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Thank you guys, you're far too kind! It is a real treat to be out in the open with the 4yo kicking up dust / rooster tails. And during lockdowns I enjoy tinkering with the cars in the evening. Win-win situation

Question (maybe I should start a new topic for this but we will see). We mostly run our 2 DT-01's at the moment. The location of choice is a construction site adjacent to our house and there we encouter soil with lots of stones. The Mad Bull has great ground clearance so no problem with that car. But the Fighter Buggy RX Memorial is running standard buggy tires and this car regularly gets stuck on stones with its gearbox.

Now the real question. Has a DT-02 better (read: more) ground clearance at the rear than a DT-01? Tamico has stock on the Sand Viper...

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This thread is old but may be useful.

Maybe monasterize the RX for that surface rather than buy a new car? Though new cars are always fun :D

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Thank you for your reply!

Have been thinking about that myself. But, although the kid was in love with the Mad Bull at first he now prefers the Fighter Buggy RX Memorial. I think it has something to do with it kicking up rooster tails. So I am afraid we have to hang on to the spiked buggy tires...

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Been looking at the DT-01. I think the main problem is the shape of the underside:

DT-01.jpg.0c848d79501435e1d0a88b77eb09ddcc.jpg

Stones can get stuck easily under the DT-01 because there is a "bend" in the underside.

The DT-02 has a flat underside so presumably would be better at sliding over stones?

 

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The ground clearance is pretty similar overall, but due to its double wishbone suspension the '02 doesn't have the low slung diff pumpkin that you find on the '01, making it less likely to get caught up on debris. However there are also more exposed moving parts for debris to get caught in, so I still prefer the '01 for worry-free driving on rough loose terrain. Here are some side by side comparison photos of the two chassis:

2021-07-13_12-45-15

 

2021-07-13_12-44-38

 

2021-07-13_12-44-13

 

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Thank you for your reply and the comparison photos! Looks like the DT-02 gearbox is sitting higher than the DT-01 gearbox so it would suit our terrain better on that aspect. But I also see the moving parts at the back of the DT-02 and that may be a bit too fragile for the driving style of the 4yo. I think we will stick with the DT-01's for now.

Been reading the "Too much of a good thing" and "5 tips to avoid RC burn out" topics recently. We have 5 Tamiya's at our house now (The Grasshopper, Mad Bull, Fighter Buggy RX Memorial, The Frog NIB and an almost finished Buggy Champ) and maybe it is better to enjoy those a bit more before buying a new Sand Viper or Mad Fighter (was following one of those also on Ebay). I retired The Grasshopper to the shelf but I think it is time to start it up again. Most of the time the 4yo is driving the Fighter Buggy and one of the kids form the neighbourhood grabs the Mad Bull. Leaving dad without a toy car...

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Wow. Is it orange or what?

T4.jpg.cc9625479a22b98273def477de516b24.jpg

This color is really in your face.

 

Also fitted The Grasshopper with a 55T 540 motor and a 18T steel pinion. So it can now join the show with the DT-01's. Only forgot to order bearings...

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On 7/13/2021 at 9:43 AM, bavee said:

[...] or Mad Fighter (was following one of those also on Ebay) [...]

Couldn't help myself and bought the Mad Fighter... :rolleyes:. It has arrived and the box contained a Tamiya 3 step mechanical speed controller. Could this mean I bought a first release model?

I'm planning on building it and hope the plastic hasn't becom brittle already.

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3 hours ago, bavee said:

I'm planning on building it and hope the plastic hasn't becom brittle already.

You should be fine. The rubbery plastics used for most of the DT-01 are very resistant to ageing and remain supple for decades. My Rookie Rabbit is an original release, is a regular runner, and the only bit that has ever cracked was the gearbox casing. These are very easy to replace, as they are used on the Mad Bull and Rising Fighter, both of which are still in production. 

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We had to bring the car in for service after a few packs in this weather.

Service_01.jpg.23ccbf8f80c25077e518be0c2ab7bed0.jpg

During the run forward-brake-reverse changed to forward-reverse but now the car has dried out we are back to forward-brake-reverse. I think the front wheel bearings did seize up, good excuse for new rubber shielded bearings. No other problems I am aware of so far...

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T5.jpg.3604ddd8e1a13d9b929c1ec487ab9ee8.jpg

How about this for sloppy steering? The tub of the Fighter Buggy RX Memorial wears out faster than I expected... No amount of heatshrink is going to fix this I'm afraid.

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So, what have you done today?

Well, not today but the last few weeks:
- the two DT-01's and The Grasshopper went bashing with all the kids from the neighbourhood for two saturdays in a row;
- all cars were crashed a zillion times but the kids were only able to break one front shock from the Fighter Buggy RX Memorial;
- two neighbours asked my wife if she could provide them with some information about the cars because they thought of them as nice birthday presents for their kids.

