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ChrisRx718

TL01B Lockdown Build!

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Further to my recent thread in General I thought I would document my progress (as let's face it, there's not much else to do)

I'm starting this in the same vein as the thread started by @markbt73's Apollo 13 inspired build, where I hope to get a usable model out of the contents of my home! Especially as postage times for spares have gone out of the window.

I wanted a Stadium truck like the Toyota Prerunner, Ford F150 or Chevy S10 - unfortunately the cost of those bodies is prohibitive.

My TL01B is in a bad state - it's not yet clear how this started life, whether it was a Tamiya model or one of the many clones. Lots of clues pointed at the latter, which had subsequently been repaired with genuine Tamiya parts over time. 

I bid and won this on an eBay auction, costing somewhere in the region of £21. 

It then sat in my shed for over a year whilst I decided what to do with it. Since we're all locked indoors for the forseeable I dug it out to have a look at the 'starting point':

49700781022_4fcd6118c1_b.jpg

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Some curiousities:

It has some decent turn-buckle tie-rods for the front steering 

There's no wheels at all :blink:

The suspension isn't really moving, it's binding like things have gone rusty

The propshaft is missing

The battery retaining pieces are missing

It has a Front bumper fitted to the back

My assumption is that this is 2 TL01B Clones turned into one usable chassis which eventually became un-usable over time. Let the teardown commence!

Before even removing any parts I noticed a build-up of grit around the bevel gear location where the propshaft was missing:

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And upon removing the motor:

49700471821_25c959e272_b.jpg

Eww

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There was a distinct smell in here, in a previous life this car has clearly been on a trip to the seaside!

49700806147_5e1e325663_b.jpg

The servo horn is strange too - the spring clip piece is clear plastic, the horn on top of the servo is white and the familiar arm piece is traditionally black. Also note the lack of an oval cut-out beneath the servo horn in the chassis, usually present on most TL01 mouldings towards the end of the model run.

49700497571_e3c61f84fc_b.jpg

The differential gears were very 'gritty' and unfortunately this has worn the teeth. I hope this is usable or I have a suitable replacement. Am I right in thinking that this moulding is the same on M-03, M-04 and even MF-01X models? They certainly look the same size, even if their not exactly the same shape.

Inside the diffs seemed to be in much better shape, as you'd expect:

49700472326_7e07c6eafc_b.jpg

Although bizarrely they have these extra 'spurs' coming off of the triangle bevel gear axle thingymajig. Definitely a clone!

49699940743_ebde70e8eb_b.jpg

I also had a bag full of random bits and bobs which came in the box:

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An extra diff! This reinforcing my belief that this was once 2 clones turned into one. Also included are those missing battery connectors and a very sorry looking propshaft with the associated bevel gears.

Strip-down complete, I was left with 3 piles. To keep and clean and to send straight to the bin. The majority of screws had surface rust, bearings had to be forcibly removed from their housings and also had rust, the hinge pins had rust and weren't allowing smooth movement of the wishbones, etc. I'm sure I have some suitable replacements for these somewhere.

The centre pile of bits though:

49699966508_f2355f0aec_b.jpg

Ew, grim. They had become 'at one' with these bearings, having fused together through a shared likeness for rust. I'll need these bits!

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A very old bottle of Gunk engine degreaser. I'm not sure how well this will work, but certainly it has a very strong chemical smell. I set about scrubbing all of the plastics down.

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I kept all the retained drivetrain hardware and the gears separate, using the last of the Gunk degreaser I produced a small chemical bath for them overnight. I know most of you will have a proper ultrasonic cleaner for these sorts of bits, but I don't and I'm not about to go down to the shops and get one because...they're closed. This was the best I could do!

In the morning I removed the plastic gears and put them together with the chassis parts for a trip through the dishwasher before my wife got out of bed :lol:

The metal parts now looked like this, much more spangly but those awkward parts still fused together:

49700779662_c45f9d7ca6_b.jpg

So the above parts are now taking a second bath, this time in WD40 penetrating oil.

It's already gone a nasty shade of black, so it's obviously doing something!

