Tamiya Formula 1 cars... what cars are available/best choice now?

[Jonathon Gillham]

2 hours ago, DaveBuildsRC said:

The manual for my F104v2 pro was showing to use a 104t spur. I will be getting a 21.5 brushless TrackStar motor. F104v2 manual lists 104t gear ratio is 4.52:1 and 93t is 4.04:1. Should i have used 93t spur? 

The advice I've had for mine from guys at the club I will be running at is an FDR around 2.7 for the 21.5T motor. In comparison the touring car with the same motor is 3.7, so you will probably need to go much lower than the 4.52 or 4.04 in the manual. If you are running foam tyres then they use rollout or something which is very similar but takes the wheel diameter into account which reduces as the tyres wear.

[TurnipJF]

Never mind...

[DaveBuildsRC]

To change spur gears can I use something other than Tamiya ball diff grease?

[ncpantherfan71]

1 hour ago, DaveBuildsRC said:

To change spur gears can I use something other than Tamiya ball diff grease?

All I use is Team Associated ball Diff lube.   

[Juls1]

Pretty sure it’s just silicon grease/paste, you should be able to get a tube of it at a auto specialist store. Basically it has to be a grease that won’t soften the plastic. So nothing petroleum based. 

[DaveBuildsRC]

Wrong forum post. Sorry.

 

[Jonathon Gillham]

I think I'll convert to the wider front suspension set up after talking to guys at the club.

Is one of these all I'd need or is there more to it than that?

http://www.rcmart.com/trg5066-hard-front-suspension-tamiya-f103-p-28472.html?cPath=595_744_1221

http://www.rcmart.com/3racing-f103rm10-front-suspension-tamiya-f103rm-p-23288.html

http://www.rcmart.com/tamiya-54153-f103-carbon-reinforced-arms-p-28671.html?cPath=595_744_1221

[TurnipJF]

Any of those would fit. However you would sacrifice some adjustability. The TRF101W front end would give you the same width increase without losing adjustability, but then it would also cost more. I can see arguments for both approaches.

 

As for extra parts, you would want longer tie rods, and possibly shorter kingpins although I suspect that you could make your existing ones work.

[Jonathon Gillham]

On 11/13/2017 at 7:46 PM, TurnipJF said:

Any of those would fit. However you would sacrifice some adjustability. The TRF101W front end would give you the same width increase without losing adjustability, but then it would also cost more. I can see arguments for both approaches.

 

As for extra parts, you would want longer tie rods, and possibly shorter kingpins although I suspect that you could make your existing ones work.

Thanks for that.  So if I bought

http://www.rcmart.com/tamiya-53119-special-king-racing-developed-p-20776.html?cPath=595_744_1221

and

http://www.rcmart.com/tamiya-54153-f103-carbon-reinforced-arms-p-28671.html?cPath=595_744_1221

I should be fine as long as I buy longer turnbuckles for the steering rods.  The F103 manual shows 3 x 42mm vs the 3 x 35mm for the TRF102 so thats easy enough.

Will I need these too or will my existing ones work?

http://www.rcmart.com/tamiya-54154-f103-carbon-reinforced-uprights-p-28672.html?cPath=595_744_1221

I'm assuming that they are all interchangeable so can just use my existing ones but better to order everything at once given how much shipping costs relative to the cost of the parts.

 

Is that everything that I will need?  It seems too easy, just the B parts, the hinge pins and the turnbuckles?  I know you said that all F103/104/TRF101/102 parts are interchangeable but it really seems like I'm missing something!

I will forgo the adjustability of the TRF101W parts as the only prices I can find were around 10 times higher than these ones, so I would rather go with these for now to test it out as I think that this is what the other guy at the club is using.

[TurnipJF]

I don't have any TRF uprights to hand for test fitting to my F103, but looking at their layout and dimensions in the manual, I see no reason why they wouldn't fit. 

 

Tamiya models are quite modular - that is one of the great beauties of their design approach. Other than a couple of screws to hold the upper and lower F103 arm mouldings together, that is all you need in terms of chassis hardware.

 

One extra thing you might wish to consider though is the bodyshell. The F103 arms exit differently to the TRF arms, so would want either a retrimming of the arm exits on your current shell, or a new shell trimmed for the F103 front end. The former would be cheaper, the latter would look neater.

[Jason1145]

My F103/104 thingy.... Can someone confirm this is 0.4 mod spur from the pictures, and what p/n I can buy to change to regular 0.6 mod spur?

Do those balls just push through... do they need to be replaced with a new spur gear?

[AndyForbes]

The spur gear you have is a 0.4mod from this set;

https://www.tamiyausa.com/items/radio-control-parts-70/hop-up-parts-72000/rc-spur-gear-set-93-104t-0-4-53104

To convert to 0.6 mod, you need to go back to the standard gear set which is this;

https://www.tamiyausa.com/product/item.php?product-id=50506

However it limits you to a 63t spur. The kit standard pinion with this is a 17t.

