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Boomerang on the way.... What do I need to know?

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Ok TC, I finally have my first 4wd tamiya buggy on the way, a Boomerang. Thanks Dave959!!

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Very excited, as the 4wd buggies (hotshot, supershot, and boomerang) I wanted as a kid, but never had one.

So, with my tendency towards heavy throttle, hard use and breakage, I would like some advise from those who've had experience with these cars.

So, what are the weak points, what will I break, what upgrades have you guys found are the best? How are your runner's suspensions set up?

Yes I do want to know everything. Shock oil weight, piston selection, springs, preload. Wheel/Tire choices and favorites.

And lastly, for the boomerang, which high wear and hop up parts are interchangeable between different cars?

You know I don't go easy with my cars, and shelf queens are just part bins. So this bad boy is gonna get run.

Thanks for all the help and info guys.

Cheers,

Burleson

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Judging by the pics, that Boomerang is in excellent condition. Parts that break/wear out are the drive cups, dogbones get bent, front arms crack, battery holder under the car also breaks easily. Obviously, ball bearings are a must if you're swapping for a better motor. Front suspension isnt that great but works OK for a 28 year old. All in all, should be a reliable runner!

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Even though the boomerang was re-re'd 5 years ago it quite quickly disappeared off retainers shelfs. Parts are available but be prepared to wait for supply from tamiya japan and some sprues like the arms , bumper and gearboxones are getting pricey. I found tamiyaparts.co.uk to be the best prices but i still have to wait another 4-5 weeks for some parts to arrive.

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Before you run it check the set plates are in the correct position for the pinion fitted to the motor. I doubt Dave will have got it wrong, I had a blonde moment with mine once and ripped a few teeth off the spur gear. If you have a tendency to run into things the threads will probably get pulled out the aluminum / brass hex that the front bumper bolt threads into at the front of the gearbox. You can turn them over once and re-use the thread the other side, but I've had cars in the past that both have been ripped out of. Front uprights can be a weak point where the ball joints thread in.

When I make cars with uprights like these I use an M4 tap to cut the threads for the ball joints into the plastic before screwing in the ball joints. It de-stresses the plastic and makes it easy to fit the ball joints without chewing the heads on the aluminium balls (which also wear out if you don't keep them clean). In theory it weakens the plastic, but I have found that it reduces the chances of the uprights splitting around where the ball joints are screwed in.

The dual rear bumpers are also not that strong if you reverse into things at speed. I've not broken them myself, but have bought cars with broken rear bumpers.

The bodyshell will tear around the body mounts if you roll it frequently as well. If you're planning on ditching the ESC I would lose the resistor and mount a plate across where the body mounts are and velcro on the bodyshell. This will spread the load of any upside down induced impacts.

I've also found the front anti roll bar supports to be flimsy and replaced them with hotshot I/ II items instead, which are FRP and much stiffer.

The triangle hexes that drive the wheels can also be prone to splitting, usually due to the wheel nuts being done up too tight at some point, or using very powerful motors.

On a few cars I've bought the threads had been pulled out of the gear casing where they attach to the chassis, make sure the right length screws are in there.

On the hop ups front, the supershot front suspension is a bolt on upgrade to convert to dual front shocks, you either need to find a hotshot HP suspension kit, or get the appropriate parts from the new super hotshot re-re. Also, an 8.4V battery will fit as standard, which will give it a bit more oomph.

The above sounds like a long list, but they are a good car :)

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badword yeah guys. GREAT INFO. I have no issues modding this badboy, and I was curious if a super shot front shock set up could be fitted. Now that I know it can, that's on the list.

Ball bearings will go in it of course. I'm gonna start a list and then go through the car when I get it. A modern ESC will go in and I have 4 vintage race motors I need to rebuild/refresh an one of those will go in it.

Keep the info and knowledge coming. I greatly appreciate it.

Cheers!!

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I run a Valenion in my Hotshot and it likes the waterproof but I'd say rear arms are the weakest link to that design. I've hit everything in the neighborhood and finally made ali arms for it. Drive cups are second but after that it's pretty much bullet proof.

I'm pretty sure that one needs bearings, I never dug into it. In my opinion judging from a few key points it was never ran more than a few feet. I was afraid that if I dug into it that it would never leave, so everything should get looked over before you run it.

Front sway bar mounts out of carbon fiber are easy to make and well worth it too

You'll need a good steering servo too, the radio that was in it was pretty old school and so were the servos.

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Whip me some of those arms and mounts for me Dave!! Lol.

I'm stoked for this Boomer.

I'll look it over, throw a pack in it, run it a bit and note what's needed.

Then I'll tear it down, and start addressing the issues and weak points.

I'm gonna order bearings and a few other odds and ends this weekend.

I'm still trying to run down a body and choose a tire combo to run. I've never been a fan of the stock round spike tires. They just suck.

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I'd highly recommend replacing the MSC and servo before trying it. MSCs have a way of adding to the parts needed list.

The spike tires actually do pretty good and those were suprisingly soft for thier age.

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I'll swap the servo and msc out. Good call.

I've never had success with the oval spikes. My foxes never seemed to grip with those tires, but the Boomer will start off with them, as I've not ordered any tires or wheels for it.

I almost bought a aluminum set on eBay a few weeks ago, and didn't. Sure wish I had now.

