Tamiya Gravel Hound DF-02 Forum

[bakabaka]

I haven't heard back from Yeah Racing yet on the spur gears, so I've contacted a US company which specializes in producing plastic spur gears. They do prototypes and short test runs based on sample gears, so I'm going to send my 70t in and ask them for a prototype 73t .6 module spur. If the part performs well with the motor mount, the price is sane, and a test run doesn't cost too much, I'd be willing to request a few from the vendor. Any ideas as to how many I should ask for in a test run, assuming it goes well?

Have fun! :)

[bakabaka]

After all this talk about batteries, I finally decided to get a better charger. I went with the MRC 977, since I'd had my eye on the 969 and it's the next in line so to speak. It's also good to know there are others in this thread with the same charger. Any preferences for which settings to use with 3000mah and 3700mah NiMH packs?

Have fun! :)

[JDT]

I have used pretty much all the amp settings, for me on gp 3300s I feel 4.5 amps gives the best runtime to punch ratio, when I do two I do 4.5 a side, 1.5 b side, this gives a 15-20 minute difference in peak times, that way by the time I am done bashing pack a pack b is nearly ready so after waiting a few minutes for cool down it is done, with your brushless you may get better run times so you may actually peak before you get back for pack b, what I do in that situation is just move the pack from b to a and hit the button again, giving a reboost charge at 4.5 amps, depending on how tarty you were from peak it may take another 5-15 minutes, I have taken a long time talking with neighbors and the voltage was down to like 8.25 but was repeaked within 15 minutes for sure. Some people think this type of topping off is bad but for years we did it with superbrain 959 and never saw a fire.

[bscarter11]

Bakabaka,
I am definitely interested in a higher tooth count spur gear. I put a 15T motor on a novak XRS ESC here 2 weeks ago and the thing caught on fire. I was able to save the model...kinda. Anyways, I bought a LRP AI bullet ESC to replace the novak deal. That should manage the motor better, but I am all ears about you finding out about a spur gear.

Have we considered using a spur gear that has the same kind of attachment interface to the driveline even if it is a different pitch? We can always replace pinions with the spur gear... I think I have seen other spur gears advertised that had shown the same kind of hookup interface to the drivetrain that our spur's use. If we could get one that was appropriate. Maybe its just a change on the pinion and we can go?

I really wish I had taken a picture of the fire. The smoke was all pretty pink and green. Had to put it out 5 times before it finally quit...

Scott

[JDT]

I would be interested, I think if you took them both the 67 and 70 they would be able to figure out the ratio and make the 73 so the stock mount would work with 16, 15,14 and 13 pinions, I still haven't ordered that tobee tt01 adapter to check it out, needless to say this would require a custom motor mount also, I think tamiya never released an adjustable mount for this car as the can sits so close to the shaft tunnel to allow much adjustment, a bigger spur would push the motor out the opposite way and in theory allow for a range of adjustment. Let us know what you find out. I hope they don't try to tell you $45 each or something silly lol.

[bakabaka]

I imagine that as long as they have a 70t pinion and know that it's .6 module, they shouldn't have a problem making a spur gear that fits. The main issue I forsee would be insuring that the pinions that I want to fit will work. The other issue of course is ensuring that the pinion is small enough to fit in the chassis, I'm pretty sure 73t wouldn't be too big. No doubt the initial prototype run will cost a bit, since they have to pay someone to work it out in CAD. Hopefully their "test run" program is slightly cheaper.

A custom motor mount shouldn't be too difficult to make, basically it should have the same outline as the standard mount, but with appropriate adjustable holes/slits drilled into it. Covering up the holes in the plastic mount, making a mold and then casting one out to drill the slits should be relatively easy compared to making a spur gear.

Have fun! :)

[bakabaka]

I hope they don't try to tell you $45 each or something silly lol.

Well, it seems they didn't have a .6 module cutting tool. They'd happily purchase one if I paid them $500 though, on top of the cost of making the gear :eek: Needless to say, I'm looking at other spur gear manufacturers. The one I'm emailing now definitely has a .6 module cutter, but I don't know if they can take an existing gear and build one from that like the other vendor.

BTW, I've replaced 3 of the 4 front aluminum kingpin screws with M4 machine screws and plastic washers from Orchard Supply Hardware, which fit the Yeah Racing hub carriers rather tightly. Once I get another packet of the plastic washers I'll finish it off. The hub carriers now move much less, although I'll probably end up getting bearings rather than the plastic washers eventually. I'm looking at ways to reduce the play in the front wheels as well, probably with shims. Once I've finished, I'll post an overview (and a FAQ article) of what I did and how well it works.

Have fun! :)

[TamiyaRacer69]

Hiya bakabaka and other DF-02 owners. :D
Shot another video the other day, strapped the camera to " :) Da Hound :) " you can really see the suspension working. It's quite cool, and they're only standard shocks. :cool:

http://www.tamiyaclub.com/moviecomment.asp?id=1734&uid=5372

Enjoy.
Del

BTW Hoping to get a Desert Gator this weekend for my 35th birthday. Fingers crossed.

[bakabaka]

Hi Del!

The video looks great, I've been meaning to get a camera hooked up to my Hound but the first camera I picked up died an untimely death. I imagine a camera mount could be fashioned that uses the mounting screw hole found on most cameras, although the lens would have to be protected somehow...

Have fun! :)

[TamiyaRacer69]

Hi Bakabaka,
Yeah it looks cool watching the suspension working. :D
I've thought of doing the same mounting thing myself. All you'd have to do I think, is drill a hole in the chassis, put in a piece of threaded rod, (same thread as the camera screw hole) cut the rod so it sticks out of the top of the body by 5 -10mm, use two nuts to hold it in place, (one underneath the chassis, and one on the inside of the chassis making the chassis sandwiched between the two nuts) sort of like a locking nut type arrangement. Then all you'd need is something to stop the camera from falling over, (rubber band or zip ties (cable ties to me) or just some gaffer tape)

On to something else. Can TT01 parts be used on the DF02. I've come across a heap of TT01 parts on my local trading site, and they look very similar. :confused:

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Members/0347-0925-1306-0114-/auction-59116557.htm

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Members/0347-0925-1306-0114-/auction-59116972.htm
Cheers'
Del

[TamiyaRacer69]

Hi bakabaka,
I just answered my own question, with this review I found;

The chassis of the Gravel hound is the all-new DF-02. At first glance it looks the same as a TT-01, but although they look similar, sit them side by side and they are in fact very different. For starters, the positioning of electronics is mirrored along the longitudinal axis of the car. Looking from the front, the Gravel Hound has the motor, ESC and steering servo on the left and battery on the right, whereas it's the opposite for the TT-01. It's obvious that they share the same design philosophy and there are several parts that are interchangeable.

Cheers'
Del (the drip)

[paulicat]

Well, after a long time away from my Gravel Hound, I'm back into it. A local electric offroad track FINALLY opened! Along with my son being born, time has been all to precious and sparse.
However, back to the topic at hand, I now am starting to look at getting the Hound in a more track ready state and two of the things I'm looking at are:
1: Shocks, GPM seem to be the choice right now I just want to confirm that they do a better job than the stock plastic cva's
2: Getting some slop out of the front wheels. It seems like a large portion of the slop is coming from the (stock) wheel axels and bearings. The bearings are new, so it must be the axels being slightly undersized. I saw these at RCMart and am wondering if anyone has used them and if you could tell me if they fit better than the stock pieces: http://www.rcmart.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=595_744_712&products_id=16559
And also these to get rid of my out of round outdrives: http://www.rcmart.com/catalog/product_info.php?
cPath=595_744_712&products_id=16558
I've read over forum and saw too many people reporting breakage of cvd's and I just don't have the cash to get the titanium gpm cvd's.
If anyone has any other suggestions please suggest away!
Thanks everyone!

[Stormbasher3100]

Has any body ever tried using the evader bx shocks on the df-02? I got these shocks and they seem to work well. They are 10mm longer than stock but they are not so long that the dogbones bind in the drive cups. so far no problems other than the stock oil is a little on the thin side for the df-02.

[paulicat]

Hey Stormbasher3100,
Are you using all 4 shocks from the Evader?
I'm looking for some new shocks as you can see from the post above yours...
Thanks!

[JDT]

I use the BX shocks on the front of my rs without issue. I got a full set of GPM shocks but didn't like them they were only on the car for one pack, I just feel like I got to have threaded adjusters, the GPM worked fine once they had clips on them but the spacer clips are ugly IMO. The BX shocks are chrome and look pretty good, the stock oil was for a 2wd buggy so shocks were to soft, losi springs (no duratrax LHS) fit these shocks and of course oil can be changed so no problems.

[paulicat]

Sorry JDT but I don't think I fully understand, are you using a complete set of 4 BX shocks on all 4 corners of your RS?
So to be super clear, 2 front BX shocks on the front of your RS and 2 rear BX shocks on the rear of your RS?
Thanks and sorry for asking again.

[Stormbasher3100]

yes i use the evader bx front shocks on the front and the rears on the rear.

[paulicat]

Thanks a bunch!

[JDT]

Sorry for the confusion earlier, surfing at work before a meeting lol, I only use them on the front my rears are probably older than some of you guys here, uncertain manufacturer old shocks off a long dead kyosho 2 WD buggy. I just wanted to let you know I forgot to get these upper shock bushings

http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXAMK3&P=PU

they are available in black, blue, yellow and green, one pack will do it as they have four in a pack but get some spairs and save the time and trouble unless you have a duratrax dealer nearby as they will break after some time and wear. As far as the bottom goes I used stock DF 02 ends it will make them slightly longer than as delivered or on your shock parts tree there is what looks like a shorter version, the duratrax cups are kind of tight fit on the tamiya end but this allows you to run the stock ball studs on the bottom for better pop off type damage control works good for me, the stock type bottoms on the duratrax pop off way to easily of the floating ball inside, at least for me they did.

[Stormbasher3100]

i didn't even use those shock bushings i just used some leftover fuel tubing and it works great. I also use the evader ball ends and i have no problems yet.

[JDT]

My BX shocks did not have normal ball ends they came with a floating ball in the center to be through bolted, do you mean yours have a normal ball stud mount? Mine actually failed on any jump over 3 foot high so thats why I changed, I run mod motors and have no regard for breakage so maybe I am just a spaz lol.

On a side note today I tried a Orion SV 2 13 turn double, great performance feels much better than the speedgem 13 it replaced but I had been about a week without a mod motor and ran several times on the titan with the big tires so maybe I just got speed deprevation syndrome or something.

[vmaxcruzer]

Sorry for the worn out question guy's but what better group to ask but this one?
If a guy wanted a decently priced quality motor that will perform well all around but will allow a decent run time on nicd batteries (2400mah) what would it be? So many to chose from It gets the vein in my head throbbing. I have an esc that will handle down to 8 turn and am running stock pinion and spur gear, but the 15x2 I'm running now last 9-10 min at best. I'm using a brain 977 and take care to cycle my batteries well and charge properly but I'm thinking of hanging up the wheel standing power for something that's better than out of the box but longer lasting, with out going to the expense of high zoot batteries and a brushless system. TIA

[bakabaka]

Hi vmaxcruzer,

I'd go 19t if I had to pick something other than brushless. Lower turn motors tend to eat more power, but a good 19t should give you a nice amount of speed and runtime. I actually like Tamiya's 23t motors, but they have bushings rather than bearings which robs both power and runtime. Trinity and Reedy are the most respected motor brands based on what I've heard, I'd probably go with one of their 19t (spec?) motors.

Have fun! :)

[bakabaka]

Hi paulicat,

Congratulations on the new arrival, and good to see you back! I've started using 1/8 scale buggy dampers on the back of my DF-02, they work quite well. I'm using them with Duratrax Evader ST damper mounts held on with M3 machine screws, with the 1/8 damper sitting on the portion that holds the ST's dampers on.

Have fun! :)

[bakabaka]

Hi Del,

I'm actually looking at picking up a cheap "helmet cam" now... I can get one for about $50 US, it has onboard memory, is relatively light, takes SD RAM cards, and includes straps for mounting and should be quite durable in case of crashes. Not the best camera, but it looks like precisely what I need for onboard RC videos.

Have fun! :)

[TamiyaRacer69]

Hi bakabaka,
Sounds good. You'll have to get some videos shot then. I went past a place today that has "video spy-type" cameras. Might go and check them out this weekend.

Congrats on the new son, paulicat. How long before he gets his own R/C ;)

Cheers'
Del

[paulicat]

Hi guys,
Thanks for the welcome back, I can't believe how strong/long this thread has gotten, true testament to the popularity of Tamiya!
Haha, won't be too long, he's turning 1 shortly, so I figure by 2 he should be good to go with a 1/18 electric :D
Bakabaka, do you have any pictures by any chance? I'm not sure I totally understand your description, also, what shocks are you using up front now?

Thanks again guys!

[Stormbasher3100]

I use the ones that come on the shocks from the factory and i have no problems for 3 ft high jumps, but what might be the difference is the motor you run, cuz right now i only run an Epic Binary 2 pro 27t motor.