The dishwasher still has 30 minutes left to go, as I clearly can't operate the buttons properly. I hope it wasn't so hot to have warped anything :unsure:

 

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49700471061_d7d641619f_b.jpg

this gives me an idea, cut the top off remove guts and you have a scale garbage can😁

 

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7 minutes ago, ACCEL said:

49700471061_d7d641619f_b.jpg

this gives me an idea, cut the top off remove guts and you have a scale garbage can😁

 

I've been trying to find adjustable tie rods for this car for a long time. I just gave up and listed for sale on ebay. The stock rods suck and the shocks do too. I bought the Baja King NIB like 3 years ago for around $250 lol. 

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3 hours ago, rwordenjr said:

I've been trying to find adjustable tie rods for this car for a long time. I just gave up and listed for sale on ebay. The stock rods suck and the shocks do too. I bought the Baja King NIB like 3 years ago for around $250 lol. 

The stock rods and shocks are not great, but replacements are easy enough to come by. Adjustable tierods can be made up from a set of Tamiya adjusters and a pair of part-threaded 3mm rods, and Mini CVA shocks are a direct swap for the stock friction things. All bits on the Bay of E, so no quarantine breaches required! 

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M3 threated rods are about $7 for 250mm.  

https://www.ebay.com/itm/M2-M2-5-M3-M4-250mm-High-Tensile-12-9-All-Thread-Threaded-Rod-Bar-Studs-Black/182178734859?hash=item2a6ab2e30b:m:mfmTTF7ZoIf2j1AMCgtUtoQ

 

Bolt cutters cost $12.  

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B000NQ4OYO/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

You can cut threaded rods.  File the tips and use any 3mm adjusters.  It's one of those things that's easy once you get the parts.  Before you get the parts?  It seemed impossible to me.  I thought, "why don't they just make it in such and such mm?"  For posterity, I wanted to put this option out there.  

 

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28 minutes ago, Juggular said:

M3 threated rods are about $7 for 250mm.  

https://www.ebay.com/itm/M2-M2-5-M3-M4-250mm-High-Tensile-12-9-All-Thread-Threaded-Rod-Bar-Studs-Black/182178734859?hash=item2a6ab2e30b:m:mfmTTF7ZoIf2j1AMCgtUtoQ

 

Bolt cutters cost $12.  

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B000NQ4OYO/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

You can cut threaded rods.  File the tips and use any 3mm adjusters.  It's one of those things that's easy once you get the parts.  Before you get the parts?  It seemed impossible to me.  I thought, "why don't they just make it in such and such mm?"  For posterity, I wanted to put this option out there.  

 

Thanks for your suggestions! At this point, I don't even want the TL01B because I've bought a lot of cars since then. I'm basically giving it away lol. $80+ shipping. It's been run twice.

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1 hour ago, TurnipJF said:

The stock rods and shocks are not great, but replacements are easy enough to come by. Adjustable tierods can be made up from a set of Tamiya adjusters and a pair of part-threaded 3mm rods, and Mini CVA shocks are a direct swap for the stock friction things. All bits on the Bay of E, so no quarantine breaches required! 

Want to buy mine? Lol 

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15 minutes ago, rwordenjr said:

Want to buy mine? Lol 

Tempting, but with three in the fleet already, I think I am set for the moment. :)

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1 hour ago, TurnipJF said:

Tempting, but with three in the fleet already, I think I am set for the moment. :)

haha sounds good. I've got it posted on yabe and it has 7 watchers but no takers yet. includes servo, hw 1060 and flysky receiver

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19 hours ago, ChrisRx718 said:

The propshaft is missing

I guess I know why propshaft was not installed. I had these clones before and I found out that chinese made a mistake around propshaft bevel. Once you try to fit 1140 bearing in place of bushing, propshaft won't run smoothly, because original bushings are 3-3.5mm thick. And even with bushings I could not fully tighten covers.

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So onwards with the build now that the drivetrain bits are dried and clean,

First up, following the Original Tamiya (:blink:) manual, build the diffs-

49712746682_fd95638812_b.jpg

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So the one on the left was salvageable, but the other one (rear gearbox end) was pretty ruined. I was confident it would have made both an awful sound and had a very limited lifespan. I think this one is from an M-03? Perhaps, who knows. 

