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Zingfharn

TT-02B into Truggy

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I've been reading a heap of build and tips threads on the TT02B. It seems like the MS would be a good choice, but it's also mostly not available, so stock seems the most likely choice.

I'm looking to make a basher than can take some, well, bashing in the park. I'll be riding on bumpy grass almost exclusively, and while I'll likely have to wait until Christmas to buy, I'm already looking at and thinking about options, because **** it, that mad bull has given me the bug.

I'd like to plop in a 10.5T brushless, improve the drive parts, turnbuckle, and raise the ride height. So, some questions to those who've been down this route.

Is the aluminium shock mount really a brittle choice? I'm keen to add 2 x rear mounts (one front, one back) to really give height options along with ~100mm shocks, so I'll need at least 1 carbon fibre, but should I just get 2?

On that note, is the Yeah Racing conversion kit (https://www.clevelandmodels.co.uk/product/tatt-s01bu-yeah-racing-aluminium-essential-conversion-kit-fits-tamiya-tt-02b/) a good shout? Will aluminium arms make any real difference or should I just get the knuckles and bearings separately? Do I need to upgrade the dogbones and other drive parts or will the ABS parts manage ok?

For wheels, I'm probably looking at 110mm (or maybe a little more). Will the standard gearing handle a 10.5T with wheels that size or do I need an aftermarket pinion and high speed gear set, with corresponding motor mount? What about the diffs? I'm seeing lots of people say they shear easily - should I just run them until they break or upgrade from the start? 

For hopups, I've seen people use non-tamiya stuff (deadpool gasp) - are there any parts specifically where I should stick with Tamiya (for example, Tamiya shocks seem to be far ahead of the competition). 

Or! Should I just wait for the Super Avante TD-4 and see what that throws up? It feels like ride height is going to be super limited there by the front shocks alone. Or just overpower the mad bull? Oh lord, too many options.

As always, thank you in advance for any help.

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Unless you are hard-set on another Tamiya, I'd recommend you take a look at an Arrma Vorteks or Traxxas rustler 4x4. Both are pretty much already what you want the TT-02B to be, and are far more capable and durable than a TT-02B will most likely ever be. The TD-4 looks to be promising, and a mad bull will handle a reasonable brushless system very well, but I think you would be better served by the Vorteks or Rustler. 

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The TT02B is a good basher, but it's low ground clearance might make adding 100mm shocks a bit tricky, to get enough droop for that kind of travel to be useful you might have driveshaft fitment issues.

The reinforced wishbones, gearbox tops and chassis might be worth investigating and maybe look at using CF rear damper stay from tamiya on both the front and back rather than anything in aluminium (alloy parts look cool but bend).

Putting larger wheels and a truck body on an XV01 long damper spec might be worth considering rather than a TT02 if you really want to stay with Tamiya - or get a CC02 and modify it slightly (alloy spur and motor mount + carbon steel prop shafts and wheels/body to suit the look your after).

I've tried a 15T brushless in my CC02 just to see what happens and didn't have any issues - it's a very strong kit. I've got a few hopups on mine though.

 

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+1 What BuggyGuy said.  TT02B is a fantastic rally-type chassis, but would require quite a bit of work to make it into a truck as it has low-ish ground clearance.  It's like a great house-hold basher for driving gravel, sidewalks, jumping curbs, etc.

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I have some pretty stock TT02B's and they are pretty durable. The biggest issue is the diff ring gears which is an easy fix with the DF02 metal diffs. The diff fix means you need more power though as the metal diffs sap power and its noticable with the kit motor.

Look at short course truck or 10th truggy wheels and tyres, they should raise the ride height enough.

Swap the diffs to DF02 units. The rest of the dtivetrain is probably fine, but you may find you need driveshafts, dogbones etc. Mine have done years with the kit setup and been fine.

Change to a faster brushless setup - stock gearing is probably ok as the bigger wheels will effectively lower the FDR which should suit a 10.5T motor nicely. 

If you need to fix gearing, get the high speed gearset and Yeah Racing motor mount. This gives the most flexibility.

Change to CF shock towers, or make a strut brace from threaded rod and spare ends. 

Run it and see how it goes.

Avoid that Yeah Racing kit,  the alloy arms are heavier and worse than kit. Arms should be light, and the rubbery TT02B ones last pretty well.

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If you do not already have a TT02 to hack, have you considered a TT01? I recently modded a very old (original) TT01 to rally specs and it runs great in the park.

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@Zingfharn Something like this?:

IMG-20200719-010802-Bokeh.jpg

Things I've done to this TT02B:

Yeah racing conversion kit (but I eventually removed just the aluminum suspension arms)
Tamiya reinforced diff gear covers and suspension arms
13.5t brushless sensored system
Steel Universals (CVDs) all around
GPM steel prop bevel gears, diff main gears, and diff gears
Aluminum prop shaft
Steel 16t motor pinion
Steel spur gear (stock size)
Eagle Racing reservior shocks
Yeah racing aluminum steering set
Tamiya turnbuckle set
115mm wheels/tires
Sealed bearings throughout (obviously)

(Disclaimer: You may not see all of those in the pic above; it's an earlier pic before all the mods were put in)

I've been bashing it left and right with no ill effect. Once I clean it it's as good as new (except for the body obviously, that's accumulating a few scratches here and there)

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Search for a TB-01 Levant, it's fun out of the box and you can add some (pricey) hopup here and there.

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@Bash That is very tempting. Looking at a Traxxas Rustler VXL and it's exciting. I definitely want to build a tamiya hybrid to fulfil a childhood dream, but after that I can start looking at other models.

@BuggyGuy & @Willy iine Thank you for the feedback! Really useful.

@Jonathon Gillham Brilliant. Thank you for the detailed feedback.

@alvinlwh & @vodka Gah! Why are you giving me more options? Thank you, though. More to look into.

@DeadMeat666 This is perfect, thank you so much. Love the look of those shocks. Are they just for show or are they better than standard oil dampers?

And seriously, thank you all for taking the time to help me understand options.

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1 hour ago, Zingfharn said:

Love the look of those shocks. Are they just for show or are they better than standard oil dampers?

The reserviors actually work (they're filled with damper oil), and they work great. I got them mostly for looks, but they do perform quite well. They also don't leak at all, which is great. Very hard to find them these days though... You don't NEED them for such a build, but if you plan to bash the buggy/truggy, look into shocks that are stronger than the stock plastic ones. Yeah Racing makes some good ones.

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1 hour ago, Zingfharn said:

I was thinking about the ZD oil shocks. nbTMM uses them here, front and back (along with rear CF shock towers mounted front and rear)

I've heard that ZD shocks are decent for the money, but I haven't tried them myself. As for the CF shock towers, the aluminum ones I have on come with the YR alu set, and they've endured quite a bit of abuse without bending or cracking, so imo no point in spending on CF towers too.

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On 8/11/2021 at 11:55 AM, Zingfharn said:

Why are you giving me more options? Thank you, though. More to look into.

Because I think TB-01 is a better solution. It's a capable off-road chassis, with the Levant you have already alu motor mount, a brushless motor, big tyres and a nice truck-like body-shell. If you do not like the shell you can change  the body mount and pick a better body. The downside are the spares, theay are rare...

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Here is the TT01 (original) rally modded running at the local Palace. Sorry about the TX low batt warning beeps and the poor camera work. 

This started life as a "normal" TT01 12 years ago and set broken and in storage soon after it was built. Recently took it out and decided a rally car suits me better than a road car so repaired and hacked up after watching some YouTube guides. 

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