[paulicat]

Thats another tick on the upgrade list...boy I never realised how undergeared my p2k2 pro was...Im currently running 19t pinion and 67t spur, I see now on Bakabaka's page that I should have upped that to either 21 or even the 22 since the p2k2 pro has tonnes of torque. I always wondered why my speeds were so low :D
Oh well, always learning!
Thanks guys, keep it up!

[chaos308]

Checked speed of my RS with the GPS today.
Stock gearing. HPI 5 spoke Wheels & Dirt Hawg tires. Stock ESC. Tamiya Sport Tuned Motor. Fresh 3300 NiMh pack from all-batts. (The cheep one - maybe on it's 3rd charge)
Results for 2 runs: 18.8 Mph and 19.1 mph.
Garmin says the GPS weights 9.5 ounces.

The speed wasn't quite what the gearing spread sheet, found at the FAQ predicted, but was pretty close.

ALSO.. I lost one of the spring retainers from a front shock.
Was running around at the playground, and must have "bumped" into a piece of equipment too hard.
The play area is covered with bark-chip type stuff which makes for a bit of slipping and sliding.
More entertaining than the parking lot, but the chips make it hard to find lost parts.

Anyway, I looked all over and couldn't find it. :(

I can't find the V parts tree at Tower, RCMart, Stellamodels, or Tamiya.

There are a few items listed at Tower when searching for "damper spring retainer".. any ideas which might fit ? Tower doesn't list dimensions.

I really don't want to spend $40 to replace the dampers.

Are the after market dampers really THAT much better????
I'm not overly concerned with bottoming out on jumps, as I don't jump it, but do want to keep the tires in contact with the ground rather than hopping all over on rough surfaces.

What shocks at TowerHobbies, or other US vendor, are known to work ?

Maybe I oughta post in BST asking if anyone wants to sell off their original tamiya dampers??

Thanks!

[bakabaka]

Hi chaos308,

This should work:

http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&P=WR&I=LXGF09

Have fun! :)

[chaos308]

Hey Thanks !!
I can't find nuthin' at Tower... dangit..
I have some stuff in the cart for there and have been putting off odering.
Guess now i know why.!

[JDT]

The Duratrax Evader BX shocks we were talking about a page or two back are at tower, like $15.99 set I think, they are much better.You will want to upgrade eventually anyway, the BX shocks work good, they take duratrax, losi or associated springs so they are a good investment for $35 or so.

[chaos308]

Hmm. I read that about the BX shocks but it didn't sink in.
The V parts tree that matches the DF-02 tree is $7.49.
Probalby makes sense to spend the $16 on the BX front shocks.
http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXCXN7&P=7
Only then I won't have spares if I loose another damper retainer.... hhmm...
Can I find hardware to mount the BX shocks at the local hardware store?
For the top mounting, would I just use some black anodized allen head screws with nuts?

Thanks for the help.

[Stormbasher3100]

you could find the mounting screws at a hardware store but you would still need to use either fuel tubing or the shock bushings to decrease the slop in the upper mount.
it may also help to get some thicker shock oil too as the stock stuff is pretty thin.

[bakabaka]

For those looking for a good set of machine screws to mount the rear shock tower more solidly, I found a set while looking around the LHS which are also available at Tower Hobbies. Dubro part number 2127 is a perfect fit, I was using two different screws from my toolbox before since I was having trouble finding the correct size screw. The local hardware store only had 3x20mm screws, which didn't quite do it.

I'll also have more recent pictures of my DF-02 and the 1/8 buggy dampers as mounted posted (hopefully) tomorrow. Matched with the Tamiya aluminum front dampers, they've worked out pretty well for the uneven rock/pebble/dirt/grass terrain where I've been bashing lately. I'm using AE 45w damper oil in both the front and rear, though I might try going to a softer oil since I no longer have a problem with bottoming out. I should have a bit of "buggy's eye view" video too, the helmet cam I picked up looks to be a good fit. Maybe the Dark Impact and/or Wild Willy 2 will carry the camera for a bit as well.

Have fun! :)

[avizandum]

i bought the front/rear shocks from rc-drifting. i want to try some stiffer springs. will tamiya fit? (or what's slightly stiffer than the yellows?)

p.s. first post - great thread!

[avizandum]

I'm running a 5800 motor. i was running EPIC 3000 batteries - the LHS recommended an SMC 4200. awesome improvement. the car runs at least 20% faster and run time almost doubled - $44.

[bakabaka]

i bought the front/rear shocks from rc-drifting. i want to try some stiffer springs. will tamiya fit? (or what's slightly stiffer than the yellows?)

p.s. first post - great thread!

Hi avizandum!

I'm pretty sure you have the GPM dampers, so you should be able to use Losi buggy springs. The Tamiya DF-02 springs have a smaller diameter, so they wouldn't fit properly.

Have fun! :)

[avizandum]

tried those at the LHS, they were smaller in diameter - are there different diameters?

[bakabaka]

tried those at the LHS, they were smaller in diameter - are there different diameters?

Odd, I'm pretty sure a few others in this forum are using the GPM dampers with Losi springs. Were you using the Losi buggy springs?

Have fun! :)

[szan]

tried those at the LHS, they were smaller in diameter - are there different diameters?

Hi,

I use GPM shocks with Losi springs, 2" on front and 2.5" on rear, check this page for reference : http://www.teamlosi.com/techtips/spring_chart.htm

Bye

[Aluma]

anyone interested in a df02 parts car? I'm through messing with the gravel hound...has tt01 alum motor mount, tamiya trf shocks, and toe turnbuckles...will provide pics if needed...$70 shipped. That should almost cover a new stock motor/tires for my onroad. yes I know this isn't the FS forum, but no one actually looks for a gravelhound. :D PM me. thanks.

[bakabaka]

Hi Aluma,

I can't speak for everyone, but I've got too many parts as it is. Nearly enough for a second car :p You might try posting it on Craigslist if you don't get a response. I saw two of them sold together fairly recently in my area, they were only up for two days before they were gone. They were RTR though, which always makes a difference.

Have fun! :)

[bakabaka]

Here's the pictures which show the new dampers, along with a few pictures with two of my other cars. I took a few videos too, but they're rough (really rough)... I'll edit them a bit and post them somewhere later.

http://xyzzy.dyn.dhs.org/camera/gravel-hound/new-dampers/

Have fun! :)

[bakabaka]

This is my first attempt at a video edit, ever... I guess it'll have to do. It's encoded with the xvid4 codec and written with an AVI wrapper, hopefully you'll be able to view it without trouble. There's no sound, since I'm feeling lazy. The sound from the motor going directly into the camera's microphone might have caused you to quickly jump for your speakers' power button, otherwise I would have left it in.

Note that I'm posting it on my personal web server, but I'll probably need to find somewhere else to host it since my bandwidth probably isn't quite up to distributing videos. Here's the link for the moment until I find someplace better:

http://xyzzy.dyn.dhs.org/video/houndseyeview.avi

Have fun! :)

[TamiyaRacer69]

Hi bakabaka,
Gotta start somewhere, came out good. :)
Best place for a camera I reckon. :p Took my Hound out for a spin in the snow today, what a blast. Don't get much snow here in New Zealand, so had to make the most of it. There's a video comin. ;)

Cheers'
Del

[paulicat]

It snowed in New Zealand IN JUNE???
Wow, thats weird ;)

Thanks for the pics Bakabaka, now I know I need to upgrade the shocks...was racing this past Sunday, blew out a motherboard standoff, lost spring, spring retainer, and shock shaft eyeloop :D But I was leading up to the first turn before I got taken out :D
The Hound is surprisingly quick off the line...

[JDT]

Paulicat the seasons are reversed in the southern hemisphere, its technically winter down there, my buddy in Australia loves to call me in January when I am in Iowa and its -9 degrees and tell me how its 92 and sunny at the beach lol, for him winter is like 58 degrees, he had never saw snow in person until he came to Iowa for school. It was funny, it was like 30 degrees and he had coat, stocking hat and mittens and was saying how cold it was, we had to laugh and tell him just wait.

[paulicat]

lol, I totally forgot that!
But I was under the impression that it NEVER snowed in New Zealand...I guess I'll have to scratch it off my "Places to move to avoid snow" list ;)
Looking at BakaBakas picture, there is something bothering me about the Dark Impact...the Body/chassis looks oddly small...like silly small. Especially compared to the Hound/Storm...

[bakabaka]

Hi paulicat,

It doesn't seem to snow in the SF Bay area, at least not for the 6 years I've lived here. Of course, a house around here costs upwards of US $600k these days... As for the Dark Impact, the chassis is definitely smaller. There isn't quite as much room for bigger ESCs, but with the battery in the center and the motor in the rear it makes for a much lighter while still well balanced buggy. I wouldn't bash it as hard as the DF-02, but it seems that the DF-03 should be able to go faster with its lower weight. Racing ESCs tend to be small as well, so it's probably a perfect match if you get the battery/motor heat under control. I'm thinking I'll put a GTB brushless system in there once I've installed the (soon to be released) slipper clutch.

Have fun! :)

[bakabaka]

Hi Del,

Not sure where else to put the camera myself, it's basically strapped up against the Gravel Hound's window for stabilization. Not that the video's that stable, but it's 15fps at best from this camera and the terrain's pretty bumpy. I've got two other videos to edit and hopefully post, one's quite a bit longer but has a few bits where I was chasing the Wild Willy 2 kit. Look forward to your snow footage!

Have fun! :)

[JDT]

600K will buy one sweet house here, snow or not, Corey Taylor the lead singer from Slipnot only spent $385k on his shack :D

http://www.assess.co.polk.ia.us/cgi-bin/seephoto/photosize.cgi?gp=782512276014&size=Medium

Around here 2 mil is mansions, probably about 15-20 million dollar homes out there :eek:

[bakabaka]

Heh, $385k will only get you a condo here if you're lucky. 15-20 million isn't unheard of, esp. in Palo Alto and Atherton.

Have fun! :)

[frankylie]

back again! :)

just reporting in, novak 4.5r and GTB esc with 16/70 gearing, 3000mah batteries is all running strong! have not encountered any thermal shutdowns or melting bits and pieces! touch wood!

car run time is about 6-8 minutes with this config and is pretty quick...would the stock wheels and tyres make this car quicker?

now running gpm cvd's front and rear and gpm cups off the differentials with a gpm drive shaft. no problems with drivetrain also running 2.2" hpi dirt hawgs all round im encountering lots of understeer :( i might soften the front dampers but otherwise anyone else have any dramas with understeer?

need some recommendations on 6 x matched side by side cells and a charger (looks like these matched cells need attention when charging). this is to give the car abit more speed and run time?


cheers!

[TamiyaRacer69]

Hi Paulicat,
Yeah it does snow in N.Z, but where I live we aint supposed to get much of it. In saying that, since September 1992 it snows almost every year around August/September. Apart from this year....... :( About an hours drive from here, they had the worst dumping of snow in 14 years.
Anyways, it was fun driving the GH in the snow. Didn't go that well, mind you because of the way it rides. I call mine "Gravel Grabber" :D

Here's the video link for you all to watch......... http://www.tamiyaclub.com/moviecomment.asp?id=1775&uid=5372

Can anyone name the movie that the music comes from. I know what it is, just to see how your general knowledge is.

Cheers'
Del

P.S Picked up my Desert Gator today. How on earth am I going to run 2 R/C's by myself in my videos????? :eek:

[paulicat]

Thanks frankielie, you answered my question about the GPM cups from a few pages back ;)
Hey TamiyaRacer69, I just can't get over that :D
Bakabaka, I paid 280k for my house 2.5 years ago, now its worth almost 400k. Housing has gone through the roof (no pun intended ;)) in my area...but no, I don't think I'll be moving to the SF area anytime soon, as good as is sounds ;) 600k+ :O
I'm really considering getting a brushless setup, but the cost is still way high for my tight RC budget.
Baby comes first, so I get the leftovers for RC :)

Take care!

[frankylie]

paulicat!

yeah i was going to reply earlier but i was holding off to take some pics, more importantly i had to rebuild the thing given i had abit of an "accident" which required a new tub! =)

first impressions with cvd's all round are solid. but still alot of understeer. i'll try some added camber and softening of the front dampers and see if that helps.

i still want more speed ;)

[scoob]

Can anyone name the movie that the music comes from. I know what it is, just to see how your general knowledge is.

Cheers'
Del


Diehard?

[frankylie]

Here's the video link for you all to watch......... http://www.tamiyaclub.com/moviecomment.asp?id=1775&uid=5372

Can anyone name the movie that the music comes from. I know what it is, just to see how your general knowledge is.


its probably featured in alot of movies ;)
but one i can think of is "the long kiss goodnight" ft. Samuel L Jackson & Gina Davis?

[C-Hub]

Hello folks! Got some questions for you, as I don't know much about Gravel Hounds/Rising Storms/DF02s. We're trying to get an inexpensive spec class going at our outdoor track, and we had a BLAST with a TT-01 class last winter (carpet track), so we thought Gravel Hound would be a good car.

About 3 of us are going to get some and "start the virus" at our track :) , but I had some questions. . .