Rear one filled with diff putty (basically expensive blu-tac!) and front one built with moly grease.

49712740277_57b4cb3fb5_b.jpg

On with the rest of the gears; these ones were in my kit box - probably from building a TL01 with the optional Speed Tuned Gear set. 

More to follow, but I have hit a snag...

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Eek, forgot to keep this updated...

Take one really grubby, corroded propshaft, insert into drill...

49712745277_fbfc2886ea_b.jpg

Apply sandpaper:

49711885798_440d5d7eb8_b.jpg

Et Voila!

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Nice and shiny. Not sure if this will make it more prone to rusting? I couldn't find my metal polish sadly, but at least this is much better than it was.

The really bad metal hardware also got introduced to the dremel, came out like new!

49712423036_18c59793d3_b.jpg

For the Steering Servo I found an old metal-geared HiTec of all things in the bottom of my kit box. The steering horn is actually from an MF-01X, but these seem to be virtually identical in terms of throw / shape.

49711886468_9e674f6ea5_b.jpg

 

Don't forget to brush your teeth:

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But this post by @Honza came back to haunt me;

On 3/27/2020 at 8:05 AM, Honza said:

I guess I know why propshaft was not installed. I had these clones before and I found out that chinese made a mistake around propshaft bevel. Once you try to fit 1140 bearing in place of bushing, propshaft won't run smoothly, because original bushings are 3-3.5mm thick. And even with bushings I could not fully tighten covers.

49712420256_4900d94591_b.jpg

:angry::angry:

Bummer.

The moulding is indeed incorrect to allow fitment of a standard 5x11x4mm ball bearing either end of the propshaft.

Then I had a stroke of genius (incredibly rare)

Take one idler pulley from a TA03 with an 850 bearing inserted:

49711885113_6c06a254b8_b.jpg

Trim off the 'flange' from the plastic part:

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Propshaft now spins freely in the recess :D

I've hit another wall now though - I've ran out of 1150 bearings :(  I have 30 on a recent order from RCMart, but I've now been waiting around 5 weeks for that to arrive. Sad times.

I could build it with the awful nylon bushings? What does TamiyaClub think?!!

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Once I got to this stage I thought I had made some real progress:

49711884248_bec0b569c6_b.jpg

Apart from the fact that once the propshaft was sealed in with the retaining pieces, it was once again binding on something and wouldn't spin smoothly. 

I distracted myself at this stage by building up some dampers. Super mini CVA's will do (the friction shocks which came with the kit were siezed somehow). 

49711886813_fae4c432ee_b.jpg

And yes, I chose those springs because they match the "Lovely Lustre" bodyshell paint scheme :lol:

Fortunately my habbit for hoarding things paid off, years ago I built this:

43756099110_3a09f0858b_b.jpg

Now sadly sold :( 

A TL01-LA with lots of goodies fitted, notably the Lightweight Chassis set (grey plastic). As this was a conversion I was lucky enough to find the original Tamiya chassis halves in a box in my garage. Worse for wear, but being original moulds it should suit my build a lot better (ie., it should work!!)

The differences are subtle, see the Tamiya moulding on the left compared to the Chinese copy on the right:

49785317051_816d91fcf1_b.jpg

Crucially, the pinion numbers are incorrect on the Chinese copy, so best of luck anyone fitting a 23T pinion on Chinese chassis parts! Note how much smoother the plastic is on the Chinese version too:

49784780163_dc5789a552_b.jpg

So onwards with the build!

I had these in the same box in my garage too:

49785316696_cb05109b43_b.jpg

It specifically says "Don't fit to TL01B models or Stadium Raider" - I'm guessing as these have big wheels and will over-stress the gearbox. But what to they know?! :lol:

In they go;

49784779363_9ef3d60ee3_b.jpg

So far so good, but what's this gear shaft doing?!

49784779243_757bd48d22_b.jpg

It's too blinkin' long. Now I could set about this with a dremel and slowly reduce it down to the correct size, but it's about 4mm too long, preventing the gearbox halves from joining together.

