11, 2011 Tires are a goofy size, so I just used regular drive hexes and wheels/tires from the Gravel Hound. Cheap as chips and nobody likes them much so they're easy to snap up on fleabay. Well i have a full set of new Schumacher 2.2 spikes and foam inserts, and i have the gravel hound front rims. Whilst i've ordered the proper set of rims, i'e not yet ordered tyres so perhaps its time to pick up a set of rear star spoke gravel hound rims as a cheaper short term runner option. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BeetleLover 4 Posted November 11, 2011 Fire dragon:Wide shock mounts, f+r front and rear stabilizer solid upper arm links four shocks unsure about dogbone situation Fire Dragon only came with Front Stabiliser, Rear Stabilliser is/was an optional hop up part James Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Gruntfuggly 562 Posted November 11, 2011 Anybody interested in this series of cars should have a look in 'mud4fun's showroom - there are some excellent mods for thundershots: http://www.tamiyaclub.com/showroom.asp?id=1721 Not around anymore unfortunately... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Wez-li 1790 Posted November 11, 2011 2600kv should be perfect.Just for a little thing I did based on the Tamiya motors: Acto-Power: 3583KV Dynatech 02H: 3472KV Dynatech 01R: 3050KV Technipower: 2819KV GT-Tuned: 2638KV Technigold: 2638KV Sport Tuned: 2541KV Technituned: 2388KV Mabuchi standard 540: 2094KV (but some say they might be only 1600kv, depending on the model/make of the silvercan) This list may or may not be accurate, I have based this on RPM numbers off the internet so if the sources are wrong, then my numbers are wrong. But as you can see, the technigold is about 2600KV, so a motor of that capacity would be perfect. My personal opinion is that the Dynatech 02H is the fastest motor possible to run in one of these, as it will make the car go crazy fast. I used to have one in mine in years gone by, and it was pretty much too fast for the chassis, in my opinion. So if you go with 2600kv that should be a bit more suited to the chassis. Great post mate. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ideal2k 3 Posted November 11, 2011 Fire Dragon only came with Front Stabiliser, Rear Stabilliser is/was an optional hop up part Ok, but the re-re seems to have included a rear stabilizer? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ideal2k 3 Posted November 11, 2011 Great post mate. Thanks Did the calculations because I wanted to use brushless in my cars myself Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BeetleLover 4 Posted November 12, 2011 Ok, but the re-re seems to have included a rear stabilizer? I've got the re-re and it hasn't the rear stabiliser... James Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
taffer 948 Posted November 12, 2011 Original Thundershot and Thunder Dragon have different (weaker) front and rear hubs, updated in the re-re Thundershot Original Thundershot has not got the extra webbing on the lower blue arms for extra strength, re-re is updated Orig. and re-re Thunder shot and orig. Thunder Dragon have machine screws that help hold the front stabilizer in place (b4+6) Terra scorcher and fire dragon have self tappers and additional 3mm washers instead I think everything except the re-re fire dragon has fully threaded shafts (for steering arms) The re-re fire dragon has threaded shafts at both ends only with smooth section in middle There's slight variations between the models reg. bearings and e1+thrust washer Stage 17 orig fire dragon vs stage 16 of terra scorcher There's prob other minor differences that I don't remember off the top of my head now Share this post Link to post Share on other sites