Show us your Ghetto Mods......

[78Triumph 2547]

5 hours ago, Thommo said:

 

Heat shrink as boots over your prop shaft cups.  It works for lots of different prop shafts too including the hardened prop shaft in Top Force, Egress, TA02 etc.  Just push some smaller diameter heat shrink over the ends of the prop shaft first before you assemble them and then use a larger diameter heat shrink over both the cup and shaft.  This keeps out dirt, slows down wear and stops the shaft from chattering.  Some hardened prop shafts you just heat shrink straight over the ends...done !  

 

I really like this idea, great thinking!

[LeftyAl 144]

A side effect of putting a 4000kV motor in a FAV was that the wheel stand action started to grind away the lower rear roll cage.

 

Cut up some tin down pipe and used a couple of 3mm bolts and some well placed cable ties to hold the bash plate in place. Get sparks now when the light is low 

[Yalson 452]

BITD we used to run a LWB Mid in a winter series on a purpose-built tarmac track. The super-smooth tarmac allowed for hot motors and very high speeds, but that meant battery life was always an issue. We were also always coming in under the minimum weight limit in scutineering. To start with we took an old AA battery and velcroed it to the chassis, but that was not aesthetically pleasing and took us too far over the weight limit for my liking. In reality it probably made no difference, but I always imagined the off-centre weight affected the handling and raised the CoG, too.

So we came up with a super-ghetto solution. We popped round the corner to a convenient takeaway restaurant and grabbed a handful of sugar sachets. Then we took a small plastic ziploc bag and filled it with enough sachets to put us just a few grams over the limit. Then we folded the bag and taped it inside the car's undertray, making the extra weight as low and central as possible. We'd get the car weighed before every race, adjust the ballast to account for different tyre combinations and battery cable lengths, then tape the baggie back in. I'm fairly certain this excessive attention to detail made no difference to our results at all, but by the end of the first meeting half the cars there were doing it and Race Control had to limit the number of times people could get their cars weighed.

Accurate and elegant in some ways, but also pointless, smartass and a bit dumb.

And using food to fix an issue with your car has got to be ghetto.

[Jonathon Gillham 3167]

Most of you with a TT02B will have experienced the awful shock towers.  These cars have been my go to bashers for a couple of years now and they have been brilliant.  I had some spare threaded rod so made a strut brace for them.

Not too ghetto, effective if not too pretty.

This car was much worse though, this was my son's first RC car when he was 3 1/2 (he had no cheap toy grades, straight to Tamiya) and the front end will never be the same again, so it really doesn't matter how ghetto it gets right?

Yep, cable ties trying to tighten it all up as otherwise it looks like a touring car with the droop screws forcing the arms up.  Way cheaper than new arms, chassis etc...

 

 

[Frog Jumper 940]

On 1/16/2019 at 10:45 PM, Re-Bugged said:

Not being to impressed with the Zip-Ties securing method on the Dust cover of the Blackfoot, I came up with this using some long mounting screws, nuts & washers, from an old car speaker set. A short piece of copper pipe that just happened to be the right length, rolling around in the bottom of the kitchen/bathroom renovations box for goodness knows how long. But thought would come in handy one day. And errr well Zip-ties.. Anyway at least now the cover is removable without having to cut the Zippies each time and was free.

First drilled the holes in the copper so the long screw could be inserted & secured with a nut. Then feed the Zippies through the small holes, put the metal Chassis cross member in and secured tightening the Zippies. Add 2 more nuts and washer which supports the underside of the Dust cover. Drill a hole in the Dust cover, bung in the new fangled post, put the screws back in. Washer & nut on top. Cut off excess thread of screw. I think it was actually quicker to do than write up .

 

Find yourself a SBF or KBF servo cover.  It screws down, whereas the BF/MB servo cover used zip-ties...

Terry

 

[Re-Bugged 3780]

Well, seeing as I'm still new to what works & what doesn't I do try and fit things together so that the situation is reversible before committing to a final modification. 

