Speedy's 2-for-1 TT01E R34 GTR and MAN TGS Build Thread

[speedy_w_beans 4272]

The crowd was clear in the voting thread for builds (here); while it wanted to see a Lancia Stratos first, there were a few votes for a custom MAN TGS based on the Team Hahn racing truck.  And so it shall happen!

I suppose it started innocently enough...  Eight years ago I built a pair of TT01R Type E chassis for my son and myself.  His had a Schnitzer BMW M3 Sport Evo shell; mine was a Cusco Dunlop Impreza.  As a newcomer to the hobby I bought a few extra spare parts to keep on hand, then Tamiya USA had some clearance pricing on certain TT01 and TT01R metal bags, then I discovered 3Racing hopups, and then RCMart had a full Yeah Racing hopup set for half price and free shipping, and well, it wasn't long before I had a healthy lifetime supply of TT01 parts.  I'm sure some of you can relate, but for a different chassis.

With the release of the Team Hahn Racing Truck I was pretty excited to see something different from Tamiya.  The chassis might be a plain TT01E, but the star of the kit is really the body, wheels, and tires.  I originally planned to build the Team Hahn kit with the Yeah Racing full hopup set, but for the past few days I've been studying the manual and digging through old boxes to see what I actually have.

Bottom line, it looks like I might end up with two TT01s.  The first will be a resurrected TT01R Type E with potentially some chassis modifications and a custom paint job on the Team Hahn shell.  The second will probably be the plain TT01E chassis from the Team Hahn kit, upgraded with the Yeah Racing set, and topped with a finished R34 Nismo Z-Tune shell.  Bonus, it's a 2-for-1!

First things first, it's time for an inventory to figure out exactly what we have.  Goal:  Let's use up these parts!  There's no point in storing this stuff for another 8 years!

 

[speedy_w_beans 4272]

I've been going through the TT01R Type E manual and taking an inventory of parts for the past few days, and it seems like I have most of what is needed.  The metal parts bags A, B, and C are virtually complete, and there are quite a few usable plastic parts.

There were definitely a few parts missing, and then there were some parts that would be nice if they were refreshed, and then I slid down the slope of easy improvements and landed at the base of "wouldn't that be cool!"  Doh, I'm doing it again!  Also, I think I've changed my mind some.  The rejuvenated TT01R Type E will be my science project first and get the R34 GTR Z-Tune shell, and then whatever works really well will be applied to the MAN TGS TT01E and the Yeah Racing hopup set.

The order has been placed and now I'm waiting on parts.

Parts absolutely required to have a complete TT01R Type E kit:

• 54026 center prop shaft and front/rear prop joints
• 51004 gear bag
• 51218 TT01D urethane bumper
• 51217 TT01D B parts (suspension arms)
• 53674 TT01/TGS K parts (adjustable upper arms)

I have everything else.

Parts that are nice to refresh because of some wear and damage:

• 54247 3x18 mm blue turnbuckles
• 50875 ball connectors/adjusters
• 51005 TT01 P parts (servo horn)
• YB0194MX (Yeah Racing) ball bearing set

Parts that reflect some personal preferences:

• 54395 3x22 hinge pins, PIN-E331 (Yeah Racing) 3x34 hinge pins, and ER-0001 (Yeah Racing) 2.5 mm e-clips -- instead of the kit screw pins
• TS-TT01E (Yeah Racing) titanium screw set
• TT01-10/HD (3Racing) 3x18 mm heavy duty step screws
• WA-016BU (Yeah Racing) 6 mm thick clamping-type wheel hexes
• 53671 TT01 front one-way unit

Parts that got me thinking a little about suspension setup both front and rear:

• TT01-20 (3Racing) front camber suspension arm set

Hopefully it all gets here soon.

 

[87lc2 2666]

Cool thread, I'll be following.  I bought a TT02R last year as my first on-road car and I love it.  What are the main differences between the TT01 & TT02 chassis?  

I can definitely relate to the extra parts situation...I must have enough spares to build 2-3 Clodbusters and at least 3-4 TA01/02s   Good luck with the builds, I'll definitely be following to see what works.  I'm very new to touring cars and could use some pointers.  Not that I'm looking to race, but would be nice to know which upgrades are worthwhile.

[speedy_w_beans 4272]

On 12/8/2018 at 12:41 AM, 87lc2 said:

What are the main differences between the TT01 & TT02 chassis?

