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Frank McNally

Will these have any Bearing on performance?

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Hi guys, just a quick one...

Does anyone have any opinion on ABEC9, Jazrider or Tamiya bearings? Which are the best?

Cheers

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The quality of bearings has been discussed a month or so ago, so a search might find you the definitive answer.

I buy all my bearings from www.rcbearings.co.uk (also on ebay) and always get good service. They offer metal or rubber shielded options too which can be handy if you run a lot in dusty conditions. I can't honestly say whether they are top end quality (probably not), but for me they have performed more than satisfactorily. I know others on here use them too.

Bearings should be considered consumables just like tyres.

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Hi guys, just a quick one...

Does anyone have any opinion on ABEC9, Jazrider or Tamiya bearings? Which are the best?

Cheers

What's best depends very much on what defines best... could be material quality, price, accuracy of the construction, how maintainance free they are, etc... Aka, first of all, perhaps it's relevant to ask yourself (and/or share with us) what you'll be using the bearings for?

That said, I've yet to have bearings that are of a quality worse than using bushings, so if you look at it like that, you 'can't go wrong' with bearings. Of course this is not entirely true, I'm sure there are bearings that are bad even for a stock TT01 or something. Do realize that some ratings, like an ABEC rating, are pretty deceiving. The ABEC rating is a guideline for accuracy, tolerances and some other factors, but misses out on materiial types, material quality and smoothness of the bearing's rolling/contact surfaces. And then there is a misconception about high rated ABEC bearings being better. Yes, they are... for the right purpose. However, with moulded gearboxes and gears you can seriously ask yourself whether ABEC 9 bearings are in fact better - if anything is just slightly out of shape there will be excessive stresses on such bearings, leading to excessive wear, whilst bearings with bigger tolerance won't have these problems (as quickly).

As for the materials, the type of shields and lubrication, it again depends on what you use them for. Rubber shields give good protection from dirt and grit, but they add some friction to the bearing. Ceramic balls are nice, they are lighter (less rotational mass), are harder wearing and can handle bigger impacts... until dirt enters the bearing. And they (I recall) require more thought and attention with regard to lubrication.If you want real good advice, I think Abec35.com is the website to go to. They are not the cheapest website, but their website is pretty clear about the different specs of bearings they sell, and I'm sure they can help you find and select the right bearings for your car. And to me, such service is worth the extra money :) If your car already has bearings, and if they feel smooth-ish, I'd just leave them in and run them till they pop, seize, die... It may actually not even happen in the time you own the car!

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IMO the bottom line is that the gear cases we mostly fit bearings to are mass produced moldings and not acturate engineered items .As said just fit hobby grade bearings and you'll not go far wrong . Anything more is just throwing money away .

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Thanks again for all the info again guys. It never ceases to amaze me just how much tech info there is about even the smallest of parts especially hidden ones.

I've gone for the ABEC9 rated ones to try them first, not even for any particular reason... If they're not very good, I'll try the Jazrider ones.

The main goal is to get a really quick car based on a TL01 chassis - maybe this isn't the best one for speed but it's all I have...so far. I have had a look on rcbearings, Percymon, however, I couldn't find any doing a couple of searches for the TL01 chassis and also the kit number of my Alfa...strange I thought since I was led to believe this was quite a popular chassis type.

Oh, and sorry, I don't think I've started this thread in the correct place. Admins, please feel free to move it and accept my apologies!

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Thanks again for all the info again guys. It never ceases to amaze me just how much tech info there is about even the smallest of parts especially hidden ones.

I've gone for the ABEC9 rated ones to try them first, not even for any particular reason... If they're not very good, I'll try the Jazrider ones.

The main goal is to get a really quick car based on a TL01 chassis - maybe this isn't the best one for speed but it's all I have...so far. I have had a look on rcbearings, Percymon, however, I couldn't find any doing a couple of searches for the TL01 chassis and also the kit number of my Alfa...strange I thought since I was led to believe this was quite a popular chassis type.

Oh, and sorry, I don't think I've started this thread in the correct place. Admins, please feel free to move it and accept my apologies!

The TL01 is a fun chassis - getting it fast will mostly make a difference in the classes with mild motors though - I think the silver can/stock class would be ideal for it - the TL01 is not made to handle very big motors anyway.

Bearings sure help to get a lot of friction out, especially as the TL01 doesn't have them as standard. Plus, it saves the potential to break down your car early (I melted two chassis'/gear casings by putting a 17T motor in). I think ABEC 9 bearings aren't the 'best' choice for speed. I would've gone for ABEC 3 ones, metal shields, and ones that need regular re-lubricating with oil (grease is thicker, thus more friction and a slower ride). If you really have a lot of money set aside for this project, you could go for ceramic hybrid bearings (steel cage, ceramic balls). However, just try out what you have, I'm sure it will work waaaay better than bushings :-)

As for other mods, there is the lightweight chassis (grey instead of black, has a hole in the bottom at the servo horn - handy both for weight and changing out the servo if necessary). I also saw this video some time ago:

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It's a video for tuning an M03R for racing specs (with silver can class). You can see the tiniest mods are applied to make it neater, more lightweight, etc. Glueing the suspension arms instead of using screws will help (you could also try sourcing the Long Span Suspension Arm Kit for the TL01 and FF03 for more adjustability and rigidity in your suspension system), as well as removing the rear bumper (the lightweight chassis includes an FRP brace to hold the rear together like the bumper usually does, it's important for rigidity, strength and sealing the drivetrain). The TRF dampers are a must, and getting adjustable upper arms will be really useful (aluminium or titanium is preferable for weight savings).

Also, if you have freedom to choose any tire, look for the tire that gives you the best performance for the surface you're driving on, or try to get the best out of your tires within regulations. I don't know how crucial it is onroad, but if it's anywhere near as important as for offroad cars, the effect tires have on performance should not be underestimated.

Then there's the last bit, about the motor. For a car like the TL01 that's made for milder motors, this could, besides bearings, tires and dampers, be the most important step. The stock motors have the same amount of turns and some regulations use that as the limiting factor. If that's the case, get a batch of silver cans and look for the one with the best performance. If I understand his video correctly, it apparently also helps to break-in your motor correctly.

If you want more information from the guy, he's TC member Grahoo. I'm sure he'll like to help you out on this.

PS: Note that the work he did on the ball diff may not apply to the TL01 - the M03, being front wheel drive, needs the least amount of power loss from the diff being loose. Thought this applies to any car, it may prove to be less critical to cars that (also) have drive on the rear, which is where the weight shifts when accelerating, giving plenty of grip to put the power down (a gift the FF cars don't have, which is why they're often wrongly written off as succesful competition vehicles)

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