Always have some 5mm Carbon tube handy for moments like this:

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40mm the manual says, so a quick buzz with the Dremel and you're sorted, ain't nothing going to slow me down now!

49784778768_92038efff9_b.jpg

Much better.

Chassis halves assembled it was time to find a motor and pinion. I couldn't locate even a Tamiya Chese 19T pinion, so had to settle on this Kawada 06 mod 21T item.

As for the motor itself, it's lacking in stickers. 

49785636567_4bb1f7b82e_b.jpg

"What exactly is it?
Nobody Knows!
Stick it in
And See how it Goes!"

I can see nothing wrong with this logic :lol:

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Next up is a new part, I bought this to replace the one on my WT-01 which I had bent, but managed since to bend back into shape instead, so it was going spare!

The Baja King had only hinge pin screws whereas it should have one of these U-shape bars in the front end to prevent over-stressing the chassis suspension wishbone pick-up points.

49784778523_97438c1a4f_b.jpg

Installed all suspension arms and top links, nice and loose. 

49785636317_3d16efc893_b.jpg

Wheels and tyres, the originals were completely shot. These HPI wheels and Tamiya 'Hockey Puck' tyres have that certain Stadium Truck look I was after all along:

49785314706_c96c54168c_b.jpg

TL01 Rear Bumper installed:

49785635747_1f345f43c4_b.jpg

And installed the original body:

49785635762_faf280648f_b.jpg

Rear spoiler was completely knackered so it'll have to look like this for now.

I borrowed the bodyshell from my WT-01 chassis (basically a Stadium Raider without the stickers)

49785635147_8d9588a22e_b.jpg

Hmm, looks odd. It's because the original Stadium Raider used the narrow suspension arms from a TL01.

49785634657_b060e29630_b.jpg

So what should I do with it now? Fit TL01 body posts and the Stadium truck body, together with narrow axles and suspension arms?

Or 

Run it as a Ghetto Baja King "Lovely Lustre" without the rear spoiler?!!

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Or option 3: get a different spoiler?

There are quite a variety out there, and a lot of Tamiyas look great with alternative wings.

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Lovely - the baja is the one in my collection I’ve not stripped down yet 

it a lovely chassis though 

 

JJ

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So being as my Amarok body was left wanting since I stole the CC01 chassis from beneath it, I figure I could put the Amarok on the WT01 and keep the blue truck body for this. 

The wide stance would never do however, but I was sure I had enough bits in my spares box to convert it to a narrow chassis, so out came the manuals for reference:

49825366631_a2c8ce2083_b.jpg

Now let this be a lesson to all that you should count up the parts you need before you start taking things apart.

Turns out I used the front lower arms on my WT01 to make it all-wheel-steer. Rear lower arms are longer as they needn't accommodate the C-hub. I had 2 sets of rear lower arms. 

Still, I carried on in blissful ignorance, we'll cross the driveshaft issue when we get there.

I got my head down and took these last pictures at about 1am after a long build and lots of head-scratching.

49824833448_fb87e7fa2d_b.jpg

49825687602_5c929302a9_b.jpg

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Thanks @Grumpy pants

So after the late night episode I thought I should assess exactly what Frankenstein I have built:

49825673522_1d36b788e7_b.jpg

Basically a Stadium Raider on CC01 tyres.

Very 'creative' body mounting solution:

49825673542_702526c8de_b.jpg

I bet you're all thinking I converted it to RWD because of the situation with the rear lower arms at the front?

49824819118_091b03d220_b.jpg

Well you'd be wrong! So what is this exactly?!

I believe the dogbones might be from a TA05? About 5mm longer than the TL01 items, which I believe are 39mm? 

Then the upper arms, if I fitted the rear upper arms on the front I had extreme negative camber! So I made up some with a couple of 5mm adjusters and a set screw. Usually when attaching to a TL01-based car (GF-01, WT/WR, M-03 etc) you need a 3x10mm step screw to fix these to the chassis. It's not a common screw so I had to find a workaround. I found some tiny brass tubes which fit into the upper arm mounting points and passed a 3x15mm screw through this into a 5mm ball stud. 

At full lock the dogbones look very precarious, the first run will be interesting!

49824819078_48de8179c4_b.jpg

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