Tamiya Gravel Hound DF-02 Forum [Archive] - Page 11

JDT

07-18-2006, 10:19 PM

paulicat the spur conversion is working out fine, I have ran at least 30 packs, with the dumb luck of one of the stock motor mount holes working with the modifed spur and shows no signs of wear, the gearing is 84/17 or 12.847 which is much better than the stock low of 11.375, I suspect on the stock tires I could run a ten turn without issue, I ran the truck hawgs mostly with a 12 turn and six cell pack, everything was a little hot but not terrible, a nasty crash with a savage broke one of the truck hawg wheels so I have been running it on the buggy hawgs and it will pull a perfect donut on cement in either direction so power is really good probably a little better than the stock tires at 70/16 with the same twelve turn. The power seems a little less with the truck hawgs but in my estimation as fast as my old 14 speedgem on buggy hawgs or a 15 turn on stock tires so I am quite happy with it.

JDT

07-18-2006, 10:23 PM

paulicat
Let us know if the evo IV spur section works out.

paulicat

07-19-2006, 08:08 AM

possent

07-19-2006, 08:28 AM

Are you running that fan on the third channel of the receiver? I wondered if I could do that.
yes, i think it's better than soldering directly to the esc. you can remove it easily when you want.

paulicat

07-19-2006, 10:05 AM

Heres what I was looking at, note MM3 and MM4 in particular.

JDT

07-19-2006, 10:15 AM

Hi JDT,
That sounds like it worked out really well for you. I think I'm going to need to do this too, the extra weight of the 2+ inch wide tires has taken a bit of my starting quickness, its not bad by any means, but I'd like to get a little more punch off the line.
I'll see if I can make it out to my lhs this weekend, we have one lhs that stocks heavy amounts of Tamiya, so I'm hoping he will have those parts in stock. However, I'm not holding my breath as its a major long shot that it will fit :D
If nothing else, I'll be ordering that tobee spur adapter, what was the part number for it again??
Cheers!

Tobee craft 42880 is the spur adapter, not sure on the traxxas 84 tooth part # but it is the one that traxxas uses on most of its electics, pede, rusty, bandit and 4 tec, I went ahead and ordered the tobee 43090 metal gear washer for in front of the spur to replace the stock plastic gear washer as it is under $4 us, the 17 tooth robinson normal 48 pitch pinion worked great in the stock mount up and down mounting 12 and 6 oclock positions, you will definetely feel more punch with the increase in gearing. You are lucky to have a Tamiya stocking LHS, my LHS was built on Tamiya now they only stock a grasshopper kit for nastalgia purposes, they are Losi lovers but still manage to stock a decent variety of everything but Tamiya, I called every dealer listed as a stocking dealer in Iowa, most only carry Tamiya paint or the miniatures and models. The LHS tried to tell me $154 for the rs kit! I still want to get an adjustable motor mount done but since it worked out okay I am in no hurry.

JDT

07-19-2006, 10:29 AM

Just saw the diagrahm, this looks really promising, it appears the center is much smaller eliminating the need for the spur to be hogged out in the center. Let us know what route you take. If you can get the traxxas gear to fit on this you could still use the stock mount and the 17 tooth I am sure, with the tamiya gears you may have to play with it and see if you get lucky and any of the holes line up.

One thing I need to stess is you will have to grind a little on the spur cover on the battery side, the 84 tooth touchs the very edge of the left side near the battery where it transitions from flat to the hump for the spur, I ground mine down and ended up with a pin head sized hole, just cut and placed a small piece of servo take over the hole to keep the drivetrain sealed. Hope this helps.

paulicat

07-19-2006, 11:11 AM

Sure does help, I guess without having a stack of pinions to try out, you can't really tell if any other combos work...
I'm actually thinking of trying something a bit smaller than 84 tooth since I know I won't be going less than 15 turn...and my tires are only 3.5 inches tall rather than the 4+ inchers you are running...for example: http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXZF19&P=7
Having said that, I can only hope I can mate up a pinion without having to figure out the motor mount problem (which I'm sure could also be overcome with some ingenuity).
One catch to the Tamiya spur parts, I can't seem to locate a Tamiya 5 digit part number for these two parts :(
This is how they are listed in the manual:
3455643 Spur Gear Stopper (MM3)
3455769 Spur Gear Mount (MM4)
Whats up with the super long number??

paulicat

07-19-2006, 11:29 AM

ok, another potential Tamiya Part #53452:
http://cgi.ebay.ca/53452-Tamiya-TA04-Aluminum-Hub-Set-Spur-Gear_W0QQitemZ6041411288QQihZ009QQcategoryZ34063QQ ssPageNameZWD1VQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

This one looks good too Part #53614 this one is the upgraded version of the above part. Cant find anything for the TB Evo parts though :( :
http://cgi.ebay.ca/Tamiya-TA04-Racing-Spur-Gear-Holder-Set-NEW-53614_W0QQitemZ150011741374QQihZ005QQcategoryZ3406 3QQssPageNameZWD1VQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

bakabaka

07-19-2006, 09:24 PM

Hi paulicat,

I'm pretty sure the TB Evo parts are compatible with the TB-02 parts. I'll see if the TB-02 spurs fit on the DF-02 spur gear mount. Not sure about how the axle extender fastens, but it has to stay on somehow. Probably something threaded inside the extender.

Have fun! :)

JDT

07-19-2006, 09:45 PM

I think the 34 numbers mean its part of a parts bag, you have to find the parts bag number to try and order, the other two look to be aluminum versions of the same, by just putting one screw in the bottom I was able to fit down to a 15 and up to a 19 tooth pinion without issues so I think if the motor mount was adjustable this would be at least the range, with the 78 or 81 tooth it may increase to like 16 to 20 or whatever but would still give you great range to go lower turns with that tire size later if you wanted and still allow for speed runs when you want to play on the sidewalk and such. I wanted the max low so I never really tried the others, maybe you will get lucky and one set of mounting holes on the stock will work with the 78 or 81 and a pinion in the range you are looking for. Have you measured the outside of the tires, at 3.5 inches you should be okay at 70/16 that is slightly on the torque side of the gearing with a rollout of .967 70/17 would be the speed side at rollout of 1.027

play with this gear wizard if you haven't ever seen it before its fun, this is a loose and fast guide but by keeping the rollout as close to zero as possible you have the best of both worlds with best speed and best torque. They claim this is a proper guide to about a 12 turn but I would say 13 or 14 with a 4wd especially with wider tires which just require more to get and keep going.

http://www.rcuniverse.com/community/gearwizard.cfm

paulicat

07-20-2006, 07:45 AM

Thanks for the help guys...
One thing I noticed about a standard TB02 over the EVO is that the spur gear mounts directly to the drive shaft on the TB02, on the EVO it mounts very similary to the DF02 where it mounts to a small outdrive type of shaft/cup. Seeing this I just guessed that the TB02 wouldn't work because the diameter of the drive shaft would surely be bigger than the diameter of the outdrive setup of the EVO.
Please let me know if I was wrong on this Bakabaka...
As for the ratios, JDT, did you mean "keep it as close to 1 as possible"? Cause its impossible to get it to 0 :D

Cheers!

possent

07-20-2006, 02:56 PM

Maybe put some diff lock grease on the rear differentials as well, or perhaps the Square TT-01 diff lock that JDT mentioned.
do you think this http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&W=001165887&I=LXNS86&P=K could be good?

JDT

07-20-2006, 06:16 PM

As for the ratios, JDT, did you mean "keep it as close to 1 as possible"? Cause its impossible to get it to 0

You are correct sir, 1.00 is the goal
I was thinking along the lines of deviation from 1 meaning .027 is better than .227. Good catch

JDT

07-20-2006, 06:22 PM

do you think this http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&W=001165887&I=LXNS86&P=K could be good?

I tried 10,000, it worked okay but still slipped a little from time to time but kept leaking out of the diff outdrives and made a horrible mess, the chassis was slick for at least a week, the dirt sticks to it, so that is why I went for the STD 50H locker from square.

bakabaka

07-21-2006, 04:12 AM

I just tried a TB-02 spur gear on the DF-02, it definitely doesn't fit. As paulicat mentioned, the TB-02's spur gear is mounted directly on the driveshaft. The center hole in the spur gear is of course bigger, since the driveshaft is wider than the spur mount on the DF-02. If the TB evolution kits do mount like the DF-02, they might fit. I guess it's up to someone to try it. ;)

Have fun! :)

paulicat

07-21-2006, 07:00 AM

Ok thanks for confirming that Bakabaka, I'm going to try and track down an EVO spur at one of my LHS...
I'll keep everyone posted.

RFT

07-21-2006, 09:11 AM

Hi,
I'm a new gravel hound owner (the Xb pro version- it was a steal on ebay) and am having a blast with it- i've been away from 1/10th RC for years and have never had a proper buggy, and i'm finding it immense fun.

the first thing I want to do is upgrade to oil dampers- what's the most cost-effective way of doing this?

paulicat

07-21-2006, 09:37 AM

First things first, search this thread as there is almost every answer already here!
Now to answer your question, the best cheapest shocks available for the Hound, are Duratrax Evader BX shocks...about 15-16 U.S per pair. They are aluminum oil filled and fit various companies springs...
And welcome back to the hobby!

bscarter11

07-21-2006, 11:34 AM

For the Evo 4 spur gear thing you all were talking about, would something like this be a part we'd be interested in in getting hooked up to the bigger spur gear?

http://www.rctech.net/forum/showthread.php?t=119483

Just some surfing that I have been doing. I'd like to go with a larger spur and get a lower turn motor...but the plastic hexes have to go first.

paulicat

07-21-2006, 11:57 AM

Thats a very similar thing to which I posted ebay links earlier...although I never checked how the ta05 mounts a spur, it looks similar enough...
Let us know if you get a chance to try it out.
Cheers!

JDT

07-21-2006, 03:54 PM

The TA 05 one will not work, my buddy has a TA 05 and I have checked it out, the spur holder is way to long to fit. You would have figured that out when you saw it however as its about 5/8 inch thick.
You may just have to go the 42880 tobee route, If we get enough guys wanting the adjustable motor mount we could all go in on getting some cnc'd by emachineshop.com but it would probably take a couple hundred to get it done let alone someone would have to try and figure that website out. I think getting one molded would be much cheaper but have yet to find someone around here to do it, I took an associated adjustable mount and my stock df 02 mount to another machine shop at lunch today and he acted like I was asking for him to machine it out of his kidney or something, $500 minimum was all he would say! I could have barely walked out faster if I was on fire lol.

bakabaka

07-21-2006, 04:04 PM

I took an associated adjustable mount and my stock df 02 mount to another machine shop at lunch today and he acted like I was asking for him to machine it out of his kidney or something, $500 minimum was all he would say! I could have barely walked out faster if I was on fire lol.

That's more or less the response I got trying to get a new spur made. I really should stop into TAP plastics to see if they can make a motor mount, it shouldn't be difficult to fill in the holes, mold it and place more adjustable holes in the resulting piece.

Have fun! :)

barnes77

07-23-2006, 03:05 AM

My servo is a futaba S3003 servo and i'm having a few problems
alot of the time when the servo is in neutral position it mak a buzzing sound
is this normal? Also when i turn completley to the left or right the buzzing sound gets more intense and also some cracking sounds. I have a couple of these servos and the both do the same thing :(
i've tried mounting the servo both ways (with and without parts A6 and A8) but that didn't seem to make much difference. Anyone have any ideas?

bakabaka

07-23-2006, 03:55 AM

Hi barnes77,

I'm guessing you need a stronger servo. Do you get the same sound from the servos when they're not hooked up to the steering? Try plugging one of your extra servos into the steering servo channel on your receiver and see if it makes the sound. If you don't hear the sound on the servo, it may be that centering the steering takes more power than the S3003 can manage. If it's the servo, putting in something stronger should help. You might also want to try replacing the steering arms with Tamiya's aluminum parts, the bearings in the steering can help take some of the load off the servo.

Have fun! :)

barnes77

07-23-2006, 04:07 AM

bakabaka

07-23-2006, 04:13 AM

Hi barnes77,

Any high torque servo should do. A hitec 645mg is a good bet though, if you don't mind the price. It's a metal gear servo with good speed and torque.

Have fun! :)

JDT

07-23-2006, 08:01 AM

avizandum

07-23-2006, 09:49 AM

check out my setup. great for bashing. great on pavement, great on grass - gets on top and kinda floats, good in soft dirt, ok on gravel. steering response is a bit compromised on loose stuff, but these are great for fast setups - no ballooning like the popular hawgs.

avizandum

07-23-2006, 09:52 AM

another photo...

bakabaka

07-23-2006, 01:16 PM

Anyone tried the cheap blue bird servos from nirtohouse? They have one that is 144oz/inch at 0.13 for $39.99. on paper that sounds really good, my jr z590 is rated like 89oz/in at 0.15, the bluebird has metal gears but I am kind of hesitent to order one as I am not sure of quality and such. The big hitec my LHS sells is like $109.99 this of course makes me think the jr is working just fine :D

Hi JDT,

I haven't tried one myself, but in the DF-03 forum at least one person has been burning them out rather often. They must be nice while they're working though.

