Best 4wd chassis wheel base to suit scorcher body?

[Toolmaker72]

As the title suggests I was wondering which tamiya 4wd chassis has a wheel base that is close to a scorcher body wheel base length?   I’ve been looking on the flea bay for something suitable but no idea really which one would best suit it.  It could be a road version or off road buggy version. I just fancy  something that isn’t based on a frog or grasshopper chassis this time.

Thanks in advance for any help 👍

[Juggular]

Scorcher's 250mm wheelbase was decided before Tamiya had standard wheelbases.  I have a scorcher body too, but I bought it to fit Frog chassis. That is simple and easy.  

M-chassis, including MF-01X would be out. M chassis is 239 at the longest. It's a shame really because all it needs is a spacer and a longer shaft.  [[[EDIT: I think you can add one more chassis extension and make MF-01X longer. That would make it 254mm. Which might be too long?]]]   Most buggies start from 257mm wheelbase. Sand Scorcher is right between M-chassis and buggy chassis. In the past other members had cut TL01B to make it fit better. That turned it into a 2WD buggy though.  

 

CC01 had been fitted too. 

 

[Mad Ax]

I've got a shortened TL01 chassis that worked well.  The previous owner literally cut a chunk out with a hacksaw, then bonded it back together.  The propshaft was cut down and then a new hole drilled in the end for the pin.  Drilling the hole is the only technically difficult part, as it's hard to do without a drill press.

Alternatively, look at a TA01/02 hybrid.  The TA02 chassis tub is shorter than the TA01 tub, the wheelbase was corrected by using backswept arms on the rear of the 02.  By swapping 01 arms onto the back of an 02, you can get a shorter wheelbase.  Then by flipping the front and rear arms you can go shorter again.  The TA02T (Desert Fielder, Ford F150 Baja) are about the closest you can get out the box, and with the rear arms flipped you're near spot-on for a Scorcher.  Depending on what tyres you fit, a bit of wheelbase mismatch is easily hidden (and perhaps even required if you want the wheels to steer under the arches).  I've seen Scorcher-bod TAs that look very good.

This showroom entry is a great resource:

https://www.tamiyaclub.com/showroom_model.asp?cid=48983

[Frog Jumper]

13 hours ago, Toolmaker72 said:

As the title suggests I was wondering which tamiya 4wd chassis has a wheel base that is close to a scorcher body wheel base length?   I’ve been looking on the flea bay for something suitable but no idea really which one would best suit it.  It could be a road version or off road buggy version. I just fancy  something that isn’t based on a frog or grasshopper chassis this time.

Thanks in advance for any help 👍

The MST CMX and CFX line of crawlers can be set up for 252mm.  My next big project might be one of those with a BF body…

Terry

 

[Frog Jumper]

Also, the Terra Scorcher series is 257mm.  That might look ok.

[Toolmaker72]

Thank you for all the advice,  I’ll start looking now and see what I can find 👍

[Room335]

I recently saw an old thread where @GooneyBird used a TT01 set to the 251mm wheelbase. It turned out amazing. Here’s the thread:

 

[mongoose1983]

The well known and loved TA-02 4wd chassis works great for the Sand Scorcher VW body. Some examples:

Detail in TAMIYABASE: https://tamiyabase.com/forum/8-ebay-tips/3883-ta02-scorcher

Another super nice TA-02 based VW:

 

 

 

 

[Toolmaker72]

Lovely looking conversations, maybe the raised 4x4 chassis would be more suited to a Ford ranger blackfoot body.  Any chassis suitable for a lowered road car version? 

[Re-Bugged]

7 hours ago, Toolmaker72 said:

Lovely looking conversations, maybe the raised 4x4 chassis would be more suited to a Ford ranger blackfoot body.  Any chassis suitable for a lowered road car version? 

This one is on a TT01D, (there is a Part 2 as well I believe)

 

This guy pretty much made his own chassis….

 

[jonboy1]

I've made a twin motor M-03/04 chassis with some 3D printed spacers to join the two halves together. Very simple to do and adjust the wheelbase to suit whatever you want.

This is it half mocked up. I think this was to make it a 230-ish wheelbase, I've made it a 250mm now with a bigger pair of spacers.

 

[Toolmaker72]

All rather good looking models!

A little off subject but kinda relevant, ive finally had a test run of a small 2845 brushless motor in a frog chassis using the 50 tooth spur gear and 11 tooth motor pinion with a 3s battery.  Ive also used an xeostar gearbox brace with the setup and was very pleasantly surprised with the performance of what is a 380 sized motor. Being a smaller motor the esc I used was a 30amp hobbywing item. The esc was only warm after 10 minutes running,  the battery was the same temp as when fitted so not stressed at all.  It was a dry day on a tarmac surface using oval block rear tyres. I couldn’t launch in a straight line even with a soft start via the esc.  Top speed was good also with the extra revs via the 3s battery, not uncomfortable fast but better than my previous version with a 17 tooth pinion on a brushed vintage 27 turn stock motor and 8.4v battery.  So with that I’ve decided to build another scorcher body on a frog chassis but use the 2845 (380 sized) brushless motor again.    I’ve got an idea to lower and limit the suspension movement on these chassis’s now to give a road type chassis.  Gearbox I’ll use a monster beetle gear set and  a 13 tooth motor pinion.  So still good on acceleration but gives a few extra wheel revs when using the slightly smaller diameter fav rear wheels and tyres.   So just need to scour flea bay and find a monster beetle donor chassis with gearbox now 👍😊
 

[Busdriver]

On 8/7/2021 at 1:09 AM, Juggular said:

M-chassis, including MF-01X would be out

I think not!!!

bad photos but see below. The Schorcher has the same wheelbase as the Rally beetle which runs on the long MFX01 chassis. In fact if you look on shapeways site they have a dummy engine specifically for such a conversion. I think the issue is the SRB chassis may have a wheelbase of 251 but the way the body is mounted the wheels are not in the centre of the arches, especially at the front.

 

[Juggular]

After weeks, it occurred to me that you can make MF01x as long as you want. 

The midsection is made out of multiple pieces.  You can mix and match these pieces.  

(I measured the lengths with a caliper. The long chassis does have a 30mm piece. Which means the wheelbase might be 240mm.)

You could buy one more B-parts and use two 39mm base pieces = 248mm (or 249mm).   9-10mm longer than the Long chassis might be a perfect fit for the hard shell.  

 

[Busdriver]

37 minutes ago, Juggular said:

After weeks, it occurred to me that you can make MF01x as long as you want. 

The midsection is made out of multiple pieces.  You can mix and match these pieces.  

(I measured the lengths with a caliper. The long chassis does have a 30mm piece. Which means the wheelbase might be 240mm.)

You could buy one more B-parts and use two 39mm base pieces = 248mm (or 249mm).   9-10mm longer than the Long chassis might be a perfect fit for the hard shell.  

 

I was going to add this in to the mix but because I think you can fit a schorcher on a standard chassis I didn’t bother. I have 2 MFX01 chassis. As one is short I have extra sections. I put the all together once but forgot to measure it. It looked a bit like a stretched limo!!! You would have to make your own prop shaft and at some point I think it may need some form of mid point bearing/support. If I get a chance tomorrow I’ll take the body mounts of my long chassis and put a Blitzer body on to see how it looks. I’ve got some wheels and tires that might work!

[Busdriver]

I believe this is fitted on a stock MF01X chassis