I'd recently picked up a LRP 13.5T Brushless motor with the intention of using it paired to a TBLE-02 ESC (preempting a Wild One purchase) but looking at the Stadium Blitzer sitting on the shelf motionless stripped of its electrics waiting for it Beach spec mods to materialize I decided to trial fit the LRP in it. The only ESC I have spare at the moment is a Hobbywing 10BL60 which would mean soldering new connectors and loosing the easy fit with the already factory installed Tamiya connectors on the Motor.......Hmmmm.

Then as luck would have it changing a bathroom fluorescent light to an LED on saw an electrical terminal block with nothing to do that would give me a reversible temporary fix 

Also using a metal plate from a Kitchen cupboard door magnet catch for a mount for the terminal block, this will do for now to see what the Blitzer will be like on 2s 13.5t brushless before going the initial thought of 2s Hobbywing 10BL120 ESC & 10.5t Brushless that would be soldered in with appropriate bullet connectors. 

So this is my latest Ghetto Mod...

[Nicadraus 1899]

Some ghetto mods on my CC-01

Carbon fiber front shock tower and chassis stiffener (front)

Lifted front bumper mount using plastic and metal bushings.

Carbon fiber ESC tray

DIY chassis stiffener (rear)

Steering wheel replacement for my Radiolink RC4GS. Did a lot of adjustments, grinding at the back of the new aluminum wheel and fit/test/fit. Also applied cf decals on the radio. It now looks "expensive'. Hahaha! 

[speedy_w_beans 3919]

If you look closely at the front damper on my Wheely King, you'll see a fairly long preload spacer on top of the spring.  I made that by cutting corrugated wire loom to length; it clamps the damper body well and provides nearly 20 mm of preload.  I had removed the sway bar from the chassis to get more articulation, but that made it susceptible to torque twist from the prop shafts.  I wanted to keep the same spring rate but add some preload to fight the torque twist, so this was an easy and cheap way to do it.  There's also silicone tubing (nitro fuel tubing) on the damper shafts to limit movement so the body doesn't scrape on the tires.

Wire loom:

[Juggular 3432]

16 hours ago, Nicadraus said:

Some ghetto mods on my CC-01

Carbon fiber front shock tower and chassis stiffener (front)

Lifted front bumper mount using plastic and metal bushings.

Carbon fiber ESC tray

DIY chassis stiffener (rear)

Steering wheel replacement for my Radiolink RC4GS. Did a lot of adjustments, grinding at the back of the new aluminum wheel and fit/test/fit. Also applied cf decals on the radio. It now looks "expensive'. Hahaha! 

 

lol... If your ghetto mods put my stock CC01 to shame, that's no ghetto, sir.  

 

 

[Stefan(2) 85]

Sir, you want getto ? .. getto you get

As the original plastic is not strong enough for my driving skills 

 

Solid steel bars .. as ... yes, the original gave way due my spectacular driving style.

Yes, you are looking at a welded steel roll cage .. on a rc car..

 

Just a McGyver mod,  shed-door hinge as a body mount

[smirk-racing 116]

On 12/23/2018 at 8:20 PM, speedy_w_beans said:

I took some leftover CR01 and Lunch Box parts and made a monster-truckish thing for don't-give-a-care driving at the beach.

The Lunch Box gearbox is flipped and drilled for a four-link setup; the old mount is used as a makeshift wheelie bar with airplane wheels.  Tires are cut with a Dremel.

Hollow CR01 front axle housing with Frog axle stubs fit the bearings used in the front Lunch Box wheels; steering links are flipped on the servo arm to counteract the anti-Ackermann of the "ahead of the axle" steering setup:

CR01 chassis rails are cut with a hack saw to shorten them to fit within a Lunch Box shell; the center gearbox skid plate uses screws and nitro fuel tubing as a friction-fit for a hard case shorty LiPo.  A strip of Velcro goes under the skid plate and over the top of the battery to keep it from popping up.  Note the front axle is wider than the rear one; that's just how it is.  The original CR01 CVA dampers don't use the rocker arm system.  The body posts are old TB03/TA05 posts cut way down and screwed to the chassis rails.