Have fun! :)

dropzone

07-23-2006, 08:36 PM

nice buggy!! what tires r those? i have a previous pic of mine on page 100. here's a pic of the workz.i'm running the dirt works and they do ok.http://forums.radiocontrolzone.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=65593&stc=1

avizandum

07-23-2006, 09:04 PM

wheels - http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXRD76&P=7
tires - http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXFBV7&P=ML

dropzone

07-23-2006, 09:26 PM

sweet, needin' new wheels.these rpm r losin' their die.had hpi stars and dirt hawgs on it when i bought it . wore them out asap. then i decided to turn it into a truck.the project kept on going.still tryng to get the gearing right.thanx for the info.

mo679

07-24-2006, 04:42 AM

Hi JDT,

I haven't tried one myself, but in the DF-03 forum at least one person has been burning them out rather often. They must be nice while they're working though.

Have fun! :)
I have a metal gear blue bird servo since two months, very strong and fast, reasonable price, never had a problem with it, we'll see how it holds up!

I'm going to convert the superstock Rz to ball-bearing,
Have fun

barnes77

07-24-2006, 06:25 AM

Kool i might try one of these Blue bird servos if my lhs has them if not my lhs sells the futaba S3350 witch is 124oz and .20 of a second. Think it will do the job?

cheers :D

JDT

07-24-2006, 07:48 AM

wheels - http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXRD76&P=7
tires - http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXFBV7&P=ML

any idea of the outside diameter of this tire?

paulicat

07-24-2006, 08:07 AM

As for the servo quesions, I run a 3003 also, and since I changed to the Kimborough servo saver, all my steering squeeks and creaks are gone...
Cheers!

bscarter11

07-24-2006, 01:19 PM

paulicat

07-24-2006, 02:19 PM

I run 70/16 on tires that are 3.5 inches tall, no problems whatsoever on 19T Reedy Quad Mag.
And likely you are running 22/67 since there is no 69 tooth spur for the DF-02, thats very tall gearing for a 15 turn...
Cheers!

JDT

07-24-2006, 02:44 PM

Hey JDT, is there any way you could give us a list of where you got the parts for the spur gear conversion that you did for your DF02? I'm not sure what parts I'm asking for from rcchamps. Also, you were stating that you were over-geared on the buggy hawgs? I am running those now with a 15 turn orion motor, and that sucker was really hot after no time running yesterday... But then again, I'm currently running 22/69. Prolly need to get the 70T gear back in there again. And the buggy hawgs grip way better on asphault than the stock tires. I can't keep from flipping the thing on hard turns.

All you really need from them is Tobee Craft Racing 42880, tt-01 spur gear adapter, the gear is a traxxas part # 4684 you can get from any lhs and machine/dremel/drill out the center to mount on the spur gear adapter, the pinion is any normal 48 pitch 17 tooth again any lhs, you will want to mount the motor in the stock mount at 12 and 6 oclock, until someone can figure out how to get us an adjustable motor mount this is the only option I know that will work with the stock mount, however I did not try the 78 and 81 tooth spurs which are also available

However I don't think you really need to do the conversion as with the buggy hawgs 70/16 gearing would be okay for most all 15 turns, its only when you get bigger tires or lower turns that it starts to need more, I have a combination of bigger tires and lower turn (12). At 70/16 you will loose some top end but it will feel so much better taking off, you can try 70/17 if you really feel like you need the speed but 70/16 will probably run cooler. The buggy hawgs are nearly a half inch taller than the stock tires, with the gearing you are running you should have very low profile slicks or touring car tires even with a 15 turn. At 67/22 the motor gets hot as it struggles to get up to rpm, geared right it will be nearly as fast top end (2-3mph) but would take off much better. Only like 23 turns can handle 67/22 and that is with the stock tires, buggy hawgs would make pretty much any motor hot at that gearing IMO.

As far as the flipping at speed, you need to get softer springs and shock oil, I personally run my duratrax shocks for off road and have the stock shocks set up supersoft for street running, 5000-10000 shock oil and three hole pistons with both spacers on the shaft. The stock shocks will leak out under high load so keep and eye on them and refill/change the oil often

avizandum

07-24-2006, 06:47 PM

Tire diameter - 3 7/16" wo my glasses...

barnes77

07-25-2006, 02:48 AM

Just ordered soe stuff from rcmart :D
i ordered:

1x 620mg Blue Bird servo
1x Tamiya steering set
1x Tamiya turnbuckle set
1x Yeah Racing ball bearing set

...now i'm broke lol :(

when i have enough money to spare i want to get some hpi superstar rims and some proline evil twin tires. Do they need gluing together? coz i wanna get some slicks as well

cheers :D

paulicat

07-25-2006, 08:03 AM

I just saw this part: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=250011400563&ssPageName=ADME:B:FSEL:US:1

Anyone have a TLT to test the stock axles to see if they are able to fit the Hound???
Would be a cheaper alternative to widen the stance of the DF-02...
Cheers!

possent

07-25-2006, 09:33 AM

my MT conversion:
brushless mtroniks pro
feigao 380C 13T
lipo 4100mah 3s 11.1v
hbx bonzer rims and tires
16/70 pinion/spur

bscarter11

07-25-2006, 09:39 AM

bscarter11

07-25-2006, 09:44 AM

16/70 gearing...I don't think I can read today. And yes Paulicat, I meant 22/67. I can't write either. :D

JDT

07-25-2006, 09:49 AM

my MT conversion:
brushless mtroniks pro
feigao 380C 13T
lipo 4100mah 3s 11.1v
hbx bonzer rims and tires
16/70 pinion/spur

Can you give us the outside diameter of those tires?

possent

07-25-2006, 09:53 AM

Can you give us the outside diameter of those tires?
130mm.

i would like to put in a smaller pinion using a motor plate adapter that i fitted in a tl01b. there the FDR was 12.60.
now in my df-02 is 11.38 and i want to go down at least to 13.00 (14/70)

possent

07-25-2006, 10:04 AM

mmmhhh, i'm looking at my motor adapter...
i think it doesn't fit.

JDT

07-25-2006, 10:06 AM

Thanks JDT, great post. I will get the 17/70 gearing put back in tonight if I can find the 17 tooth gear. :) I need to get the BX shocks for my RS anyways. The stock shocks keep crapping out with motherboard extenders on the tips. Can one say "No Loctite"? Again, thanks for the information.

No problem, most people think that since you get more power with a mod motor they can gear the opposite direction, this only hurts performance, the mod motors actually loose torque to gain rpm, so the stock silver can probably makes as much or more torque than your 15 turn but since the 15 turn has about 2-3 times as many rpm max you get more speed even at a lower gearing, I hope this make sense, alot of guys will have "speed" run set ups that are geared very high but in most cases they are making 4 or 6 passes to radar/gps then quite as they know the heat is just getting worse and worse, when I first got the car I wanted to run a 12 turn with the stock tires and 70/19 gearing, take off was dismal, it would studder just a little bit then about 10 feet out it would take off but would drain a 3300 pack in about 3 minutes and got very hot, once I geared to 70/16, it still ran a little hot but I was very happy until I wanted to start monsterizing with bigger tires and such.

JDT

07-25-2006, 10:22 AM

130mm.

i would like to put in a smaller pinion using a motor plate adapter that i fitted in a tl01b. there the FDR was 12.60.
now in my df-02 is 11.38 and i want to go down at least to 13.00 (14/70)

By doing the tt-01 spur adapter you can get to 12.847 at 84/17, once we can find an adjustable motor mount I think with the 84 tooth pinion it appears we should be able to get from at least 15 to 19 tooth, or 11.495 to 14.56. You may have to spend a little money to do it but this would get you much closer than the 70/16 or 11.375 ratio you currently have. Minor filing of the gear cover/case is required but is only a mild modification for a ratio increase of 1.472 which should help alot.

130mm is over five inches tall :eek:

I would suspect running the 11.1v helps also as more volts equal more torque.

possent

07-25-2006, 10:37 AM

I would suspect running the 11.1v helps also as more volts equal more torque.
the car easily flips when it hard accelerates on grass.
i'm only looking for stronger brakes as my tl01b flipped forward when full braked.

however df-02 runs very well with light 7.4 lipo (128 gr) also, but it can't flip accelerating.

JDT

07-25-2006, 10:57 AM

the car easily flips when it hard accelerates on grass.
i'm only looking for stronger brakes as my tl01b flipped forward when full braked.

however df-02 runs very well with light 7.4 lipo (128 gr) also, but it can't flip accelerating.

:D how do you say jealous in Italian lol.

barnes77

07-26-2006, 01:26 AM

i'm thinking of getting a pair of Super Star Wheel 57 x 35mm (2.2") Black and some pro-line evil twin tires do these need glueing together? or mabye the hpi Racing Slick Belted Tires 57 x 35mm / 2.2" (33R) do these need glueing to the super star rims?

also how long does it usually take for stuff from rcmart to arrive in australia? (not ems express)

cheers :D

bakabaka

07-26-2006, 01:32 AM

Hi barnes77,

They probably will need gluing, I know the HPI wheels I picked up needed to be glued to the Dirt Hawgs. The fit was definitely too loose to use without an adhesive. Not sure about shipping to Australia though.

Have fun! :)

possent

07-26-2006, 01:55 PM

By doing the tt-01 spur adapter you can get to 12.847 at 84/17, once we can find an adjustable motor mount I think with the 84 tooth pinion it appears we should be able to get from at least 15 to 19 tooth, or 11.495 to 14.56. You may have to spend a little money to do it but this would get you much closer than the 70/16 or 11.375 ratio you currently have. Minor filing of the gear cover/case is required but is only a mild modification for a ratio increase of 1.472 which should help alot.
i can't fit my motor adapter because of the motor is too close to the center of the chassis (where the drive shaft is), so i can't move the motor shaft towards the spur.
so i'm going to follow your tips.
thanks

barnes77

07-28-2006, 02:00 AM

what is the benefit of universals? are GPM universals ok? they seem kind of expensive

barnes77

07-28-2006, 02:13 AM

woops i mean square rc universals

JDT

07-28-2006, 07:44 AM

woops i mean square rc universals

very pretty blue...they also make nice looking diff cups that match but they can be used with the stock diff cups, I personally for the money would order the tamiya universals and the drive cup set for them, they end up about the same money but use a smaller diff cup that just seems to be much more precise than either tobee or square universals on the stock diff cups, The stock diff cups however are known for egging out over time, I never tried the square diff cups as they are like $18 a pair, gpm and tobee make diff cups that may be stronger but I went the Tamiya route so I sold my square and tobee cvds when I got the tamiyas so I never tried any different diff cups, I think Bakabaka has the tobee hardened steel ones and alot of other guys have the gpm ones so maybe others can elaborate on them. GPM, Square, Tobee or Tamiya are all better than dog bones in any case. Questions have arisen to the strength of the tamiya as they use a smaller drive, with a 12 turn I have not had issues, brushless may be a different story if so I will go back to Square on the rear.

barnes77

07-28-2006, 06:17 PM

thanks a bunch!

bakabaka

07-28-2006, 10:58 PM

Hi barnes77,

I haven't had any problems with the Tobee universals, although others have. They seem to work well with the SS5800 brushless system. I did cut up a tiny bit of foam and place it in the outdrives to minimize movement between the universal's dogbone and the outdrive cup though. I'm also going to get a set of the Tamiya universals soon to put in my DF-03, and will probably end up using it with a Mamba Max 5700 system. I guess that should test the strength of Tamiya's universals. ;)

Have fun! :)

barnes77

07-29-2006, 04:52 AM

Thanks for the info bakabaka! I think soon i'll spend all my life savings and get some square universals :p

installed this tonight but havn't ran it coz i still have plastic bearings and instructions says not to run it without ball bearings :( but ball bearings are on the way from Hong Kong :D

yakumo9275

07-29-2006, 08:07 PM

I just slapped down for a RS kit. never built a kit before in my life (always wanted a hornet when I was kid... never happened tho)..

I ordered the full bearing set to go with it. So I need some advice.

I need to get a radio + servo's, batt pack + charger. I end up getting confused and dont know what is 'compatible'. will any two channel radio that comes with servo's work? do all recievers require AA bats? can they not run off the cars 6cell pack?

anyone have a reccomendation for a 6cell pack and a charger (tamiya connector)? the chargers confused me the most. There were DC only ones, and ones talking about buying a marine boat battery? completly lost....

Right now I have no plans of upgrading the motor, but I'd like to upgrade the ESC to make better use of the battery. whats a good basic esc with reverse that I should look at.

any plastic parts that are reccomended to be upgraded to alu? I have lots of questions :) hehehe. Looking forward to putting my kit together when it arrives next week sometime....

bakabaka

07-29-2006, 09:29 PM

Hi yakumo9275!

