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nosajh

Frog Hop-Ups made by Tamiya?

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Hello,

I have a re-re Frog ordered, but couldnt find any official Tamiya Hop-Ups for it listed on the Tamiya website, or in parts listed at Tower. Did Tamiya make any official Hop-Ups for this or the Blackfoot with the identical chassis? I see AM Pro on Shapeways has some printed stuff like front arms (those broke on my original Blackfoot all the time), but I was looking to see if Tamiya made any. Also, any recommended upgrades for the Frog chassis (other than the obvious bearings) would be appreciated. Waiting to finish the Hornet I just recieved, but wanted to have some parts ordered and ready for the Frog build.

 

Thank you

 

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Officially, I know of:

Tamiya 53913 - The Frog 2005 Aluminum Wheel Adapter (allows modern buggy wheels with 12 mm hex adapter to be used)

Tamiya 53908 - The Frog 2005 Assembly Universal Shafts (CV joints to replace the dogbone setup)

Unofficially: Tamiya made a better rear suspension arm cap (the part that sits on the outside of the rear trailing arm; screwed onto the chassis) for the Monster Beetle. As the chassis have much in common, this will fit the Frog, and provide some improved protection against dirt working its way into the rear suspension pivot points, reducing some slop. The parts are on the K-parts tree in the Monster Beetle kit - K3 for the left and K7 for the right:

51Z8ihpnAXL._SX425_.jpg

Otherwise, it is off to the world of aftermarket parts - there are many, given the Frog's popularity.

Popular upgrades on the aftermarket include modern wheels (where the aforementioned adapter will be useful), a front suspension setup using shock towers and full-size dampers (aluminum shock tower kits are available online), and swapping out the kit-supplied dampers on the rear for aftermarket types (usually for more adjustment capability - the stock ones are oil-filled, but do not use adjusting collars).

One expensive upgrade you could consider is a MIP (Moore's Ideal Products, I believe) ball differential. These are being made now, and while quite a bit of currency, they provide the differential adjustment that the stock open-gear type does not. This is best if you decide to take the Frog racing, or are simply interested in getting the best setup out of it.

Outside of that, swapping the stock motor makes a difference - even a Sport-Tuned motor can give some noticeable speed.

Good luck with your build!

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Those K3 and K7 are still binding a bit, but not that difficult to remedy. 

 

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Thank you both for the info! I think I will keep it stock other than a Sport Tuned motor to replace the kit provided, and wait for things to break and replace. I'm about to start the Hornet re-re this week. Got a Lunch Box as a gift in 2016, and have already completed a Racing Fighter DT-03, and the Subaru Impreza TT-02 since then. After the Hornet assembly will be the Frog, and I think I will be done for a while ;).

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On 1/2/2019 at 9:45 AM, nosajh said:

 After the Hornet assembly will be the Frog, and I think I will be done for a while ;).

Lunch box, Racing fighter, Impreza, Hornet, Frog...   It's not easy stopping in the middle of a slippery slope.  

How about adding a Wild One to your list?  And TBLE-02S ESC is compatible with 13.5t brushless motors, you know... :P

pYCgTip.jpg

 

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Funny, I was actually looking at either a re-re Wild One or the 2014 Fighting Buggy kit, but the latter is a bit more expensive, but also has metal parts and the cool shock "oil tank" haha. On the subject of the "oil tank" that sits on the rear of the Fighting Buggy , is this only for looks, or does it actually serve a good purpose? Seems like an odd design for a single oil filled shock absorber. The Wild One has a different chassis and gearbox from the othe models I have, so it might be a good kit for me to build in the future. I am trying to stay away from bulding kits with the same chassis design, but instead finding which cars/trucks I like best in each chassis. Not too into on road racers, but more off road vintage re-re buggy or truck. Any input on the mentioned above buggys is appreciated.

tamc7304_oil_550.jpg

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It acts as a reservoir, taking up the oil displaced by the piston rod upon compression, same job the rubber caps on modern dampers do. I guess there was no real need to stick the entire bottle up there, but in those days, there probably was no overanno

uncing the fact that your car had oil filled shock absorbers that actually worked. Kinda like driving with your foot out of the window when you could afford an automatic back in the 40s. Draws people's attention to your sophisticated equipment. 