I just happen to have the Team Hahn base TT01E kit and the Subaru Impreza '99 base TT02 kit, so from what I can see the main differences include:

• The TT02 chassis tub accommodates square hard case LiPo batteries easily, and the gearboxes split horizontally into upper/lower parts.  The TT01E chassis tub has ridges in it for older round NiMH packs, and the gearboxes split vertically into tub/end cap parts.  It is possible to snip or grind the ridges so the TT01E accepts hard case LiPo batteries, but the design of the gearboxes makes maintenance a little more painful because all the suspension arms and the diff assembly want to fall out when removing the gearbox end cap.  This makes it more difficult to reassemble, too.  Winner:  TT02

• The TT02 motor mount is reversible and provides 10 gearing ratios with the same 70T spur gear; optional 68T and 64T spurs are available.  The TT01E motor mount is not reversible and only supports four ratios for a given spur gear; there are optional 58T and 55T spur gears available to mate with larger pinions.  If you're trying to race some high-turn motor class, the TT01E might provide some lower ratios that are beneficial.  If you're trying to run a really hot motor for a speed run, the TT02 might give you some options for lower-turn motors.  Then again, maybe you'd switch to a 48 dp spur, get an adjustable motor mount, and call it a day.  Winner:  Tie
• In theory the TT02 center prop shaft has a better plastic design than the TT01E's plastic design.  It used to be common for people to upgrade their TT01E and DF02 chassis from the kit-supplied plastic center prop shafts to aluminum shafts to eliminate flexing and chattering.  I'm not sure how much power people have put through the plastic TT02 prop shaft, but I can't recall anyone writing how this is a mandatory part to upgrade to aluminum anymore.  Winner:  TT02
• The TT02 differential internals are plastic; the TT01E differential internals are metal.  This seems like a downgrade for the TT02; in fact, quite a few people upgrade their TT02B buggies with DF02 metal diffs to make them reliable.  I'm not sure if the issue is as dramatic for an on-road car vs. buggy.  You could argue the plastic gear diffs are lighter and therefore should accelerate more quickly, but they don't seem as durable as the older TT01E/DF02 designs.  Winner:  TT01E
• Both the base TT02 and base TT01E kits include brass and plastic bushings, fixed-length and fixed-geometry suspension arms and mounting points, spring holders/friction dampers, huge joint cups and dogbones that are mostly plastic with metal cross pin inserts, that use screw pins for the outer suspension pivots and shoulder screws for the damper mounting.  Winner:  Tie
• There are some small things included with the TT02 that make it interesting.  For example, there is a motor mount for a 380 motor as well as a 540 motor.  Also, TT02 kits include wheel hexes with brake discs molded into them.  Use a silver paint pen and you instantly have some brake discs that normally are an option part.  On the other hand, I think it's kind of annoying Tamiya changed the body post design where they attach to the damper stays.  You can't transfer body posts from a TT01 to a TT02.

Edited to add:  Looking through the two manuals side-by-side some more, there are some finer points worth noting as well:

• The TT02 front and rear prop joints are identical vs. different for TT01E.  This strikes me a little because it eliminates an (unnecessarily) different part.
• The bearings are spaced farther apart on the TT02 front prop joint vs. the TT01E.  This is nice because it means the front prop joint stays a little more aligned during operation.
• The TT02's upper suspension arms have narrower widths at the inner hinge pins compared to the TT01E upper suspension arms.  In general this makes little difference, but if you want to modify the suspension for different caster angles or wheelbases then there's less room to work with.  I guess it's not really an advantage or disadvantage.
• It seems like getting a higher ride height for rally models is easier with the TT02; just flip the rear uprights or change the placement of the spacers on the front knuckles.  With the TT01E, you have to trim the lower bumper parts and use the longer damper eyelets to get a higher ride height.
• The TT02's steering seems like an improvement over the TT01E.  The TT02 has right, left, and servo links with balls pressed into them vs. the TT01E with solid links relying some plastic flex and shoulder screws.
• The TT02 includes a box for the radio receiver to help protect it against water/dirt exposure.  It's not required to use it, but it's nice to have that option.  The TT01E does not ship with a protective radio box.

Both the TT01E and the TT02 are entry-level kits that are close to each other in design concept and price point.  Overall the TT02 looks like the better kit these days with LiPo-compatible chassis, easier gearbox maintenance, better center prop shaft, better front prop joint bearing spacing, better steering mechanism design, and some standard amenities like radio box, brake disc wheel hexes, and easier ride height changes for rally conversion.  The one thing that might make it "perfect" would be metal internal diff gears like the TT01E.

