Tamiya Gravel Hound DF-02 Forum

[KREATOR1]

thanks steadyc. ill try to look for the diff. replacement

[bakabaka]

Hi steadyc!

I had a problem with the diff cups coming out as well, I ended up setting the camber in a bit so the universal's dogbone would stay all the way in the diff cup at maximum extension. It seems as if the rear diff cups should come out a bit further, or perhaps the dogbones should be longer.

Incidentally, I finally got a TT-01 kit the other day (the Xanavi Nismo GT-R R34.) I've been going through the parts that are/aren't compatible, unfortunately the steering parts are shorter and definitely not usable for the DF-02. Luckily Square RC released an aluminum version of the final plastic piece of the steering assembly that (IMO) needs to be replaced, the part that goes between the two steering arms.

Have fun! :)

[KREATOR1]

guys , i just broke my rear arm mount .any tricks to fix it?

or do i have to buy a new chassis?

[steadyc]

[QUOTE=bakabaka]Hi steadyc!

I had a problem with the diff cups coming out as well, I ended up setting the camber in a bit so the universal's dogbone would stay all the way in the diff cup at maximum extension. It seems as if the rear diff cups should come out a bit further, or perhaps the dogbones should be longer.

Incidentally, I finally got a TT-01 kit the other day (the Xanavi Nismo GT-R R34.) I've been going through the parts that are/aren't compatible, unfortunately the steering parts are shorter and definitely not usable for the DF-02. Luckily Square RC released an aluminum version of the final plastic piece of the steering assembly that (IMO) needs to be replaced, the part that goes between the two steering arms.

Have fun! :)[/QUOTE
Hey Baka! Thanks for the information on the steering and the camber adjustment...I think I need to use the shims that the ball diff came with along with the camber adjustment..that sucks that the tt-01 steering parts will not cross over...as always thanks for all the info baka!!!

[steadyc]

Kreator... what worked for me was cotton from a q-tip or cotton ball....a small amount will do...and super glue...basically I would glue the broken parts together just with the glue...then place the cotton pieces around the broken area...once cotton is around the broken area apply or soak the cotton with super glue...it will form a "cast" around the broken part...allow to dry...then spray paint black to hide the repair..if done right it will be stronger than the original plastic...I used to repair my grasshopper front bumper, and body this way and If it broke again, the break woud be in a different area not the repaired one....remember all parts MUST be clean...and allow the cast to dry. hope this helps you..

[KREATOR1]

thanks for the tip. I already did what you mention, and i works.

by the way how much for a tub DF-02 chassis?

[paulicat]

Hey KREATOR1,
try this link to towerhobbies http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXGYR0&P=7 8.59 but not in stock right now...

[KREATOR1]

Wow!! just 8.59 really cheap .i think Tamiya already know the weakess of this buggy. :(. Anybody know how we can make this chassis stronger?

[Hound in Oz]

Hi all,
The shell on my gravel hound is getting rather beaten and I would like I new one. i know its probably already been asked, but where could i find one? by the way my new LST kicks ass, they are awesome trucks, but I still love my hound. thanks.

[bakabaka]

Hi Hound in Oz!

It might be possible to purchase them through Tamiya Japan or Tamiya USA, not sure about elsewhere. You could try sending an email to Tamiya USA to see if they have them in stock, or if your Japanese is pretty good you could try emailing Tamiya Japan.

I found that international shipping can get a bit expensive on packages big enough to ship the shells in though, and the decals are a separate purchase from the shell. You might want to check to see whether it's cheaper to get another kit (and the included buggy/parts) instead.

Have fun! :)

[Hound in Oz]

So I guess I wont be getting another shell... bummer...

[bakabaka]

Hi Hound in Oz!

I wouldn't rule it out just yet, but find out what they charge. It could very well be different to Australia from Japan. I ended up getting two shells from Japan and the shipping cost to the US was rather significant. Actually, I still have that extra Rising Sorm shell in case anyone's interested.

Have fun! :)

[Aluma]

hey bakabaka, do you have access to the new traxxas Jato? It has the same hub as the df02, If the rear wheels fit in front and back, then I'd say we'll finally get some good traction, and one heck of a battle with elec. trucks.(if you mount the truck body of course) :D light fragile 2wds vs. heavy tanks 4wd....hmmmm

[bakabaka]

Hi Aluma!