-Does the Gravel Hound come with an ESC? According to Tower it's the same price as Storm, but needs an ESC while Storm comes with one.
-What are the primary differences between Hound & Storm? Is it just the body?
-What's the best way to get a complete bearing set for the car? That was the only modification we allowed to the TT-01s and it worked out pretty well.

Thanks!

-Chris Hults
Lux Graphics
www.luxgraphics.com

[paulicat]

1: It comes with an esc - TEU101BK
2: Just body as you guessed.
3: All you need is the 8 wheel bearings since the DF02's come with the 8 drivetrain bearings.
Its very similar to TT01 so you guys should have a ton of fun with them ;)
Cheers and best of luck!

[C-Hub]

GREAT thanks!

One more question I forgot to ask: Tower doesn't specify if the Gravel Hound comes with a clear body. All the photos show a plain blue one that may be pre-printed? Does the Gravel Hound also come with a clear body or does it come with a screen-printed (pre-painted) body?

-Chris Hults
Lux Graphics

[paulicat]

Clear body ;)
Check the bottom of page 36 for a nice yellow one owned by yours truly ;)

[bakabaka]

Hi C-Hub,

Welcome! Always good to see more DF-02'ers out there. I purchased a set of 10 Duratrax 5x11mm bearings from Tower shortly after I bought my Gravel Hound, they're fairly inexpensive and worked out well. There are several good sources though, if you haven't seen the FAQ yet here's a link to the bearing article:

http://xyzzy.dyn.dhs.org/df02/index.php?action=artikel&cat=2&id=12

Several images of my DF-02 and its hop-up evolution over time can be found here, including one with a Rising Storm shell painted red and white:

http://xyzzy.dyn.dhs.org/camera/gravel-hound/

Have fun! :)

[TamiyaRacer69]

frankylie and scoob, you're both right. Well done, go to the top of the class. :D The Die Hard series are just the best. :cool:
Got my Desert Gator finished. The Gravel Hound is looking a bit worse-for-wear now, with the DG is sitting next to it :( ........ http://www.tamiyaclub.com/getuserimage.asp?t=n&id=img5372_13062006145834_6.jpg

That's enough about the DG, this is a GH thread after all. Is anyone running a brushless motor in their GH??? I know the power of these things is incredible. :eek: (from what I've read) Will the Tamiya TEU101BK handle a BL motor??? What's the run time like of a GH like when thrust along by a BL motor??? Is the handling affected, or does the GH just do what it does best. ;) Grab the ground, and stick to it??

Cheers'
Del

[paulicat]

Both Bakabaka and frankielie are running brushless.
As for the TEU101BK, no its only a brushed motor esc.
The Hound can handle brushless without any problems.
Cheers!

[frankylie]

paulicat, i never realised you had a yellow gravelhound - brother!!! haha!!!

TamiyaRacer69, handling is pretty bad. understeers like a pig. i have to play around with my damper and camber settings though - it *should* help it a little. i'm running tamiya dampers and springs and tamiya adjustable tie rods and gpm cvd's with 2.2" dirt hawgs all round.

brushless - awesome :) about 6-8 mins run time with a 3000mah epic battery pack.

some vids of when i first put the brushless in haha.
http://www.r-c-p-i-c-s.net/media/IMGP0212_run1.avi

*** remove the dashes from the url, doesnt seem radiocontrolzone and rc-pics get along :)

[paulicat]

lol, only a couple of us Yellow Hounders out there it seems ;)

I had major understeer until I softened the front and stiffened the back a bit.
Also, the stock plastic tie rods cause some serious camber which also didn't help with understeer. Of course, like you I corrected that with adjustable tie rods.
Cheers!

EDIT: Ok, I've been meaning to ask this for awhile now, how are people removing the pink areas on the flames from the stock sticker pack for the Hound? I noticed this again just now as I was looking at Bakabaka's pics of his rear shocks...

[JDT]

Hey BakaBaka did you ever dig up anything on the option one company pics were posted about a while back?
also thanks for the tip on rc-champ, great service, ordered late friday and it tried to come today but its express mail so it must be signed for, will have to go out and get it tommorrow after work as driver was not back today in time to get it, but from Japan to Iowa in three business days is awesome in my book, of course the shipping is expensive so I guess I am happy its fast, way cheaper than Jason's on everything, 51074 chassis coming in at $5.15! These things are near $20 a shot with shipping from Cali ever since tower discontinued them, like $8 at LHS when tower still had them, Tamiya USA is $9.25 and since no LHS deal direct with Tamiya anymore I have to pay shipping. I am dying to see the tobee 42880 spur adapter for tt01. I'll let you guys know if it looks like it is going to be anywhere near working. Also for anyone running tobee cvd's they have replacement parts available as I got the wheel end piece aka foil shaft for my buddy's kid as he has mauled his up pretty bad when the tire fell off and he kept driving, now the nut won't tighten to hold the wheel on.

[frankylie]

paulicat:
yellow all the way!!! :)
also forgot to mention that out of the 4 x gpm cvd's i've only had problems with 1 of them. the bearing would not slide easily down the wheel axle, so i had to smack it down using a pair of plyers and hammer! now its not going anywhere :( someone must've adjusted the jig incorrectly or something!!! :(

JDT:
i'm buying bits from rcmart with no issues - and yeah what happened to all the df02 bits on tower hobbies!!! just when i broke the tub i couldnt order anything from them! no complaints from rcmart yet!

[TamiyaRacer69]

frankylie.
Just watched you vid. Awesome power, must be a blast to drive. (in a straight line :rolleyes: ) Think I'll just stick to the Dyna Tech at the moment. I don't race or anything like that, so I (I mean the finacial advisor) wont justify spending alot of money on the GH. It goes well enough at the moment.

paulicat,
What's the best way to soften the fronts, and stiffen the rears using the standard GH shocks.

Cheers'
Del

[paulicat]

Mine is sort of a mess really...
Anyways, currently I have the motherboard standoffs on the front and mounted on the outside arm hole.
On the rear, I have changed to a spare pair of red tmaxx springs (I lost my stock spring last weekend when the motherboard standoff popped off, and I've been pondering removing them from the front also) mounted using something similar to the mounting brackets people started making near the beginning of this thread (in order to widen the mounting position of the rear shocks).
So far on asphalt, its pretty hooked up, still some understeer under full throttle, but just releasing the throttle a bit now helps a lot.
I'm pretty sure that I will be removing the standoffs from the front and mounting them in a hole or two.
I was pretty PO'd when it popped off in the back as it was only my 3rd race in...

So to summarize, I feel having the tmaxx stiffer springs in the rear and stock softies in the front is helping, but it does need further driving/testing offroad to really see how its doing.
One last thing, I'm using 1 hole pistons and AE 35 weight oil all around.

Anyways, hope that helps somewhat :D
Cheers!

[Stormbasher3100]

has anybody ever had trouble getting parts from rc mart.

[paulicat]

Ok, here is my feeble attempt at taking a close up shot of a couple mods I did that I thought would be valuable enough to share.
Both the DF02 and TT01 share a common problem with the tub. Easy stripping of the 4 screw holes of the spur gear cover.
So one of mine stripped (as did one of mine when I had a TT01).
Considering the condition of the rest of my chassis (nearly perfect) I wasnt about to replace it now...
So I starting thinking about a better way to get that spur/pinion gear cover off repeatadly without worrying about the holes.
This is how I did it. Find a machine screw 1 1/4 - 1 1/2 inches long.
Cut the head off and put two nuts on the other side (not cut side).
Tighten the 2 nuts together put some CA glue in the chassis hole and use the nuts to screw in the shaft of the screw into the hole as far as it goes (don't force it).
Let CA dry.
Do the other 3 the same way.
Remove nuts and now you have nice mounting studs for the spur cover, use nuts and washers to hold down the cover.
Sorry for the blurry pics, no macro zoom on this cheepy cam ;)
One more pic to follow.

[paulicat]

One more pic.

[paulicat]

Ok for the second mod.
Kimborough servo saver.
Get the small Kimborough servo save (sorry dont have model number but its a small one with 6 holes)
Its similar in size to the stock one only its not high enough to line up properly with the steering link.
I used some spare plastic from an old buggy (Marui Ninja) and mount it up against the Kimborough, locked it down with a 2 screws.
I then used an adjustable link (also from the Marui Ninja :D).
Now, my link is perfectly level (does not tilt down towards the servo) and steering response is WAY better than with the stock saver.
One note, I made mine a little taller and it rubs the Hound body.
I don't really care since I knew I was going to be changing the body to the XXXNT Crowd Pleazer ala Aluma.
So if you are going to stick with the Hound body, keep the height in mind and measure up so that you don't rub too much (remember, even the stock saver rubs the body).
Hope this helps at least one person ;)

[bscarter11]

Great idea on the spur/pinion gear cover. I've had mine off twice in the last two days tightening the pinion gear down. I do believe I'll be adding that to my list of to do's for the RS soon. Someone on here recommended the LRP AI ESC to replace my novak XRS that burned (literally). The LRP is great for anyone that is interested. It is handling my orion 15T motor just fine. Now one of these days, trinity might actually get some Cobalt 2's in stock somewhere.

How low of a brushed motor can one go in the DF02 before gearing or drivetrain become a problem? I'm thinking of stopping at 14T as the 15T is quite fast enough for me. Thanks.

[paulicat]

Thanks, I hope it works out for you as it did for me.
People are running low turn brushless in them, I think someone is even running a 4.5 GTB.
The famous Bakabaka and plenty others are running the SS5800 with is = to a 8 (.5?) turn brushed. In other words, the DF02 has a super tough drivetrain ;)

EDIT: I just noticed that the best pic of the spur gear cover mod is actually the pic of the servo saver mod :D You can clearly see the stud and nut if you look just to the left of the motor :D

[szan]

I'm thinking of stopping at 14T as the 15T is quite fast enough for me. Thanks.
You think well, I used a Orion Orbital 14T before going to SS5800, and it was perfect. But I had experienced before some 12t and 10t that all burned :(
So I consider 14T is a good brushed limitation.

bye

[chaos308]

Someone might find this info helpful..

Picked up one each of the motor heatsinks with fan from Stella Models.
Stella had them for half the price of Tower, and in-stock, so I ordered both.
I guess this way, I have a spare fan on hand. :rolleyes:

I don't expect the fan to last long with all the dirt and dust.

I started out with the basic snap-on heatsink, from Stella's.
Motor got pretty hot to the touch. Enough that you couldn't leave your fingers on it. I couldn't remember to check temp right after running though.
Within about 10 mins of running it was ~ 115 F. , according to my cheap-o IR temp gun.

The top-mount model fits well, while the side mount won't quite snap onto the motor, with the fan pointing to the side of the car.

After taking the pictures, I removed the switch so that the top mount would rotate more, allowing the fan to NOT hit the body. I then sloted/enlarged the screw holes in the plastic piece that holds the rubber boot in place.
This allowed the switch to move forward just enough, that it bolted back into place.

I then tried the side mount. It won't snap onto the motor as pictured, but will fit if rotated 180 deg. (fan towards center of car)
It hits the body though...

I can take additional pictures if someone wants different angles.

I havn't yet cut out the marked area of the body, so don't know if having that removed would fix the clearance problem.

I'll run the top mount, rotated so that it doesn't interfere with the body to see how it works out.

Pics:
http://img213.imageshack.us/img213/143/topmount16mu.th.jpg (http://img213.imageshack.us/my.php?image=topmount16mu.jpg)

http://img213.imageshack.us/img213/631/sidemount17vw.th.jpg (http://img213.imageshack.us/my.php?image=sidemount17vw.jpg)

Oh yeah.. the blue heatsink on the stock ESC is a piece of RAM heatsink, stuck on with the double-sided tape it came with. Figured it coudn't hurt.