Any 2 channel radio should work, I'd recommend an Airtronics Blazer as a starter radio having tried a number of them. The price is good, and it's a solid radio with steering EPA. The newer ones come with a smaller receiver too. Most receivers will work with the BEC from the ESC, the stock ESC has a connector specifically for power but most other ESCs seem to deliver power through the single servo line.

I bought a few 6 cell packs from maxamps.com not long ago, they have "4K qualifier" 4000mah packs for $30. I've been happy with the cells so far, and they let you pick the connector you want when you're ordering. I bought two packs with Tamiya connectors and two with Deans connectors, all are working great. As for the charger, I guess it depends on your budget. My first charger was an MRC 959, but I've upgraded to the MRC 977 in order to charge two batteries at once. Make sure your charger can handle NiMH batteries, and make sure it's capable of AC operation if you want to plug it into a wall socket. If you want the highest performance battery you'll need to go Li-Po and get a Li-Po compatible charger, but that chemistry also comes with the most risks. Li-Po batteries are more likely to explode if they go over voltage than other battery types.

As for the ESC, that depends on your budget too. You can get a good basic reversing ESC, the Dynamite Tazer 15t, for between $30 and $40 depending on where you look. I've used one for a while with up to 19t motors and haven't had a complaint. You can't disable the reverse function though. The only one I'd avoid is the Novak XRS. It doesn't seem capable of handling its rated motors properly in the DF-02 without overheating.

As for plastic parts to upgrade, I'd get the Tamiya steering arm, crankshaft, and the turnbuckle set. Square RC's center shaft is also an excellent upgrade. You may find that you want to upgrade the outdrives/cup joints as well, since a few people have received them out of round. I ended up upgrading the C hubs after the original plastic ones warped. A good set of universal shafts will probably be desired after you get a better motor.

Have fun! :)

JDT

07-29-2006, 10:09 PM

Bakabaka is he going to be able to get a reciver pack and charger for the blazer radio, I went through about five sets of batteries before I broke down and spent the $60 for the receiver pack and charger for my radio, its nice to be able to just plug the radio into the jack on the back as changing batteries was usually an oh crap moment after I had spent 40 minutes charging the car battery only to realize the receiver batteries were crappy lol, I have heard of people getting good results with target brand charger and rechargable aa batteries, that of course would require messing with batteries every time you want to run though.

paulicat

07-29-2006, 10:30 PM

JDT, I think you meant transmitter batteries ;)

JDT

07-29-2006, 10:46 PM

JDT, I think you meant transmitter batteries ;)

uh yeah, thats what I meant, how did we end up calling them reciver packs when they really fit in the transmitter :D

bakabaka

07-30-2006, 01:22 AM

Hi JDT,

I personally use a set of 8 NiMH AAs in my TX and charge them with my RC peak charger with an adapter I threw together. The radio does have a charging jack if one wants to to put NiCad batteries in. Not sure if/how well it works with NiMH batteries. I had a Hitec Lynx radio that had a removable battery pack for AAs FWIW, but I really don't mind popping out the batteries to charge them.

Have fun! :)

sim600

07-30-2006, 11:53 PM

Some transmitters (like my M-11) have a switch inside the charging jack that turns the thing off when you are charging so that you cannot turn it on while charging. This switch can get a little stuck sometimes and I once got a scare when my TX couldn't be switched on. It's better to charge the battery outside if you have a similar transmitter and stay away from that charging jack.

I also have an MX-3 that can be charged through the jack, no problem, because there's no such switch inside. :)

mo679

08-01-2006, 11:42 AM

I upgraded the super stock rz to ball bearing, sealed in the back and metal shielded in the front, got them from walawala store very fast and reliable. I was checking out the V2 endbell conversion from team orion, I think it would be a good boost in performance, but I can't decide wich endbell would fit the can! any hint?

yakumo9275

08-01-2006, 08:58 PM

so.. who is gonna be the first to try and shoehorn those ne A123 mega battiers into their GH / RS??

http://forums.radiocontrolzone.com/showthread.php?t=222362&page=1&pp=25

( http://www.a123racing.com/ )

Alex8027

08-01-2006, 10:52 PM

I believe the Stock RZ cans are a TOP/Yokomo endbell; and tower still has the conversion kit for those (I believe the Team Orion is somewhere around ~10). You can check the manufacturer of the endbell - it should be marked near the bushing/bearing, labeling the maker.

For yakumo9275, I'd recommend a Tower Hobbies 2TXP/Futaba 2PH but the above mentioned Airtronics work well too. You could even use a 2 stick radio if you prefer that to the normal pistol-type. Any 2 channel radio, with a BEC equipped receiver will do. 99.9% of all ESC's made today use BEC to power the receiver (Battery Eliminator Circuit - which powers the receiver through the signal wires).

For the charger, the Duratrax Piranha (http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXCLD5&P=ML - a very excellent entry level charger, and very inexpensive) or the mentioned MRC 959 are both excellent chargers for around $50. You could go cheaper - I believe Dynamite has some el cheapo NiMH capable chargers, but a nicer charger goes a long way. If you want to save a little cash on the batteries, you can purchase sets of 2 packs if you purchase the E-Maxx sets available throughout the net. You can get 2 3000 mAh packs for around $40. I'd wouldn't think about Li-Po at the moment, as they are fairly expensive, and are not as user friendly as NiCd or NiMH.

The stock ESC is not bad, especially if you only plan on using the supplied kit motor. But if you'd like to upgrade, Futaba MC330CR OE versions can be had on eBay for around $30 (http://cgi.ebay.com/NIB-Electric-RC-Car-Electric-Speed-Control-ESC-W-Revers_W0QQitemZ230013673375QQihZ013QQcategoryZ191 68QQcmdZViewItem), which would give you quite a bit of room for growth in the future (13T mod motor limit).

As far as upgrades/parts - pick up a B-Parts tree, and potentially a chassis. The B-parts have the front knuckles, and the chassis will help if you break an A-arm mount. For upgrades, I'd recommend the metal motor mount, a finned clip-on heatsink, and the main drive shaft. The above mentioned things are a combined total of around $20. Keep in mind that if you upgrade to aluminum/metal on other parts, you will drive the wear/breakage other places - something's gotta give ;).

barnes77

08-03-2006, 05:07 AM

Anyone tried GPM univerals?? can't decide between them and tobee's :D

yakumo9275

08-03-2006, 07:34 AM

well I got my kit yesterday. Took me 6 hours and I have just attached the rear shocks.

It was easier than I expected but far more fiddly than I expected. I think I crossthreaded every 'ball' joint I screwed in, they seemd to turn indefinatly the moment they hit home in the plastic.

only two sets of two screws were REALLY hard to install. the ones on the front shock tower holding it to the chasis bit and another two somewhere else...

i would have liked if the steering was more fluid. its not tight, but I am putting it down to the plastic bits.

since its a 4wd, it feels like it takes a lot to turn the wheels/gears over. if I turn one one way, the other goes in the opposite directio and its very smooth and fluid, but turning them both e the same way drives the other two wheels and it just feels 'heavy' to turn all 4 in the same direction.... I dont believe I put anything together incorrectly (and used plenty of grease, which the gears just pushed out but anyway.)

I'm having fun putting it together. its great seing it build up, now with the rear shocks on it looks more like a car :) (except the pain in the butt that is turning the little nut to narrow out on the streering rod, eventually I got it aligned)

considering how long its taken me to get this far, I dont cherish the idea of breaking it down to repair a part or change something. It doesnt look/feel like the screws were designed to come back out of the plastic :)

i got the maxamps 4k qualifier batt pack and the mrc 959... whats the optimum setting for charging this pack on the 959. is auto good enough? how important is it to flatten the pack fully before charging etc? whats the best way to do that on a shotgun batt pack? most of those things that drain the batts I have seen you stick the sub-c cells all vertically in the units...??)

so many new things to learn in my semi-old age...

JDT

08-03-2006, 10:53 AM

yakumo-A quick way to check if everything is okay would be to take the motor back out and then spin the rear wheels the same direction, it should have very little drag, when I first put my kit together I thought the same thing but with the motor out I could roll it all the way across my garage floor, with the stock motor can in it would barely even go three feet, it seems the magnetic effect of the motor causes quite a bit of drag.
As far as the screws stripping some guys have bought/made studs for the strip prone areas such as the spur gear cover, I personally went to the LHS and loaded up on hex head screws, for the flat heads (bottom of chassis) I used traxxas 3 mm hex head screws, for the top I used 4-40 socket head screws, dubro makes em black and Great plains makes them in chrome, all use a hex driver(although not the same one as traxxas screws are smaller hex size) instead of a phillips and you can get them in various lengths and such, they have a lot more threads per inch and have worked great for me, you however will probably want to wait until you need another chassis for that as you will want to screw the new screws into virgin plastic as they will not hold well due to multiple threads from the stock screws. I personally have broken quite a few frames so I can change the entire chassis out in about 20 minutes now, you will find out what parts are prone to breaking, of course with the stock motor you will have to work pretty hard to break something, faster motors means more broken parts for most people. Good luck and enjoy

paulicat

08-03-2006, 11:04 AM

Just to update everyone on my Hound MT...
Don't bother with the GPM alloy axles (not talking about cvd) they have at RCMart, one run and 3 of 4 were bent...running at same track, never bent a stock one...
I think I need to do the spur mount mod, the extra weight of the wide MT tires really drags down acceleration even all the way down at 16/70. The Reedy 19t and batteries get wicked hot after each run.
I should say, either the spur mount, or find a way to get a lower tooth pinion in it...

JDT

08-03-2006, 01:27 PM

Paulicat-I continue to search for a machinist to do an adjustable motor mount, I got denied by the state university for cnc application. I found a mold maker but they are about an hour away so I may have to visit them for advise, the tamiya metal ones are obviously cast so it may be a long shot but I just can't pay $500(at least) to get one cnc'd, I looked into emachineshop but I don't have the time or the tools to even measure it up right, even then it sounds like it would be a couple hundred bucks to get a few done, I asked a buddy who might know about some production numbers he thinks between the tt01 and df02 there are at least a hundred thousand kits allready sold, Why then I asked is there no adjustable motor mount? tamiya allows both these cars in the spec classes in TRS(gearing restricted in some classes?), this combined with the fact that these are entry level kits, aimed at the inexperienced user so the static mount allows no room for error therefore the cars don't develope a bad rep for spur gear wear etc caused by inexperienced users.
If anyone can take the time and has the tools/knowledge/math skills to due the emachine maybe we could find enough guys to pay for it, I wonder how they would feel if 14 paypal accounts all started paying for one project lol.
The spur mount will gain you alot of bottom end, it sounds like you miss some punchiness, doing the 84/17 gains you more bottom end but then you may miss the speed you are now used to. I plan on needing to do something about the motor mount soon as when I go brushless I am going to order some masker 2000 truck tires, wheels, body mounts and a body to go truggy, the m2k are 4.9 inches tall so I need to get even more gear as I suspect not even the brushless with like that much rollout ratio.

paulicat

08-03-2006, 02:55 PM

I've been pondering ripping up the stock plastic one to allow it to swing the motor...just haven't gotten a spare one yet to wreck :D

yakumo9275

08-03-2006, 06:41 PM

ElectricThunder

08-03-2006, 10:37 PM

well, got it all built!! yay!

one odd thing, i have a two stick controller... forward goes forward.. back is back..

pushing the stick right makes the buggy go left, and pushing to the left makes it go right...

????

i cant reverse channel 1 wires so.. I dont know what I did wrong... :(
Reverse the switch on your transmitter for channel one (there should be a servo reversing switch on there somewhere; it may be in the battery compartment or towards the bottom of the controller).

JDT

08-04-2006, 03:46 PM

Did anyone ever get one of the TYCO/HOTWHEELS Flashfire buggies that appear to be DF 02 Chassis? I would really like to verify they are df 02 chassis, is the purple one a hound body? it appears to be a df 02 chassis, the yellow is something else, not an rising storm body I am sure of that as the antenea exists the body in the wrong spot and it also appears to have a weird front bumper and the rear shock tower is all wrong also, anyone have an old baja king to compare to? maybe they are doing df01 and df02 chassis.
check it out and see what you think

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=4661189

I have been trying to talk some buddies into getting into rc, amazon is showing these at $64.99 radio included with free shipping! It even appears to have the oil shocks which were skipped on the Tamiya rtr versions lol.

barnes77

08-05-2006, 06:43 AM

i jut got a blue bird 620mg servo and its a bit long at the back so it goes up at the back corner where the little uprising bit is in the chassis making it unstable :(

got any ideas? i'll try to post some pics soon to explain it betta :D

bakabaka

08-05-2006, 01:15 PM

Hi barnes77,

Maybe try a strip of servo/ESC double sided tape below the servo? I had a problem with a servo that wouldn't stay still attached to the motor mounts in an XX-T, the tape seemed to do the trick.

Have fun! :)

RFT

08-07-2006, 04:54 AM

Looking at those photos the purple one very definitely looks like it's on a DF-02, but the yello one isn;t- different shocks and what's visible of the steering linkage looks wrong.