Oddly enough, almost everyone on the track where I've went recently is running a 4wd nitro of some sort. I haven't seen anyone running a stadium truck, probably due to the loose dirt surface giving 4wd vehicles an edge. I'll have to look into the Jato wheels though. The Wild Willy 2 wheels needed a bit of shimming to avoid hitting the side of the hub carrier.

Have fun! :)

[MattRX]

Hi Hound in Oz

Where is Oz are you. I have found getting parts for the GH fairly easy to get at my LHS.

They do have to order everything, but a week later it arrives.

Matt (in OZ, Melbourne)

[Hound in Oz]

Hi mattrx,
I am in Canberra. My LHS can get all parts for the gravel hound easily apart from the bathtub chassis and the shell. The shell is the least of my worries at the moment though. As you probably know Canberra is in drought so it has not rained here in ages, but it has rained for the last week or so. I was running my hound at around maximum visual range when I drove it straight into a deep puddle :eek: The only part protruding the water was the antennae tube. Water hazards are not something I usually look out for but I think I will in future :o Well I suppose ive got an excuse to get a novak brushless system now :) surprisingly the servo and reciever still work, but the esc is fried. Thank god ive got the LST to play with, it rocks. Hey mattrx do you have an rx? I have owned a couple of rx7's, great cars.
seeya.

[bakabaka]

Hi Hound in Oz!

(valiantly resisting the urge to tell a really bad joke about Tamiya's C.P.R. unit)

Ouch! That's unfortunate, I've driven through a few puddles accidentally but never quite that deep. I think you'll like the brushless system though, you may find that your Gravel Hound is as fast as your LST (possibly faster) once it's under the hood.

Note that there are now four different Novak brushless systems aside from the HV 550 size system; there's the 4300 (supposedly stock), the 5800 (8.5 turn sport), and the new racing version with either a 6.5 or 5.5 turn motor. I've been using the Super Sport 5800 system.

Have fun! :)

[MattRX]

Hi Hound in OZ

I'm on my second RX7. It's off the road for a while (long while) as I am building it up for some light track work, should be fun.

I have found with my Gravel hound that the air vents in the chassis under the battery and motor let so much gravel and water into the chassis that I have started taping them up with duct tape. I now also tape the shell to the chassis when I run it (I hate cleaning inside my car).

Before I started doing this every time I drove the hound through a puddle (they seem to be attracted to water) my tamiya ESC would get wet and the hound would roll to a stop again. Thankfully after a night in front of the heater it always came back to life. I have not had any overheating problems with everything taped up, but it is bloody freezing here lately which would help.

I recently bought one of these http://www.shopatron.com/product/product_id=NOVR3005/135.0.7565.0.0.0.0 all up it cost me $206Aus landed on my desk. I have no previous experience with performance motors, but I have to say I am impressed. I am currently running a Novak 5800 with a 67t spur and a 20t pinion. It still has heaps of torque so I need to pull my 21T pinion off my old Madcap and try it in the Hound.

Unless I am on a clean smooth asphalt road if I hit full throttle from stop it just loops it on the spot. I am slowly learning the art of throttle control. I have not done a speed check check yet, but she is pretty quick.

Matt

[MattRX]

Hi all

As you probably noticed from my post above I recently bought a Novak Super Sport brushless system consisting of a Super Sport ESC and a SS5800 brushless motor. I thought I would post a few notes for others to read. I bought my brushless system from http://www.shopatron.com/product/product_id=NOVR3005/135.0.7565.0.0.0.0.
Total cost was $206Aus (sightly cheaper than the GH kit) and delivery took about a week. Neither my motor or ESC showed any signs of being second hand.

1. Torque - It has heaps. With a 67T spur and a 19T pinion it can spin all four wheels on any surface from a standing start. So far I have tried a 20T pinion and it still has heaps of torque. When I get around to it I will try a 21T pinion. I suspect this will be ideal. All of this was done with stock wheels and Road Hawg tyres.

