Tamiya FF Club

[TamiyaD]

And the bottom of the chassis

[TamiyaD]

Hi! 

I continue my budget handmade carbon fiber upgrades for my FF03. 

I want to keep the original design so I made a 3mm carbon plate to support the damper mount. 

Here are some photos. 

P. S. If you feel that I should open a new thread at the builds section for this project please feel free to tell me. 

 

 

 

[TamiyaD]

[TamiyaD]

[ThunderDragonCy]

@TamiyaD Deffo do build thread. This is lovely stuff

[Kowalski86]

On 1/22/2024 at 6:25 AM, YoShImUrA53 said:

Still, can't understand why FF03 is still not sold, nor why FF01 isn't rere'd... I guess BT01 will suffice

I can only guess that FWD Tamiyas just aren't popular enough. I'd definitely take an FF01 or FF03 over the BT01. At least you get metal axles and oil filled shocks.

Would an FF03 make for a practical runner these days? Or are parts drying up?

[ThunderDragonCy]

2 minutes ago, Kowalski86 said:

I can only guess that FWD Tamiyas just aren't popular enough. I'd definitely take an FF01 or FF03 over the BT01. At least you get metal axles and oil filled shocks.

Would an FF03 make for a practical runner these days? Or are parts drying up?

FF03 would be a great runner. Almost nothing consumable or breakable is only for the FF03. It uses gearbox internals from trf201, and arms, blocks and uprights are all interchangeable with the 4wd touring cars.

FF01 rere is really frustrating, because it would just need the a parts tree. Everything else is TA02 which is still made

[Nicadraus]

@TamiyaD Lovely DIY build there. Looking forward to the finished project.

@Kowalski As mentioned, the FF-03 uses parts that are also found on other kits. The suspension arms, knuckles, c-hubs, rear uprights, and suspension mounts are inetrchangeable as the same used in TRF415/416/417/418/419 (and some converted using 420 suspension arms), TA-05/06/07, TB-03/04/05. Steering set and spur gear/spur gear holder, bumper and bumper mount as the FF-04 & XV-01. Differential gear as the TA-06, XV-01 & FF-04. And many others. 

[TamiyaD]

@Nicadraus thank you very much. Your excellent xv01 and ff03 builds, along with @wtcc5 's professional modification of the ff03 chassis are definitely great inspiration for me. 

Too glad there are so many interchangeable parts. I am planning a 17.5 T motor to be eligible for the local fwd races. 

[Nicadraus]

1 hour ago, TamiyaD said:

@Nicadraus thank you very much. Your excellent xv01 and ff03 builds, along with @wtcc5 's professional modification of the ff03 chassis are definitely great inspiration for me. 

Too glad there are so many interchangeable parts. I am planning a 17.5 T motor to be eligible for the local fwd races. 

17.5t BL is perfect! I'm running mine with the same motor and the rally version in 21t brushed. 

[V8 Rumble]

I did the xray battery mount parts to fit my shorty pack. Just wanted to get rid of the tape. 

 

 

[TamiyaD]

It was time to build the rear axle stiffener which will also be used to mount the upper deck, which in turn will bond the rear and front axle. 

This is a 2mm piece of carbon fiber milled by hands. 

[TamiyaD]

[TamiyaD]

[TamiyaD]

To the front axle again.

The suspension and steering mount is reinforced with a 2mm carbon fiber plate. 

The holes for the upper deck are already drilled. 

[TamiyaD]

[TamiyaD]

[TamiyaD]

[TamiyaD]

Hi guys! I made some progress with my FF-03 project. 

I constructed  this piece of 8mm aluminum at the front damper mount in  order to screw the upper deck on it. 

The servo mount is also installed.

You can take an idea of the electronics set up in the following picture. 

[Alexei]

On 12/27/2023 at 1:16 AM, Alexei said:

i have noticed when the wheels are running and the steering is turned, the front wheels vibrates. mainly at near max steering.

got some working done on my FF-03. as RichieRich suggested, i tried swapping the diff around, but it didnt change. it still chatters/clacks and vibrates at the wheels and wheel hubs when turned. i would suspect it could happen if the swing shafts hit max turn angle, but im not sure thats the problem. i tried without wheels, then it runs with no clacking and vibrations. i suppose i should try some other wheels and see what happens.

