Difference between a TL01 and TL01-LA chassis.

[Jason1145 3986]

Having recently acquired both these chassis I kind of already knew what the difference between them was....... well, I'd read a few comments about the LA version having differently designed arms and hubs which gave more damper travel yet keeping the track width the same as the TL01 version.

So now I have both of these chassis I thought I would show some of these differences in case it helps out anyone else who was wondering what it all looks like.

White = TL01-LA            Black = TL01

 

Top - TL01LA       Bottom - TL01

 

The previous owner kindly cut out a circular hole in the bottom of the TL01LA chassis to easily access the servo horn (looks a good idea to me)

 

Here you can see the different shape of the front A Arms...... LA version is the top chassis.

 

Rear Arms

 

Different Front Hub carriers - TL01LA on the top

 

Difference between the rear hub carriers - LA version on the right

 

TL01 Rear hub

 

TL01LA Rear hub

 

 

A quick scan through both manual side by side also highlights a few other small differences - the LA uses hinge pins with c clips to hold the lower arms on whilst the standard TL01 uses that longer screw with the last few mm being threaded.

The TL01 also has a rear bumper for which the LA version uses a flat carbon effect end chassis piece in place to hold the chassis together.

There may be other differences and if you know of any please throw them up here.

I plan to get both these two chassis running sometime soon and wil see if I can notice any difference between them..... to be a fair comparison though they would have to be running similar set ups, I'll definately look to replace the LA's friction shocks that are currently on it to match the Tamiya oil dampers sat on my TL01.

[Juls1 1660]

The LA normally came with LA specific sway bars too and it has adjustable upper arms. 

The LA made a great rally car with longer oil shocks. (Only downside is exposed motor) The cc01 alloy shock set is ideal for rally use. (Gf01 shocks if you want blue) for road/drift use shorter 50-55mm shocks. 

Originally there was a upgrade set for tl01 to LA. I’ve not seen a nib one for years. You can still pickup most the parts separately however and make your own conversion.

on top of that, any kit that uses tl01 suspension can be changed to this as well. (Ff02, Wr02 gf01 g601 etc.) can also be used to widen most m chassis to 190mm.

Many people disliked the tl01, in reality it’s the basis of many tamiya chassis we run today. Even though it’s not as good as a on road chassis, I prefer it to tt01/02.

there is 2 hopups that should never have been on the TL01.

the carbon propellor shaft (main shaft down the centre) would split and bind up like crazy (yes even with bearings). The aftermarket alloy shaft is a much better upgrade.

the lightweight chassis was a joke. It was flexy and broke the moment you looked at it with slight concern. Waste of time and effort. 

The best upgrade you can’t buy anymore was the yeah racing carbon shock towers which tied each end of the chassis together and dramatically improved stiffness and strength of the chassis.

[Tizer 606]

In addition to the handling advantages you already mentioned, the TL01LA also has an improved roll center with some options and also improved ackermann and ackermann options. The geometry of the arms and hubs is very similar to what the TA04 and TRF414 had at the time. It's a really good upgrade and makes the TL01LA one of the best stock class racing chassis' next to maybe the TT02S.

[TurnipJF 9181]

That hole cut in the bottom of the chassis is indeed a good idea as it stops debris from jamming the steering by giving it somewhere to go. Tamiya thought so too - more recent TL-01 mouldings come with a hole moulded in as standard.