[frankylie]

4.5R GTB is going great guns!!!

heres a little video (4.5mb) of it on the rooftop of my apartment. the tyres were covered in this sticky guey crap which was from the roof last time i was on it, tonight i went up and i had literally no traction at all! not usually this slippery! argh!

http://www.markpakula.com/~franks/gallery2_typical/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=2915


this second video is of my mates hpi rs4 nitro road car and my car. it was hard for him to hold the camera and steer at the same time :)

http://www.markpakula.com/~franks/gallery2_typical/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=2912

my hound runs gpm main shaft, gpm cvd's and gpm differential cups...gear wise, its running a robinson racing aluminium 16t pinion and stock 70t spur. the spur gear is only slightly "worn" after the car took a massive hit on a garden light to the rear right wheel which i suspect deformed the whole chassis (now replaced).

run times are fairly impressive! atleast 6-8 mins on my 3000mah battery pack. it even outlasted a tank of petrol in my mates hpi rs4 nitro!

more pics here:
http://www.markpakula.com/~franks/gallery2_typical/main.php?g2_itemId=910

[chaos308]

heres a little video (4.5mb) of it on the rooftop of my apartment. the tyres were covered in this sticky guey crap which was from the roof last time i was on it, tonight i went up and i had literally no traction at all! not usually this slippery! argh!

http://www.markpakula.com/~franks/g...&g2_itemId=2915

EDIT: Works from another computer.. (displaying in WMP)

Can you provide a link to the files for download?
The embeded vids only display the quicktime controls for me. No video...

thanks

[ElectricThunder]

4.5R GTB is going great guns!!!

heres a little video (4.5mb) of it on the rooftop of my apartment. the tyres were covered in this sticky guey crap which was from the roof last time i was on it, tonight i went up and i had literally no traction at all! not usually this slippery! argh!

http://www.markpakula.com/~franks/gallery2_typical/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=2915


this second video is of my mates hpi rs4 nitro road car and my car. it was hard for him to hold the camera and steer at the same time :)

http://www.markpakula.com/~franks/gallery2_typical/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=2912

my hound runs gpm main shaft, gpm cvd's and gpm differential cups...gear wise, its running a robinson racing aluminium 16t pinion and stock 70t spur. the spur gear is only slightly "worn" after the car took a massive hit on a garden light to the rear right wheel which i suspect deformed the whole chassis (now replaced).

run times are fairly impressive! atleast 6-8 mins on my 3000mah battery pack. it even outlasted a tank of petrol in my mates hpi rs4 nitro!

more pics here:
http://www.markpakula.com/~franks/gallery2_typical/main.php?g2_itemId=910
Those epic 3000mah batteries aren't even close to allowing the GTB 4.5 to "spread its wings".;) If you think its impressive now, wait till you run a good GP 3300 (radio shack has them for 25 bucks, not matched or zapped or anything, but they're not too shabby; you need to change the tamiyas to deans or powerpoles though.. :rolleyes: ) pack or better on that system..:D

Nice buggy though. I'm definitely looking into getting a DF-02; always wanted a 4wd buggy. It'll probably get my SS 5800 from my T3 (which will then receive a mamba max combo...:D).

[mrbrochanic]

Hello this is my first post here and I'd like to say this thread is very informative. This is my sons buggy and it has-
Proline Evil Twins
HPI Super Nitro rims
Intellispeed esc
Deans connectors
Tamiya Super Stock TZ motor
J Concepts Illuzion body which I painted
Duratrax Evader shocks
thanks for looking.

http://pic10.picturetrail.com/VOL326/697782/1956992/157653472.jpg

http://pic10.picturetrail.com/VOL326/697782/1956992/157650477.jpg

http://pic10.picturetrail.com/VOL326/697782/1956992/157650412.jpg

[g0202180]

Someone might find this info helpful..

Picked up one each of the motor heatsinks with fan from Stella Models.
Stella had them for half the price of Tower, and in-stock, so I ordered both.
I guess this way, I have a spare fan on hand. :rolleyes:

I don't expect the fan to last long with all the dirt and dust.

I started out with the basic snap-on heatsink, from Stella's.
Motor got pretty hot to the touch. Enough that you couldn't leave your fingers on it. I couldn't remember to check temp right after running though.
Within about 10 mins of running it was ~ 115 F. , according to my cheap-o IR temp gun.

The top-mount model fits well, while the side mount won't quite snap onto the motor, with the fan pointing to the side of the car.

After taking the pictures, I removed the switch so that the top mount would rotate more, allowing the fan to NOT hit the body. I then sloted/enlarged the screw holes in the plastic piece that holds the rubber boot in place.
This allowed the switch to move forward just enough, that it bolted back into place.

I then tried the side mount. It won't snap onto the motor as pictured, but will fit if rotated 180 deg. (fan towards center of car)
It hits the body though...

I can take additional pictures if someone wants different angles.

I havn't yet cut out the marked area of the body, so don't know if having that removed would fix the clearance problem.

I'll run the top mount, rotated so that it doesn't interfere with the body to see how it works out.

Pics:
http://img213.imageshack.us/img213/143/topmount16mu.th.jpg (http://img213.imageshack.us/my.php?image=topmount16mu.jpg)

http://img213.imageshack.us/img213/631/sidemount17vw.th.jpg (http://img213.imageshack.us/my.php?image=sidemount17vw.jpg)

Oh yeah.. the blue heatsink on the stock ESC is a piece of RAM heatsink, stuck on with the double-sided tape it came with. Figured it coudn't hurt.

nice mod on the heat sink on the esc and fan! I did the same for my tamiya teu esc and it works! jus used some CA glue. i'm doing tt fan thing for my motor and esc next! kyosho 240 19t motor jus kills it all the time after 2 mins of running! my esc is kinda warped as well. i'm running a tt01..similar layout to the DF02..am i right on that?.. ;) :o

[frankylie]

Those epic 3000mah batteries aren't even close to allowing the GTB 4.5 to "spread its wings".;) If you think its impressive now, wait till you run a good GP 3300 (radio shack has them for 25 bucks, not matched or zapped or anything, but they're not too shabby; you need to change the tamiyas to deans or powerpoles though.. :rolleyes: ) pack or better on that system..:D

Nice buggy though. I'm definitely looking into getting a DF-02; always wanted a 4wd buggy. It'll probably get my SS 5800 from my T3 (which will then receive a mamba max combo...:D).

yeah, its probably the reason why my GTB hasn't hit thermal shutdown yet ;) the only thing thats hot is the battery. its scorchin'! i can't touch the batteries for more than a second after they come out ! haha.

yeah, i have deans plugs already.

my mate actually has that radio shack 3300 battery and i didnt notice that much difference? although i did notice that it ran longer (expected though) - although i didnt have much grip on the roof so i couldnt really tell speed wise...

im going for the side by side matched pack - any recommendations? trinity? sanyo's - do they even make these anymore?

the buggy is fun :)

[JDT]

An update for anyone wanting spurs, I got the tobee 42880 mocked up this weekend with traxxas spur gears, the center of the gears is going to have to be punched out to 19 mm, I tried with a dremel but its not perfect and with just holding a stock 540 up to it I got a bit of defelction, the center will have to be perfectly true or wobble will occur, probably got the balance out of wack to so they will need machined for preceision, If I get time I will take a spair frame and the parts to the machine shop later this week and see how big a spur I can get on there, I used the 78 first as its the least desireable and it has plenty of clearance, the 81,84 and 87 are also available, the 81 will fit for sure, not so sure on 84 or 87. The 78 is nearly the same size as the stock 70. For once I got lucky, the machine shop closest to my house is run by a guy that races losi's, he isn't going to give me any rc discount however as he told me $65 hourly :rolleyes: , hopefully in an hour he should be able to punch out them spurs and make 2 or 3 motor mounts. He can copy the stock outside from one of my xtra's and he get get the slots and hole pattern from one of his own motor plates so engineering should not be to time consuming. Iowa State University has a Black Lab for weird and stupid rc projects, I tried to find out about getting a cnc aluminum tub done but due to the center height I would have to buy a billet of aluminum that is $210 :eek: thats like 35 stock frames from rc-champ, needless to say that would cut into my brushless fund and thats not going to happen.

[chaos308]

JDT, You probably know about eMachineShop, but if not.. here's a link.
http://www.emachineshop.com/

I don't know how cost compares to the local guy, but it might be worth looking into.
I try to support local folks when cost isn't way out of line...

[ElectricThunder]

yeah, its probably the reason why my GTB hasn't hit thermal shutdown yet ;) the only thing thats hot is the battery. its scorchin'! i can't touch the batteries for more than a second after they come out ! haha.

yeah, i have deans plugs already.

my mate actually has that radio shack 3300 battery and i didnt notice that much difference? although i did notice that it ran longer (expected though) - although i didnt have much grip on the roof so i couldnt really tell speed wise...

im going for the side by side matched pack - any recommendations? trinity? sanyo's - do they even make these anymore?

the buggy is fun :)
You'll notice a difference on a surface where the tires will hook up more probably (the motor's revving much higher when the wheels spin like that, so it gets farther out of its efficiency range, and wastes power). Even GP 33300s will struggle with the 4.5 probably (it pulls very high amperage spikes).

Anyways, for side by side matched packs, I'd say go with IB4200s or GP 4300s. Those should give you some very nice performance. I think promatch may still have a sale going on to liquidate their SxS packs of GP3700s if you're a bit tight on cash though (they're not matched though, but I think about 35ish per pack). Have fun with the system! :D

[JDT]

Thanks Chaos, I may need to use them as the local guy didn't really want to mess with the motor mount, he got a new contract to do aluminum heads for Harleys so he is mega busy, he did however run the spurs on the line bore machine for me, they are now perfect to snap onto the tobee adapter, the 87 is to big it rubs on the chassis, the 84 however did fit, by just having the bottom screw in the motor and the stock motor mount I was able to move the motor can back and forth allowing 15-19 tooth pinions to fit, this would allow from 11.495 to 14.56 final drive ratio. Much better than stock max of 11.375

[paulicat]

For anyone wanting to see the spur gear adapter:
http://www3.kcn.ne.jp/~tobee/42880.JPG

[bakabaka]

Hi JDT,

Great work! I talked to a few spur gear producers. It seems I couldn't get a part made for less than $100 in quantity without going over 100 pieces. I guess the spur gear adapter is the best bet. I'm curious as to how much of a lower turn motor you can get in there with the lowest gearing now. Perhaps 8t or so? 15/84 is quite a jump from the current lower limit of 16/70.

Have fun! :)

[bakabaka]

Hi paulicat!

I've read that while the SS5800 is 8.5 turns, it's more equivalent to an 11t or 12t brushed motor in terms of power. 11t is probably close to the truth, especially with the amount of torque this thing has even at optimum gearing. The nice thing is it gets good performance with stock gearing, and better performance albeit a bit warm if you go to the 63t spur. With a matched pack in the car, it's amazing how quickly it gets out of its own way.

BTW, I took two videos this past Sunday with the camera strapped to the Wild Willy 2 kit (driven by my wife.) This camera definitely does a better job at slower speeds. A few shots of the DF-02, DF-03 and our Trinity Clash driving by are in there too. I'm going to have to edit the videos, lots of blue sky clips while Willy was doing wheelies. They're a bit on the large size too, hopefully dropping the audio cuts them down a bit.

Have fun! :)

[paulicat]

Thanks for the info Bakabaka, I just bought a Novak Rooster to go with my Reedy 19T Quad Mag (which I might add is also an awesome brushed motor).
When either of these two die, I'll be hunting down a brushless setup...
My BX shocks and XXXNT Crowd Pleazer are on order, they are supposed to show up before this weekend, so we'll see about that :D

[C-Hub]

Our kits are on the way!

What size/type of tires fit nicely on the stock Tamiya wheels? Are the wheels different sizes, do they require narrower tires in the front like a 4WD racer? Do other, more common brand wheels fit on the hubs?

Thanks guys!

-Chris Hults
Lux Graphics

[paulicat]

Bakabaka faq site has a lot of these questions covered:
http://xyzzy.dyn.dhs.org/df02/

To answer your question, the fronts are narrower than the rears, and 2.2 inch tires are what you are looking for.

[Stormbasher3100]

Hey JDT

[Stormbasher3100]

Hey JDT,

Could you please post a pic of the spur gear on the adapter just so i can get an idea of how the gear sits on the adapter.

[JDT]

I'll try and post a pic tonight, spur gear sits on the front side of that adapter, you can see the cross pin slot in it, thats the front, the three holes lined up perfectly with the traxxas spur gear holes. I originally tried to mount it on the rear but this would not work unless you had a super thin spur gear, I tried to find one of the robinson pro spur gears that are like 2.4mm thick just to try it but since the LHS didn't have any I went the traxxas route. BTW for some reason the kimbrough that looked nearly identical had a slightly different bolt pattern and the 3 holes would not line up. The traxxas gears are $3, cheap and tough, they are used on bandit, stampede, rustler and several other cars so they are litterally falling off the shelf at my lhs lol.

[bscarter11]

Does anybody offer the red anodized suspension parts anymore? I saw that Dinball had them as a complete set for $65 a couple of months ago, but all I can find now are the blue ones.

[JDT]

Dinball is kind of screwed up sometimes I just email them asking for it, two times when I ordered some parts before I could not find them on the net but when I emailed asking how long it would take and what the process is and they responded back $ amount to send via paypal, had the parts all along. They may have been discontinued as it appears almost everyone on this board bought the blue stuff lol, GPM has a retail store, you could email them but they don't show any kits chinngai@netvigator.com

[JDT]

Traxxas spur on adapter

[JDT]

another

[JDT]

as in the car

[JDT]

in the car with a 17 tooth pinion, gear mesh is right on with the motor mount up and down holes, may try it this weekend

[JDT]

I just used the best for net setting, really uglied that picture up, payed for a 5 mp camera so I didn't have to deal with bad photos like that lol. In this photo you can see which spur was machined by a $100 dremel and which was done by a $100,000 cnc boring machine lol.

[timie1]

Hi guys. I've read and re-read this post for a long time, and maybe I'm lazy but I don't feel like reading all 95 pages again for my little question. I have just bought a 19 turn Trinity Chameleon 2 Pro motor for my gh. I am running dirt hawg 2.2 tires, could people please recommend the best gearing. I have the 67t spur in at the moment. Would I be best to put the 70 in?

