TRF Frog

[BloodClod]

Local weather has been nothing but wet wet wet... so I found some time to do some work on my Tamiya Frog.

So here's how she looks after hours of work...

A side view...

The front end features custom shock mounts to mount two oil-filled dampers... and also custom wideners to increase the front track width. I find running the stock track width with 2.2" tires makes the front look a tad narrow.

The shock towers are made of carbon fiber and feature 3 adjustment positions to tune the front end.

The rear end has also seen some work. Mounts have been made to fit 3.5" buggy shocks. Custom rear "extentions" move the shock mounting point further away from the pivot point to allow me to use more standard spring rates and oils on the car. My take on the stock rear end is that the mounting position is too close to the pivot point resulting in the need for very heavy springs and oils to work. With the extentions, I get to use a lot more of the shock's stroke as the suspension moves through it's range of motion.

Now a lot of the work was also done under the "hood"... let's sneak a peek...

A custom steering plate was designed to mount the steering servo as well as a bellcrank steering setup. The bellcranks are from a M-05 and their geometry quite suitable for the buggy - they are also bearing supported for nice smooth steering action. One of the reasons I went with a bellcrank setup was to reduce the massive bump-steer typical in the Frog... it's all but gone now. Here's a pic of the buggy at rest.

And suspension compressed...

But the main reason I went through all this trouble was... well... I thought it'd look *trick*!

So that's my idea of what a TRF inspired Frog buggy might look like. IMO the front+rear widened track allows the 2.2" wheel-tire combo to look more proportional. The other mods should also improve the handling of the car somewhat. Now if only the weather would clear up to allow me to test it.

Hope you enjoyed the pics. Let me know what you think.

... and don't bug me on that pink bumper... I bought that to go with a box-art pink-white body I hope to do sometime.

[Gruntfuggly]

Nice mods. What did you make the wideners out of?

[calicool]

Looking good man.Really like the carbon steering plate...Trick

[backtomyroots]

Whoa, that's a trick frog -- from budget basher to backyard performer !

[ideal2k]

The steering kit is absolutely smashing

[markbt73]

That steering setup is beautiful! I might have to steal that idea for a Blackfoot.

[Origineelreclamebord]

I love it Nice work! So how does this compare in handling with a regular Frog? I bet with the modern tires and shocks it's miles off (in the right direction of course )?

[VTRSP1]

Nice mods. What did you make the wideners out of?

Delrin.

Rite BC?

[BloodClod]

Nice mods. What did you make the wideners out of?

VTR is correct - the wideners are made of white delrin and they are machined to "key" into the metal support on the suspension arm side so they won't rotate. Adds 5mm to each side.

I love it Nice work! So how does this compare in handling with a regular Frog? I bet with the modern tires and shocks it's miles off (in the right direction of course )?

I'm sure it'll handle better after some tuning on the springs and damping rates. It's been raining everyday for about a month now... when the weather clears I'll put this buggy through it's paces and update.

[BloodClod]

Looking good man.Really like the carbon steering plate...Trick

Whoa, that's a trick frog -- from budget basher to backyard performer !

The steering kit is absolutely smashing

That steering setup is beautiful! I might have to steal that idea for a Blackfoot.

Thanks for the kind comments guys. I'll be working on a similar steering setup for my mudblaster that I'm working on.

I actually *really* like the look of the JG rear shock mount and I designed my own. But after fitting them on I found that by using the lower shock mounting hole it moved the shock mounting position even closer to the pivot point which required a *really* strong spring and hard oils to get the suspension to work close to right. In fact, I had to resort to touring springs as standard buggy springs weren't hard enough. The rear shock extentions were a re-design after that "failed" exercise..

[bakaguyjean]

VTR is correct - the wideners are made of white delrin and they are machined to "key" into the metal support on the suspension arm side so they won't rotate. Adds 5mm to each side.

Just an idea to take you widener farther.

It would be great to have your wideners keyed for the outside parts also at different angles ,you could lose that stupid star washer that allways slip and never have to worry about it moving. That is a part worth money right there. During a race the front allways moves and it gets worse on the Brat due to the heavier tires. Just an idea.

BUt you frog look nice,the steering set up look trick. There looks to be enough space to mount a transponder next to the servo.

[WillyChang]

^^ toss the shurikan and JBWeld the 2 brackets together

those CF bits are schmick! price them & put them into production!!

[BloodClod]

Just an idea to take you widener farther.

It would be great to have your wideners keyed for the outside parts also at different angles ,you could lose that stupid star washer that allways slip and never have to worry about it moving. That is a part worth money right there. During a race the front allways moves and it gets worse on the Brat due to the heavier tires. Just an idea.

BUt you frog look nice,the steering set up look trick. There looks to be enough space to mount a transponder next to the servo.

thought of doing that but was a tad lazy... that would have required one more machining process and I was eager to put everything together.

I'll run it as such and see if I have any issues with the caster going out of position but my thoughts are that the star washer should bite even better on the delrin so it might not be a problem... of course we know that anything that can go wrong when you're racing typically does! <grin>

[BloodClod]

^^ toss the shurikan and JBWeld the 2 brackets together

those CF bits are schmick! price them & put them into production!!

lol thanks!

Really think there'll be guys interested in these bits?

[WillyChang]

the fronts - definitely!

rears - quite a few might

the radioplate - maybe. Nice setup if the rack parts isn't too expensive.

In cars without MSC I just mount the servo centrally and make new equal length links,

keeps things simpler & stock-looking.

[Corona Powered]

Great work on that steering setup! Looks incredible. Any chance you could post a template?

[RichieRich]

Fantastic work. I really like the steering setup you've created there. The steering has always been a weak spot with the frog.

[stulec52]

as everyone has said, great work !

I'd be up for buying some carbon bits to build mine similarly.

I have a pretty nice Frog, but not far enough from stock for my liking.

especially if you could also do a parts list of other stuff we would need, like which shcoks you using, part numbers for the steering setup.

also, you mention you widened the rear as well, but no pics, what did you do there? or is it just in the offset of the wheels?

great work.

[merckx]

do indeed like your bell crank steering. that fixes a big issue with the frog.

do your rear wheels have lots of offset? i tried 2.2s front and rear on mine, the rears with the alloy hex adaptors still made for a very narrow rear end, and my car sat high and tended to roll and topple easily. the much smaller and also wider rear tyres just seemed to work better. admittedly they also have their issues.

its a really hard buggy to try and get running and handling half decent...in the end, i just gave up on mine, it wasnt worth the trouble.

[Mad Ax]

Fantastic work there. If those carbon bits were available for a reasonable price I'd buy them for my brat-scorcher. I made my own setup from glassfibre sheet but it doesn't work too well and looks a bit ugly.

Personally though I'd lose the "toy car" bumper and give it a nice TRF paintjob