Anyhow, the result of combining leftover/used CR01, Lunch Box, TA/TB, Frog, and miscellaneous parts meets the goal for a zero-care beach basher.

Missed this when you first posted. 

Amazing work. Do you have any vids of this running?

 

How does it drive?

[speedy_w_beans 3919]

It drives very well on the beach; the long stroke of the CR01 dampers soaks up the bumps where people walk through dry sand.  In the packed wet sand it picks up speed and is very stable.  You can do long side-to-side power slides in the packed sand.

In the street it's a little top-heavy; the tires actually have some grip and it's easier to roll it if you're not careful.  But on the beach it works well.

[nowinaminute 1920]

Here's my Poundland sand tyre mod.

Simply take a Poundland bike inner tube, cut into sections and then glue to an old worn out tyre.

I believe I originally saw this mod on YouTube  but I added my own special techniques to enhance the performance. In particular:

It's important that no two "paddles" are even close to being the same size or distance apart and that they randomly deviate from the centreline as you spin the tyre.

The most vital step is to leave a generous coating of super glue on your fingers so that you resemble a crocodile for several days.

Once you have achieved these things, you will be rewarded with tyres that actually work surprisingly well and give vastly better grip in soft sand, snow and grass than stock spiked tyres ever could.

Not quite as good as some proper moulded ones but at a cost of approx 75p per tyre they do pretty well!

 

[Re-Bugged 3780]

I had to make a slight modification to a Blitzer tub dust cover to accommodate the HW 1060 ESC with a fan and re-routed motor wires. Because of the square LiPo I use and Australia being very dusty in places this would build up in the gaps effectively jamming the battery in place. The cover doesn't really stop all the sand getting in, mainly due to the holes in the rear shock tower, and sand being well known of course getting into anything,  but at least the battery is now removable without the aid of a crowbar after a run.

[Problemchild 1579]

Beetle spots in place of the headlight units and some other bits 

plus some back end gash

 

(rear wing held on by tie wraps, number plate screwed to the light unit, front spot mounted on the rear bumper)

 

tamiya sun strip 

 

And decals cover damage

JJ

[No Slack 103]

Like the stickers as Gettho Mod on your MB . My sheet arrived last Friday. The stickers are fun.

Now let's see the new yellow headlight covers form the same sticker sheet .

[lupogtiboy 176]

Some of my 'questionable' repairs!

https://www.tamiyaclub.com/showroom_model.asp?cid=92894&id=24472

[Grumpy pants 1921]

8 hours ago, lupogtiboy said:

Some of my 'questionable' repairs!

https://www.tamiyaclub.com/showroom_model.asp?cid=92894&id=24472

Utter genius these repairs, proper old skool fixes out of your dads shed 👍

The models have gained some weight with the extra metal in them now but hey so have I as I’ve got older and more broken 😂

Hope you are well, it’s been a while 👌

[Problemchild 1579]

You know you are obsessed when you spend more fixing a chassis than it costs to buy a whole new one

JJ

[lupogtiboy 176]

On ‎6‎/‎30‎/‎2020 at 6:11 PM, Grumpy pants said:

Utter genius these repairs, proper old skool fixes out of your dads shed 👍

The models have gained some weight with the extra metal in them now but hey so have I as I’ve got older and more broken 😂

Hope you are well, it’s been a while 👌

Hello Simon! All good thanks mate, hope you are well too.

Been out of the RC game for a while due to a change of where I stored all my RC gear. Sadly my nan passed away and its all packed away in a 40 foot container, been there for a few years now, only recently I've had some time to tidy it up enough to find where I put it all! I'm hoping to sort it out further and get back into the hobby as I really miss tinkering around with it all. Been mainly into LEGO for the last few years, but running out of room for that now too!

I love the ghetto mods, especially as some of these parts are now ridiculously expensive! Luckily I managed to get a few Fox parts and it's not sporting some of those 'mods' anymore!

[Mrowka 203]

The battery cables on my Fox make the body sit crooked.

