Help with Kyosho Tomahawk!

[steelo]

Hey guys,

This may be a noob question, but I recently acquired a Kyosho Tomahawk for my wife to assemble (this is her first model she’s ever put together) and she seems to be having trouble with the front wheel alignment. I checked her work 4-5 times, the tie rods are exactly what the instructions said to set them at and I don’t see any obvious mistakes. If you look at the front wheels though, something is just not right.

Can anybody tell from my picture what could be wrong? I’m baffled, the only thing I know to do is to lengthen the tie rods, but then they would be much longer than what the instructions say…

Thanks =)

*edited to add bigger picture

[Gruntfuggly]

Looks to me like your steering rods are nowhere near long enough...

Very hard to see from your picture, but it should look like this:

[scoobybooster]

Hi Steelo

Can you give us another pic from front top view?

Definately cannot help with this one

[Mokei Kagaku]

It's difficult to judge from the small pic and that angle, but to me it could seem as if the upper trailing arms aren't adjusted to the right length (too long) and/or that the front castor blocks are mounted in the wrong angle (rotated too far to the rear, causing roughly the same effect as too long upper arms). This would explain both the crazy castor angle and the toe-out, even if the steering rods would be the correct length.#

Edit: zooming in on the pic, it could seem as if the lower trailing arms have been swapped. Could be my wrong interpretation, but it looks as if the "nubs" for the lower damper mounts are on the upper side and not as correct, on the underside of the trailing arms. Can't see how that would effect the castor and toe-out much though....

[steelo]

Thanks, everything is adjusted to the length specified in the manual...that's why we are so confused

[Mokei Kagaku]

Thanks, what do you mean by the upper trailing arms?

Red: upper trailing arm, ie. the tierod that acts as an upper trailing arm on the Scorpion series chassis.

Yellow: Castor block. Is the position of this (and the front beam!) correct? It's impossible for me to judge from the small pic.

[steelo]

Thank you so much, I'll look at it again when I get home.

You were a great help!

[steelo]

One other note, even with all of the rods disconnected, the wheels seemed to pivot at a very bizarre angle....turning seemed to create very awkward caster/camber angles, Is that normal?

The front beam and castor block had hash marks (I guess as a guide) and they appear to be lined up.

[steelo]

Uploaded a better quality picture in initial post, thanks

[Mokei Kagaku]

Uploaded a better quality picture in initial post, thanks

Good! Still difficult to judge the angle of the front beam ends and the positions of the castor blocks, but right and left lower trailing arms indeed seem to have been swapped as indicated in an earlier comment I made. With the bigger pic, I feel a bit more sure.

[shenlonco]

Hi are you sure you don't have the front suspension bar that goes through the chassis and holds on the A arms on backwards see photos above the ends point away from the chassis.

[steelo]

Thanks, so the lower trailing arms are the metal 'arms' below the upper arms that the steering rods link to?

[Mokei Kagaku]

Hi are you sure you don't have the front suspension bar that goes through the chassis and holds on the A arms on backwards see photos above the ends point away from the chassis.

If the front beam ends would be pointing backwards, it would have the opposite effect and cause extrem toe-in, not toe-out.

[Mokei Kagaku]

Thanks, so the lower trailing arms are the metal 'arms' below the steering rods link to?

If I understand you correctly, no. With lower trailing arms I mean the lower suspension arms that the dampers attach to. The "nubs" that the dampers attach to should be on the underside and not the upper side of the trailing/suspension arms, and they seem to be on the upper side, which would mean that right and left side have been swapped.

[steelo]

Gotcha, I think that's what happened...they are labeled L and R, but is that from the front or back of the car?

[Mokei Kagaku]

Gotcha, I think that's what happened...they are labeled L and R, but is that from the front or back of the car?

From the driver's seat so to speak, which I reckon would be from the back.

[steelo]

Okay, I'll have to double check when I get home...she might have confused them.

Thanks again!

[Snappy1]

I wish my wife was even remotely interested in building a Scorpion lol, nice find

[steelo]

Haha, thanks…she did a really good job for it being her first build. I probably would have goofed up on the steering too, it’s always tricky. She still has to paint the body, but I always let her paint my bodies and she always does a fantastic job with the paint and decals. (steadier hand, I think) =)

[MAD RACER]

I had this problem I think.

Ended up the front axle tube was back to front. (The long rod from one suspension arm through the chassis to the other arm)

Caused all sorts of problems. My money is on that.

[steelo]

Initially I was thinking that too, but if I remember correctly there are hash marks on the bar that line up with the center groove of the blocks.

[Theibault]

Hi are you sure you don't have the front suspension bar that goes through the chassis and holds on the A arms on backwards see photos above the ends point away from the chassis.

I think Steve may be on to something, or the L vs R that MK talked about.

[MAD RACER]

Still can be the wrong way round. Trust me I thought the same and Marks still lined up.

[shenlonco]

Hi here is how it should look.
Hope this helps.

[steelo]

Thanks everyone...finally got it, it appeared the castor lock was rotated too far upwards on the bar (the part with the large black grub screw on picture above) causing the bizarre angles. Thanks for the pictures! Thats a beautiful Scorpion