I can almost start an RC club...

At the moment we are enjoying some nice weather. Could be the last warm days of the season so I painted two bodies last week. Not my most favorite job...

First a Mad Fighter. That was easy. Then The Frog. My first lexan body. Masking alone took me three evenings in a row. Painting took me one whole afternoon.

Paint_01k.jpg.11d89e05b532e45b7184f34242645848.jpg

Paint_02ks.jpg.f8d0ef5d69cdb5c01f8cef67b2e3dc53.jpg

Some mistakes were made. Some lessons were learned. But all in all I am pretty pleased with the result. This is supposed to be a hobby after all?

I have two kits lined up for fall / winter now. And the painting is already done. So I can shift my attention back to the Buggy Champ. The driving figure needs some paint and after that it is finally finished (started in March).

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Thank you @Busdriver. The transition from pink to white is very clean on The Frog. Was truly amazed i could pull that off. Some bleed on the rollcage and one area where the masking tape opened up a little... Didn't notice it until I was all done.

Overall I'm satisfied for a first time!

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Good idea to do the painting now and the build in winter time. I like the orange on the Mad Fighter. 👍

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Picked up a real cheap Rising Fighter online. The guy who sold it believed strongly the car couldn't be fixed anymore. Told him otherwise. He wished me luck.

RF1.jpg.29680496670ec9273ad59e8b9d07ed34.jpg

Fixed her up. Only new part I had to use was a steering servo (and a 45T motor so it isn't faster than my son's car).

RF2.jpg.d7aa23af618b31ff77e906e878a2b58c.jpg

It came with a battery pack, charger and transmitter. Gifted the complete set to a neighbour boy who can not afford an RC car on his own. Happy days!

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1 hour ago, bavee said:

Picked up a real cheap Rising Fighter online. The guy who sold it believed strongly the car couldn't be fixed anymore. Told him otherwise. He wished me luck.

RF1.jpg.29680496670ec9273ad59e8b9d07ed34.jpg

Fixed her up. Only new part I had to use was a steering servo (and a 45T motor so it isn't faster than my son's car).

RF2.jpg.d7aa23af618b31ff77e906e878a2b58c.jpg

It came with a battery pack, charger and transmitter. Gifted the complete set to a neighbour boy who can not afford an RC car on his own. Happy days!

Great purchase and even better gift to your neighbour 👍

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It’s interesting that a lot of people are either unable or not interested in carrying out simple repairs. I suppose the throw away society is good for us that are looking for cheap projects !!!

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47 minutes ago, Busdriver said:

It’s interesting that a lot of people are either unable or not interested in carrying out simple repairs. I suppose the throw away society is good for us that are looking for cheap projects !!!

True! And this one was listed as "RC car". If it had been listed as "Tamiya RC car" I wouldn't have been able to pick it up so cheap.

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Great thread!!

I hope your Buggy Champ is progressing smoothly. One thing I had to sort out on my re-re Sand Scorcher was the fact that the gearbox was far from being sealed, there are two clear entry points for sand/dirt to get in at the gear cover part. I suspect the Buggy Champ suffers from the same weakness being the same SRB chassis.

There is a fairly large gap where the yellow arrow points. I had to close this using the all-mighty shoe-goo (what would RC life be without it?) but it was a bit tricky given the position and the fact that you don't want too much shoo-goe to get in and interfere with the spur gear. I also put shoe-goo on the entire periphery of the clear cover and on the entire seam where the two metal gear cases halves meet. Can't be too careful with a car meant to run deep in sand.

The other entry point is where the red arrow points. It is a small pin hole. I plugged this with clear tape and painted a little dot on the tape above the pinhole with a red marker, this way I can easily see if for some reason the tape gets punctured.

 

2.jpg.bf3a6da30690e2fde5168c9293bb1e35.jpg

tamiya-19005955-buggy-champ-czesci-a.jpg.5b005ceecd504d104d1a4ec46d9e1c8f.jpg

Since I don't own a Buggy Champ I'm not 100% sure it shares this issue, perhaps other people can confirm.

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Thank you for your reaction @OoALEJOoO! Making slow but steady progress on the Buggy Champ. Yesterday evening I was painting the driver figure.

I think mine will only be a casual runner. But most of all a shelfqueen. I will keep your advice in mind when I plan to drive her in anger!

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Finished the Buggy Champ last weekend and gave it a quick spin outside. This thing likes donuts!

Bc1.jpg.b785cce23d4b9b08cfb7331114b58b27.jpg

Bc2.jpg.56980a5615ce7ddc6920c7c1f1fe8f6b.jpg

Decals are not 100% but I am happy with it and I have learned that's what really counts ;).

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