A foam peanut, taped in a strategic location, and nobody is the wiser.

[Ferruz 2150]

This is an awesome thread, I had a great time reading throught it. Congrats everybody for your home made solutions! Many are really amazing and inspiring. I love good old ghetto mods, they are an essential part of my RC philosophy. They put our invention and creativity to work and are very rewarding because it's something we come up with ourselves, without following an instruction booklet.

And besides, in a world where Tamiya overcharges for everything (I've seen a sanding pad for 9 dollars at the hobby shop the other day, come on, how do they even sleep at night?? ) we are just doing our part to balance it up!

Ghetto mods forever. I'll share some of mine too, they are functional although definitely not as elaborate as some I've seen here.

On the Hornet:

- after popping the front bumper mount off the chassis by crashing it into a rock, I grafted it back with a tapping screw: first, I drilled a hole through chassis and mount while holding the latter into place, then I applied some pro grade cyanoacrylate I have at work (crazy hard stuff made specifically for natural stone, it's also gap filling, turns out to be of incredible help with rc, makes Loctite super glue feel like chewing gum in comparison, if anybody wants to know the brand let me know and I'look it up) and screwed it all together.

Worked well, I've only redone it once after one more passionate encounter with a wall

 

-similar thing happened here. You can see the extra screw and washer under the BriteLite sticker, that was applied after the chassis started cracking in that area. Drilled a hole just the right width through chassis and gearbox mount, maybe an overkill solution but it definitely solved the issue, also the locknut on the inner side helps holding the battery into place big time, along with another part I'll show below it prevents the Hornet from losing its guts after landing the higher jumps.

-getting real ghetto from now on, viewers discretion is advised 😏 after a lot of abuse, the rear wing was literally falling apart, along with the body mounts it sits on. I didn't want to let it go so I found a solution that works well, though it might get my buggy to look more like some sort of Mad Max vehicle than a Tamiya.

Melted glue, the hobby/bricolage one you apply with a heat gun. Tried the pro grade too as I have it at work, same thing, you don't need the good brands for this.

Applying it sparingly wasn't enough, best to apply generously and then shave off with an exacto knife or curved scissors.

Not exactly worth exposing at the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance, but it's not shelf queens we are talking about, right?

This looks terrifying I know but it served the purpose, and I swear, this lived-in look started growing on me and by now I like my Hornet like this 

"Anytime Baby" quickly turning into some "Been around the block a few times, baby!"

A couple more totally ghetto details:

this black thing I'm pointing at which looks like debris is now an essential (though unofficial) hop up for my Hornet. It's a battery retainer made out of a piece of yoga mat, those than come in big coloured jigsaw puzzles. That foamy material has a shape memory, so if you jam it between the battery and the chassis side it will hold it firmly into place, and as long as you remove it after your run it will return to its original puffier shape, therefore being ready to hold the battery just the same next time you run it. This piece has been with me for over three years now, and besides looking awful it still works as "new".

 

-and now the quickest, and maybe ghetto-est mod on my Hornet: I've jammed (yep, not even screwed) this foreign screw between the rear suspension mounts to strenghten and stiffen them. Worked very well and I feel like it even improved the driving. Looks like the flick of a finger would pop if off, but it's nestled perfectly and never came off no matter the tumbling and abuse

 

That's about if for the Hornet, but will be back with more ghetto mods on other cars.

[Kevin_Mc 355]

@Ferruz you, sir, are an animal!

[Lee76 603]

@Ferruz You will survive an extinction event with only the things found in your car footwell..  

[Ferruz 2150]

23 hours ago, Kevin_Mc said:

@Ferruz you, sir, are an animal!

After reading what I posted, yes sir, it really makes me look like an animal 

But don't worry, I have my limits! Even with the Hornet, I know the shelf dress code and etiquette so when he is off duty, he puts on his shiny shoes and tuxedo before going on the shelf 

Here it is in his gran gala clothes...

...but remember: the infamous foreign screw and battery retainer still lurk under the fancy shell 👹