2. Speed - I have not measured its top speed yet. With the stock motor, 67t spur and 20t pinion it had a top speed of 24Km/h. All I can say is it is heaps loads faster than stock. I will do a speed test soon!!

3. Heat - The motor gets warm from running, but only around 10 degrees C above ambient. The ESC gets warm, but only around 40 degrees C, this is with a 67T spur and 20T pinion and all air holes taped over.

4. Speed Control - The brushless motor feel just like the stock motor at lower speeds. There is no form of cogging and the buggy can still crawl along at walking pace if that what you want (beware the throttle is quite touchy)

5. Battery Life - What battery life!! This motor chews through batteries in approx 1/3 the time the stock setup. Its heaps more fun, just for a lot less time.

If anyone has any question please post them up and I will add to this.

Matt

[bakabaka]

Hi MattRX!

The 5800 is supposed to have heaps of torque, if you gear it too high the ESC will start getting hot. Novak says it's supposed to get hotter than the average ESC, but electronics in general live longer if you keep them cooler. I always ran full throttle before getting it, since there didn't seem to be much purpose to lower throttle levels.

The battery life is definitely lower than stock, but there's really no comparison to running it with the stock silver can. I have a 3000mah, 2400mah and 1700mah battery and the 3000 and 2400 give me reasonable enough runtimes. My Gravel Hound is sitting around waiting for the brushless system to return from Novak at the moment, it's just not the same beast without it. I'm breaking in my TT-01 for the interim, which is a nice little car itself. Very quiet, and it's quite a bit faster than the Wild Willy 2 (the other car we have running with a stock silver can.)

Incidentally, I've been considering putting plastic mesh in the bottom of the buggy to keep out the rocks and dirt. It doesn't rain here enough to worry about water, but it does get hot enough that the motor and ESC would miss the extra cooling.

Have fun! :)

[paulicat]

Hey Bakabaka, how does the Gravel Hound compare to the TT-01 in regards to top speed/control? Have you run them both with similar/same motors in them?
Just curious 'cause I have a Hound, and am considering getting a TT-01 because of how much I love the hound. I was hoping the TT-01 with all its similarities to the Hound would make a fun on-road car.
Any info greatly appreciated.

[bakabaka]

Hi paulicat!

Not sure about speed just yet, it's still stock with no bearings whatsoever. The Gravel Hound came with bearings for the drivetrain, so I have no basis for a fair comparison. I don't have an ESC for the Gravel Hound at the moment either, and I'd rather not take the one out of the TT-01 just yet.

As for control, it seems tighter but that's to be expected of an on-road car. It's definitely fun, but it's very entry level. Perhaps even moreso than the DF-02. I've been told it's a money pit if you're trying to race competitively, and it still won't be terribly competitive. Many of the problems which are minor annoyances offroad (steering slop etc) can be serious issues on-road. My TT-01 doesn't have steering slop yet, but others have said their TT-01s developed it after a few "meetings" with a wall.

It's really intended as a toy, or an introduction to on-road RC. If that's what you're looking for, the price is right and it's a lot of fun. It's about US $30 cheaper than a Gravel Hound kit at a LHS. (Sheldon's Hobbies BTW, they're an excellent source of kits in the Bay area.)

Have fun! :)

[dugrant153]

Just curious 'cause I have a Hound, and am considering getting a TT-01 because of how much I love the hound. I was hoping the TT-01 with all its similarities to the Hound would make a fun on-road car.

the TT01 is a pretty decent car (just don't take it offroad hehe). But it will need some major upgrades to get going into a real racing car. they don't come stock with bearings, which really stinks.

[bakabaka]

One more thing, this time a bit more on topic. Square RC has a new DF-02 part up on their website, it's a set of aluminum front knuckles (part STG-35.) I think I'll be getting a set of these, the top hole on the front left knuckle of my DF-02 is a bit out of round from the various jumps and collisions the buggy's been in.

Have fun! :)

[paulicat]

Thanks for the tips guys, its really just for on-road bashing, prolly no racing whatsoever...

[bakabaka]

Hi paulicat!

In that case the TT-01 should suit your needs perfectly, just don't go nuts on the hop-ups that can't be put into your DF-02. ;) If you feel the need to improve performance, it's probably better to sell it and get something better before you've spent too much on it. I'm just going to add bearings and maybe an aluminum prop shaft if I decide to put the brushless in it.