I'm goign to take a guess that these are DF-02 "inspired", and that when the did the purple car's photos, theyused a DF-02 chassis as a stand-in.

the purple car's shocks also look identical to the friction shocks on my XB Pro gravel hound. The difference is only internal, I think.

quori

08-07-2006, 05:02 PM

I recently got a bunch of the RPM alloy upgrades to my Rising Storm. Shock tower, hubs, knickles, arms, etc etc.

I have a p-94 10t double in it using the Traxxas XL-10 esc. I have the 67T spur gear.

2 questions.....what pinion gear size should I use for best top speed/low end balance? which size for best top speed? etc.

Also, I ran it pretty hard yesterday and a lot of the screws holding many of the aluminum parts came too loose and even out altogether. Is there anything I should use in particular to help keep it together better?

paulicat

08-07-2006, 06:19 PM

Use thread lock for screws that go into metal...
Gearing is a tough one, if you aren't overheating that 10t double already, you're doing better than most of us ;)

barnes77

08-08-2006, 03:39 AM

when i turn to to left or right and accelerate the two front wheels jump up and down violently :confused:

i know the df02 is suposed to have a little bit of bump steer but this is worse than a bit :( .Anyone know how to solve this problem.

quori

08-08-2006, 08:04 AM

Use thread lock for screws that go into metal...
Gearing is a tough one, if you aren't overheating that 10t double already, you're doing better than most of us ;)

Thanks. I figured threadlock was the answer, but wanted a confim.

As for over heating...um, its not too bad. I get good acceleration, but the top speed seems to be the same as when I had a 13T p94 with the Futaba MC330 ESC (I switched those to my Stampede....that thing flies now).

Im using a pair of 3000Mah NIMH 6 cell packs. I actually get a good 15+ minutes out of each pack. I expected to get no more than 10 at the maximum. 1 of the packs lasted almost 20 minutes of run time this weekend.

The batteries get very hot, as does the motor and esc. Not too hot to touch or even hold for a few seconds. I wouldn't want to leave my hand on them for a long period of time though.

paulicat

08-08-2006, 08:47 AM

JDT

08-08-2006, 09:06 AM

With a 10 turn and the 67 tooth spur I can't believe you haven't melted the end bell off yet, I killed a 10 turn with 70/16 gearing lol.

JDT

08-08-2006, 09:09 AM

I wanted to update those of you seeking to MT/truggy your df02. My method r 12x2 finally died last night so I tore down the rs to check the spur wear, this motor was brand new when I did the spur conversion, with enough packs through it to wear out a mod motor I have no appreciable spur wear, the even better part is I took a few minutes to play around with the motor mount and some pinions and found out that the 15 tooth has good mesh with the motor mounted in what I would call 11 and 5 clock positions on the motor mount, this will allow a staggering 14.56 final drive ratio :eek: This is getting into real monster truck territory, it does however move the can into the tunnel so much I had to file off the small lip on the spur cover that is in between the motor and the shaft tunnel but this was very easy and only took a minute with a hand file. I think this will be perfect for big truck tires and or very low turn motors(7?).

paulicat

08-08-2006, 09:25 AM

Thanks for the update JDT, really been pondering that tobee spur adapter...did that place you bought it at accept paypal??

JDT

08-08-2006, 11:07 AM

Thanks for the update JDT, really been pondering that tobee spur adapter...did that place you bought it at accept paypal??

Yeah they are a paypal vendor you just need to email them about what parts you want and they will email back the cost with shipping, EMS shipping from Japan is not cheap but just as fast as UPS in my experience, they also sell square parts so if you have been wanting anything square you can order that at the same time to keep from paying as much for shipping as you did the part lol. Tamiya stuff is also really cheap through them as I got the chassis from them for $5.15 each($9.75 tamiyausa), this however may have contributed to my $37 shipping charge as I got five. In the US, EMS will be delivered by the post office as Express Mail so someone will have to be home to sign for it or they will not leave it, I had to track down the mailman as he carried it again the second day when I tried to go get it from the post office, otherwise I would have had it from Japan to Iowa in just three days. I would recommend champrc to anyone as this was my first international order and they walked me right through it.

quori

08-08-2006, 11:30 AM

With a 10 turn and the 67 tooth spur I can't believe you haven't melted the end bell off yet, I killed a 10 turn with 70/16 gearing lol.

I was using 67/19. Everything seems fine so far. Admittedly, I have babied it a bit imo.

JDT

08-08-2006, 12:01 PM

I was using 67/19. Everything seems fine so far. Admittedly, I have babied it a bit imo.

What tires are you running? I tried 67/19 with a 12 turn and stock tires when I first got the car and it would barely take off but once it got about five feet out it would rocket up to speed, this however was super hard on batteries and only gave me about 5 minutes run time on gp3300's, of course I have a problem with throttle control, or lack of actually, its to much fun to just floor it and steer :D

quori

08-08-2006, 01:44 PM

What tires are you running? I tried 67/19 with a 12 turn and stock tires when I first got the car and it would barely take off but once it got about five feet out it would rocket up to speed, this however was super hard on batteries and only gave me about 5 minutes run time on gp3300's, of course I have a problem with throttle control, or lack of actually, its to much fun to just floor it and steer :D

Stock tires. I want to go with the Pro Line Dirt Hawgs. It takes off plenty. Like I said, the acceleration is great....the top speed is not.

Also, I really have been babying it. I didn't want to push the limits of breaking it. My Stampede has been indestructible for the past 3 years Ive owned it. I just got this RS about 1.5 years ago. I spent all last winter/spring building the kit. Then I ran it around for backyard bashing last summer until a friend snapped the front shock tower.

I finally bit the bullet and placed a big order via Dinball for aluminum parts and got them all installed. Also, finally painted the body and stickered it up.

So, I am a tad hesitant to push the envelope at this point.

Aluma

08-08-2006, 03:13 PM

Hi barnes77,
If I am thinking correctly, I saw this exact problem but its not bump steer, the problem comes from the slot in the outdrive and axle cup that the dogbone goes into. Simply put, its not deep enough and when you steer, the dogbone is binding causing the wheel to bounce rather violently :D.
Deepen the slots in both the outdrive and axle cup. On the axle cup side, angle the slot to give the dogbone even more room which is necessary for turning.
I've attached a very crude drawing to get a better idea of what I'm trying to say. As you can see, CAD is not going to be a career choice for me :D

Doing this will help, but as soon as you hit something the dogbone will jam against the cups and split them down the middle. (speaking from experience) Better fix is just to get tamiya's black steel universals and the cups that go with them.
aluminum universals will shatter upon landing big jumps at a track...they look nice, but thats it.

quori

08-08-2006, 03:17 PM

Doing this will help, but as soon as you hit something the dogbone will jam against the cups and split them down the middle. (speaking from experience) Better fix is just to get tamiya's black steel universals and the cups that go with them.
aluminum universals will shatter upon landing big jumps at a track...they look nice, but thats it.

Im using the aluminum cups with the steel bones. I hit pretty hard the other day...enough to pop the screws out of their sockets. One of the dog bones even went flying.

Didn't break the cups nor the bones however.

bakabaka

08-08-2006, 04:45 PM

Hi quori,

I've been using a little bit of a moderately dense foam in the drive cups/outdrives, enough to prevent the dogbones from scraping and clicking but not enough to bind the differentials. I got the foam from a container that came with a Maxtor hard drive IIRC, but I'm sure you could find something elsewhere. The foam seems to help quite a bit with this, although I'm using Tobee's metal outdrives which may also help.

I'm also going to get a set of 5mm shims to put between the wheel bearings and the shaft that holds the axle to the wheel hex to see if I can eliminate some of the play there too. I have an RC10 T4 that has shims there, and it looks like the DF-02 could benefit from them as well.

Have fun! :)

barnes77

08-09-2006, 01:29 AM

Hi barnes77,
If I am thinking correctly, I saw this exact problem but its not bump steer, the problem comes from the slot in the outdrive and axle cup that the dogbone goes into. Simply put, its not deep enough and when you steer, the dogbone is binding causing the wheel to bounce rather violently :D.
Deepen the slots in both the outdrive and axle cup. On the axle cup side, angle the slot to give the dogbone even more room which is necessary for turning.
I've attached a very crude drawing to get a better idea of what I'm trying to say. As you can see, CAD is not going to be a career choice for me :D

Kool ok so if i was to buy These:

http://www.rcmart.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=595_744_712&products_id=16558&PHPSESSID=95c2860f9a87979044d0aa7dcedfb7a0

and these

http://www.rcmart.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=595_744_712&products_id=16557

would they be deep enough?

JDT

08-09-2006, 08:31 AM

I would agree with Aluma get the tamiya ones, very precise and also very strong. I run these all the way around but some guys only run cvd's on the front as the rear is not so critical. Check them out.

http://www.rcmart.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=595_744_712&products_id=16257

and

http://www.rcmart.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=595_744_712&products_id=11704

Cheaper than the GPM stuff you were looking at also.

paulicat

08-09-2006, 12:00 PM

Bad news, the tobee spur adapter is sold out at rc-champ.
They said it was sold out right from the manufacturer...
Oh oh.

JDT

08-09-2006, 01:39 PM

I looked on Tobee's page they do not show it as discontinued or anything, try them they will paypal per their page, use the "mail" button on the left to email them

http://64.233.179.104/translate_c?hl=en&u=http://www3.kcn.ne.jp/~tobee/English.htm&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dtobee%2Bcraft%2B%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D

Hope this helps

JDT

08-09-2006, 01:40 PM

Ok so it didn't copy the page I wanted but you can email them with the little envelope at the bottom of the page.

barnes77

08-09-2006, 05:51 PM

JDT

08-09-2006, 09:35 PM

First off check to make sure the kingpins are all okay and tight, I had this type of problem a long time ago when I lost a lower kingpin and didn't notice between packs and the car was acting kind of like you described, otherwise...
IMO yes, the cvd converts the dogbone/outdrive cup into one piece units(kind of) thus allowing a much greater range of motion without binding, one of my first triggers when I bash my driveway it full right turn launch and full left turn launch just to burn some rubber, I have zero issues with the tamiya cvd's but then again I never had any issues with either tobee or square both of which were rotated front to back before I got the tamiya units, I don't want to sound preachy about these cvd's but I really like them, they have a much more precise feel to the drive train and have survived some really idiot jumps and wrecks.

barnes77

08-10-2006, 02:55 AM

Thanks for all the help JDT and others :D

i just ordered them :D
By them i mean:

1x Tamiya (#53790) Cup Joint for Universal Shaft For TT-01/DF-02
1x Tamiya (#53791) Assembly Universal Shaft For DF-02

also got a motor heatsink while i was at it ;)

1x TOPCAD (#50301B) Wrap Around Motor Heat Sink (BU)

Now i just have to wait about a week for them to arrive :(

paulicat

08-11-2006, 10:18 AM

Yes, the binding issue seems to be limited to dogbones/cups.
Adding the Tamiya ones to my order list...
Thanks for the help JDT.

barnes77

08-12-2006, 09:12 PM

Has anyone had their gravel hound or rising storm painted by a custom body painting place? i'm thinking of mabye getting a custom paint job :D

microrcdude

08-12-2006, 10:22 PM

theres a guy at my local track that had one done, looks really nice too!

JDT

08-13-2006, 09:07 PM

Has anyone had their gravel hound or rising storm painted by a custom body painting place? i'm thinking of mabye getting a custom paint job :D

I still plan on getting one done, I will probably just use a local guy as for $40 he does 1/8 racer bodies really nice. I went to the trophy race at the LHS and asked the guys with the nicer looking cars if they were painters to find him.
Do you have an exta body ? they are pretty costly, when I wanted an extra I just went ahead and got another kit for spairs, the body and sticker kit with shipping from tamiyausa was going to be $44, nearly half the kit cost, this is one item we can't really save money on by getting it from Japan as the shipping is killer due to size of the shell.

bakabaka

08-13-2006, 11:42 PM

Hi JDT,

Depends on when you buy them, I bought two Rising Storm shells in the same order as several other parts (CVDs, Square parts etc) that I was intending to get anyway. The shipping averaged out over the entire order such that it was less expensive, and they stacked the shells together so the size didn't get out of hand.

I keep telling myself I'm going to paint that last Rising Storm shell, but every time I get a kit I spend more time masking and painting than putting the thing together... Maybe I'll take it to the new hobby shop/track that opened up around here, since they're supposed to have a guy that paints bodies pretty well.

Have fun! :)

JDT

08-14-2006, 07:34 AM

Thanks Bakabaka, I agree if you wanted to get some other little items it would be much better than paying $20 for shipping of a $20 body. Tamiyausa was just to much for me, I wanted the spairs and the extra set of spike tires anyway so buying another kit was a better choice for me at that time. Have you been to Jakes Performance Hobbies? Its like an hour north of SF if I remember right, they could hook you up with a painter if you want to pay to get one done. I got my last radio from them at a very good price.

bakabaka

08-14-2006, 12:05 PM

Hi JDT,

The kit's definitely a good deal if you need stock parts. The wheels, tires and shell alone make it worth the purchase. I was buying a few shells though, so it worked out.