[frankylie]

I just used the best for net setting, really uglied that picture up, payed for a 5 mp camera so I didn't have to deal with bad photos like that lol. In this photo you can see which spur was machined by a $100 dremel and which was done by a $100,000 cnc boring machine lol.

try using MACRO mode. look for a little flower like symbol on the camera!
flash might help too ;)

looks good - i think ;)

[JDT]

I did use the flower selection on the camera, when I was saving I had no idea about cropping to size so I used that "best for web option there, the picture is pretty decent on the camera lol.

try using MACRO mode. look for a little flower like symbol on the camera!
flash might help too ;)

looks good - i think ;)

[paulicat]

timie1,
If it helps at all, I run a 19t Reedy Quad Magnet with 67/22 and it flies...quick off the line, and decent top speed...oh, and I'm running that on the stock TEU101BK with a ghetto glued heat sink on it (waiting for my Novak Rooster to show up).
No heating problems with this setup after running 2 straight 3200mah batteries (1/2 hour).
Cheers!

[timie1]

Hi Paulicat
Thanks for that. I'm also running 67/22 and it too flies, it's considerably quicker than a friend of mine who has a 15turn Orion :D . I just wanted to check with other 19t owners that I am not totally over gearing it. I have a futaba mc330cr esc and it gets only marginally warm. The motor on the other hand gets hot with the TT01 heatsink on. It was a hot day today and I have noticed that hot weather does make the motor get a lot hotter. Some better way of cooling without cutting holes in the body or a fan on the heatsink would be nice.

[gianpy16]

Hy sorry for my very bad einglish,

It' possible adapt to the gravel huound the wheels and tyres of the NDF-01 (#44044)
you know were i find the right adaptor

Thanks a lot

Gianpy

[paulicat]

From the pictures I've seen, I don't think it would be an easy conversion to use those wheels...

[JDT]

An update on the spur conversion, the 84 actually rubs a little on the spur cover, when I had measured I just did the central height, Tamiya actually has it taller than it is wide so it hit on the side near the battery, just a little dremel action and it was fine, the gearing ratio with the 84/17 is 12.84 a little to much for buggy hawgs but not quite enough for the truck dirt hawgs, with the truck tires everything got really hot but performance was great, as fast as the 70/16 with stock tires but with the extra inch or so of tire height the car was a much better basher, this is the big tired buggy I wanted all along, very fun but I will need to get the motor mount soon as it really needs to be 84/16 or maybe even 84/15 for the big tires. I was able to start and stop in the deepest neighborhood grass. It would pull slap wheelies coming off bigger jumps, smaller jumps are now just rollovers witht he bigger tires, but by the end everything was tatoo you kind of hot, tried one pack with buggy hawgs it was pretty fun, probably about like what you guys with the SS 5800's have, the ss probably has a little more power than most 12 turns but the overgear condition made it really punchy and I had more fun with the buggy hawgs than I have in a long time, being overgeared with the little hawgs was still hot but not like with the bigger tires.

[bakabaka]

Hi JDT,

Cool, good to hear it worked out well. Let us know how it drives with the 16t pinion when you get the motor mount! If you ever get a SS5800, I think you'll find the gearing easily sufficient to drive those larger tires... Maybe more.

Have fun! :)

[bakabaka]

Just finished editing a few of the clips we made the other weekend with the Wild Willy 2 kit. I added audio this time, rendered from two Amiga .mod files. It's really a lot easier to see what's happening at Willy's slower speeds. The Gravel Hound makes a few (short) appearances, as does our Trinity Clash truck. Next time maybe we'll get the DF-03 in there.

Edit: I've uploaded the videos to Google Video, in the hopes of saving my uplink. Here are the links:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4281165237539014501

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2994986553278541272


I'll be uploading the clips taken onboard the Gravel Hound as well, once I've re-edited the clips and maybe added audio.

Have fun! :)

[Eero Valanne]

I´m travelling to Toronto on 23rd of July and I´d like to buy one Gravel Hound for a souvenir for myself.. :D
Does anybody know a good dealer in downtown area ?

Eero Valanne
eerov@linuxmail.org

Finland

[bakabaka]

Just went back to the stock front suspension arms after one of the e-clips broke. It appears that there's less slop with the stock arms and the Yeah Racing C-hubs and axle carriers, so it actually worked out pretty well. While working on it, I did some measuring and found that Mini-T bearing kits fit the Yeah Racing C-hubs perfectly, with an extra set to spare.

Have fun! :)

[bakabaka]

Hi Eero,

I'm not from that area, but welcome to the forum! If you know of a hobby shop in the area, you can probably check with them and have them order it if they don't have one. Hope you are able to find one on your trip.

Have fun! :)

[szan]

Hi,

I tried some videos of my brushless df-02, have a look :
some street runs
http://szan.club.fr/modelisme/risingstorm/videos/rs_video04.avi

and some jumps
http://szan.club.fr/modelisme/risingstorm/videos/rs_sauts03.avi

bye

[paulicat]

Hi Eero,
Are you going to be in the downtown core?
What area approx. will you be in?

Hey Bakabaka,
What are the bearing for? I don't have the aluminum C Hubs, but I'm just thinking on the stock C Hubs, there is nowhere a bearing would be needed...

[paulicat]

Hey JDT,
Thats awesome news on the spur.
Can you tell me what motor you are running?
Can you grab a pic of your Hound with the huge tires on it :D
I'm dying to see what it looks like with Truck Hawgs :D

[bakabaka]

Hey Bakabaka,
What are the bearing for? I don't have the aluminum C Hubs, but I'm just thinking on the stock C Hubs, there is nowhere a bearing would be needed...

Hi paulicat,

On the top and bottom, the Yeah Racing C-hubs come with bushings to allow the kingpin screws to be tightened down. I ended up using 4mm machine screws and a Mini-T bearing kit (which is very common and inexpensive around here) to hold it on instead of the kingpin screws and bushings, the steering is a bit more smooth now.

Have fun! :)

[bakabaka]

Hi szan,

Looks nice, I definitely have to set up a jump now. Gotta see what that looks like in first person ;)

Have fun! :)

[paulicat]

Thanks for the explanation Bakabaka, makes perfect sense.
On another note for JDT, could you post a link to where you bought the Tobee spur adapter? I tried to go through that Japanese store, but there was no way I was finding anything on that site...

[JDT]

Thanks for the explanation Bakabaka, makes perfect sense.
On another note for JDT, could you post a link to where you bought the Tobee spur adapter? I tried to go through that Japanese store, but there was no way I was finding anything on that site...



I got the adapter from RC-Champ in japan,
http://64.233.179.104/translate_c?hl=en&u=http://www.rc-champ.co.jp/Champ_International/International_index.htm&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dchamp%2Brc%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D

if you have to send an email for overseas orders and they will respond back how much for parts plus shipping etc. I was getting some frames and some square parts from then anyway, it was like $14 or so, not bad. I broke my last stock shock tower last night, I have been hacking away on some delron so if I get that done and the car put back together I will post pics with the truck hawgs later tonight.

[paulicat]

Awesome thanks for the link JDT!
Im in the middle of going large tires/mT conversion so if things get hot with the 19T Reedy I'll have to do the spur mod.
Oh I almost forgot to ask, what wheels are you using to mount the Truck Hawgs on?
Thanks in advance for the pics ;)

[JDT]

I used modified Traxxas Electric Stampede fronts all around, they actually fit but the wheels nuts would not go on all the way so I machined out the center with what is called a flat wood bit on my hand drill but it would be better to use a drill press to just machine off a few mm, I got mine pretty close to max as on two I could start to see the reinforcing ribs through the center :eek: they are 2 inches wide, the tire per pro line is 2 inch so I get a little sidewall flex, you could easily fit a 2.5 or even 3 inch tire on them, not sure if the rear stampedes would work as they had much more offset and the fronts allready cover the lower c hub mounting screw. The wheels come dyable nylon, get RIT dye and you can make them any color you want or they have chromies if you are inclined that way, plus many companies make aftermarket stampede wheels, just remember to get two sets of fronts. Here is a pick without the body or wing

[JDT]

with the buggy hawgs and some good shape stock pins for reference

[JDT]

with body, sorry no wing, I bought a used rs a while back and this body looks much better than my stocker, have two spairs but want to have somebody paint one up for me.

[JDT]

Here is a quarter under the car to show ground clearance, not a very good picture but I was trying to hold the quarter and shoot the picture and the whole time its hotter then all get out on my black pickup hood lol.

[JDT]

I forgot to mention the traxxas wheels have a slightly larger hole in the center than the stockers but since its sinched up against the hex driver I saw no reason to even worry about finding a bushing or anything. In the above picture with the stock tires and buggy hawgs I think I may have had the buggy hawg tire floating off the ground as they appear to be close to the same size but in reality the truck hawg is not only 1/2 inch taller and 1/2-3/4 inch wider it has a more square edge look to it rather than the rolled sides of the buggy hawg, you might be able to get away with them on the HPI 3030 series and eliminate some of the sidewall flex I get. You may not have to worry about the spur adapter with a good setup and 19 turn, My Reedy Quag Mag 19 died the first tire I tried to run it in the car with the big tires but it was old and had been ran for over a month on the little bald stock tires, I ran a 17 turn Mad Scientist Kyosho double until the brushes burnt up which must have been at least 50 packs so I think you should be okay with a 19 turn as long as you gear it all the way down 70/16. The 17 turn was hot at the end but nowhere near meltdown or anything.

[sim600]

You can also use HPI wheels meant for their MT and MT2. They are 2.2 inch rims and they also have a large center hole but they come with all kinds of adapters to fit different brands of hubs. One of the adapters is just a little bushing that narrows the gap and that lets you use DF02 (or regular touring car size) hex hubs. :)

[Eero Valanne]

Hi Eero,
Are you going to be in the downtown core?
What area approx. will you be in?

Hi Paulicat !

I´m staying near by Eaton centre.

Eero

[paulicat]

Will you have a rental car or do you mind taking public transit?
If you need a store close to Eaton Centre here is what I found (however, I make no guarantee they have what you are looking for):
(2.4km from Eaton Centre) Game And Hobby Zone
416-413-1511
2 Bloor Street West,
Toronto, ON M4W 3E2

(3.1km from Eaton Centre) Dragon Hobby
416-778-4775
612 Gerrard Street East,
Toronto, ON M4M 1Y3

[Eero Valanne]

Hi Paulicat !

Thanks for the advise. I´m taking a public transit. I think it could be better for me to stay out of the drivers seat in Toronto.. :rolleyes:
I found something like this:

Advance Hobbies

4142A Sheppard Ave. E,
Scarborough, ON
Canada M1S 1T3

Is that good one ?

Eero

[paulicat]

Thanks for the pics JDT, and thanks for confirming what I thought about NMT wheels sim600 ;)
So JDT, if I read you correctly, you ran the large truck hawgs on a 17t with 16/70 gearing and it got hot but not melting hot?
Thanks again guys, this thread is as awesome as it was from page 1, I'm truly impressed!!

[Eero Valanne]

Hi Paulicat !

By your advise I found a list of shops.. :)

Hobby Shops (http://www.iprimus.ca/~treadhead/directory/)

Thank You !!

Eero

[paulicat]

Well, I didn't help too much, but I'm glad you found something, btw, thats a great list!!
I'll be bookmarking that page!

Oh, yes, Advance Hobby is definately a good store, if I were you though I would contact them ahead of your arrival to see whether they have a Hound/Storm available...

[JDT]

Thanks for the pics JDT, and thanks for confirming what I thought about NMT wheels sim600 ;)
So JDT, if I read you correctly, you ran the large truck hawgs on a 17t with 16/70 gearing and it got hot but not melting hot?
Thanks again guys, this thread is as awesome as it was from page 1, I'm truly impressed!!

You are correct, the 17 turn with the big tires got hot but not melting hot at 70/16, the only motor I have found that will stand up to the big tires and 70/16 while staying cool was a traxxas titan, it is a 23 turn and pretty slow but I even went as far as 70/19 with it but by then it had quite a bit of heat building up, I did however like the run time as it was about twice that of the 12 turns I have been using. Good luck with your conversion, post some pics once you get the truck body on, I have been thinking about trying to mount a truck body even though I have two brand new unpainted RS bodies.

[bakabaka]

Here's another Gravel Hound first person video, finally got around to editing it a bit and adding some audio. Aside from the 'quality' of the camera, I think I'm starting to get the hang of editing the videos.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4799094704656078668

Have fun! :)

[JDT]

Good vid
I had previously recommended the LRP AI 83250 on this board as being a good esc, I found out yesterday this esc can run 7 cells! my buddy has the same esc and he told me to bring the car over to bash, when I went inside to get a coke he put a seven cell pack in the storm with some zip ties and then drove it out into the cul de sac, when I walked out he handed me the controller and said "I put in the super secret motor", I though he was full of it as I had only been inside for 1 minute but when I jerked the trigger I about died, tires burning, torque steer what the $(&^, power was great, I never would have thought this esc could handle 7 cells, this makes some sense as I always wondered how with all the temp abuse I had put it throught why it never thermalled. Stange irony that the day I find this out castle finally releases the mamba brushess systems for sale on their site. I have somehow managed to avoid buying the DF 03 so my brushless/lipo fund is doing good. The power made me really consider going lower kv and 3s lipo but the 3s 8000mah is $50 more than the 2s 8000. I guess I better get off the damn fence and order something now that they are actually available.