Have fun! :)

[dugrant153]

you don't wanna know what I put in my TT01 then :P I dumped a lot of money into it.

[bakabaka]

That's ok, I've dumped a fair bit into my DF-02 as well. It's fun hopping them up and seeing what happens. As it's been said though, eventually you may spend as much as a racing kit that would have come with those hop-ups anyway. OTOH, those racing kits will cost a lot more to fix if you somehow break the chassis. With the things I've put my DF-02 through, I wouldn't be surprised if something ended up breaking. 6 foot jumps are 60ft jumps to scale. :D

Have fun! :)

[Aluma]

hey baka, my LHS got a jato, I took off the rear wheels/tires and put them on the DF02 and they fit perfectly! they are offset just right. Unfortunately, they are bigger than the 2.2in. tires available for trucks right now and the tires aren't too good for the track. :P So if you get them, you'd have to stick to tires traxxas makes.

[The Plopster]

That's ok, I've dumped a fair bit into my DF-02 as well. It's fun hopping them up and seeing what happens. As it's been said though, eventually you may spend as much as a racing kit that would have come with those hop-ups anyway. OTOH, those racing kits will cost a lot more to fix if you somehow break the chassis. With the things I've put my DF-02 through, I wouldn't be surprised if something ended up breaking. 6 foot jumps are 60ft jumps to scale. :D

Have fun! :)


Did someone say 'JUMP'?????

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/the_plopster_1/2005%20Folders/Photos/Stuff/RAMP%207.JPG

[microrcdude]

thats one nice jump you got there. Whoops, i mean car. I can tell thats made from the wood you painted the body and wings on.

[dugrant153]

That's ok, I've dumped a fair bit into my DF-02 as well. It's fun hopping them up and seeing what happens. As it's been said though, eventually you may spend as much as a racing kit that would have come with those hop-ups anyway. OTOH, those racing kits will cost a lot more to fix if you somehow break the chassis. With the things I've put my DF-02 through, I wouldn't be surprised if something ended up breaking. 6 foot jumps are 60ft jumps to scale. :D

Have fun! :)

I've done jumps... with my TT01. Yup. Road cones are NOT meant to be jumped over, but I usually try to cut corners and end up getting some major air time... and then go end over end. My poor poor Tamiya body :(

And, surprisingly, nothing broken!

[paulicat]

Now thats the reason I like the DF02 TT01 chassis...they take a BEATING!!!

[bakabaka]

No kidding! I've broken one part the entire time I've had the car, and that was a steering arm. I've since replaced it with the aluminum hop-up steering arms, not sure what else is going to go but it's had a very good run. Especially considering it's had a brushless system in it for several months, the recent driving around on tracks with Nitro monster trucks and 1/8 scale buggies couldn't help either. I'm surprised I haven't broken all sorts of parts, although admittedly I've worn a few out.

Oh, and one last thing... EVERYTHING is meant to be jumped over. ;)

Have fun! :)

[bakabaka]

hey baka, my LHS got a jato, I took off the rear wheels/tires and put them on the DF02 and they fit perfectly! they are offset just right. Unfortunately, they are bigger than the 2.2in. tires available for trucks right now and the tires aren't too good for the track. :P So if you get them, you'd have to stick to tires traxxas makes.

D'oh, just a little too good to be true then. Are there any other tires than the stock ones? I've seen the wheels up on ebay a few times, but if the tire selection is too limited then it's going to be difficult to justify buying them. I haven't heard the best of things about the Jato, but then this is from people who drive Revos and T-Maxxes.

Have fun! :)

[paulicat]

The aluminum steering arms were the second hop-up I bought, first being the final 8 wheel bearings...the alum arms made a huge difference in how the car controlled.
No breakage here yet, I haven't really bashed it too hard except for a couple light poles that jumped in front of my hound :D

[The Plopster]

I've broken 2 axels, and ripped open the rear gear housing resulting in a new chassis being needed. Broken the front damper stay but I managed to fix it.

Do I win a prize?