[speedy_w_beans 4272]

With parts on order it seemed like a good time to look over what I have and see if any progress can be made.  Today I focused on bearings and dampers.

Half the ball bearings I have for this TT01R rejuvenation already have some use, so the first step was simply dumping them out on a paper towel and cleaning the shields with Q-tips to remove as much dirt and grit as possible.

Then I went through a few cycles of cleaning with the bearing shaker.  The cleaning solution is automotive brake cleaner.  For each cycle I'd shake the container for 5-10 minutes to make sure there was plenty of penetration, then let it sit and see how the fluid looked.  The first pass had some fairly gray solution, but the second and third passes were much better.

The next step was drying the bearings; I used a hair dryer for a few minutes.  The heat helped the brake cleaner evaporate quickly.  Don't they look nice and clean!

Finally I spun the dry bearings to check for rough movement, put a drop or two of oil in each, and then spun them again to make sure the oil was distributed inside the bearings well.  The dry bearings were a treat; with a small flick I could get 1150 and 1280 bearings to spin for 5-10 seconds easily on their own, and the 850 bearings would spin for 2-3 seconds.  After oiling them I was lucky to get maybe a second of spinning since the oil was relatively sticky.  Of course the bearings won't spin on their own very much with the original grease in them.

[speedy_w_beans 4272]

As far as dampers are concerned, I had scooped up all the original CVAs and extra parts and thrown them in my Q/V parts bag.  I dumped all of this out and started sorting.

The dampers with the long eyelets were put back in the bag, and I found I had a full set of alternate pistons and ride height collars to work with.

I laid the 3-hole pistons and ride height collars aside and broke the CVAs apart to have a look.  As I suspected, I used the 1-hole pistons 8 years ago even though the TT01R manual calls for the 2-hole pistons.  The parts all seemed to be in good shape; even the bladders and O-rings were still usable.

I spent some time pondering what I really wanted to do about pistons in the CVAs.  The entry-level CVA pistons have 1.5 mm holes in them; this is much larger than the 1 mm holes in the TRF on-road pistons.  There are some complex relationships between hole size, oil viscosity, and damper speed that affect damping characteristics.  In the end I looked at the TRF416X and TRF417V5 manuals to see what they use by default, and they use 3-hole pistons with 1 mm holes.  I measured the inner diameter of the CVA body both at the top and at the bottom, measured the CVA piston diameters and thicknesses, measured the TRF-style pistons, and concluded the TRF-style pistons would actually seal against the CVA bodies better.  I decided to use the TRF-style 3-hole pistons.  Also, one minor complaint I've had about CVA dampers is the piston has a little bit of slop.  The shaft can move maybe 0.1 mm without actually moving the piston.  To fix this I opted to install a 0.1 mm shim under each piston to eliminate the slack.

Here are the completed piston/shaft assemblies.  For what it's worth, here are the measurements I took:

• CVA body inner diameter, bottom of body:  9.87 mm
• CVA body inner diameter, top of body:  9.97 mm
• CVA piston diameter:  9.80-9.81 mm
• CVA piston thickness:  1.70 mm
• TRF piston diameter:  9.83-9.84 mm
• TRF piston thickness:  1.70 mm

As you can see the pistons swap easily.

The next topic I was thinking about was ride height adjustment.  The CVA dampers include collars that measure 4 mm, 2 mm, and 1 mm thick.  While these work for coarse ride height adjustments, they're not adequate on their own to balance a car on corner weight scales.  Threaded aluminum dampers make this easy; just twist the collar some to make ride height / corner weight adjustments.  I was thinking about how Tamiya takes a 4 mm collar thickness and then proceeded to cut it in half a few times; this is a lot like a binary number system.  If 1 mm is the thinnest collar Tamiya provides, what stops us from making 0.5 mm, 0.25 mm, and 0.125 mm collars to really fine-tune each corner of the car?  Then I realized there was a different way to do the same thing.  Instead of making thinner collars, I could just add shims of varying thicknesses to each damper shaft and then decide whether each shim is above or below the spring retainer.  This means I don't need to make thin collars that might wrinkle under pressure; some shims are good enough.