I haven't been to that shop, I'm about 45 minutes south of SF so it would be a bit of a trek. If I'm in the area I'll ask, but I've been going to NorCal Hobbies in Union City the past two weekends (even before they opened this last weekend) to try their onroad track. The owner was talking about a guy who paints RC shells, so I'll probably try there first.

Have fun! :)

Stormbasher3100

08-15-2006, 09:30 PM

Hey Guys i have an update on the Mamba max setup.

So far the temps seem to be pretty good with 70/19 gearing i think they were actually a little worse with the 17t pinion so i might try going 67/19 to see if they get any better.

The 7700 kv motor in the df-02 with the buggy dirt hawgs is almost uncontrollable on the street. It will flip over unless you slow down quite abit.

I haven't checked to see what battery life im getting but next time i drive ill try and remember to time it.

This is definitly a testiment to the driveline's durablity. Because i am still running the stock propeller shaft and dogbones! With no breakage whatsoever after at least 10 packs.

The yeah racing alooy driveshaft was actually weaker than the stock one it broke when i was using a fireball 21t.

Ill give some more info like temps and batt life when i get around to it.

bakabaka

08-15-2006, 10:39 PM

Hi Stormbasher3100,

I'd be curious to see how well it performs with touring car tires. HPI makes slicks for the Super Nitro cars as well, which might be useful if you need more grip. A local hobby shop has the 7700 in stock, but I'd been holding out for the 5700. As long as it works well, maybe the 7700 is worth the purchase. I guess I can always change out the motor...

Have fun! :)

JDT

08-16-2006, 09:15 AM

Thanks for the update on the max, its my next purchase if tower ever gets it in. I want the 5700 and 3s.

JDT

08-16-2006, 09:26 AM

For those of you running the HPI MT wheels is there a 12mm hex driver option in the adapters? I was looking at some at hobbytown and it looked like the inserts elimated the hex driver and just ran the pin in the wheel itself so I didn't buy them as I was a little confused.

paulicat

08-16-2006, 10:45 AM

The rear MT wheels (part# HPI 3051 is what I have) are already 12 mm hex. They are literally plug and play.
Put the steel washer/spacer that comes in the package between the nut and wheel to prevent damaging the wheel when tightening.
Whatever you do, don't buy fronts :D They don't use hex nor do they come with adapters of any kind.

JDT

08-17-2006, 02:33 PM

I was looking at dinball today and discovered some of the tobee parts on on the df02 pages now, it also appears the yeah racing revised arms are out now also, did yeah do c hubs and upright before? they are on there now also, not sure if this is new or what, They need to redo the shock towers next, xtra beefy next time please lol.

barnes77

08-18-2006, 01:09 AM

How do you know when to change your motor brushes? i've done about 10 runs with my super stock rz and i'm suspicious that i might need to change the brushes because i get a sort of low groaning ouund from it (not a really bad sound but still..) what signs do i need to look for?

has anyone tried the yeah racing dampers for the DF02? they look very simular to GPM ones :D

Cheers

bakabaka

08-18-2006, 01:10 AM

Hi JDT,

I'm using a set of Yeah Racing C hubs on my car, since I bought the more-or-less complete set some time ago. They take Mini-T bearings if you use 4M machine screws instead of the stock kingpins, which really does make the steering smoother.

I'm back to the stock suspension arms on my Gravel Hound at the moment, since they're more than strong enough and equally adjustable. I might get a set of the newer ones though. I did let their customer service people know that the shock towers were rather weak. While they didn't commit to new ones like they did with the suspension arms, I'd guess if the redesigned suspension arms sell well they might go for the towers. Maybe if others ask as well, we're more likely to get a set made.

Have fun! :)

JDT

08-18-2006, 09:57 AM

The stock arms have never given me any issue either so I still run them, I have been thinking about the c hubs and knuckles/uprights with my next dinball order but since I have spairs its not such a priority. Good to know about the bearings however as I feel the steering is still a little sloppy but I still haven't got the square steering brace yet as champ was out when I last ordered, the yeah racing steering set with 4x8 bearings really helped but still has a little side to side wiggle overall.

barnes77

08-18-2006, 10:58 PM

bakabaka

08-18-2006, 11:36 PM

Hi barnes77,

I have a non-AI Runner Plus Reverse, it doesn't have a power switch but I haven't missed it too much. It's sitting in my TB-02, since I can disable the ESC's reverse on my Futaba 2PL transmitter by setting reverse EPA to 50%, and get it back in case I need it without touching the car. The brakes/reverse setup was a bit difficult to get used to, being so different from all my other ESCs, but the ability to toggle the reverse function remotely by switching TX profiles is nice.

According to the listings on Tower, the super reverse handles down to 14t motors, but the AI Runner Plus Reverse ESC (which handles down to 15t) is apparently waterproof. Depends on what you need more I suppose.

Have fun! :)

bakabaka

08-18-2006, 11:41 PM

Hi JDT,

I'm not sure exactly how much wiggle the C-hubs removed, but it's definitely smoother. The fact that the Mini-T bearing set was inexpensive at the LHS didn't hurt at all. My next move (assuming I end up doing it) is to replace the final plastic component in the steering, the plastic crankshaft that connects the two steering arms together. That should help as well. I do find that the ball end connectors introduce a bit of wiggle, but I haven't solved that just yet.

Have fun! :)

barnes77

08-19-2006, 12:48 AM

bakabaka

08-19-2006, 02:41 AM

Hi barnes77,

You don't need a separate power lead with any of the other ESCs that I've used. The TEU-101BK is the only one I have that needs it. All the other ESCs I have (Novak SS, Novak XRS, LRP Runner Plus Reverse, Dynamite Tazer 15T) use the same lead to send power to and receive the signal from the receiver. It was a bit confusing for me as well when I received my second ESC (the SS).

Have fun! :)

barnes77

08-19-2006, 04:26 AM

ooooooh ok thats good :D thanks a bunch :D lol i'd be stuffed if it wasn't for this forum :)

JDT

08-20-2006, 12:30 PM

I think I actually twisted a DF 02 chassis today, I was bashing and was tempted by a nice retaining wall drive off opportunity, it started at about 3 feet, real cool, moving up the wall only incresed the flight path, the chassis slapped the cement even at three feet but I kept trying more and more, at about 8 feet the chassis slap was so bad the car bounced and hit the ground full throttle and twisted the car enough that the pinion dug into the spur a little and broke/tore the corresponding chassis mount,when I took it apart it looks like the impact must have knocked the gear washer off allowing the spur to move a little but the crack across the botton of the motor mount portion of the chassis confirmed the chassis got quite a bit of flex to, now I remember why I used to never jump onto concrete let alone at full throttle lol.

bakabaka

08-20-2006, 01:19 PM

Heh, I guess that would do it. I actually cracked the front left suspension arm mount on my DF-02 chassis recently by running full throttle through some grass into a rock about the height of the buggy a few hundred feet from where I was standing. It didn't actually break, but I replaced the chassis anyway since I had an extra.

Have fun! :)

aglsteven

08-20-2006, 08:28 PM

Hey guys,

We've had a couple of Gravel Hounds for a few months now, and it is high time to start the tuning process.

Can you make us a recommendation on the first steps to take.

So far, we are considering the following:
New pinion and spur - is 67/22 and stock motor heading in the right direction?

New motor - say a 14 or 15 turn? and speed controller?

Aluminium shocks? What is the next thing to break?

All advice and guidance really appreciated
cheers

paulicat

08-20-2006, 08:33 PM

Hi Aglsteven,
If you are going to a low turn motor, you won't want to run 67/22 it will likely overheat.
But you are on the path with the items you have in mind.
You can add:
CVD's for a really smooth drivetrain.
Turnbuckle set for way more adjustability.
And don't forget the 8 wheel bearings...do this first!!

paulicat

08-20-2006, 08:36 PM

Hey guys,
I just found out that you can use a 15t pinion if you trim off the bit of plastic (from the spur gear cover) that overhangs the drive shaft tunnel on the motor side.
Mount the motor at 1 and 7 oclock. Its a perfect fit.
This gearing with my 19t Reedy and 3.5 inch tall tires won me 1st in the truck B Main. I was happy, there was some serious competition out there.
No overheating, TONNES of torque and great top speed, I'm finally satisfied with my truck conversion.
Cheers!

bakabaka

08-20-2006, 11:21 PM

Hi paulicat,

Congrats on the win! It sounds like you've got it tuned perfectly. Maybe we should put together a setup sheet or template for the DF-02, so we could come up with a few setups that work well in different conditions.

BTW, I ended up putting a Mamba Max 5700 in my DF-03. I'm seriously considering getting another one for my DF-02 now as well. Although the battery life is shorter, it has a lot of power and didn't overheat while running. If there was any decent traction where I bash, I wouldn't be surprised to see the buggy pulling a small wheelie during acceleration.

Have fun! :)

barnes77

08-21-2006, 03:48 AM

i woke up this morning and realised that the gravel hound was tilting down at the front a bit :confused: don't have any idea why this is. so i checked the front dampers and everything seemed to be in order and even if i put heaps of spacers on the front and only 1 on the back the whole chassis is still tilted towards the front (about .75cm less ground clearence) anyone know why this is? i can't think why this would be :)

bakabaka

08-21-2006, 05:08 AM

Hi barnes77,

Look at the area where the shock towers connect to the chassis, it's possible that something might be bent.

Have fun! :)

aglsteven

08-21-2006, 06:47 AM

Hi Paulicat and Badabaka,
If you could put together a setup guide, that would be fantastic, especially as a starting point for us newbies to get going with. :)
cheers

paulicat

08-21-2006, 08:12 AM

Hi Bakabaka,
Thats a great idea, I have to admit, I was really surprised with my taking the B Main, there are some serious trucks out at that track, and some of them had some serious money put into them. Of course I had the obligatory, "oh but yours is 4wd..."
TOO BAD! :D If I had an HPI RS4 MT, would it make a difference??
Its really too bad they don't make any 4wd stadium trucks, its a missing group.
Anyhow, you can surely add the 15t pinion position I mentioned earlier, it took some major abuse without a hickup.
Cheers!

yakumo9275

08-21-2006, 08:14 AM

hey bakabaka, maxamps now sell the 4k bat packs as 4400's for same price. thanks for putting me onto them. i charge them with the 959 at 3.0amps, is this right for such high mah packs?

I need to paint my shell. esh. I am no artist :) Think I'm gonna just spray it yellow with some green for good old aussie colours :)

I think the next upgrade is a better ESC. the stock tamiya one sure goes funny when the batteries go down. stop.go.stop.go.stop.go (I'm happy with the stock silver can, I want runtime over speed right now).

Something I noticed, my buggy seems faster in reverse than going forwards.... quite odd...

paulicat

08-21-2006, 09:47 AM

Hi yakumo9275
Maybe try switching your motor leads, then switching your tx throttle switch to operate in the opposite mode?

bakabaka

08-21-2006, 08:34 PM

Hi Paulicat and Badabaka,
If you could put together a setup guide, that would be fantastic, especially as a starting point for us newbies to get going with. :)
cheers

Hi aglsteven,

There's a place for them, I maintain a DF-02/DF-03 FAQ at the following URL:

http://xyzzy.dyn.dhs.org/df02/

I haven't gotten to creating a setup sheet just yet, since I only bash and haven't run anything other than the SS5800 and stock can/ESC in my DF-02 so far. I imagine it shouldn't be too much work to put together a setup sheet though, and there are a few ESC/motor pairing articles in there. Any volunteers? ;)

Have fun! :)

bakabaka

08-21-2006, 09:34 PM

Hi paulicat,

You can always let 'em know it's the driver, not the car. That, or rub it in that they just lost to a $120 USD kit ;) Anyway, I just added the 15t pinion information to the FAQ article on gearing. I cited your post pretty much verbatim from what you wrote here, let me know if I left out something important.

Have fun! :)

paulicat

08-21-2006, 10:44 PM

Looks just right bakabaka ;)

barnes77

08-22-2006, 05:04 AM

Hi guys :D

i installed a lot of hop-ups today and most things went well except i had 2 problems :o

*Yeah Racing (#TT-001BU) Alloy Drive Washer Set (51076)
these don't fit on the tamiya universals

and also

connecting the tamiya rear upper arm Turnbuckle to yeah racing rear shock tower proved to be quite difficult. The shock tower i thinner than the tamiya 1 so i can't get the ball joint to go on tight. will this affect anything??

Mattieg

08-22-2006, 06:40 AM

Hi aglsteven,

There's a place for them, I maintain a DF-02/DF-03 FAQ at the following URL:

http://xyzzy.dyn.dhs.org/df02/

I haven't gotten to creating a setup sheet just yet, since I only bash and haven't run anything other than the SS5800 and stock can/ESC in my DF-02 so far. I imagine it shouldn't be too much work to put together a setup sheet though, and there are a few ESC/motor pairing articles in there. Any volunteers? ;)

Have fun! :)

Cool!

