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Questions about the TT02B

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Hello Tamiya Club!

New member to the forum, thought it best to join after buying a TT02B Plasma Edge II. 

As a kid I had some hand-me-downs, an old Midnight Pumpkin, and Falcon. I am not at all a beginner to the hobby, In fact, this isn't even my first kit build. I've been around the block a few times, so to speak, however, this is a completely new platform for me. I purchased it mostly as a 'yard' car, as most of my other models are fairly large, or quite powerful and require a fair amount of space, as well as something to introduce my girlfriend to kit builds, as shes been interested for quite some time. My question is, I've seen some fairly mixed opinions about the TT02B's durability. From my first impressions, it seems like a fairly nice plastic kit, but the differentials are apparently an area of concern, as is the drive train and rear c-hubs. I don't currently have any plan to upgrade the car to a brushless setup, despite the included TBLE-02 ESC (that was nice of Tamiya). Are there any issues with the kit with the stock torque tuned motor, and possibly the sport tuned motor. The car will be driven on a mix of dirt, low grass, and rough asphalt, So I hope in it's relatively stock configuration the differentials and drive train will be okay, but if not what will be needed to make this car into a reliable car? I appreciate help in advance. 

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Full ball races will certainly help (required if you go for hotter motor - but really make a big difference anyway). My TT-02B is very blinged up with lots of aluminium bits - which are not really required - except perhaps the drive shaft if going over stock for the motor. - That said I have been running it with a 13.5 brushless and it's taken a fair amount of abuse it is generally fine. I have currently got metal diffs from another model - can't remember which one - but the recommendation came from here. I have tried ball diffs and front one ways - but in reality if you are going to go for more power the metal diffs are best. It is a good basher and there are lots of parts available but I have found myself planning with other 4wd buggies now which are older but better imo (they should be as they are more expensive) - Egress & Top Force.

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Welcome to the club. Looks like we have a fellow Dane here.

The TT02B is a fun ride and it has a lot of potential. It has some flaws though. If you get the TT02B, get the MS kit. In addition to this, you should get the GPM metal ring and pinion gears for the diffs. The stock plastic diff gears are absolute garbage. Mine lasted less than three packs on bushless.

These are good parts to add to a TT02B-MS. The diff gears and steering is a must though.

https://tamico.de/navi.php?a=126803&lang=eng

https://tamico.de/navi.php?a=126809&lang=eng x 2

https://tamico.de/navi.php?a=116790&lang=eng

https://tamico.de/navi.php?a=11057&lang=eng

If you want the Plasma Edge 2, these should be added as well.

https://tamico.de/navi.php?a=11060&lang=eng

Not sure the Plasma Edge 2 comes with ball bearings. But I added all ceramic bearings to my MS. Works great. Here's what bearings you need.

5x11x4 (12) https://www.rcbearings.co.uk/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=786&search=5x11x4

8x12x3.5 (4) https://www.rcbearings.co.uk/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=788&search=8x12x3.5

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Welcome to the forum! 

Running a sport tuned on a 7.2v nimh won't stress the drive train as long as the surface your running on allows for a little slip. The tble-02 isn't that punchy with a brushless and is pretty soft with a brushed. Personally I'd run it as is and replace what breaks when it does. Mine has the metal diffs and ring gears plus the alloy drive shaft as it runs on a Hobbywing brushless with a 13.5 motor. Plenty quick enough but my TT-02R which I run off road has plastic diffs and has been absolutely fine. Definitely fully ballrace it though! 

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Hello, welcome.

I have a couple of these which my son and I use a lot, and now his friends run them too. They have just had bearings added which are essential. Otherwise they were kept stock until stuff broke which rarely hapoens. They have been run stock through ti 13.5T brushless with a programmable ESC, amd been the trainer cars for an3yo to learn to drive.

Diffs - you can replace them with the metal geared diffs from the DF02, its almost a complete drop in. You need to file the pinion down a bit as its longer. This is great for more powerful motord but really sloes them down in stock form.

Otherwise I didn't bother and still haven't. I recently rebuilt the front ends on both and sleeved the U thing that holds the front arms on in brass tube. Drilled out the arms and push the tube through then slid the u thing in. This has removed all the slop but I'm hoping it will last longer. Those u things bend easily.

Don't spend money on the TT02B, buy a race kit if you want a slop free high performing kit, these are great for what they are but will never beat a race kit no matter how kuch you spend on it.