Here's an example to show the idea.  The damper on the left has all of its shims above the spring retainer; the damper on the right has all of its shims under the spring retainer.  In theory the springs are the same length and the spring retainers end in the same position, but the eyelet on the right damper is extended by an extra 1 mm due to the stack of shims.  So now I can add ride height in 1 mm increments using the 4 mm, 2 mm, and 1 mm collars Tamiya provided, and I can add smaller sub-mm amounts to get a more precise ride height adjustment.

So now I have four CVA dampers with 3-hole TRF-style pistons shimmed to remove any movement slop, and I have extra shims on the damper shafts to alter ride height in 0.1 mm increments.  This is about a quarter turn on most threaded aluminum damper collars.

Now I have good bearings and upgraded CVA dampers to work with!

[Fabia130vRS 2098]

Nice thread, looking forward to the end result.

 

now I dont know... will my bext tamiya be a rally car or racing truck

maybe a racing truck, and add another body with rally block tires so I could make a multipurpose TT01. Really interested to see how this will turn out.

[87lc2 2666]

Thank you so much for posting the differences between the TT01/TT02 chassis, I really appreciate that.  Since I run Lipos and like the higher ride height setting on my TT02 it looks like an easy decision for me - another TT02.   Thanks again and goo luck with the project, looking great so far.

[speedy_w_beans 4272]

Happy day today; the post office brought my order of parts.

I was motivated to get the TT01R back together, so went to work immediately.

Steps 1 to 3 include installing the spur gear, prop joints, center shaft, and motor.

Easy peasy, nothing special to say except I used the Yeah Racing titanium screw kit ($12) throughout the build.  I used silicone ball diff grease on the threads of all the screws to help them go into the ABS plastic more easily.  It also helps with removing them later.  Less friction = not melting the ABS plastic and ruining the threads.

Steps 4 through 6 include building the rear suspension arms, building the rear diff, and installing the diff.

Subassemblies complete...  The hinge pins were rubbed with graphite.  The instructions say to leave 2 mm of droop screw exposed under each arm, but I tend to start with 0 mm exposed so the arms can drop more initially.  Then I'll dial in droop later as part of setup.  For the diff I just used some AW grease to slow down the diff action a little.

Step 7 is installing the gearbox cover, upper suspension mount, and rear damper stay.

Finally steps 8 through 10 include installing the rear bumper, droop plates, rear uprights, diff joints, dogbones, axle stubs, bearings, and hinge pins.

It turned out my rubber cement had gone bad, so I used a drop of CA glue for each droop plate.  It's not likely I'll wear them out anytime soon, and if I do, new B parts include bumpers and plates anyhow.  There weren't any surprises with the diff joints, dogbones, O-rings, axle stubs, or bearings.  Note the TT01R kit includes 53673 TGS & TT01 rear toe-in uprights; these provide 2 degrees of rear toe-in per side vs. the 0 degrees of toe the standard A parts provide.  All outer hinge pins were rubbed with graphite to lubricate them.  This pretty much completes initial assembly of the rear half of the chassis.

 

[speedy_w_beans 4272]

Steps 11 through 16 include building the front arms, building the front diff, installing the front diff/bearings/pinion gear, and installing the arms, gearbox cover, damper stay, and front bumper.  Instead of a front diff, though, I'm installing a one-way to make steering a little more responsive (less understeer than when two gear diffs are used)

It's pretty much the same situation as the rear.  The droop plates are glued in with CA.  The droop screws are set to 0 mm exposed.  The hinge pins are rubbed with graphite.  I built the front one-way per the included instructions and it dropped right in place of the standard gear diff.  The hop-up also includes a spare ring gear.

Steps 17 through 23 include installing the front knuckles, installing the axle stubs and dogbones, building the dampers, and installing them in the front and rear.

So I actually ran into a problem here.  It turns out the joints that come with the front one-way are sized for either the base kit plastic dogbones or some TT01-specific universal joints.  The TG10 axle stubs and 39 mm dogbones that come standard with the TT01R kit do not work with the one-way.  Grrr!

To make it all work I raided my Team Hahn TT01E kit and took a pair of axle stubs and dogbones.  These are larger diameter and shorter length, and they fit perfectly with the one-way.  I figure it's not a huge deal since I'm planning on using the Yeah Racing upgrade kit for the Team Hahn truck, so these parts won't be missed anyhow.

With the front drivetrain sorted out, I installed the dampers that had already been prepped and decided this was a good time to install the outer hub bearings and clamping wheel hexes.

Steps 24 and 25 include installing the front bumper, steering bellcranks, and links to the knuckles.  I also figured it wouldn't hurt to mostly finish the steering (center link, servo link, servo saver) and install the top deck and battery strap from steps 26, 27, and 30.