Hi Bakabaka,

Mattieg here, I'm the other guy who bought a GH with aglsteven a few months back. We are real beginners and having lots of fun.

I'm off work sick today so dimsantled, cleaned and rebuild my car today. Also read something earlier on running fuel line up the damper rod to improve shock performance... cause the botton of my car is a mess. Bought some today and have put it in. The car sits a bit higher and, though haven't bashed it yet, now has a much firmer feel, some good damper resistance. Not sure how it will peform, I know it's a cheap fix.

Anyway, nice to meet you guys.

paulicat

08-22-2006, 08:08 AM

To clarify the fuel tubing suggestion, the length of the tubing should only be a small amount, the amount needed depends on how high you have your ride height set.
In other words, your shock shaft should still be quite visible and the fuel tubing should not interfere with the normal movement of the shock shaft.
From your post it sounds as though you've covered the entire exposed length of the shock shaft with fuel tubing which would be incorrect, if I read your post wrong I apologize...
Cheers!

paulicat

08-22-2006, 05:02 PM

Here's a funny thing..don't trust TowerHobbies measurements!!
The tires I thought were 3.5 inches are actually 4 inches tall!!
No wonder 16/70 was feeling a tad sluggish :D

Mattieg

08-22-2006, 06:32 PM

JDT

08-22-2006, 09:49 PM

Here's a funny thing..don't trust TowerHobbies measurements!!
The tires I thought were 3.5 inches are actually 4 inches tall!!
No wonder 16/70 was feeling a tad sluggish :D

That does make a little more sense then :D Tower shows the dirt hawg truck tires at 4.0 but they measure 4.25 so I agree don't trust the tire size listed.

paulicat

08-23-2006, 08:41 AM

I think I might have found a way to get a 14t pinion with the 70t spur.
I tried this position with the 15t and it was really tight but it did fit, so I'm hoping the 14 is just small enough to fit in nicely.
I'll be picking one up this week, and when I have it mounted (if it works that is), I'll post back with instructions as its a little screwy to get it to mount up nice, but you'd still need to trim that bit of the spur cover off...

paulicat

08-24-2006, 08:56 AM

Well, it really looks like dropping that extra tooth REALLY helps out with torque...
I took it apart yesterday and to my surprise found that the rear dog bones were twisted almost 45 degrees!! Keep in mind, I only have a 19t motor :o
Tobee universals are in the mail. (cheapest solution for me at this time). And from Bakabaka's testimonial on them, they should be fine.
One question for Bakabaka, can you confirm for me whether I need to use any specific diff cup? Or will the stock cups (in my case I have the gpm alloy cups which are a direct replacement for the stock ones) work?
Cheers!

raytracer

08-24-2006, 10:04 AM

i might upgrad to a better esc and i can't deside between

LRP (#LRP83060) A.I. Runner Plus Reverse

or

LRP (#LRP83200) A.I. Automatic Super Reverse Digital

They both look really good but i can't decide. They both don't seem to have power switches :confused: wats with that?

I wouldn't get those AI esc from lrp. I heard they glitch and sometimes dont go back to zero efficiently. The older Pro reverse or Bullet models are far better. My two pro revers are still alive and kicking after 3 years. And also these esc are quite big. I just run an mc330 and 23 turns. Its light and nimble.

raytracer

08-24-2006, 10:22 AM

posted this some time ago here but now I am doing conversion this since I think I've outgrown buggies. Been running them for more than a decade.

Before
http://img241.imageshack.us/img241/5374/gravelhound01bif5.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

After. Just need monster tires.
http://img157.imageshack.us/img157/3002/1000228fo0.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Wish I didn't sell my wilddagger(super slow monster truck). The wheels and tires are a direct fit. Have to buy a set again.

JDT

08-24-2006, 03:07 PM

barnes77

08-24-2006, 07:14 PM

When are motor capicitors necessary?

are these capicitors alright for a super stock rz? If not witch ones are?

http://www.rcmart.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=421_293_294&products_id=1824

http://www.rcmart.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=421_293_294&products_id=1694

cheers :D

yakumo9275

08-24-2006, 07:29 PM

took the RS out for a bash tonight while my wife was watering the plants.. the front shock tower bent back over on itself. :eek: it didnt take much...

so I'm ordering an alu tower.. But now I cant unscrew the upper arms from the gearbox mount aiee.. :( ordering a set of a+c spares to rebuild the dang thing.
debating if i will get the alu tie rod + upparm

and the sterring line popped off the servo.. which I need to inspect.. hrmm...

i'm also looking at the speed attack ii + reverse ESC, anyone got any thoughts on that?

raytracer

08-24-2006, 10:37 PM

lol
I missed the just need monster tires in the middle the first time and was thinking you were converting it to look like one of these guys with 24's on his 85 monte carlo with a five inch lift.
How tall are the dagger tires? Aren't they really hard?

Hehe. No hydrualics. That would be cool though.
The wilddagger tires were the same diameter as a cd I think. They're not that hard since they dont have inserts. Really lasts long even on pavement.

yakumo9275

08-25-2006, 07:46 PM

anyone purchase through rcmart? didnt realise it was from hong kong.. shame tower hobbies have next to no parts for df02 :(

ambiotter

08-25-2006, 08:40 PM

Yes, i have purchased through RCMart. GREAT service. Parcel (my new dark impact) arrived a day early, and when there was a manufacturer fault with it they replaced it without hassle.

barnes77

08-25-2006, 11:55 PM

i also purchase through rcmart. They are very good :) i have only orderded small things from them like groovy anodized blue kin pins and locknuts but their service is very good and quick from Hong Kong to over here in Australia :D

Where is Tower hobbies located? the shipping cost is very expensive. i'm guessing it's a long long way away from Australia :(

bakabaka

08-26-2006, 01:57 AM

I just bought the DF-03 slipper, DF-02 universals and a few other things through rcmart myself. It took 2 days to get from Hong Kong to California, including the time in customs. I can't complain. ;)

Tower's in Illinois, shipping to Australia would definitely cost a bit. They're usually pretty quick to California since they started shipping from Nevada, but I try to buy from a LHS first if possible.

Have fun! :)

sim600

08-27-2006, 11:11 AM

come on paulicat, tell us how to fit that 14T pinion on there.

bakabaka

08-27-2006, 11:24 AM

Hi paulicat,

Sorry, didn't see the question until sim600 pointed out the 14t pinion thing... I use Tobee's outdrives, which are the same size as stock, so you should be fine. I'm still running them, SS5800 and all. The only thing I did aside from that was put a thin strip of fairly dense foam in the outdrive to reduce wear/sideways movement. This was inspired by my purchase of a TB-02, which comes with foam for the outdrives. Turns out the DF-03 does as well.

BTW, before I upgraded to the SS5800 I had only used the stock motor. I seem to recall that the stock dogbones were twisting a bit with that as well, even with the 67t spur/19t pinion gearing.

Have fun! :)

Stormbasher3100

08-27-2006, 03:37 PM

My dogbones are no longer in the same shape that they used to be. Not only have they twisted 90 degrees but they are bent into a u shape as well. Thanks to my 7700kv MM. Im starting to think upgrading to universals might be a good idea.

bakabaka

08-28-2006, 02:32 AM

Hi Stormbasher3100,

Yup, that's what happened to me in the DF-02 when I got the SS5800 installed. It didn't take long at all before some of the dogbones were twisted over 90 degrees, and they started to bend until they were popping out of the outdrives while running. I ran one set of universals for a bit while placing the two remaining reasonably good dogbones in the rear, I even resorted to bending them back with two sets of pliers when they were twisted too far. That didn't last very long.

Definitely get a set of universals - GPM, Tobee or Tamiya are all fine and reasonably priced at e.g. RC Mart. Just remember to get the correct drive cups as well if you buy the Tamiya universals.

Have fun! :)

JDT

08-28-2006, 09:35 AM

Got the car rebuilt this weeked to install the mm 5700 system, went back to 70/16 gearing and buggy hawgs until I get some more spurs bored, on old non matched six cell stick packs its much better than the cheapy 12 and 13 turns I been getting, Got a 4200 tanic pack but for some reason the 977 superbrain puffed it up, it was used a $30 pack so no real harm but since it only charged two out of three times it kind of scares me about buying a new $110 battery and hooking up to it. I really need to get some better batteries or lipos as I get some glitching with the stick packs, my buddies 6000 mah lipo seemed to resolve the problem but was nearly dead so I only got a couple good passes before I had to stop.

bakabaka

08-28-2006, 11:51 AM

paulicat

08-28-2006, 12:13 PM

Sorry for no update on the 14t pinion, I just haven't had time to get to the store to get one...waiting for some tire foams to arrive, and when they do, I'll pick up the pinion also.
I promise to keep you posted ;)

Cheers!

JDT

08-28-2006, 03:27 PM

Hi JDT,

What kind of glitching are you getting? My MM 5700 system seems fine on the stick packs I've converted to Deans and the 4k NiMH packs I bought not too long ago, but maybe I'm not noticing since the car it's in is usually a fair distance away.

Have fun! :)

My gp 3300packs are old, they used to peak at about 9.12 volts and 3620's mah now they are at about 8.86 and 3410's and are now about 10 months old, my glitching was all start up going up hill, rolling down the hill I could blast full throttle right off but going up hill if I came to a complete stop it would only take about 75% throttle or it would cog, the 6000 lipo pack I tried had been run in a heat and a main so it was pretty low but I was still able to pull a few good runs and it seemed to be fine with the extra amps so now I need to spend some more money on lipos, we ran the 7700 on 4 cells in a ta 05 mercedes and my 5700 on 6 cells in the ferrari ta 05 and they were pretty close as my buddy could outrun me on the track with either car as he is a much better on road driver than me, the 7700 is crazy fast in a touring car with 2s or six cells, especially when just bashing and using the stock tamiya ta 05 tires, the 5700 on 2s in the ta 05 was more than enough but not crazy/scary fast like the 7700, I kind of wish I went 7700 for shear enjoyment at this point but I think once I get the 3s I will get the scary fast I think I want :D :confused: Since I had to rebuild the DF 02 I only ran a couple packs but it seems to be faster than a 12 turn with the same gearing so I am happy overall but can't wait for some lipo. I just hope the car can stand up to the 5700 on 3s, I guess in the next month of so I'll find out.

bakabaka

08-28-2006, 04:32 PM

Hi JDT,

The motors are available separately, so if you left the banana plugs on the ESC you should be able to switch them out relatively easily. I'm leaving the plugs on, since I may want to try both the 7700 and 4600 motors at some point to see the battery life vs. speed tradeoff with the system.

My batteries might be in worse shape than yours, and only one of my packs is GP so I do suspect that I'm gearing too conservatively in the car that has the Mamba Max (the DF-03). I've determined by direct comparison that it's no faster in its current configuration than my DF-02 with the SS5800, hopefully it's not the batteries slowing things down.

Have fun! :)

Mattieg

08-28-2006, 06:19 PM

Hi guys,

Alex and I are upgrading shocks. Looking at Yeah Racing, the DP0004 - 70mm for fronts, and DP0007 - 100mm rears.

Can you guys confirm a) will these fit ok, and b) do you think these are the right/best option.

Wwe went out to a mates farm last w/end. Cracked the chassis bad and broke my first front shock tower, was all worth it. Ran a basic RS540, went really well. Steering not so good with broken shock tower though....

JDT

08-28-2006, 09:10 PM

Bakabaka
I would have thought the df03 would outperform the 02 with these motor differences, I think on the buggy hawgs the 70/16 was a little much, since I never went and got a temp sensor I have been trying to take it easy in the rs, I did find out from a local racer that Harbor Freight company sells point and shoot temp gauges for only $10 so I plan to get a couple and not just use the thumb gauge.
Castle should have given some generic gear ratio recommendations, I realize they can't give us one for every car but something like novak did and just say start at 11.5 or so for a 4wd buggy etc.
I have allready seen one 1/8 buggy conversion using the maxx controller, it was sick fast, gps alleged at 65.9 mph and I have no reason to doubt it, it would spin a donut so hard and fast it would helicoptor off the ground after about 4 or 5 revolutions. The tires were totally bald by the time I saw it, the car would drift on concrete like it was gravel, really cool.

JDT

08-28-2006, 09:11 PM

Mattieg

08-28-2006, 10:29 PM

Yep, good plan... thanks!

jak rizzo

08-29-2006, 03:37 PM

G'day Guys,
Just found this site. Here is my Rising Storm aka Poor mans Sandscorcher. It's hopped up with TT-01 ball diffs, lots of aluminium bits etc, the new 25 turn GT tuned motor from Tamiya, packed with a 4200 battery & 67t spur gear , it flies.
regards
Jak
click on links for picks :)
http://images.thesamba.com/vw/gallery/pix/290593.jpg

http://images.thesamba.com/vw/gallery/pix/290591.jpg

http://images.thesamba.com/vw/gallery/pix/268858.jpg

http://images.thesamba.com/vw/gallery/pix/272434.jpg

yakumo9275

08-29-2006, 07:29 PM

thats a sweet looking bettle :)

sim600

08-29-2006, 08:46 PM

Nice! Where'd you get the body from?