[Jason1145]

I’m going to hoof in with my new to me FF02,  admittedly I only got it as the shell was the main draw but I used to have an FF01 bitd and have / still want an FF03 with its front lay down shocks which look so cool.

My FF02 came bone stock and barely used but I did find bushings in the axles ( now replaced with metal bearings) so I suspect it is not riddled inside with the same.

Plans for it are to just get it running and see where it’s at so I’ll probably keep it brushed on 2s lipo.

The only other job I’ve done apart from hub bearings and a general wipe down ( very dusty) is to remove the blue shocks it came with as they were too long (63mm) causing ugly front toe in, it’s now fitted with some Tamiya Low Friction pink shocks which sit perfectly at 55mm long.

@Wystan Withers I’ve just ordered the carbon front and rear shock tower braces from RCRacer thank you 👍

[Honza]

4 hours ago, Alexei said:

i would suspect it could happen if the swing shafts hit max turn angle, but im not sure thats the problem.

That's property of universal joints. They add angle variation throughout rotation, which causes vibration. The variation becomes quite severe above ~30 Deg, which is shown in a graph bellow (from wiki)

Another graph, showing angular velocity variations (which result in vibrations)

4 hours ago, Alexei said:

i tried without wheels, then it runs with no clacking and vibrations. i suppose i should try some other wheels and see what happens.

Withou wheels, there's less inertia, so the vibrations don't show up. Some lighter set of wheels can reduce the chatter. In the same way, a looser diff may help to spread variations between the wheels. But that's only dealing with symptoms, not the cause.

If you want to get rid of vibrations entirely, you'll need double cardan shafts. Those work by adding a second universal joint shifted by 90deg, which will compensate the angle variations of the first joint nearly perfectly.

 

[Honza]

Huh, I realised I haven't shown my "FF-05" in this thread. Here's the build thread if anyone missed it

The chassis is sitting in a box, waiting for electronics, since I completed it. But I'm thinking about digging it up and making a rally conversion, since turnout of 2wds is quite low this season. That will require more of the red parts

[Alexei]

6 hours ago, Honza said:

That's property of universal joints. They add angle variation throughout rotation, which causes vibration. The variation becomes quite severe above ~30 Deg, which is shown in a graph bellow (from wiki)

Another graph, showing angular velocity variations (which result in vibrations)

Withou wheels, there's less inertia, so the vibrations don't show up. Some lighter set of wheels can reduce the chatter. In the same way, a looser diff may help to spread variations between the wheels. But that's only dealing with symptoms, not the cause.

If you want to get rid of vibrations entirely, you'll need double cardan shafts. Those work by adding a second universal joint shifted by 90deg, which will compensate the angle variations of the first joint nearly perfectly.

 

i might just look at getting double cardans, i would rather get completely rid of the problem than just work around it.

[Pylon80]

9 hours ago, Honza said:

That's property of universal joints. They add angle variation throughout rotation, which causes vibration. The variation becomes quite severe above ~30 Deg, which is shown in a graph bellow (from wiki)

Another graph, showing angular velocity variations (which result in vibrations)

Withou wheels, there's less inertia, so the vibrations don't show up. Some lighter set of wheels can reduce the chatter. In the same way, a looser diff may help to spread variations between the wheels. But that's only dealing with symptoms, not the cause.

If you want to get rid of vibrations entirely, you'll need double cardan shafts. Those work by adding a second universal joint shifted by 90deg, which will compensate the angle variations of the first joint nearly perfectly.

 

Thanks for the great explanation @Honza. I will still add that depending on your settings, type of track and grip, you might never need to be anywhere closer to 30deg. Reduced front droop, 0deg front toe, higher Ackerman and grippy front tires all work in favor of being able to make the turns with very minimal steering angles (~10deg), sometimes at the cost of a more "nervous" steering feel.