And while we're at it, I installed the front and rear body posts.  The chassis is essentially complete; it just needs electronics, a body, wheels, and tires to finish it off.  I have the electronics and body pulled aside already.  For a budget chassis I do like the blue bits Tamiya included with the R kit.

I should be able to finish this tomorrow and start into the Team Hahn build.  It makes me happy to see this chassis coming back from the grave... 

[speedy_w_beans 4272]

I finished resurrecting the old TT01R Type E today.  I still had the Johnson 540, Duratrax Intellispeed ESC, and Futaba S3003 standard servo from 8 years ago, and they still work just fine.  I did have to use a different receiver since I sold my 2PL AM radios a long time ago.  Everything was plug 'n' play and fit in the chassis easily; the only soldering required was for new bullet connectors on the ESC to work with a LiPo pack.

The body, wheels, and tires were all discount specials purchased and stored years ago.  I think the factory-finished body with LED lighting cost about $40 from TamiyaUSA; the total investment in wheels and tires is not more than $16.

Anyhow, here are the beauty shots:

Onward with the Team Hahn build now...

[87lc2 2666]

That came out fantastic with the GT-R body and wheels.  Interested to see how the truck comes out.

[speedy_w_beans 4272]

I started digging into the Team Hahn kit yesterday just to be sure what it included.  As expected with a base TT01E kit, it's a few sprues of black plastic and a few bags of hardware.

The hardware bags include the gear parts, servo parts, A/B/C bags of metal parts, a motor, and quite a bit of tape for the body.

The Yeah Racing hopup kit includes a full set of ball bearings, oil dampers with a spring set, adjustable suspension arms, universal joint shafts, center prop shaft and joints, a steering rack, and a few other small bits.  I think I bought this orange set a year or two years ago in anticipation of the Team Hahn release; at the time it was $80 shipped and seemed reasonable.

Everything is bagged pretty well and labeled.  There are two bags for the front, one for the middle, and one for the rear.  Bearings and dampers are in separate bags.

As I was reviewing the hopup kit instructions it became clear the kit relied on a number of the base TT01E kit parts.  Also, the hopup instructions don't follow the same sequence as the TT01E instructions, so I went back to the TT01E instructions and followed them step by step to check what Tamiya expected vs. what Yeah Racing expected.  In the picture below I laid out most of the hardware needed from the base TT01E kit to work with the Yeah Racing kit.  A few items aren't in the picture, such as a second differential, or all of the D parts, or the main chassis and gearbox covers.

In addition to what is needed from the base kit, I realized the Yeah Racing kit didn't provide adjusters or a turnbuckle for connecting to the steering servo.  The steering bridge is tapped for a machine screw, so it's not going to work with the stock P part.  Fortunately I had some extra ball connectors and adjusters left over from a M05 project; they'll blend in and look like they belong in the overall hopup kit.

[speedy_w_beans 4272]

This Monday we're expected to reach outdoor temperatures around 58 F, so it seemed like a good reason to trim the body and prep it for painting.  When I first pulled the polycarbonate parts out of the box I was pretty amazed at how deep they were; that has to be one heck of a sheet of Lexan and great process control to get something pulled as much as these parts are.  As I worked on the trimming a downside became apparent; Tamiya used relatively thick material to make these deep parts, and that makes trimming near the roof of the cab difficult.  It also makes the front bumper part and the rear cab panel challenging in some locations.  Everything is trimmed, but it will take some sanding and nipping a few corners to get everything to fit just right.

I'm also slightly annoyed with Tamiya's instructions regarding trimming the front corners of the main cab.  There are some tabs that hang down from the front of the cab and arc around to the sides; there they show trimming back the tabs before the bigger side tabs start.  Frankly, with the way the front bumper piece fits on the main cab, there is too much of a gap showing in these corners right where the side material is removed.  If I had to do it over again, I'd just leave it solid so there is continuity to the color.  It's not a huge issue, but it's a small detail that could be changed in the instructions.

I'd like to paint when a weather opportunity arises, but I also don't want to rush and regret later...  We'll see if a plan comes together.

[speedy_w_beans 4272]

My wife went out of town for the whole day today; I had the house to myself and thought I'd try to knock out this TT01E chassis w/ Yeah Racing conversion set in a single sitting.

The TL;DR outcome is I don't think I'd recommend the Yeah Racing set due to several quality problems.  If you're interested in details; read on.