[paulicat]

All I can give you is a pat on the back and say "Good work!" :D

[Aluma]

I saw the twin detonators wheels today on ebay. They look like they'd fit...but for sure I know that there's no one around here whod have one of those to try them out.

[bakabaka]

Hi Aluma,

That's definitely the difficulty. I had a set of stadium truck-size HPI wheels with the Evader ST (since sold) that fit the DF-02, but there were no identifying marks on them and I only had one pair. Without identical wheels on the front, I wouldn't trust it for very long.

Have fun! :)

[szan]

Hi,

Long time I haven't post...
My brother have a twin, if you're interested, I can test its wheels on my RS.
I should try that next week.

Bye

I saw the twin detonators wheels today on ebay. They look like they'd fit...but for sure I know that there's no one around here whod have one of those to try them out.

[bakabaka]

Hi szan,

Cool, if you find that it works I'd like to add it to the FAQ. I'm thinking of making a section on "monsterizing" the DF-02, sort of like what happened with the Grasshopper. Which, incidentally, has finally been re-released...

Have fun! :)

[szan]

Hi bakabaka,

Monter wheels should be fun, but be carrefull of overheating the motor with
a too small ratio. My 10x1 is already very hot with stock wheels, maybe
a 18 turn or more is better for monsterizing. Twin wheels have 13cm diameter.
It's more than twice our original spike tires.
I'll keep you inform if twin wheels fit or not !

Bye

Hi szan,

Cool, if you find that it works I'd like to add it to the FAQ. I'm thinking of making a section on "monsterizing" the DF-02, sort of like what happened with the Grasshopper. Which, incidentally, has finally been re-released...

Have fun! :)

[bakabaka]

Hi szan,

Yup, it definitely needs a cooler motor and gearing down for the larger wheels. I hope to document a good configuration to use with truck-size tires. I'll probably end up using the stock motor and a 17t pinion (maybe 16) with the 70t spur to get sufficient torque at first. I just picked up a cheap ESC (a Dynamite Tazer 19t) so I don't need to worry if I fry it in the process. I look forward to your findings on the Twin Detonator wheels!

Have fun! :)

[szan]

Hi,

Yep, for info, I remember the twin gearbox ratio was 330/pinion teeth,
so about 18 with a 18T pinion. As wheels are twice higher, its finaly not far from the nearly 9 ratio of the df-02. But the twin has 2 motors...

szan

Hi szan,

Yup, it definitely needs a cooler motor and gearing down for the larger wheels. I hope to document a good configuration to use with truck-size tires. I'll probably end up using the stock motor and a 17t pinion (maybe 16) with the 70t spur to get sufficient torque at first. I just picked up a cheap ESC (a Dynamite Tazer 19t) so I don't need to worry if I fry it in the process. I look forward to your findings on the Twin Detonator wheels!

Have fun! :)

[bakabaka]

Hi szan!

Cool, in the worst case I try to fit a HV-MAXX brushless system in there. ;) I don't think it'll be a problem though, the DF-02's pretty light as 1/10 RC 4wd vehicles go. A second motor would really just provide more torque, since they're not going to go any faster. I figure a stock motor should have plenty with low gearing, especially with the DF-02 having so much torque out of the box.

Have fun! :)

[Tommi Makkinen]

Guys,

Need help.

anyone got an idea what is the best setup for the DF-02 in an indoor carpet track with wooden jumps? the tires i use are the ones from the Tamiya Pajero and the Volkswagen Race Touareg

my main worry is the possible understeer... coz right now i got too much of it...

[bakabaka]

Hi Tommi,

You might want to try using softer springs/oil in the front. Aside from that you could play with the toe-in to see what works for you. I don't race, but I've been playing with the settings for parking lot bashing and it helps when they're set correctly for a surface.

Have fun! :)

[MattRX]

2. Speed - I have not measured its top speed yet. With the stock motor, 67t spur and 20t pinion it had a top speed of 24Km/h. All I can say is it is heaps loads faster than stock. I will do a speed test soon!!

Matt

Sorry I took so long to perform a Novak speed test as promised. It has been raining a lot and on top of that my transmitter died :mad:

GH with 9.17 gear ratio and tyres with a diameter of 78mm I recorded a speed of 48.8Km/h

GH with 9.17 gear ratio and tyres with a diameter or 92mm I recorded a speed of 49.7Km/h

This test was done on a large flat carpark using a Garmin GPS taped to the chassis logging Max Speed.