[bakabaka]

Hi JDT,

I think you'll like brushless motors. Lots of speed, and ridiculous amounts of torque. Incidentally, what pack configuration did you use in your DF-02? I've been considering trying 7 cells with the SS5800, but haven't wanted to mess with the battery strap since my receiver is mounted on it.

Have fun! :)

[JDT]

it was really an e maxx pack with the 7th offset to the outside he put the end with the cell to the rear of the chassis, he just pushed the stock strap behind it, no pin was used he used a zip tie to hold it in, this would probably not be good for daily use as I think wrecks would pound the battery sticking up and out against the body so I think it would be best to just use a gorilla strap with the seventh cell mounted in the middle of the pack but you would still get body interference as the cars have little height room on the sides as you know, he had my body in the topmost holes and it still sat a little crocked due to the 7th cell pushing up and out, it was outside the frame a little when viewed from underneath so I think it would be dangerous to use all the time as that top cell would surely be torn off.

[JDT]

I put the square tt 01 diff locker is the rs last night, it seems to make quite a bit of difference, it did increase the understeer slightly but I can probably adjust most of that away, the fact that both rear tires spin all the time now really helps with deep grass and burnouts on loose terrain, I had tried several different types of lubes, greases and other boogersnot like material to affect rear diff performance after toasting a ball diff, installation is simple you simply dump out the five gears and spider section from the diff cup put the locker in and screw the ring gear back on. Here is a pic, anyone using there df 02 for bashing should consider this $20 part as it is well worth it, I would love to add one to the front to but it wouldn't be able to turn under power hardly at all, I know this from 1:1 jeep experiences.

I got it from good old rc-champ

[JDT]

part number on above is STD-50H for anyone interested.

[frankylie]

i finally got to put the gravel hound on some loose stuff today! lots of fun but a pain in the rear to clean!!!

right click and save as:
http://www.markpakula.com/~franks/gallery2_typical/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=3670

http://www.markpakula.com/~franks/gallery2_typical/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=3673

still running the novak 4.5r brushless with gtb esc, 19/67t gears and 3000mah battery pack...

[szan]

Hi,

Good vids, the smoke behind the car is fun :)

Bye

[frankylie]

heh, the video's could be alot better actually - unfortunately i was there by myself so i could only stand the camera up on a empty beer box :)

the dust trail looks cool though, like knight rider ;)

[bakabaka]

Hi frankylie!

They look good from here. I was hoping to take more videos myself this weekend, but the batteries in my camera were out when I took it out to use it. Maybe next weekend.

Have fun! :)

[avizandum]

Has anyone tried the aluminum GPM diff joint cup? Any advantage over the stock plastics? Disadvantages...?

[paulicat]

At least one person has the GPM diff cups (frankylie).
From my own experience I'll be getting them soon since my stock plastic cups are badly out of round(they were out of round right outta the box).

[szan]

I'm waiting for them too from rcmart with some titanium drive shafts.

bye

[smileyboy]

Wow it has been a while for me. The dark impact is out. Sweet

[possent]

my brushless setup:
mtroniks pro ESC
feigao 380C 9T
lipo 4100mah 11.1v

Faster than any nitros at my local track, but hard to drive at full throttle.
I'm going to use a 13T-3s lipo combo for longer runtimes and easier in racing condition.
I'm also using a very light lipo pack 2s (130 grams) 2200mah that give the car a good punch and 10-15 minutes of runtime.

[JDT]

Possent, nice setup, any drivetrain issues yet? It appears you still have dogbones, I had trouble bending them with 12 turn brushed I can't beleive they hold up to this setup.

[seth556]

Dang that thing must fly.

[possent]

Possent, nice setup, any drivetrain issues yet? It appears you still have dogbones, I had trouble bending them with 12 turn brushed I can't beleive they hold up to this setup.
not yet, but i practiced at the track only for 15 minutes before breaking TWO front c-hubs, that will be replaced with aluminium.
Probably i have to upgrade to cvd (tobee) very soon, when money come back.
hopups oredered:
1 *Yeah Racing (#DF-001B) Alloy Front Lower Arm For DF-02/(51077)
1 *Yeah Racing (#DF-002) Alloy Rear Lower Arm For DF-02/(51077)
1 GPM (#DF2019) Alloy Front C-hub -1PR (BU)/(51076)
1 GPM (#DF2021) Alloy Front Knuckle Arm -1pr (BU)/(51076)
1 GPM (#DF2375F) Alloy Front Damper (75mm) -1pr (BU)
1 GPM Alloy Rear Damper (100mm)

and

1 Tamiya (#51080) DF02 Spur Gear (70T)
1 Tamiya (#51081) DF02 Drive Shaft *2

Gearing 70/16 the theorical speed is 43mph/69kmh with dirt hawgs tires, a little bit less with stock tires.
i think i can easily increase the speed (70/19 should be 50mph) but it's not usefull.

[smileyboy]

my brushless setup:
mtroniks pro ESC
feigao 380C 9T
lipo 4100mah 11.1v

Faster than any nitros at my local track, but hard to drive at full throttle.
I'm going to use a 13T-3s lipo combo for longer runtimes and easier in racing condition.
I'm also using a very light lipo pack 2s (130 grams) 2200mah that give the car a good punch and 10-15 minutes of runtime.


Very nice setup

[JDT]

Possent, go ahead and spend and extra $5 and order to Tamiya cvd's when you are ready, I had one set of square and one set of tobee but fell in love with the Tamiya ones so I got them, they force you to use a smaller outdrive cup so they end up costing a little more than tobee but less than square, they are tighter and give a much more precision feel due to less slop, just my opinion of course. You have plenty of power so the aluminum parts should only make the car more stable and less sloppy, the only thing I would add is the aluminum steering, it helps to get rid of alot of slop, if you get the tobee get two sets of 4x8 bearings and you can make it smoother steering also.

[possent]

2nd day at the track yesterday.
Lost a rear dogbone, a diff cup and 2 screws. so my gh will be on the shell until spare parts will be here.

CVDs is necessary if solve the dogbone issues.

[paulicat]

Ok, after some work and some money ;) I'm finished project Hound MT.
I'll give parts details later, I'm just posting this pic before I go to the track to kick some MT's butts!!

[bakabaka]

Hi paulicat,

Looks nice! How stable is the body with the two mounting posts, or did you add something to stabilize it?

Have fun! :)

[bakabaka]

Hi possent,

Wow, that looks like quite a setup. If everything's running cool, you might want to try running tires with better grip if you're running offroad. I just picked up a set of hole shots which look like they might work well where I bash.

Other than that, a better servo saver, aluminum steering arms and the Tamiya turnbuckle set will give you better steering response. Might make handling at speed a bit easier. Maybe put some diff lock grease on the rear differentials as well, or perhaps the Square TT-01 diff lock that JDT mentioned.

Have fun! :)

[paulicat]

Actually, I just noticed in the picture it looks like 2 body posts, but its 4, I used Aluma's method of TA04 body posts...and they do help the shock towers take more of a beating, just back from racing, and it took some serious head over heel tumbles without any problems...
Rims are HPI 3051 rears on all 4, and the tires are Duratrax Evader ST tires. This tire/wheel combo fits this body perfect with almost no body interference at all (I just set my endpoint a little less than full to stop the very minor interference that I had).
BTW, I came in 3rd of 4 in the A main...mostly because I got run over by an EMaxx twice in the last minute of the race :/
Cheers!

[TamiyaRacer69]

Hiya paulicat, looks good. See even a E-Maxx can't stop a GH. :D Well done on the racing, BTW.

[paulicat]

Lol, nope, gotta love the Hound toughness...its crazy!
I hope the D.I is as durable...

[bakabaka]

Hi paulicat,

Congrats on placing despite getting run over. I've had my hound run over by a guy in a Nitro truck when my batteries were dying down. It's definitely a tough chassis.

So far I haven't broken anything on my D.I., although I'm not sure if it's quite as strong as the DF-02. The differentials almost certainly can't be, as they're ball diffs, but once the DF-03 slipper is available that won't be such an issue. The DF-03's definitely smaller and lighter in any case.

Have fun! :)

[paulicat]

Thanks Bakabaka!
I just noticed something though...the tires I used are 3.5 inches total diameter (width is 2.1 inches), which happens to be the same as the diameter of the Dirt Hawgs (1-3/4 width)...and I geared all the way down to 16/70 thinking these tires would be too large!
I was checking temps at the track after the races and was wondering why the motor/esc were barely warmed up (it was 29C outside :D)!!
So now I'm wondering, did I undergear way too much?? It did feel like I was hitting top speed a little too early...
For those guys running Dirt Hawgs, did you have to gear way down?
What would you guys recommend for a 19t Reedy??
Cheers!!

[timie1]

Hi everyone. This is just a link I found with lots of pics of the DF-02 being raced. It's all in japanese, but the pics are interesting.

www.grahoo.com

[bakabaka]

I took a few more videos this past weekend, this time with our digital camera. Three clips of the Gravel Hound and one of the Wild Willy 2, enjoy.

GH Stationary camera:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1119799847007739229

GH camera in hand:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=244433656249528018

GH camera in hand 2 (driven by my wife):
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-8364098492051638954

Wild Willy 2 (also driven by my wife):
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-105444910293362196

Have fun! :)

[frankylie]

okay, maybe the 4.5r brushless is taking its toll on the gravelhound. I hope its not :(

does anyone else have problems with the pinion/spur gear cover tightening down soo much that the pinion and spur gears mesh really hard together, resulting in increased rolling resistance?

NICCCE looking Hound btw Paulicat!!! :)

[rc-drifting]

Hi Guys

Been reading through the thread and many of you know us from eBay as RC-Drifting and will know that we stock most items for the DF-02 range. We are still stock this range and will be stocking the new DF-03 alloy parts as well,

What We would like to know from you is...


What cars / parts you would like to see available from us and also the more replies we get the more we will stock! The more we stock the cheaper it is to you!

Please help us to grow our business to help you the racer enjoy the sport and enjoy cheaper parts!!

And keep up the thread! it fun to read!!!!

:)

[paulicat]

Thanks Frankylie, not too much work to get it to look like that either...
I don't have the problem you mentioned, but I did have the threads strip in the chassis holes for the spur cover, hence why I posted the pics of the mod I did to that a couple pages back...are you sure you're using the right motor mounting position? Just askin so don't take offence ;)

[frankylie]

yeah looks awesome!

yeah im using a 16t pinion and i believe im mounting the engine mount correctly. i'll take some pics tonite!

very frustrating! car still goes like the stink though :)

[JDT]

frankylie do you have the metal motor mount? have you checked the motor mount screws, I would guess they are either loose or have hogged out the holes a little making them egg shaped causing the issue, see if you get the same bind both forward and reverse by rolling the car back and forth, if it seems to bind forward only more than likely one of the two above scenerios is the problem. I have encountered both problems with the stock plastic mounts but it resulted in the horrible type of sound you got when you first had the wrong pinion from being undermeshed(is that a word?) not from overmesh or whatever we want to call it.

[barnes77]

Hello fellow hound owners!

i've had my hound for a couple of months and i've decided thats it's time to upgrade my motor from the stock silver can. :) So i what do you guys think the best motor that the stock esc can handle is??

I've got my eyes on the tamiya super stock tz or rz but i don't know if the stock esc will handle it. :D

[paulicat]

The stock esc will handle those two motors just fine...I think both are 23 turn motors, but I could be wrong...in either case, I've ran my stock esc for quite a while on a 19t Reedy without any problems (I now have a Novak Rooster that I got for a great price).
Cheers!

[gianpy16]

The tamiya super stock tz work very well!!!

[larlee]

Hi guys,

Do you guys face a problem with the stock front shock tower? I have replaced 3 of them already. How can I strengthen it?

[mo679]

Hello fellow hound owners!

i've had my hound for a couple of months and i've decided thats it's time to upgrade my motor from the stock silver can. :) So i what do you guys think the best motor that the stock esc can handle is??

I've got my eyes on the tamiya super stock tz or rz but i don't know if the stock esc will handle it. :D

They will work!, put a heat sink on the esc metal part, and, if you can, rewire it with bigger wires! Superstock Rz 67/21 goes FAST, but I run it 70/18 for off road use, still plenty of speed to control.

Have Fun!

[mo679]

The stock esc will handle those two motors just fine...I think both are 23 turn motors, but I could be wrong...in either case, I've ran my stock esc for quite a while on a 19t Reedy without any problems (I now have a Novak Rooster that I got for a great price).
Cheers!

By the way, how does the reedy 19t perform in off-road, the super stock rz handles dirt very well but I want more torque!
Thanks Mo

[frankylie]

frankylie do you have the metal motor mount? have you checked the motor mount screws, I would guess they are either loose or have hogged out the holes a little making them egg shaped causing the issue, see if you get the same bind both forward and reverse by rolling the car back and forth, if it seems to bind forward only more than likely one of the two above scenerios is the problem. I have encountered both problems with the stock plastic mounts but it resulted in the horrible type of sound you got when you first had the wrong pinion from being undermeshed(is that a word?) not from overmesh or whatever we want to call it.