Starting with the chassis tub, as usual.

The first few steps are installing the prop shaft, joint cups, spur gear, motor, mount, pinion, cover, etc.  In this build Yeah Racing supplies the prop shaft, joint cups, and battery posts.

I needed to break into the bearing bag right away, so I spun each bearing to check for smoothness and discovered most of them were laser-etched with the Yeah Racing logo.  Part of me thought this was an interesting detail; part of me thought this was a total waste of effort to add a manufacturing step for a logo no one ever sees.  Going through the whole bag, all of the 1280 and 850 bearings were etched, but only 2 of the 12 1150 bearings were etched.

Inspecting the first few pretty parts showed the anodizing is not consistent.  You might notice the prop shaft and battery posts look a little more glossy; the prop joints have more of a satin finish.

Anyhow, all the hardware installed without any problems.

Motor, pinion, mount, and cover installed.

This takes care of the "middle section" as Yeah Racing refers to it.

[speedy_w_beans 4272]

I have mixed feelings about the rear arms.

• The upper arms rely on a small set screw to bind/hold the turnbuckle from turning once the length is set.  If you want to adjust the turnbuckle later, the set screw must be loosened first.  Also, the outer halves of the upper arms don't grip the turnbuckles, so if you start taking the rear suspension apart the upper outer half tends to spin any direction it wants.
• I like to orient all my turnbuckles in the same direction so what they do is consistent regardless of what I'm adjusting on the chassis.  I usually set them so turning a wrench towards the front of the car shrinks the distance between adjusters/ball connectors.  However, since these parts are aluminum and not plastic and left/right parts are identical, this means half the turnbuckles tighten to the front of the car, and the other half of the turnbuckles tighten to the rear of the car.  This breaks my normal convention, and it means I have to either remember or guess on a turnbuckle-by-turnbuckle basis.  In this sense I think the plastic upper arm parts ("K" parts for the TT01R) are superior in that they grip the turnbuckles inherently, and there are no restrictions on turnbuckle orientation.
• The lower arm set includes the nuts for the droop set screws, but you have to supply your own set screws.  Personally I think this is lazy on Yeah Racing's part; there's no more than $0.05 worth of set screws for droop in this picture.  At a regular price of $120 - $170 for the conversion set, I think Yeah Racing can provide all the required hardware.
• I know e-clips are somewhat controversial; some people hate them, others don't mind so much.  Personally I don't mind the e-clips as the alternative is a big screw pin.

Something to note -- be sure to screw the nut over the top of the set screw first, then "remove" the screw through the nut.  This guarantees the screw threads are in sync with the metal thread of the nut before cutting threads in the locking nylon portion of the nut.  If you try to install the set screw into the nylon first, it's almost guaranteed the set screw won't align with the metal threads of the nut and it will bind.

Built arms.

The diff is built normally with some AW grease on the gears; some 1280 ball bearings take the place of the metal bushings.  The box wrench is holding the diff in place for the photo; otherwise it just wants to fall out all the time.

Very early in this thread I compared TT02 vs. TT01 and suggested the horizontal split in the TT02 gearbox (like a DF02) is superior to the vertical split in the TT01 gearbox.  Putting it together, you have to hold the upper suspension block in place and tilt the chassis on end to keep the diff and all the arms from falling out.  For installing the gearbox cover I sometimes just grip the chassis between my thighs while holding the upper mount with one hand and aligning cover with the other hand.

Gearbox cover, damper stay, and rear bumper installed.

To finish the rear end have to install the rear uprights, CVDs, and diff joint cups.

I've had some bad experiences with pre-builts CVDs in the past.  Usually the pins don't have flats ground into them, and it doesn't matter how much torque or thread lock you use, the pins will slide sideways and fall out lost forever.  Flats keep the pins in place even if the set screws loosen slightly.  This is the first set of pre-built CVDs I've received where the cross pins had flats already.

So the rear end looks complete (except for dampers), right?  Notice anything funny about the left side vs. the right side?

How about a view from the top?  How does the left compare to the right?

Yes, that's right, the left upright is toed out, not toed in, like it should be!  I confirmed the left upright is marked 2L and the right one is marked 2R (for 2 degrees on each side), but placing the uprights next to each other it's clear my 2L is in fact a 2R because they are identical to each other.  The 2L should be a mirror of the 2R.  Note how the wall thickess around the ball bearings is the same, not mirrored.  Gahh!

