Holiday Buggy - making the great better..

[Tam-o-yeah]

Hi All,

 

Afraid I’m coming in from a position of pretty extreme ignorance…

 

So, just got me a Holiday Buggy 2010 (using lockdown as the excuse for the wife…) and am totally loving it. I had a Super Sabre back in the day and am blown away by the battery life of the 3000mah NiMH with the 380 motor! I also think the DT-02 chassis is a great handler, all those years ago my 4wd obsession meant I had to save a lot longer for a 4wd beast - wish I’d got 2wd then!

 

So, really grateful for some advice, please:

 

Firstly, the front springs and friction dampers aren’t just bad, they barely work (spring back 10x slower or more than the rears) - the rears are fine. I don’t particularly want oil-filled, but want to work out if this is just how the fronts are, or if I should get some more and / or re-build. Or - take the plunge and get oil-filled (they caused tears when building back in the Super Sabre, day, though…) and want to avoid.

 

Secondly, I’ve a lot of grass (quite short) right behind where I am - and would be ideal, but the Buggy is struggling in it - I don’t really want a monster truck look (love how the buggy looks), but do want some additional clearance to, I hope, reduce the drag and increase the speed. Any good, slightly higher (though not much wider) wheels? It’s not very long, but slows it a lot. 

 

Thirdly, A little more power… I absolutely love the very decent run-time and don’t want to sacrifice much of that, but I’d like a bit more top end (acceleration is fine as it is) - 380 sport-tuned, 380 brushless? Would they reduce run-time much/ how much? Am I right that a 540 drains about 3x the juice? Ergo would last a third as long? Also understand that brushless use less juice (more efficient), does that increase run-time? Or the same, just going faster?

 

Fourthly, thanks!!

 

PS - I fully ball bearing’d the car. 

 

Best

[78Triumph]

Put a sensored brushless set up in it with Lipo and it will rip around your backyard. 

[TurnipJF]

Firstly...

It is debatable whether the stock things can really be called friction dampers, or pogo sticks. Unlike the friction dampers supplied with the TL-01 for example that use rubber tubes to slow the shaft's passage through the damper body, don't the stock things just bounce with no damping at all? I would really recommend oil-filled dampers, even on the stock motor. They really make a difference, and present day CVAs aren't too difficult to build.

 

Secondly...

The wheelset sold for the FTX Edge is both a little taller and wider than stock, and might help in this instance? I know that the 4WD version is a popular upgrade for TT-02Bs suffering similar issues.

 

Thirdly...

Brushless motors are more efficient than their brushed equivalents, but you can choose how to use this efficiency gain. You can choose something of similar power and gain runtime, you can choose something of similar current draw and gain performance, or you can choose a mid-range setup and get a bit of both. You may want to consider a 21.5t motor if middle-of-the-road is your preference.

 

Fourthly...

No problem!

[Nobbi1977]

Nice platform to start out on again.

CVAs are a must. They are easy to build now and relatively leak free. The DT-03 hop up kit fits and works well for a good price.

Buggy wheels and tyres are always and issue as most wheels are for 4WD fitment. The Blitzer wheels and tyres should fit and I am thinking the new comical range of wheels and tyres will fit (someone will have to back me up on that but I have just given me an idea for running wheels on my DT-03)

 

A Silvercan is cheap and fits with what you have. It will not totally eat batteries and it is only as fast as you pull the trigger ( or push the stick)

You could go for the bigger Pinion for a little more speed

[JennyMo]

1 hour ago, Nobbi1977 said:

A Silvercan is cheap and fits with what you have. It will not totally eat batteries and it is only as fast as you pull the trigger ( or push the stick)

You could go for the bigger Pinion for a little more speed

That is just what I was going to say too - I bought my nephew a Holiday Buggy a few years back, and after a couple of days we bought a regular Tamiya 540 motor for it - an easy swap, and makes it much faster - you really don't need much more in a car like this...

As Nobbi suggests, it's only going to use as much power as you put into it - and you may find since the car will now carry it's [higher] speed more readily, you're not constantly on the [full] throttle in the same way anyway? - ultimately though, more power requires more 'fuel' - no getting away with that - but on a 3300mAh size battery I reckon you ought to be getting around 40 mins to a hour unless you're WFO everywhere...

Jx

[Tam-o-yeah]

Thanks very much, guys. Really appreciate the advice.