I still didnt get time to take pics, probably a better idea to take a video come to think of it... :)

excellent tip JDT, i'll check that out tonite! i can't remember if it over meshed better going forward than back and vice versa, but i'll definately check it tonite.

getting a metal motor mount might be a goer anyway - havent got any on hop-ups for a while and i need a new 70t spur gear anyway! :)

[JDT]

Hi guys,

Do you guys face a problem with the stock front shock tower? I have replaced 3 of them already. How can I strengthen it?


If you bash this car hard you will break alot of these, you can get aluminum ones from GPM, and Yeah racing on ebay but they are a little on the weak side, square has a carbon fibre one which I was able to run for a long time before it broke, I have been cutting up different types of lexan, plexiglass and polymers like delron and such but I think in the end I will end up making one out of real thick aluminum as the aftermarket aluminums are no stronger than the stock on IMO. I think Aluma came up with cutting the upper horizontal tabs off the mount and putting a plate in front of the diff case mounting holes and using the stock shock mounting position bolt holes to bolt it down also, he however was looking for better geometry so the shock mounting holes moved up and out, I have refined my personal front to be neary an inch higher and inch further out than the stock piece to give a better shock angle. You could always try running a cut stock one with the sqaure piece but most sain people don't have problems with the square one, its a little pricey at like $30 shipped but its the best choice beside custom IMO. I wish the search engine on this forum worked better, check for posts by ALUMA and you will see the nice looking wider one he made. I know there is a picture of each aftermarket one someone on this board but its 99 pages of fun anyway, read the hole board over the next couple nights and you will know alot of stuff about this car.

[bscarter11]

I broke one of the CF front shock towers as well as two aluminum ones as well. My solution was to buy *two* CF shock towers (the Square ones JDT mentioned). I put small spacer between them to cover the distance of the mounting hole, and put one CF shock tower on both the front and back of the mounting hole. Then I used long machine screws to hold the assembly together at the recommendation of the others on this board. It works great and looks pretty cool. The aluminum ones just don't hold up. The CF one by itself did ok until my brother flipped the car with it landing right on the front shock tower and sliding 5 feet across textured contrete. It didn't have a chance. I have yet to break the new setup though. It has lasted at least 3-4 months so far.

[Aluma]

ummm sorry, wasnt me... I never broke a shock tower front or rear in all the times I raced the buggy. I did manage to lose a dogbone/cup, strip a spur gear and break one front hub though. :D Of course theres all the winning too... ;)

[paulicat]

bscarter11, I must say, thats an excellent idea!
Cheers!

[JDT]

ummm sorry, wasnt me... I never broke a shock tower front or rear in all the times I raced the buggy. I did manage to lose a dogbone/cup, strip a spur gear and break one front hub though. :D Of course theres all the winning too... ;)


Sorry Aluma I thought you were the guy who made the aluminum shock mount for the front of the car that was a taller and wider and used the stock piece behind the new tower.

Dual CF should be pretty strong as with just one it was fine for months until just like bscarter11 mine broke after a particularly nasty upside down slide on concrete but mine happened to be going backwards as a big crack caused the rear end to pass the front in the air, sparks galore, tamiya option shocks never looked very pretty after that deal lol.

[JDT]

It was Bloodclod that made the front shock tower and used the stock piece behind, check out page 3 of this forum. This is what I plan to do eventually

[larlee]

Thanks guys for all the great ideas. I will go find the material and try to see if I can cut out a double CF to reinforce it.

[Alex8027]

If you are looking for a somewhat cheaper solution than graphite, I would recommend G10 fiberglass. You could easily get SEVERAL shock towers out of this sheet -

Tower Hobbies has the C&M Cobra sheets 0.125" thick (3.1 mm) for a little over $25-
http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXA272&P=7

Given the size of the shock tower, G10 is most likely going to be of sufficient stiffness/strength when compared to graphite. For JDT (and others with Hobbytown's), I think Hobbytown in Ames has the sheets, but they are a little on the expensive side (~$35). Used to live in Ames and bought many a part there (not a large fan of that store, but they do have a decent selection of parts/screws).

If anyone is interested I can see if I can dig up the dimensioned out shock tower I did quite a while back (same for the rear shock lower mounts to improve geometry - give me a little time). I mounted my shock tower directly to the gearbox, but it would be relatively easy to do something similar to Bloodclod's.

[larlee]

If you are looking for a somewhat cheaper solution than graphite, I would recommend G10 fiberglass. You could easily get SEVERAL shock towers out of this sheet -

Tower Hobbies has the C&M Cobra sheets 0.125" thick (3.1 mm) for a little over $25-
http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXA272&P=7

Given the size of the shock tower, G10 is most likely going to be of sufficient stiffness/strength when compared to graphite. For JDT (and others with Hobbytown's), I think Hobbytown in Ames has the sheets, but they are a little on the expensive side (~$35). Used to live in Ames and bought many a part there (not a large fan of that store, but they do have a decent selection of parts/screws).

If anyone is interested I can see if I can dig up the dimensioned out shock tower I did quite a while back (same for the rear shock lower mounts to improve geometry - give me a little time). I mounted my shock tower directly to the gearbox, but it would be relatively easy to do something similar to Bloodclod's.

That would be nice if I could have the dimension of the front and rear shock tower

[JDT]

If you are looking for a somewhat cheaper solution than graphite, I would recommend G10 fiberglass. You could easily get SEVERAL shock towers out of this sheet -

Tower Hobbies has the C&M Cobra sheets 0.125" thick (3.1 mm) for a little over $25-
http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXA272&P=7

Given the size of the shock tower, G10 is most likely going to be of sufficient stiffness/strength when compared to graphite. For JDT (and others with Hobbytown's), I think Hobbytown in Ames has the sheets, but they are a little on the expensive side (~$35). Used to live in Ames and bought many a part there (not a large fan of that store, but they do have a decent selection of parts/screws).

If anyone is interested I can see if I can dig up the dimensioned out shock tower I did quite a while back (same for the rear shock lower mounts to improve geometry - give me a little time). I mounted my shock tower directly to the gearbox, but it would be relatively easy to do something similar to Bloodclod's.

Please tell me you are a machinist and want to make some, I have spent hours cutting different shapes, utilizing width versus height and such to come up with the front tower pattern I want but the machine shops around here act like it would take 9 hours to write and proof what seems to be a realtively easy 2 Dimensional shock tower for the front like Bloodclods, my other option is to get the pattern perfect and have someone try to plasma it but that depends too much on the hand of the cutter for my taste, I want a CNC program so it don't look homemade, If there was a flowjet shop around I would just add and inch to the square tower dimensions at the same angle and call it good. If you can do some stuff work on real hinge pin retainers for this car so I can quite ripping off suspension mounting point, I don't care if I have to drill into the chassis and use long bolts with nuts but it has been really hard to mock this up, I cut the front diff case off a broken frame last night so this may help me to get one done but it will look cheasy and homeade as I am hacking 1/8 aluminum with a dremel :eek:

[Combatcm]

Here is my DF-02, it has a 16T pinion and it's way undergeared with the stock tires, but handles the larger tires almost as good. It gets the novak a little hot, but what doesn't get the novak hot :p

I used dirt bonz off of an MT2 and plan to race it in the next truggy race at the track. I'll see what I can do for a truck body just to get less looks at the track, but I'm fine with the buggy body.

[Combatcm]

four

[Alex8027]

The biggest problem with the car, as any one on this forum could probably attest to, is the suspension setup/chassis. Having the arm mounts integrated into the chassis poses a problem, not to mention the fact that the rear should probably be another 4-5 mm lower (which would help with clearance). I still haven't given up on the double deck chassis, but it requires a lot of time that I just don't have at the moment.

I've attached below a very rough dimensioned shock tower. For anyone who has a drafting program, I could generate a DXF file if desired, but I would recommend making a test tower out of balsa wood or poster board to test the fit and hole locations. Also this could be used as a template later.

JDT - If you have access to Black, you should see if you can utilize the bandsaw and drill press in the basement lab. This will greatly speed up the time and make the cuts better.

[Alex8027]

The shock tower - first swag with a dremel.

[Alex8027]

Mounting - note the nuts used to hold it in place. Could probably also attach at the tie rod mounts as well from the front.

[barnes77]

witch do you guys reckon are better gpm dampers or tamiya aluminium dampers??

[Eero Valanne]

I know, this sounds crazy, but has anybody installed for example Lancer Evo or Subaru body to GH ? If has, I´d like to see a picture of it.. :D
I know also that it´s not a rally car, it´s a buggy, but... :o

Thanks,
Eero

[barnes77]

They will work!, put a heat sink on the esc metal part, and, if you can, rewire it with bigger wires! Superstock Rz 67/21 goes FAST, but I run it 70/18 for off road use, still plenty of speed to control.

Have Fun!

kool! thanks for the info i'll be getting 1 soon :) you say above to put a heat sink on the esc metal part. Where can you buy these esc heat sinks from?

cheers :D

[paulicat]

Eero, check page 10 for a Mazda 6 Touring body mounted on a Gravel Hound.
Its Alumas old Hound.

[paulicat]

barnes77, try to grab a piece of heatsink from maybe an old dead computer lying around the house, or ask a friend...

[JDT]

Alex8027-thanks for the template, I'll hack one out of the delron tonight and check it out.

Barnes77-get the Duratrax Evader BX front and rear shock, much better than tamiya or gpm, they are also cheaper than either. The heatsinks made for the car are like $8 and come out of the body at that little square above the motor can on the bodyshell. But as paulicat said any heatsink will work, the one I happen to run is an old funky light purple thing that is probably 15 years old by now.

[JDT]

Combatcm-what is that wing you are running ? looks to be a rigid wing like an eight scale.

[Combatcm]

Combatcm-what is that wing you are running ? looks to be a rigid wing like an eight scale.

It's an associated wing. I lost the wing mount hardware for the stock wing, so I cut some plastic and sandwiched the wing between the two pieces of yellow plastic.

I can do full flips with the buggy it has so much power. I just need to get about 4 or 5 feet up in the air.

[Alex8027]

I'd really recommend making one out of posterboard or paper before you waste delrin cutting one out. It takes about 5 minutes with a scissors, which can show you if any of the holes don't line up right - but it's your call.

[JDT]

A sign shop in my area sold me the delron for $8 a pound as scrap so I have at least 15 chunks big enough to do this so I guess I'm not so concerned about using material but this is a good idea as I have cut out more than one at a time in the past not only does the dremel get hot but my hand and arm get a little tired and cuts get more crappy looking. Your dremel job looks pretty good.

[barnes77]

Alex8027-thanks for the template, I'll hack one out of the delron tonight and check it out.

Barnes77-get the Duratrax Evader BX front and rear shock, much better than tamiya or gpm, they are also cheaper than either. The heatsinks made for the car are like $8 and come out of the body at that little square above the motor can on the bodyshell. But as paulicat said any heatsink will work, the one I happen to run is an old funky light purple thing that is probably 15 years old by now.

Kool Duratrax Evader BX front and rear shocks ey. I might just have to pick some up from my local hobby store :D . Do they fit ok? anything else needed to fit them onto the hound?

[JDT]

Barnes77, you will need the shock mounting bushings

http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXAMK3&P=7

for the top mounting, they are available in other colors also, some people use nitro fuel tubing and have reported good results so you can choose, they are cheap so I would get an extra set as they do wear out and get cracked and such, even break from nasty slides on concrete, the shocks will stratch up quick but hold up great long term, you can get nitrade shafts and such but I have yet to bend one but I just recently switched my rears over as I had some old Kyosho shocks on the rear until they bent,on a side note I switched the evader lower ends for the ones from the stock shocks so I could still have pop off ability on the bottom using the stock ball studs as I had problems with the lower mounts breaking/bending. Good Luck.

[JDT]

Tonight I went to bash with some buddies and ended up getting slammed by a savage, ripped the power wire out of the esc, broke a body mount, broke a wheel, cracked and broke a rear hub and bent my rear Yeah shock tower, he blew the cvd set screw/pin and tore a nasty chunk out of one of his tires, we were messing around jumping over each other, then it turned into multiple cars jumping at the same time, eventually I was a little nose up butt down and he was very nose up butt down and then there was a sickening crunch, his left front tire hit my left rear, the rs somehow ended up on its tires but the body was hanging off and the wheel was nearly parallel to the body I was able to drive it almost halfway back to me when it gave up, I was a little distressed to see the hot wire for the battery ripped out of the esc but upon inspection I could see a hole down inside the esc, stuck in back in and holy crap it worked, german engineering is great (LRP) the wheel pretty much blew the entire center section out, I had probably weakened the wheel when I milled it down so I can't really blame the wheel either, the hub was still just a stock plastic one, down to 4 spairs now lol, the body mount is the first I have ever broken so I have spairs, the shock tower kind of got bent forward, my buddy held it with some vice grips and we tried to bend it back but its still out of wack, I only have one stock piece left for the rear tower so I will have to get on rcmart pretty soon, I was able to put the car back together, change to the buggy hawgs and get going before him so that was worth some smack talking, everyone else was brutal to him asking if that little $100 electric car hurt his big mean truck and such. I have broken nearly ever part on this car at one time or another but continue to be amazed by what they can actually take. Sorry for the long post but I just got home and still a little pumped from the beers and smack talking that took place after the bashing. :D

[bakabaka]

Hi JDT!