To keep the build going I had to install the kit 0 degree plastic uprights.  What a disappointment!

That pretty much concludes the rear of the car except dampers.

[speedy_w_beans 4272]

Moving on to the front of the car, it's the same story with the lower arms -- BYODS (Bring Your Own Droop Screw).  The upper arms use the same turnbuckle/set screw method of adjustment, and like the rear the turnbuckles cannot be oriented in the same direction.  It feels a little weird to have so many set screws in the upper arms.

Front arms built, CVDs in front knuckles, one-way built, and cover/stay/bumper ready to go.

Same basic effort to complete the front as the rear.

Yeah Racing breaks the front conversion into two parts; part one is the front suspension we just completed.  Part two is the steering rack, bumper cover, and wheel hexes.  Note the wheel hexes are not the clamping type and will fall off (along with the cross pins) if you remove the wheels/tires from the model.

Steering installed.  Initially I had some binding problems that were traced to the flange tubes on each side of the steering bridge.  Using digital calipers, the holes in the steering bridge measured 3.99 mm.  The flange tube outer diameters measured 3.99 mm.  Guess what?  It's almost an interference fit.  Just the slightest of misalignments will cause the flange tubes to add a bit of friction to the steering mechanism.  To fix this I ran a 4.00 mm drill bit through the steering bridge to just barely open up the holes some more.  It's much better, but not entirely perfect.

Front bumper and bumper plate installed.

This is the perfect time to install the servo since the upper deck is still off.  Kit stock servo mounts and servo saver are combined with an improvised turnbuckle link for connecting the servo to the steering rack.

Installed.  I was able to center the servo on the radio and then make adjustments to the turnbuckle to get things near-perfect.

Upper deck and battery strap installed.  This completes quite a bit of the chassis.

[speedy_w_beans 4272]

Onward with shocks!  The conversion kit includes a full set of "Shock Gear" components.  There are five sets of springs and six sets of pistons.  Even without measuring them, it's easy to tell the springs have noticeably different rates.  The pistons come in sets of 2 holes, 3 holes, or 4 holes, and for each set there two subsets of hole shape.  Half the pistons have straight holes; the other half have tapered holes.  In theory the tapered holes provide different compression and rebound rates.  So, there are more than enough choices to make.  The bag of 300 cst oil that came with the dampers had a loose cap; fortunately the oil was in its own bag and the inside of the bag was covered in oil.  I just pitched it as I have a ton of 400 cst Tamiya oil lying around.

Shocks built and installed.  The collars are down 5 mm from the tops of the bodies.  I chose 3-hole straight-hole pistons, 400 cst Tamiya oil, and yellow springs (second from the right in the image above).  If these are close to Tamiya's yellow medium springs then this should be an ok starting point.

Also, the washers, cross pins, and wheel hexes are installed.

I was in the home stretch and was looking forward to taking the chassis downstairs to set under the clear body, but I didn't want to lose the hexes and cross pins.  So it was time to install the tires, wheels, and body mounts.  Three out of the four M4 locknuts installed on the axles without any problems.  The last locknut refused to thread onto the left rear axle.  I thought maybe I had cross-threaded the axle and grabbed a M4-0.70 die from the garage to see if I could clean up the threads, and then I discovered this.

Can you tell what's wrong?

How about if you compare it to a good one?

Yes, that's right, the axle stub that was giving me problems has features that look like threads, but in fact they do not follow a spiral path around the stub!  Normally I can put the edge of a fingernail in a fastener and spin it, and see my fingernail ride the groove towards or away from the head of the fastener.  In this case I can place the edge of a fingernail in a groove, spin the axle stub, and my fingernail doesn't move axially at all.  All the grooves are like this!  So the axle stub is defective on this CVD.

Like the rear uprights, I had to revert back to the kit axle stubs and dogbones for the rear of the chassis.  Then I was able to install all the tires and wheels.

Now the chassis just needs electronics; that can be done another day.

Between:

• inconsistent anodizing
• cheaping out on some fasteners
• some binding/friction issues in steering and rear upper suspension
• blatant defects in the left rear upright and axle stub threads
• bag full of oil

I probably wouldn't buy this kit again, nor would I recommend it to anyone.  Personally, if I had a base TT01E and wanted to make some meaningful improvements I would probably buy:

• Tamiya prop shaft/prop joints set
• Full set of ball bearings from any preferred vendor
• TT01R Type E "B" and "K" parts for better hinge pins and adjustable upper arms
• A set of CVA dampers
• A few extra ball connectors, adjusters, and turnbuckles for the steering

In terms of this current build, I may eventually get another set of CVDs and rear uprights to make the chassis "complete" per the original vision.  There were certainly some twists and turns I didn't expect while building the chassis today!