The existing balls will just pop out - you can use a 1.5mm allen key to gently push them out with very little force.The bearing is the same for both pinions too.

[TurnipJF]

I find the 18t pinion to be a good match to the stock 0.6 module spur. You shouldn't need to use the plastic diff pieces supplied with it - your blue bling ought to work fine with the stock spur.

[Jason1145]

Excellent cheers chaps.... if I was after making a top speed run with this carwhich would be best to use... 0.4Mod or 0.6..... or why do some people prefer one type over another?

[TurnipJF]

I use 0.6 module because it is more resistant to damage in the rear end collisions common at our club. This shouldn't be an issue with a speed run car, so you'd might as well take advantage of the greater number of gear ratios available with 0.4 module. I suspect that you can get taller gearing that way.

[Jason1145]

21 hours ago, TurnipJF said:

I use 0.6 module because it is more resistant to damage in the rear end collisions common at our club. This shouldn't be an issue with a speed run car, so you'd might as well take advantage of the greater number of gear ratios available with 0.4 module. I suspect that you can get taller gearing that way.

Sounds good enough to me... just ordered P/N 53900 93/104 spur gears in 0.4 Mod.

I'm guessing the current spur is the larger diameter of those two as there isn't much room to go bigger on the pinion than the current 22t on there now... I'm hoping when the two new spurs come I'll find the smaller one will be smaller than currently fitted.

Also ordered 53420 40/41t pinions.... seems a big jump from the 22 to 40 pinion but why not, I can always try the 28/29 pinion range if these are not suitable.

[ApexRC]

What is the best Tamiya F1 chassis for racing rubber tires on the new black CRC ozite carpet?

[TurnipJF]

The TRF103 is the latest and greatest but costs a fair bit, the F104 Pro II is a more affordable club level car that runs very well. 

[ApexRC]

19 minutes ago, TurnipJF said:

The TRF103 is the latest and greatest but costs a fair bit, the F104 Pro II is a more affordable club level car that runs very well. 

Yes, I noticed the TRF103 has been discontinued.  For the F104 version are you referring to the t-bar (F104 Pro II) or the link (F104 vII Pro) chassis?

[TurnipJF]

51 minutes ago, ApexRC said:

Yes, I noticed the TRF103 has been discontinued.  For the F104 version are you referring to the t-bar (F104 Pro II) or the link (F104 vII Pro) chassis?

Both F104s are great performers, but I was referring to the Pro II in my earlier post. 

The II Pro is a fine car indeed, basically a TRF101 with a bit less carbon and a bit more plastic, but not at all easy to come by these days.

[ApexRC]

Do any Tamiya F1 bodies or wings handle better for carpet?  I’m looking to get a car together for a local TCS race in February so just seeing what works cause I’m probably not gonna have much practice/tuning time.  I know superglue is needed on the sidewalls of the front tires on the new CRC black ozite.  So any tips would be appreciated.

[TurnipJF]

In my experience, the front wing doesn't do much in terms of aerodynamics, and is instead a stylish front bumper. As such, one that can take a few blows without deforming and dragging on the track surface would be my recommendation. The one supplied with the original F104 Pro shell is nice and tough for example. Not so much the new one that comes with the Pro II - it takes only a few minor collisions before it is trying to dig its way under the carpet. 

[ApexRC]

I’m assuming bodies don’t make much of difference either?  I was just planning on getting this body

https://www.tamiyausa.com/shop/f1gt/rc-body-set-f104-2017-type/

and this wing set

https://www.tamiyausa.com/shop/wing-hop-ups/rc-f104-wing-set-2/

[TurnipJF]

35 minutes ago, ApexRC said:

I’m assuming bodies don’t make much of difference either?  I was just planning on getting this body

https://www.tamiyausa.com/shop/f1gt/rc-body-set-f104-2017-type/

and this wing set

https://www.tamiyausa.com/shop/wing-hop-ups/rc-f104-wing-set-2/

The wing sets are designed to fit the bodies, at the front at least, and that wing set you linked to is the one with the weak front wing. It looks stylish and works well - as long as you don't crash. 

This set is more robust and also works well on the track:

https://www.fusionhobbies.com/product/0555118-tamiya-f104-body-with-side-pontoons?gclid=Cj0KCQiA2ZCOBhDiARIsAMRfv9J5tRE-Dgo6jskbZD1g2ErEZ4-t-JTpPrU2u1GUHDobZvU6ao1NKUkaAv9LEALw_wcB

[ApexRC]

Oh well, I have a couple of those wing sets on the way.  Luckily, I’m a decent driver so hopefully they’ll be ok.  
 

So I’ve actually been able to source a lightly used TRF103 on the way and I have a NIB F104 v2 that I’m going to build over the holidays.  So hopefully I can get both ready for the local TCS race in February.