Cool, I must admit that I'm happy with its durability myself. The only other vehicle I ever broke with the GH was the end portion of an axle from my old Clodbuster, but the GH sustained no damage.

Have fun! :)

[bakabaka]

BTW, I picked up a few 4000mah packs on sale from maxamps.com recently, they use "4k qualifier" cells. Nothing I'd heard of before, but they definitely have better runtime than any of my other batteries and a stick pack's only $30. I got two sets with Tamiya connectors for my other cars and two sets with Deans for the DF-02, both types work great. It's extended my bashing time quite nicely :)

Have fun! :)

[barnes77]

Kool thanx for all tha info JDT but i can't seem to find any Duratrax evader bx rear shocks at towerhobbies :confused: do evader st shocks work?

[mo679]

kool! thanks for the info i'll be getting 1 soon :) you say above to put a heat sink on the esc metal part. Where can you buy these esc heat sinks from?

cheers :D
hello barnes77

I used ram heat sink, coolmaster I guess, it has adesive conductive tape, which is very effective, after a run of 28 minutes (3 packs) off-road 67/19 the heat sink get hot, but I never had thermal shut-down.
hope it helps
moe

[DMintscheff]

Here's a link to some pics of my RS. http://userweb.suscom.net/~dmintscheff/tamiya_rising_storm.htm
I just finished installing the square rc damper ends on the front and I got a new in package Tamiya DF-02 Aluminum steering set on the way (Last 2 mods not in pictures). I also still need to install the second Tamiya Ball Diff in the front. Let me know what you think so far.
-dave

[JDT]

Kool thanx for all tha info JDT but i can't seem to find any Duratrax evader bx rear shocks at towerhobbies :confused: do evader st shocks work?

The bx and st use the same rear according to duratrax, so yes.

[JDT]

Here's a link to some pics of my RS. http://userweb.suscom.net/~dmintscheff/tamiya_rising_storm.htm
I just finished installing the square rc damper ends on the front and I got a new in package Tamiya DF-02 Aluminum steering set on the way (Last 2 mods not in pictures). I also still need to install the second Tamiya Ball Diff in the front. Let me know what you think so far.
-dave

Looks good, I have burnt up a couple of the ball diffs with a 12 turn so I am suprised its okay with the brushless.

[mo679]

Here's a link to some pics of my RS. http://userweb.suscom.net/~dmintscheff/tamiya_rising_storm.htm
I just finished installing the square rc damper ends on the front and I got a new in package Tamiya DF-02 Aluminum steering set on the way (Last 2 mods not in pictures). I also still need to install the second Tamiya Ball Diff in the front. Let me know what you think so far.
-dave

Really nice, well hopped up rising storm! :)

[possent]

i want to show you my cheap and dirty solution to strengthen the shock arms. Aluminium and 30' work.
My tl01B had the same problem, a big problem because you had to replace the whole chassis when you broke the shock tower (front or rear). Then i used a little piece of aluminiun and longer screws; never broken an arm since then.
I'm going to use the same solution for the rear.

[possent]

another

[possent]

At the end, have a look at where the fan is mounted. my df02 chassis broke last weekend and reassembling i found a better setup for esc, receiver and fan.

[barnes77]

Still can't find the duratrax evader bx rear shocks at tower. Do you know if the evader st shocks are exactly the same and where can i get bx rear shocks?

[dropzone]

HEY GUYS ,JUST LOOKIN' AROUND @ YOUR POSTS ON THE DF-02.GETTIN' SOME GOOD IDEAS!! HERE'S A PIX OF MY PROJECT .http://forums.radiocontrolzone.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=65431&stc=1.LOTZ OF GPM, ALUMINUM FULL BEARINGS,SPEED GEMS PYRITE MOTOR,NOVAK SUPER DUTY XR ESC W/COOLING FAN KIT 2 KEEP IT COOL , DUAL BATTERY PACKS, INTEGY HEATSINK W/COOLING FAN 2 KEEP MOTOR COOL,RPM WHEELZ.FRESH PAINT BY ME .STILL IN PROGRESS.ORDERED NEW SHOCK SPRINGS (EVADER ST GREEN AND YELLOW) 4 THE WEIGHT OF THE EXTRA PACK .AND ALSO ORDERED NEW SHOCKS(EVADER ST ) :D

[dropzone]

THIS IS WHAT IT USED 2 LOOK LIKE.http://forums.radiocontrolzone.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=65432&stc=1

[Alex8027]

The Evader ST front shocks are the same length as the Evader BX rear shocks. The Evader ST rear shocks "could" work, but the front shocks are closer to the rear shock length of the DF02 (still longer but a much better match).

[barnes77]

ok but where can i get rear evader bx rear shocks?

[paulicat]

Sorry Alex8027 but the Evader ST and BX rear shocks are identical, sporting the same part number from Duratrax - DTXC9004 http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/WTI0095P?FVSEARCH=DTXC9004&FVPROFIL=++

Evader BX fronts however are different DTXC9007 - http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0095p?FVSEARCH=DTXC9007&FVPROFIL=++

The rears come with yellow (medium) springs and the fronts with white (soft) springs. You'll most likely want to get a spring set to reverse that and have at least medium in the front and soft in the back...with yellow in the back and white in the front it tends to make the buggy nose heavy going over jumps.

For clarity these two shock pairs mount perfectly with no binding in the dogbones. Use the Tamiya stock lower shock eyelet for mounting the bottom of the new shocks to the stock ball studs.
Cheers!

[paulicat]

dropzone, thats a nice paint job on the pleazer body, is that the XXXNT body?
What motor/gearing/tires are you using?
I'm trying to find some different combinations for the MT tires...

[Alex8027]

The reason I recommended the Evader ST front shocks is that they are a better fit than the Evader ST rear shocks (and are similar in length to those rear shocks used on Associated/Losi). The length is much closer, with the Evader ST front shock being slightly longer than the standard DF02 kit shock and the Evader ST rear shock being a good 10-15 mm longer. It's not that the Evader ST rear shocks won't fit, but the ST fronts will be more of an exact fit. Also, if desired you could use a set of RPM ball cups and Evader ball studs to mount the shock at the bottom. I will post a pic later to illustrate this in case there is any confusion.

[paulicat]

Oh ok, I read your post as BX rears are not the same as ST rears...thanks for clarifying!!
I will reconfirm though that the ST rears do fit without any issues.

[dropzone]

dropzone, thats a nice paint job on the pleazer body, is that the XXXNT body?
What motor/gearing/tires are you using?
I'm trying to find some different combinations for the MT tires...
yes the body is the xxxnt!i have a speed gems pyrite 10 turn,gearing is 70t spur,19 pinion, tires are,proline dirt works.

[paulicat]

Hi dropzone, thanks for replying with the info...
And with 70/19 you find your acceleration is still good?
Are you running it at 7.2V or at 14.4V?

[Stormbasher3100]

I can confirm too that the evader st rears will fit on the rear of the df-02 and i picked them becuase of the extra length.

I just ordered a new powerplant as well. The finnally released mamba max with the 7700kv motor that is supposed to be the equivilant of a 4t brushed according to CC. And apparantly unlike the novak systems has no issues with gearing! The only thing they say about gearing is to gear for how fast you want to go!

Im hoping i won't break parts too often with this combo.

[barnes77]

Thanx for all your help about the evader shocks guys!
it was a little confusing with the st rears and the bx rears being the same thing
but i get it all now thanx to you :D

[JDT]

I can confirm too that the evader st rears will fit on the rear of the df-02 and i picked them becuase of the extra length.

I just ordered a new powerplant as well. The finnally released mamba max with the 7700kv motor that is supposed to be the equivilant of a 4t brushed according to CC. And apparantly unlike the novak systems has no issues with gearing! The only thing they say about gearing is to gear for how fast you want to go!

Im hoping i won't break parts too often with this combo.


Let us know how it goes once you get it in, I am leaning towards the 5700 and 3s lipo so I am interested to see how this car holds up to the cc brushless system.

[bakabaka]

I just ordered a new powerplant as well. The finnally released mamba max with the 7700kv motor that is supposed to be the equivilant of a 4t brushed according to CC. And apparantly unlike the novak systems has no issues with gearing! The only thing they say about gearing is to gear for how fast you want to go!

Im hoping i won't break parts too often with this combo.

Hi Stormbasher3100,

I'm definitely interested in the battery life on this thing. If it doesn't eat batteries too much faster than my current SS5800, I may end up getting one. The 5700 system is more likely though. It's currently a toss-up between a Mamba Max, the Novak GTB system, or the yet-to-be-released Tekin Rage. All are far more powerful than I really need, but battery life is the determining factor.

FWIW, I'm using 1/8 scale buggy dampers for the rear suspension and it works great. No bottoming out issues at all, and control seems tighter.

Have fun! :)

[paulicat]

Anyone have any ideas/suggestions on how one could extend the axles on our cars??
I'd really love to have another 1/4 inch or so of axle per side and can't think of anything to achieve this...
Cheers!

[JDT]

Wheels are the only option I know of to widen the track width, you would just have to look around for different wheels and such with 12mm hex, the Kysosho Lazer wheels are rumored to provide a 1/2 inch increase in overall width but I have never tried them but I think others on this board have. Maxximizer has an adapter to run 14 mm hex wheels on a Wild Dagger so I am sure they would work for most tamiya cars, this is the same size wheel used on most monster trucks so you can get nearly any offset wheel but the problem is the tire height, you would have to modify 2.2 tires to fit the 3.3 inch rims as a standard monster truck tire is tall, shortest I found was 5.0 for cheasy plain mashers, most cool mt tires are closer to six inch, I personally am not a good enough artist to cut 2.2 tires to fit on monster wheels so I have not looked into this any further, if you feel you could cut and glue the tires this may be a valid option.

[paulicat]

I'm currently running the MT2 18SS wheels which has widened the track by about half inch over the stock rims, I'm just looking for a little more ;)
I'm sure I read somewhere that someone was going to get "axle extenders" but there were no further details...

[bakabaka]

I'm currently running the MT2 18SS wheels which has widened the track by about half inch over the stock rims, I'm just looking for a little more ;)
I'm sure I read somewhere that someone was going to get "axle extenders" but there were no further details...

Hi paulicat,

I found out a while ago that the TLT-1 also uses the 12mm hex. The following widener is intended for TLT-1 trucks, but should work fine on a DF-02:

http://rc4wd.com/shop/product_info.php?products_id=1097&osCsid=38e3e689fc343aa344e997090512b7bb

It's a bit pricey, but it shoud get the job done.

Have fun! :)

[dropzone]

i'm running it @ 14.4.acceleration is good.

[dropzone]

I'm currently running the MT2 18SS wheels which has widened the track by about half inch over the stock rims, I'm just looking for a little more ;)
I'm sure I read somewhere that someone was going to get "axle extenders" but there were no further details...http://xyzzy.dyn.dhs.org/df02/index.php?sid=&lang=en&

[JDT]

i'm running it @ 14.4.acceleration is good.


can you get a pic with the body off to show how you did the dual packs, I was just wondering as I pondered dual packs but determined it was to much weight on one side as my motor, servo and receiver allready weigh less than one six cell pack. The best idea I came up with was to run both across the car sideways on the tunnel in the middle on a sheetmetal bracket but this put the cg up a little to high.

[paulicat]

Thanks for the info dropzone, I'm very familiar with bakabakas site, been part of this thread since around page 35 ish...
I thought you might be running at 14.4 volts :D
Cheers!

[JDT]

For those of you running truck size tires what servo's are you using, I feel like I need a little more than the JR z590 I have been using on the truck dirt hawgs, its rated for 89oz/in at .15 seconds, a buddy told me the stampede guys are usually running 150oz/inch or so at the best speed they can afford with truck sized tires. This servo was great with the stock tires and the buggy hawgs but seems to be underpowered with the truck hawgs.

[paulicat]

Hey Bakabaka, thanks for the link to the TLT axle wideners!
I'm itching to get those...I think Im going to sleep on it first though :D
BTW, do you know what actually holds the wheel on that extender? I can't see the axle shaft coming out the other end in those pics :S
Cheers!

[paulicat]

Hey JDT, currently Im running a basic Futaba 3003 and its doing the job fine for me...I didn't notice any problems with steering when I was on the track.
BTW, hows the spur gear conversion working out for you JDT?
I was looking at the TB EVO IV MS diagrams and the way the spur is mounted is VERY similar to that adapter you bought...I might try locating one at a lhs and see it in person.
Cheers!

[JDT]

At the end, have a look at where the fan is mounted. my df02 chassis broke last weekend and reassembling i found a better setup for esc, receiver and fan.


Are you running that fan on the third channel of the receiver? I wondered if I could do that.