 

[Grastens 2795]

Yikes - more like "Nope Racing!"

... 

I am sorry to hear that the flashy new upgrade parts are giving you so many issues; it is a bit shocking to see a company that seemed to be making good headway into this hobby making so many mistakes on a fairly-precious set of parts.

Nonetheless, the build looks great! I am appreciating the typical detailed and knowledgeable speedy_w_beans approach to the project  

[speedy_w_beans 4272]

After reviewing the result from Friday, I placed an order for a few items:

• 53673 2-degree rear uprights for the TT01/TGS chassis.  These are the same plastic parts that are standard on the TT01R and will take the place of the incorrect 2L orange anodized upright.  I'll probably also change the front uprights back to the plastic parts as well just to keep everything matched.
• Yeah Racing TT-015-01 spring steel axle stubs.  One of these will replace the axle stub that isn't threaded correctly, getting the model back to a full set of orange CVDs.
• Clamping wheel hexes to replace the non-clamping ones; this way I won't lose the cross pins when removing wheels.

Tonight the electronics were installed; they're the same as the electronics used in the R34 GTR.

While I'm waiting for parts to touch up the chassis, now is a good time to turn attention back to the body.

[speedy_w_beans 4272]

It's been awhile since I posted in this thread mostly because I was waiting on the parts mentioned previously.  They showed up today so that prompted me to revisit the chassis and do some final mechanical work.

My package included the Tamiya 2 degree rear uprights and the replacement axle stubs for the Yeah Racing CVDs.  I also received the clamping wheel hexes a little earlier.

The back end of the chassis took a little more work than I expected.  The 2 degree uprights were binding a little with both the upper and lower suspension arms, so I filed the uprights just a little until they moved freely.  The upper arms had been binding a little on the gearbox cover and upper mount.  I tried several things but in the end lightly filing the ends of the upper suspension arms freed them up.  With that the rear suspension was moving freely, the CVDs were installed again, and I actually had correct 2 degree uprights this time.

I mentioned earlier I wanted to change the front knuckles from the orange aluminum Yeah Racing parts back to Tamiya's black plastic parts.  The reason was pretty simple -- Yeah Racing's knuckles are not symmetrical and their instructions dictate installing them a certain way.  The result is the turnbuckle links are not level when the suspension is loaded and level; bumps cause a bit of toe-in.  I went back to the plastic parts so the turnbuckles are actually level.  While bumps will cause a slight amount of toe-out, just having the turnbuckles level means the amount of toe change is much less than having offset knuckles.  That, and my OCD dictates all uprights (front and rear) must match... 

At this point I'm happier with the chassis.  The few binding issues are addressed.  The front and rear toe are where I want them.  The CVDs are installed all around.  The uprights match.

Now there's no escaping the body!

[Jason1145 3986]

Respect to you Speedy, when you build a TT01E you don’t just build it... you re-engineer it the way it should be, pity the YR kit gave those few issues, that axle stub though... shocking!

Wish you well with the Bodyshell, I think you might end up with a BuggyRa in the future too!

[Fabia130vRS 2098]

after seeing the progress of @Jason1145 and @speedy_w_beans, I think this might be my next car, or I'll expand my m chassis collection... or a Zahhak?

I really like the MAN truck, with non box art theme.

looking forward to see the body progress on the MAN truck, is the MAN truck also in so many pieces as the Buggyra?

[speedy_w_beans 4272]

2 hours ago, Fabia130vRS said:

Is the MAN truck also in so many pieces as the Buggyra?

Yes, and then some.  There are four pieces: the upper cab, the rear cab wall, the front lower fascia, and the long overall base.

[Jason1145 3986]

1 hour ago, speedy_w_beans said:

Yes, and then some.  There are four pieces: the upper cab, the rear cab wall, the front lower fascia, and the long overall base.

This is like top trumps, which has the most bits to cut out and paint?

BuggyRa:

1 cab

2 Back of cab

3 lower base

4 left rear wheel arch

5 right rear wheel arch

6 coupler ( at the rear in middle)

That’s 6 lexan parts in total, atleast the BuggyRa doesn’t have a separate front bumper like the MAN, but the two rear wheel arches might take that biscuit back 🍪?