Fenris

08-30-2006, 12:56 AM

I had access to a couple of handheld police radar guns today as we were attempting to measure the output from the laser sights to ensure regulatory compliance etc. After the serious work was done I thought I would use one to speed check my RS (strangely enough this is the first time I brought my RC car to work and the first time we received the radar guns). The battery already had a bit more than 5 minutes of mild use, anyway with 19/70 standard gearing and a tamiya superstock RZ we clocked the RS in the carpark at a max of 32 Kph. I was quite pleased, its not easy using a speed gun on a small object. And I had wanted to know how fast the RZ was for ages.

barnes77

08-31-2006, 07:30 AM

paulicat

08-31-2006, 09:07 AM

barnes77,
Can you give us a full side view picture?
I'm suspecting your front shocks are softer than the rears.
Can you get a pic of the front and rear arms where the shocks mount?

Aluma

08-31-2006, 12:17 PM

or he used TRF shocks for the front from a touring car?

sim600

09-01-2006, 01:16 AM

lift the front of your car to see if the wheels droop down a lot. If they do, the front is low because the springs are soft. I doubt it though, if you've already added lots of pre-load spacers to try and bring it back up.

If the wheels don't droop down at all, your front is low because your shocks are short. What shocks are they and what holes on the upper and lower mounting points have you mounted them?

barnes77

09-01-2006, 01:20 AM

both the front and back shocks are both stock and i have two spacers on the front shocks and only 1 on the rears so the frot ones are actually quite a bit harder that the rears so the front suspension is actually harder that the rear and still i can't fit my finger under the front bumper :o

barnes77

09-01-2006, 01:23 AM

another

barnes77

09-01-2006, 01:28 AM

last one :D

toonz

09-01-2006, 05:25 AM

hope this helps
http://www.tam.ne.jp/nic/gravelhound/gravelhound-e.html

paulicat

09-01-2006, 12:06 PM

From what I can in that pic, your shock towers are different (one stock, one aluminum).
Is it possible the holes you have it mounted on the rear aluminim mount is not the same height as stock? (since stock has only one mounting hole I can't say which hole is correct).
I would try mounting the rear upper mount on the most outside/upper hole...
Good luck!

barnes77

09-01-2006, 04:58 PM

thanks a bunch paulicat :D i tried just about every shock mounting position and i came up with something that solved my problem :D For the rear i used the middle holes in the a arms and the middle holes in the rear shock towers. for the front i moved the ball conecters to the 1st holes (ones closest to the differential) this gave it a lot more ground clearance in the front so i had to fit some more spacers on the rear to balance the car out. now i have a balanced car with alot more ground clearance ;) thanks for all your help :)

paulicat

09-02-2006, 12:08 PM

Hi barnes77,
Glad it worked out for you!
Cheers!

raytracer

09-03-2006, 12:59 AM

Anyone tried to run an lipo and brushless system with this buggy? Can it take that much power?
Btw, I heard that lipos are not compatible with ordinary escs. Is this true? I plan to get a team orion lipo batt and team orion advantage or avionics charger but I dont have either a brushless or a compatible lipo esc to run.

bakabaka

09-03-2006, 02:54 AM

Hi raytracer,

You should be fine if you use a 2s (7.4v) battery. I don't believe you'll need a special ESC, but you will want a voltage cutoff installed appropriate to the battery you're using so you don't kill the battery. Some ESCs have these built in. Note that most of the ESCs I have can't take 11.1v batteries, but if yours does then you should be able to run a 3s battery too.

I doubt there would be a problem with the additional power, assuming you have a good set of universals and an upgraded driveshaft. The DF-02 drivetrain is definitely durable. Also, I'd go for an avionics charger since they've been around longer. I'm personally holding off Lithium chemistry batteries until I hear better things about the safety of their battery chargers.

Have fun! :)

Stormbasher3100

09-03-2006, 04:38 PM

Hey guys i just got the team orion lipo to go with my mamba max brushless. Still no problems even with the stock dogbones and propeller shaft! It is wicked fast. I charge the battery with the duratrax ice and it works pretty good. The orion batt is definitly a good start for beginers that are looking into getting lipo it comes with a list of do's and don'ts as well as a short FAQ.

Raytracer most ESC's are compatable with the team orion lipo because the voltage is not much higher than a regular Nicd or Nimh. About chargers i think the Orion one would be a good choice because as orion states it was specifically designed for their lipo and it also has the abilty to balance it.
But you don't need a LVC you can just stop the car the second the battery dumps. It is definetly a good idea to get one. My ESC has one built in so i dont have to worry about that.

JDT

09-03-2006, 10:31 PM

I would be real careful running a high capacity lipo pack with a brushed motor as I have melted two in the past, the power is great and lasts a long time, but gets way to hot in my experience.
I can't decide on 2s or 3s for the 5700, next paycheck I will have the money for a new better balancer and a battery so I better decide pretty quick, I am thinking 3s more and more as the mm 5700 with 8 cells was very nice, broke the front shock tower like five minutes after getting to my buddies house, no spairs of course. He races touring cars so we had to make a little jumper to hook four two cell packs together and stood them upright in the chassis with shirk wrap, car wrecked alot as it was really heavy on battery side with 8 ib 4200s standing up. It seemed to pull to that side also, not sure if it was torque steer or that side having better traction due to weight, still no temp gauge so I didn't hold it full throttle but it seemed to get out pretty good with 70/16 and buggy hawgs :D , could have went up I am sure as it was pretty cool to the touch but as mentioned broke prior to a full run.

raytracer

09-04-2006, 03:26 AM

Thanks for the inputs. I'm really excited to get this lipo thing running when I get one. No more discharging and equalizing at the track. Just bring 1 or maybe 2 packs at the most and play all day.
bakabaka - what safety issues have you heard? I've seen exploding nimh so I think lipoly catching fire is a bit tamer. :D Just needs a different approach like when we switched to nimh from nicd.

Stormbasher3100 - did you get the team orion platinum? got a link? how does it fit with the df02 chassis?

JDT - what motor, gearing were you using when you used lipo? I only hear meltdown on 6 turn touring cars. Maybe df02 is not good for lipo/brushed.

bakabaka

09-04-2006, 01:34 PM

bakabaka - what safety issues have you heard? I've seen exploding nimh so I think lipoly catching fire is a bit tamer. :D Just needs a different approach like when we switched to nimh from nicd.

Hi raytracer,

There's a video of what can happen if they catch fire here:

http://www.liposack.com/video.html

They make a safety product for Li-Po batteries, so no doubt there are worst cases in there. Still, the worst case is the best one to plan for. No need to burn down your charging area ;) My wife charges the stick packs sometimes as well, so I prefer to err to the side of caution.

Have fun! :)

Stormbasher3100

09-04-2006, 09:26 PM

Stormbasher3100 - did you get the team orion platinum? got a link? how does it fit with the df02 chassis?

Yes I got the team orion platinum and it fits well in the chassis. It sure wakes up the brushless system and makes the buggy almost uncontrollable at full throttle with the buggy hawgs.

JDT

09-05-2006, 11:52 AM

JDT - what motor, gearing were you using when you used lipo? I only hear meltdown on 6 turn touring cars. Maybe df02 is not good for lipo/brushed.

It was 70/16 with stock tires and a 12 turn speedgems, the car would get pretty hot on my gp 3300's with about 12 minutes run time, but after about 25 minutes the endbell melted off, twice as long=twice as hot??? 70/16 with the stock tires can kill a ten turn if you have good batteries and are on it, I killed my buddies tuned and tweaked 10 turn Orion race motor with this car.
As far as the brushelss lipo thing I think as long as you gear it right you will be okay, I still don't have a temp sensor so I have only bashed the mm 5700 a couple times in the car and took it kind of easy, a sick kid and wife have really not allowed anywhere near the time I would have liked to have had playing with the maxx, geared the same it feels better than any 12 turn I have had, 8 cells was fast but had issues due to weight of that many batteries. I want 11.1 lipo but we'll see.

sportsracer-5

09-06-2006, 02:35 PM

Sorry if this is already posted somewhere in this thread. I looked but couldn't find anything... Can anyone point me to some street tires for my Gravel Hound? I drive it mainly on pavement. The spiked tires are taking a beating, would like to save them for off-road.

bakabaka

09-06-2006, 02:47 PM

Hi sportsracer-5,

You should be able to use HPI Super Nitro RS4 wheels and tires on the DF-02. HPI makes a variety of on-road tires to fit the Super Nitro wheels, as well as rally tires. Pro-Line's buggy Dirt Hawg series tires also work, and there's a narrow version that fit 4WD buggy front wheels.

Have fun! :)

paulicat

09-06-2006, 03:12 PM

Just a small addon to Bakabaka's post because I found out first hand...
If you use the Super Nitro tires, gear up, and I mean WAY up.
The tires have a much smaller diameter than the stock spikes so you have to gear up to get your speed back.
I have a 19turn reedy and I was able to easily gear all the way to the top, 67 spur and 22 pinion. Barely any heat was generated with this setup...
Good luck!

sportsracer-5

09-06-2006, 05:28 PM

Hey cool thanks bakabaka and paulicat. Sounds like I need to learn about gearing too, it's all a foreign language to me at the moment.

sportsracer-5

09-06-2006, 07:00 PM

Question about those HPI wheels... do they fit Tamiya cars, or do I need some kind of adapter? I can't tell from the pics.

Again, thanks for your help.

bakabaka

09-06-2006, 08:55 PM

Hi sportsracer-5,

The wheels use the same 12mm hex adapter as the Tamiya wheels, so you don't need an adapter. I've been running a set of the HPI Super Nitro wheels with a set of Proline Dirt Hawgs for quite some time, they're still in good shape despite all the times they've been driven on pavement.

BTW, you might want to have a look at the DF-02 FAQ, there's some gearing info and a lot of other details that you might find useful:

http://xyzzy.dyn.dhs.org/df02/

Have fun! :)

sportsracer-5

09-06-2006, 09:01 PM

Great stuff, bakabaka, many thanks!

:D

Fenris

09-07-2006, 03:33 AM

Has anyone tried running their DF-02s as a FWD only or a RWD only by removing the necessary parts?
I was wondering how it would run if it was set up for 2wd.
I did try running with new spikey fronts and slick rears. The front was well planted and it turned too well, often flinging the rear around through 180 to 270 Degrees it was fun for a while.

Stormbasher3100

09-08-2006, 10:33 AM

barnes77

09-09-2006, 06:52 AM

I did run my df-02 once with rear wheel drive only. But the was because the driveshaft snapped a few minutes into the pack. It handled like you would expect it to fished out alot on gravel but over all seemed like it was better to have 4wd.

On the topic of snapping drive shafts i recently bought a yeah racing aluminium drive shaft and it seemed for no reason when i was driving in a parking lot the end ball shaped part had snapped of :( does any1 know why this would be? whats a good quality aluminium shaft?

cheers :D

bakabaka

09-09-2006, 01:21 PM

Hi barnes77,

Do you mean the center driveshaft? I haven't seen that happen myself, but the RC Square center driveshaft for the DF-02 is probably the best of the lot. It seems to fit better than the others, since it's intended specifically for the DF-02 and not just the same shaft as the TT-01.

Have fun! :)

barnes77

09-10-2006, 06:42 AM

JDT

09-10-2006, 02:56 PM

Maybe you got a bad shaft the first time, I have never heard of anyone breaking an aluminum center shaft, I personally have two of the $6 tamiya ones and they are both fine after lots of use and abuse in some cases. I have thought about getting the square one but they are alot more expensive but in my experience all the sqaure stuff is top notch for sure so you can't go wrong with them.

bakabaka

09-10-2006, 08:32 PM

I have thought about getting the square one but they are alot more expensive but in my experience all the sqaure stuff is top notch for sure so you can't go wrong with them.

Yup, I've had good experience with the Tamiya shaft too. A few people have had problems with the Tamiya, 3Racing and GPM shafts being too long and causing noise in the transmission though. The only thing I've personally had cause noise in the transmission was a small pebble or bit of sand getting in the gears, but better to recommend something that works with 100% of the installs I'm aware of I suppose.