Hopefully another set will pop up for cheap again soon.

Where's Max at? Doesn't he own all the cars in this series?. Max chime in kiddo!

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The oval spikes are good tires for general offroad bashing and have reasonable grip on most offroad conditions. And they last a long time too. I'm sure the Boomerang will be better with those than the Fox, simply 2wd vs 4wd. If your going for ultimate performance then yes there are definately better ones out there.

You should also get rid of the aluminum pinion and get a steel one, I use a 15 tooth with a Yokomo modified motor (dont know how many turns, my guess is around 16T)

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Just to add to my earlier post, another weak spot is the plastic that the screw pins bite into that hold the wishbones to the uprights and the gearboxes On the real old vintage cars, the screw pins have been in and out severaol times, and the ends of the wishbones end up splitting open.

To get around this on my super sabre, I used 3mmx50 socket cap screws cut to length and 3mm nyloc nuts to replace the screw pins. Again, it just takes the pressure off the old plastic and helps to stop it splitting.

If it does split, a quick bodge repair you can do is rough up the plastic with a bit of sandpaper and then glue a 3mm metal washer on the end. This helped me extend the life of some wishbones that really belonged in the bin.

I also replaced the plastic washer that stops the motor set plates from falling out with an aluminium one I made on the lathe. When the motor screw is tightened it tends to distort the plastic washer underneath it.

A nice hop up if you can find them are top force UJ drive shafts and drive cups. These fit nicely in the rear of the car, but not in the front. I've also fitted vanquish wheels to my super sabre using tamiya aluminium 12mm hex adapters Pt 53056.

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I Have a 13T Ez Run Brushless combo in mine.

Mine is a Re re though. I added the Hot Shot Re re alloy centre shaft && cups to replace the flimsy piano wire.

Bearings, Steel pinion, Top Force rear Uni joints, Just ordered alloy front knuckles .

The rear arms do break & are getting expensive to buy now.

Apart from that they are a top runner..

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The bigwig front shock set up is also able to be utilised, infact, the parts actually come in the re-re kit.

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The bigwig front shock set up is also able to be utilised, infact, the parts actually come in the re-re kit.

But you need the big wig front arms .

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But you need the big wig front arms .

True, forgot to mention that :)

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Ok TC, I finally have my first 4wd tamiya buggy on the way, a Boomerang. Thanks Dave959!!

DSCN0100.jpg

DSCN0101.jpg

Very excited, as the 4wd buggies (hotshot, supershot, and boomerang) I wanted as a kid, but never had one.

So, with my tendency towards heavy throttle, hard use and breakage, I would like some advise from those who've had experience with these cars.

So, what are the weak points, what will I break, what upgrades have you guys found are the best? How are your runner's suspensions set up?

Yes I do want to know everything. Shock oil weight, piston selection, springs, preload. Wheel/Tire choices and favorites.

And lastly, for the boomerang, which high wear and hop up parts are interchangeable between different cars?

You know I don't go easy with my cars, and shelf queens are just part bins. So this bad boy is gonna get run.

Thanks for all the help and info guys.

Cheers,

Burleson

Human BadWagon I built a re re boomerang at Christmas and fitted the std mabuchi 540 motor and tamiya esc and a 13 tooth pinion gear. Today I fitted a hpi firestick 15 turn motor and an etronix probe plus 14 turn rated esc. Now that's a nice combination the boomer was shifting along. Hope you have as much fun with your boomerang as I do with mine. Just remember that the boomerang shares a lot of its parts with the hotshot series apart from the open chassis. Enough said.

Steve.

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I Have a 13T Ez Run Brushless combo in mine.

Mine is a Re re though. I added the Hot Shot Re re alloy centre shaft && cups to replace the flimsy piano wire.

Bearings, Steel pinion, Top Force rear Uni joints, Just ordered alloy front knuckles .

The rear arms do break & are getting expensive to buy now.

Apart from that they are a top runner..

Where's the best place to buy the steel pinion gears from. I want to get two 13 tooth steel pinion gears. One for my boomerang and one for my brushless super hotshot.

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Where's the best place to buy the steel pinion gears from. I want to get two 13 tooth steel pinion gears. One for my boomerang and one for my brushless super hotshot.

modelsport normally have good stocks

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My LHS keeps Robinson HS pinions in stock. I just grab them there. I picked up a 13t and 14t last week.

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It's here..... And it's in fantastic shape. Didn't get much time to tear into it, but I will soon.

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Dave, you are my homie for life. Lol.

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Great pictures. I have had 2 Boomers, but never ran them much. These pictures makes me want one again :wacko:

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It looks more like a finished restoration instead of the first pictures out of the box. I still think you'll be the first one to actually run it. I didn't and neither did the guy I got it from. I'm glad it got there all safe and sound. So how many hours until it's outside running wild?

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The wheels aren't even tight in those pics. Lmao. Just stuck it together with a 40 year old flat head screwdriver and a makeshift wrench, plopped it on my desk and snapped some cell phone pics.

I was happily surprised at the condition, just fantastic. I couldn't believe ya let this one go, but I'm sure glad ya did.

It'll be running soon. I gotta throw a pack and rx in it.

I have a busy couple of weeks ahead of me trying to get my car ready for the first drag race of the year.

Then I'll tear it down and address some of the weak points and add more power.

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