Dirt Thrasher Evolution
Hey Guys,
Since late nineteen nineties this car has been my off road runner, basher and racer. It was the car that brought me back to the hobby after a nine year break since my last Tamiya car in the late eighties. Throughout its life time it’s been through tough treatment, seeing all sorts races, stunts and recreational bashings.
This Tamiya “Dirt Thrasher” started out as a stock runner where most commonly its plastic shock towers and steering knuckles would give out during high jumps in rough terrain. Overtime, it acquired some upgrades noticeably improving its performance.
The car so far has seen 4 mayor overhauls and various parts replacements, in fact very little is left from the original kit. One of the first mayor upgrades it received was the “Manta Ray F.R.P. Double-Deck Chassis Set” (Item 53099-550). Back then, purchased directly from Tamiya America, lucky me! this upgrade made a world of a difference in handling and durability, the car was now able to give other cars at the club some serious competition.
After purchasing the “Manta Ray F.R.P. Double-Deck Chassis Set” the need for an under-cowl became critical as the original kit did not supply one. I’ve had purchased the “Top Force” one and it turned out bit too wide for the body. Thus, I got creative and manufactured a custom lexan under cowl. After so many yeasr it is still holding quite well, although I look forward in the future to build a custom aluminum sheet one.
It was not until the car received an upgrade to the “Hi-Cap Damper Short” dampers that I had “full control” of the suspension set-up. At this point in time it’s when I learned and realized that having aluminum dampers did bring a noticeable degree of predictability to the handling of the car.
Other upgrades were followed with aluminum shock towers and c-hubs. When the aluminum C-Hubs were acquired, I had asked myself “Why didn’t I get these earlier?” Back then, C-Hubs would break quite often, but at the same time I a had plenty of spares. As for the aluminum shock towers, they’ve never bent or broke (knock on wood!) and have held together quite well. The car has gone thru many crashes and flips and the end of the day, interestingly enough, they are the only standing unbroken parts after the crash. Lucky parts!
Since late nineteen nineties this car has been my off road runner, basher and racer. It was the car that brought me back to the hobby after a nine year break since my last Tamiya car in the late eighties. Throughout its life time it’s been through tough treatment, seeing all sorts races, stunts and recreational bashings.
This Tamiya “Dirt Thrasher” started out as a stock runner where most commonly its plastic shock towers and steering knuckles would give out during high jumps in rough terrain. Overtime, it acquired some upgrades noticeably improving its performance.
The car so far has seen 4 mayor overhauls and various parts replacements, in fact very little is left from the original kit. One of the first mayor upgrades it received was the “Manta Ray F.R.P. Double-Deck Chassis Set” (Item 53099-550). Back then, purchased directly from Tamiya America, lucky me! this upgrade made a world of a difference in handling and durability, the car was now able to give other cars at the club some serious competition.
After purchasing the “Manta Ray F.R.P. Double-Deck Chassis Set” the need for an under-cowl became critical as the original kit did not supply one. I’ve had purchased the “Top Force” one and it turned out bit too wide for the body. Thus, I got creative and manufactured a custom lexan under cowl. After so many yeasr it is still holding quite well, although I look forward in the future to build a custom aluminum sheet one.
It was not until the car received an upgrade to the “Hi-Cap Damper Short” dampers that I had “full control” of the suspension set-up. At this point in time it’s when I learned and realized that having aluminum dampers did bring a noticeable degree of predictability to the handling of the car.
Other upgrades were followed with aluminum shock towers and c-hubs. When the aluminum C-Hubs were acquired, I had asked myself “Why didn’t I get these earlier?” Back then, C-Hubs would break quite often, but at the same time I a had plenty of spares. As for the aluminum shock towers, they’ve never bent or broke (knock on wood!) and have held together quite well. The car has gone thru many crashes and flips and the end of the day, interestingly enough, they are the only standing unbroken parts after the crash. Lucky parts!
Comments
SMOKE-DOG
That is sweet.
SMOKE-DOG
That is sweet. Very original.
Road Burner
Nice writeup! Good to hear it's kept you busy over the years.
scollins
What a fantastic write up and a great looking and performing ride, A++++
Jetalone
Thanks for the complements, I always enjoy sharing my hobby and passion with you guys!
Cheers!
TA-Mark
Best Dirt Thrasher I've seen, Great write up. I do love these DF01 chassis buggies.
just_a_kid
This is one realy nice dirt thrasher and so much time has gone into improving its capabilities on ans off the road.
top job chris.
HSH-02150
Nice story. I was wondering where are the tyres from. Are they from Tamiya? Do you have a part number? Greetings, Stefan
Jetalone
Thanks for the comment. The tires are not from Tamiya, these are the Pro-Line 1061 Road Hawgs. This is my last set, so I am being conservative with them, since they have been discontinued.
Still, I can tell you that these are among the best tires I've had for concrete and flat asphalt.
Cheers!
tamiyaonebay
How did you manage to put the pics in the description? Awesome ride!
minijosh
I too enjoyed your story and pics. We should meet up some time when I'm in Tucson. Tamiyamandan lives somewhere on the East side.
Jetalone
Hey MiniJosh! Thanks for the comments! Definetly, lets meet up dude! Still, I sent you an e-mail to your Tamiya Club account and gave me an error, your '.mil' address is not working. Shoot me a message w/ a good e-mail address! Later!
actualday
Goes Green with Envy, superb paint job, and a really nice looking buggy... where did you find the aluminium shock towers??
Jetalone
Hey Actual Day! Thanks for the comments! The shock towers were purchased on 'E-bay' long time ago. For what I know the manufacturer of these parts is now long gone. Still, keep an eye out on 'E-bay', they still show up from time to time.
Later!
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