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26 minutes ago, Jonathon Gillham said:

Diffs - you can replace them with the metal geared diffs from the DF02, its almost a complete drop in. You need to file the pinion down a bit as its longer. This is great for more powerful motord but really sloes them down in stock form.

 

I don't know about the DF02 diffs, but I have experienced zero speed loss with the GPM metal gears. They run just as smooth in my rig as the stock plastic gears did - while they lasted that is. Not sure if the DF02 metal diffs slow it down due to a poor fit - could be the case. But I can definitely say my GPM gears run extremely smooth and easy.

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My TT02B has been pretty darn sturdy. I have a plasma edge that has survived a brushless setup quite well, even though i don't recommend going brushless unless you can really keep it tame. The drivetrain will wear out quickly like that. But running stock i've had no issues with the drivetrain, and otherwise no real issues with the rest of the car having been through a set of tires already. Yeah the lexan rear wing is thrashed but that's expected with some bad crashes and such, no one to blame but me on that!

On the road going TT02 chassis, going brushless was a bad idea for me - unless you like chasing down problems with alignment and aforemetioned drivetrain stuff. But again, stock setup running as designed it was great!

 

Just some footage of the TT02B in action (this is brushless)

 

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If you are going to stick with a brushed motor, the differential should be fine.  

It's the high torque of the brushless that could cause problems.  

If you haven't done it, you might want to use Anti-Wear grease on the diff.  AW is not sufficiently sticky enough for reducing the differential action.  But it should help protect the diff gears a bit better than regular grease. 

If you want, you can try a dab of 3Racing Ultra High Viscosity grease too.  That will slow down the differentials.  4WD becomes really efficient because diffs would not unload.  It could increase the load on the gears though.  

hT2wVwS.jpg

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1 hour ago, Juggular said:

If you are going to stick with a brushed motor, the differential should be fine.  

It's the high torque of the brushless that could cause problems.  

If you haven't done it, you might want to use Anti-Wear grease on the diff.  AW is not sufficiently sticky enough for reducing the differential action.  But it should help protect the diff gears a bit better than regular grease. 

If you want, you can try a dab of 3Racing Ultra High Viscosity grease too.  That will slow down the differentials.  4WD becomes really efficient because diffs would not unload.  It could increase the load on the gears though.  

hT2wVwS.jpg

A bunch of good info to be had here. I will definitely admit that the fact that I run 200000 cst diff fluid in my diffs, has added significantly to the load on the diff ring and pinion gears. And it does not help further that I run a pretty darn grippy tyre to boot. I don't like licked diffs, but I find my TT02B to be more fun when the diffs are somewhat firm. But contrary, running the AW grease will limit the wear on the gears, especially on loose gravel etc. as the wheels can really spin on that.

I mainly run my TT02B on soil or grass, with Schumacher Mini pin 2 yellow or Full spike yellow rubber, so all that combined definitely load the gears a bunch.

But run the stock gears till they quit, and then go from there with metal gears or what else you fell like doing. :)

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Thanks for all the great info everyone. It's been quite some time since I posted, nearly a month. It took about 3 weeks just to get the car together, no snags in the kit, just wanted to involve my girlfriend as much as possible with the process. Aside from painting the body with plastic paint (oops!), it turned out pretty good, I'll definitely be getting an extra Plasma Edge shell, it's a looker. However there are a few things. The car doesn't track straight, at all. I'll admit, the Futaba 3004 servo isn't the best but, it all seems to come from the slop in the steering rack. That's going to be my #1 priority. If there's something I can do to fix this without spending money, great! If not, I do enjoy installing upgrades. It's also a bit too slow for my liking, not in the fun bouncy Lunchbox kind of way, but in a disappointing kind of way. Might throw in a sport tuned motor at some point, but still don't want to go brushless, I'd rather track down a DF03 in the form of an Ebay score or, better yet, the car coming back to market. Does seem as if they've all been discontinued currently. 

In any case, thanks again for all the info, I'll try keeping my eye on the diffs, I smothered them with the included AW grease and so far so good, but you never know. 

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i got everything from Yeah Racing

 

£11 for the steering set

 

i'm running a brushless with the tamiya ESC and a normal battery and the diffs have been ok - i have a set of metal ones ready to go in just in case

 

its a really good platform 

 

JJ

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