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On 1/3/2019 at 9:57 AM, Juggular said:

Lunch box, Racing fighter, Impreza, Hornet, Frog...   It's not easy stopping in the middle of a slippery slope.  

How about adding a Wild One to your list?  And TBLE-02S ESC is compatible with 13.5t brushless motors, you know... :P

pYCgTip.jpg

 

Is this your Wild One? That's really nice looking, dig the Red!

so i thank you as i was shopping for Fox parts and came across this thread somehow, maybe i'd like to build The Wild One instead.

Oh, now you have me juggling:D

 

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On 1/4/2019 at 2:57 PM, nosajh said:

Funny, I was actually looking at either a re-re Wild One or the 2014 Fighting Buggy kit, but the latter is a bit more expensive, but also has metal parts and the cool shock "oil tank" haha. On the subject of the "oil tank" that sits on the rear of the Fighting Buggy , is this only for looks, or does it actually serve a good purpose? Seems like an odd design for a single oil filled shock absorber. The Wild One has a different chassis and gearbox from the othe models I have, so it might be a good kit for me to build in the future. I am trying to stay away from bulding kits with the same chassis design, but instead finding which cars/trucks I like best in each chassis. Not too into on road racers, but more off road vintage re-re buggy or truck. Any input on the mentioned above buggys is appreciated.

tamc7304_oil_550.jpg

The fighting buggy (super champ) is a really fantastic buggy.....to look at! but like you've just said is now quite expensive to buy and although it was raced back in it's original days our local club back in the early 80's had a fair few of them I raced against them with my Ford ranger (oh when those plastic bodies clashed it was carnage) the body on the fighting buggy is very brittle (I have tissue paper in my toilet stronger than a fighting buggy body) and its ridiculously rear heavy! But just beautiful to look at, the wild one does tend to suffer from gearbox problems just like the frog, monster beetle etc🙂

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42 minutes ago, moffman said:

The fighting buggy (super champ) is a really fantastic buggy.....to look at! but like you've just said is now quite expensive to buy and although it was raced back in it's original days our local club back in the early 80's had a fair few of them I raced against them with my Ford ranger (oh when those plastic bodies clashed it was carnage) the body on the fighting buggy is very brittle (I have tissue paper in my toilet stronger than a fighting buggy body) and its ridiculously rear heavy! But just beautiful to look at, the wild one does tend to suffer from gearbox problems just like the frog, monster beetle etc🙂

The Super Champ / Fighting Buggy was my first ever RC car, and yes it was gorgeous to look at. I raced it in the early '80s but by the time I had saved my pocket money to buy one the Frog came out and that ruled the track. I think I once managed a 2nd place against a field of Frogs only due to a massive pile-up that I drove around. If there is one thing you can say about the Super Champ (apart from it being so very pretty) is that once it got some speed up, nothing could stop a pure aluminium ingot!

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On 1/3/2019 at 10:57 AM, Juggular said:

How about adding a Wild One to your list?  And TBLE-02S ESC is compatible with 13.5t brushless motors, you know... :P

pYCgTip.jpg

 

The Wild One sits at the very TOP of my Dream List!!! 😁😊  I missed it the first time around.... Already BROKE when the Re-Re came out. 😭😭 

THEN we got our Stimulus Checks. BUT it was literally SOLD OUT everywhere I looked in North America!!! 😖  Found only THREE for sale in Japan - all OVER $500.00usd each!!! 😡😭😭

I won't see money to buy any Kits until next year.... but I WILL have one! Somehow. Even if right now I've got more pressing issues.  

BTW @Juggular that looks SWEET!!!!!

You will be mine..... Oh yes, you WILL be mine!!! ❤😁  If I have to rob a Bank!

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