Have fun! :)

barnes77

09-12-2006, 12:04 AM

hello again nothing much to add just ome pics of my GH witch i just painted :D

barnes77

09-12-2006, 12:06 AM

Heres a pic of the guts

barnes77

09-12-2006, 12:10 AM

1 more of the shiny white body. Now to put the decals on :D anyway hoped you liked it!

cheers

bakabaka

09-12-2006, 12:30 AM

Hi barnes77,

Looks good, the paint should stand out against the decals nicely. Just don't be afraid to get it dirty after all that work ;)

Have fun! :)

paulicat

09-12-2006, 07:53 AM

Looks good barnes77, thanks for sharing the pics!

raytracer

09-12-2006, 09:07 PM

anyone seen this?
http://www.tamiya.com/japan/info/060912trf501x/index.htm

bakabaka

09-12-2006, 09:47 PM

anyone seen this?
http://www.tamiya.com/japan/info/060912trf501x/index.htm

I've seen discussions about it, but this is the first I've seen anything officially from Tamiya. Nice to know it's being tweaked and tested now.The shell looks a lot like a low version of the hound from the kit's box cover :)

JDT

09-13-2006, 08:23 AM

I have heard this is only one of three being worked on, a df 03 refine, a newer shaft drive evo based and this belt drive unit. I also heard that Tamiya wants to get back on top of off road so we can expect at least one to make it but it may be a loaded TRF version with a street price nearing $500 us. Needless to say I would prefer the evo based unit with shaft drive, the df 03 with some good option parts would be okay but the plastic gears and ball diffs have kept me away at this point, maybe the refine will address these issues.

barnes77

09-13-2006, 07:50 PM

Here's a couple of pics of the body now with decals on :D

sportsracer-5

09-15-2006, 03:49 PM

Here are some shots of my Gravel Hound. Finished it just before Labor Day, was my first R/C build.

Freshly built and painted.
http://static.flickr.com/76/228950427_4e71b6cc58.jpg

After some hard running in Spokane.
http://static.flickr.com/90/235680503_e1a5891a0e.jpg

The GH with my nephew's RC10T4 and my brother-in-law's Mini.
http://static.flickr.com/92/235679121_f4e145ed1d.jpg

yakumo9275

09-17-2006, 05:23 PM

ive been looking everywhere without success...

I need to get a couple of the screws that.. go through the front gear cover that tie into the upper suspen arm + lower steering arm...

the screw goes through three pieces (gear cover, upper suspension part and the lower arm...)

I cant find anything of the same length or thread count.. I can get ones with boatloads of more threadcount but juuust not long enough... in my instructions its MA1 3x22mm

anyone got any pointers to any of these?? :( my car is dead until I can get a couple of these fellas...

bakabaka

09-17-2006, 09:25 PM

Hi yakumo9275,

Dubro makes M3 screws that you should be able to use. I'm using several of them in my Gravel Hound. The 30mm long versions should do the trick, I'm using them to hold the rear shock tower on the gear cover. Here's a link to them on Tower hobbies:

http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXE027&P=7

I've found a dremel works great to cut off the excess length if the screw is too long. The larger hobby shops in my area carry Dubro products, these particular screws were in the aircraft section of the shop where I first found them.

Have fun! :)

yakumo9275

09-18-2006, 06:17 AM

cheers bakabaka! looks just like what I need.. I dont even know what a dremmel is but I'll order some of those screws. I wanna get my storm up again asap :(

bakabaka

09-20-2006, 02:22 AM

Hi yakumo9275,

Great, hope you were able to get running again quickly. A dremel's just an electric rotary hand tool useful for routing, drilling, cutting, polishing and the like. I just use a cutting disc on mine to shorten the screws if they're too long.

Have fun! :)

bakabaka

09-20-2006, 02:38 AM

Here's a couple of pics of the body now with decals on :D

Hi barnes77,

Nice work, the decals do show up a lot better on the light colors. My next paint job is definitely going to use a lighter color, I just picked up some of the color changing Tamiya paint for my last RS shell.

Have fun! :)

bakabaka

09-20-2006, 02:44 AM

sportsracer-5

09-20-2006, 11:01 AM

Hi sportsracer-5,

Cool, it definitely stands out in the crowd with that paint job. Looks like the buggy's been around a bit, judging from the difference in remaining spikes between the first and second picture. How's the car handling for you?

Have fun! :)
I think it's been handling pretty good! Though I've been spending most of my time lately on my classic Mini Cooper, I plan on getting some street wheels/tires for the GH, along with a new set of dirt tires. Have to find a way for the GH to keep up with my nephew's Assoc. RC10T.

XXWoodmanXX

09-20-2006, 09:42 PM

Hello, all!

I am a PROUD new owner of a DF-02 Gravel Hound. Thanks first and foremost to Del for trading me for this beauty!

A little background,...I've beein a HUGE fan of vintage and not-so-old/not-so-new Tamiya products for quite some time now. I've always owned on-roads and the occasional blackfoot/monster beetle, etc. But this is my very first buggy, ever since I owned one of the original Ultima buggies. So now, I took the leap, since I saw that Tamiya now has a 4WD buggy. :)

First impressions? Well, let's just say less-than-amazing. When I saw that they had used plastic-y outdrive yokes, I said, "WTH was Tamiya smokin?!" Then, I saw the size of the dog-bones and just started to grin a little. hehe

But MY LORD, is this thing amazing!!!! I couldn't ask for a better quality vehicle. Del, you did a GREAT job keeping this thing on the up-n-up, and outfitting it with an alum. driveshaft and ball-bearings. A properly lubed drivetrain, and you don't even hear the thing costing down the road!!!

I outfitted her with a Novak Cyclone TC2, Orion Modified can w/ a hand-wound 13x3 arm, and a 3800mah battery and WOOOOOOAAHH, BUDDY! This produces speeds I thought you could only get out of a BL setup! :eek: It's running on the stock spur(forgot the tooth), and a 17T pinion gear.

Gravel Hound + Super-fast + Black,....there was only one name to give it!

Ladies -n- Gents, I present "Fenris" :cool:

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c167/roy_woody/IMG_5188.jpg

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c167/roy_woody/IMG_5187.jpg

Fenris

09-20-2006, 09:48 PM

Am I getting an award for something? What did I win, What did I win? ;)

XXWoodmanXX

09-20-2006, 09:57 PM

Am I getting an award for something? What did I win, What did I win? ;)

:eek:

:p

bakabaka

09-21-2006, 02:21 AM

Hi XXWoodmanXX,

Congrats on the DF-02. You're already ahead of the game with the dampers, might want to get some turnbuckles to make it adjustable and universals for durability though. The dogbones in particular might not last too long with the power you're throwing at them. RCmart's a good source of reasonably priced DF-02 parts.

BTW, the stock spur is 70t so you're currently sitting at 70t/17t gearing which works out to 10.37 final drive ratio. Out of curiosity, how warm's the 13t motor getting at that gearing?

Have fun! :)

bakabaka

09-21-2006, 02:44 AM

Am I getting an award for something? What did I win, What did I win? ;)

Gleipnir, I suppose. ;)

Have fun! :)

XXWoodmanXX

09-21-2006, 04:33 AM

It was something I was definitely concerned about, especially since hearing about some of the alum. pinion nightmares I read thus far. But, after a 5-6 min. run, the can wasn't even warm enough to melt warm butter. :cool: I was running it pretty hard, with what little daylight I had left. At that time, having an all-black R/C isn't exactly easy to see. LOL

I think the blessing is because I'm running the stock tire diameter, putting very little stress on the motor itself. I see some people here are running on 4-4.5" tires. :eek: If I DO run into problems, I may gear down to 16. ;)

Hi XXWoodmanXX,

Congrats on the DF-02. You're already ahead of the game with the dampers, might want to get some turnbuckles to make it adjustable and universals for durability though. The dogbones in particular might not last too long with the power you're throwing at them. RCmart's a good source of reasonably priced DF-02 parts.

BTW, the stock spur is 70t so you're currently sitting at 70t/17t gearing which works out to 10.37 final drive ratio. Out of curiosity, how warm's the 13t motor getting at that gearing?

Have fun! :)

TamiyaRacer69

09-21-2006, 05:20 AM

:wave: Roy.
Glad you're happy with "Da Hound". Looks pretty smart with those new shockies on it. Trade you it for a Kyosho Baja Bug. :D :p :) :D Just kidding, the Bug is happy with his new bug family. There's another one on the way this weekend too. A Monster Beetle. :cool: :D
These guys on here are great, they'll help you with any problems or worries. ;) And the same goes for the rest of you, XXWoodmanXX is a top bloke. ;)

Enjoy "Da Hound" and the endless fun and most of all, the speed it can get up to. :p :D

Cheers' mate
Del

XXWoodmanXX

09-21-2006, 05:48 AM

Thanks, Del. :)

Yeah, I went with a pair of alum. shocks I had laying around because they were the right length, and they had a thicker oil in them that would help solve the perpetual "THUNK" the rear end makes over even the slightest of bumps. LOL

My not-so-distant plans for it are:

- Turnbuckle set
- Alum. steering
- Alum. shock towers
- 3Racing threaded shocks
- On-road/Off-road tire/rim set

:cool:

XXWoodmanXX

09-21-2006, 06:42 PM

Well, I took'er out for some serious bashing today, going through 2 3300 matched cells, and the motor was not even luke-warm. Ran on dirt, loose pebble, grass, and pavement. It was DEFINITELY put through the ringer. LOL All electronics and batteries were A-OK. Luckily, I switched to Deans connectors, or I would've certianly melted a connector or two today. I dunno what I did, but it's hooked-up, baby ;)

:winner:

bakabaka

09-22-2006, 12:41 AM

Hi Del,

I picked up an E-Maxx a while ago through the sale/trade forums here and made my version of a monster beetle. Just snapped a pic of it next to my DF-02 and DF-03.

Have fun! :)

bakabaka

09-22-2006, 12:48 AM

Hi XXWoodmanXX,

Cool, I'll have to add this combination to the DF-02 FAQ. Interested in contributing a writeup? ;)

Have fun! :)

TamiyaRacer69

09-22-2006, 05:17 AM

Hi Del,

I picked up an E-Maxx a while ago through the sale/trade forums here and made my version of a monster beetle. Just snapped a pic of it next to my DF-02 and DF-03.

Have fun! :)
The new Monster Beetle. :rolleyes: Looks cool. Going to pick up a Monster Beetle chassis tomorrow, YAHOOOO!!!!!!!!!!! Got another Beetle body sitting here, guess where that's going????????????

barnes77

09-23-2006, 06:31 AM

Hi guys i jut got back from my cousin's farm where i gave my gh heaps of great runs in some dry paddocks and dusty dirt roads :D Everything seems to be ok but now my motor (super stock rz) sometimes does not start going until i give the hound a little running start :confused: i took the motor apart and the commutator seems to be quite out of round and burnt. Is this why it's happining? Will truing the commutator and replacing the brushes resolve this problem?

also some of my stickers are starting to come off :( is that usual? i'm sure i stuck them on firmly around the edges

other than that the hound was great :D cheers

XXWoodmanXX

09-23-2006, 06:39 AM

From what you stated, I'll bet giving that comm a fresh cut and replacing the brushes will definitely not hurt. :) Did you hit any water, or any wet grass? I say troubleshoot the issue by replacing it with a different motor(even a silver can) just to see if you have any more start-up problems. If not, then you know it's the motor and you already know the course of action to take :) Might want to remove the motor and see how "free" the drivetrain is, too. Perhaps something got lodged into it, and is causing a high amount of friction?

Good luck, and keep on bashin'!! :cool:

Hi guys i jut got back from my cousin's farm where i gave my gh heaps of great runs in some dry paddocks and dusty dirt roads :D Everything seems to be ok but now my motor (super stock rz) sometimes does not start going until i give the hound a little running start :confused: i took the motor apart and the commutator seems to be quite out of round and burnt. Is this why it's happining? Will truing the commutator and replacing the brushes resolve this problem?

also some of my stickers are starting to come off :( is that usual? i'm sure i stuck them on firmly around the edges

other than that the hound was great :D cheers

XXWoodmanXX

09-23-2006, 06:41 AM

The new Monster Beetle. :rolleyes: Looks cool. Going to pick up a Monster Beetle chassis tomorrow, YAHOOOO!!!!!!!!!!! Got another Beetle body sitting here, guess where that's going????????????

Need I even say it, Del?

We want P-I-C-S !!!!!!!!!! :cool: :wave:

djahughes

09-26-2006, 05:29 PM

barnes77

09-26-2006, 11:25 PM

Hi,

Long time lurker first time poster...

I've just bought a Mtroniks RV 15 ESC and Venom 15t motor for my Gravel Hound.

I killed the stock ESC by getting it wet hence the choice of Mtroniks 100% waterproof ESC!

I'm wondering the best place to put it.

The 'standard' position between the steering servo and motor is ideal for placement but I worry about how much airflow it will get there especially as the bottom of the RV15 is metal fins.

Two other positions that look good are on-top of the steering servo but I worry about the heat from the RV15 affecting the servo plus it puts it very close to the shell.

The other place is ontop of the spine of the chasis where the driveshaft runs. However there isn't much to stick the ESC to there. Will double sided servo tape really hold it there?

Any ideas thoughts of suggestions gratefully received!

Thanks

David

Are you using parts A8 and A6? if so you could put the mtronics esc on part A6 and cut a hole in the window of the body shell for ventilation. double sided tape works ok for me. I have the stock esc and a futaba reciever both on part A6 so the esc is half sticking off at the back and still double sided tape seems to hold quite well. I don't think you will be able to get great ventilation to the esc if you don't cut a hole in the body somewhere.

i am only a rookie so maby you should wait until a more experienced person has an idea but anyway i hoped this helped you in some way or mabye sprouted a new idea.

cheers :D