The dampers aren't just pogo sticks- there's a bit of rubber tube, too - high end....Gonna get some CVAs.

As I'm definitely going to get a more powerful lump, I think I'll hold off on the wheels and tyres for now, probably not for long, though. Those comical wheels do look interesting and about the right size and profile..

As basic 540s are so cheap, I think I'll start there. 

That's a very true point, just because it can go faster - doesn't mean I don't always have to have the pedal to the metal -but I will!...!

One more question - my realistic pinion options?  Would they just go on without any tweaking of the housing?

Thanks again.

[Nobbi1977]

14 minutes ago, Tam-o-yeah said:

Thanks very much, guys. Really appreciate the advice.

The dampers aren't just pogo sticks- there's a bit of rubber tube, too - high end....Gonna get some CVAs.

As I'm definitely going to get a more powerful lump, I think I'll hold off on the wheels and tyres for now, probably not for long, though. Those comical wheels do look interesting and about the right size and profile..

As basic 540s are so cheap, I think I'll start there. 

That's a very true point, just because it can go faster - doesn't mean I don't always have to have the pedal to the metal -but I will!...!

One more question - my realistic pinion options?  Would they just go on without any tweaking of the housing?

Thanks again.

Pinion with a 540 is 17t or 19t I believe. Only two sets of holes in the case so only two options 

[TurnipJF]

That is correct - 17t or 19t, 0.8 module. I'd recommend the steel ones from Tamiya.

[Tam-o-yeah]

Thanks Nobbi & TurniJF. Yes, they are the only 2 marked on the case. With a standard 540 - pros and cons of 17 and 19? I know this is very basic.... 19 for top end, 17 for pick-up?

Worth sticking with a standard 540 or pay a little more for a Sport or Torque tuned?

Thanks

PS - all silver 'standard 540s' the same inside? turns?

 

[MPJG!]

I used to have a holiday buggy with a cheap ebay special Goolrc 3900KV brushless motor and esc. Used to do about 25 mph on 3s and was masses of fun. Cant remember what the gearing was though. think it was the 19t pinion.  

[Nobbi1977]

You can get a torque tuned for about £12 on ebay. I would run that and a 17t, anything more is a bit much for the stock ESC.

[JB DT-02]

To put my 2 pence in, stick with a nice brushed motor. 15t was fun but was the max really. Running a 21t was nice.  

 

I put a 9t brushless in my holiday buggy, great fun watching it wheelie and it went like the clappers HOWEVER the holiday buggy body is fragile. With so much speed it flipped easy, breaking the wheel arches and roof was gutted. 

Need to buy another one and just run brushed in it. 

[J@mes]

Hi, Torque Tuned is a good upgrade to 540 I just swapped one over (In a Lunchox type chassis) & it made a real difference. 

[Tam-o-yeah]

Hi All, 

So my Torque Tuned is on its way!

 

[Tam-o-yeah]

 

So, I put the torque tuned motor in and it flew! Really great.

But, the car frequently was running really slow or not at all (steering usually worked, although sometimes steering worked until i used the throttle, when it stopped). I noticed that one of the female battery connectors was well out of shape (it had always been hard to get in).

I bought and changed the connector, but still the same- is it that I’ve done a bad job? Have ordered a soldering iron to see if that helps.

Could I be barking up the wrong tree? Could the speed controlled be knackered? Could anything else be reducing the power to the motor?

It started after I had a bit of a bit of a crash.

Any thoughts really appreciated.
 

[TurnipJF]

Have you noticed any unusually warm or hot components? Motor, ESC or wiring?

[Tam-o-yeah]

Thanks TurnipJF - no, nothing's hot. I swapped back to my 380 motor, too, to check and all the same things happened.

[TurnipJF]

Well at least that rules out a motor issue. Do you have any spare ESCs or receivers to swap-test with?

[nowinaminute]

On 5/11/2020 at 12:00 PM, Tam-o-yeah said:

Have ordered a soldering iron to see if that helps.

You say you changed the connector, how did you achieve this without a soldering iron? If it's just crimped that could be a problem. A bad connection will definitely cause shutdowns, especially under load.

[Tam-o-yeah]

Alas, no spare ESCs, so I've ordered one (if I don't need now, will be useful in the future). If not that, then I'll try a new receiver - at which point I'm very close to having a new car set up!

Yep, I just crimped it. Will get soldering!