I have knocked up an Excel Spreadsheet that enables you to estimate buggy speed with different tyre sizes and gear ratios. If anyone can host it I am happy to send it to them.

Enjoy

Matt

[Tommi Makkinen]

Hi Tommi,

You might want to try using softer springs/oil in the front. Aside from that you could play with the toe-in to see what works for you. I don't race, but I've been playing with the settings for parking lot bashing and it helps when they're set correctly for a surface.

Have fun! :)

thanks baka for the tips...

so far ive done the ff:

-soft springs and oil in front
-hard springs and oil in rear
-a bit of toe out
-2 deg neg camber front
-0 deg camber rear
-ball diff front
-gear diff rear

the car still has a lot of understeer but i think i can manage... anything in my setup ive done wrong?

[bakabaka]

the car still has a lot of understeer but i think i can manage... anything in my setup ive done wrong?

Nothing that I can tell, but as I mentioned I really just bash around with the buggy. One thing I highly recommend is Square RC's front carbon fiber damper stay, it gives you an extra suspension mount point which seems to help out in this area.

Have fun! :)

[vegasdrift]

hey guys,
I haven't been here in awhile. And my RS has been sitting just as long.( been waiting on a 16t pinion gear from tower.) Finally got it yesterday and went driving on my backyard track. Then my front hub carrier broke. I don't know what happened. I didn't crash or anything. So I'm back to waiting. I may end up selling my car. With 5 rcs I don't get to drive it much.

[Tommi Makkinen]

Nothing that I can tell, but as I mentioned I really just bash around with the buggy. One thing I highly recommend is Square RC's front carbon fiber damper stay, it gives you an extra suspension mount point which seems to help out in this area.

Have fun! :)

ok. i'll check the net for that part. thanks again baka. :D

[steadyc]

thanks baka for the tips...
I would set the camber negative 1 and 1/2 to 2 degrees that helped me out a lot at the track and also I would not toe out if you have understeer(which the df-02 has alot of)oh yeah set the camber the same all the way around...I use the rpm camber gauge...it works really well...Im gonna install a high speed servo for this weekend at rod's (in california next to magic mountain..6 flags) I'll see....if the storm runs well enough in practice I'll run it....but im gonna run my losi mf2 for sure...stock and the 19 turn class..I hope this helps you and as always have a blast...alot a people seem to forget that these things are toys :)
so far ive done the ff:

-soft springs and oil in front
-hard springs and oil in rear
-a bit of toe out
-2 deg neg camber front
-0 deg camber rear
-ball diff front
-gear diff rear

the car still has a lot of understeer but i think i can manage... anything in my setup ive done wrong?I think I entered in the wrong place..

[szan]

Hi,

Eh, bakabaka, that's ok for using the truck wheels of the twin detonator or wild dagger, have a look at theses photos. No problem when turning, or with the body shell, it's perfect and frightening !

Bye

[bakabaka]

Hi szan,

Cool! That looks like the best reason to buy a 16t pinion I've seen yet. I looked into it and I think the wheels I was using previously were HPI RS4 MT wheels. I saw a picture of a MT a short time ago and they look rather similar. There wasn't much room to tighten down the nuts on the axle though. In any case, I'll add these wheels to the FAQ soon...

Have fun! :)

[cars4ever]

I found the part on the homepage of square...
but I didnt find any english shop which offerd this part. :rolleyes:
Any hint??

[cars4ever]

One more thing, this time a bit more on topic. Square RC has a new DF-02 part up on their website, it's a set of aluminum front knuckles (part STG-35.) I think I'll be getting a set of these, the top hole on the front left knuckle of my DF-02 is a bit out of round from the various jumps and collisions the buggy's been in.

Have fun! :)
Hi bakabaka
I found alu front knuckles on the homepage of square...
... but I didnt find any english shop which offered this part (jason store, ...). :rolleyes:
Any hint??

[bakabaka]

Hi cars4ever,

Not yet that I'm aware of. I'm going to buy them from a Japanese company that I purchased parts from before. I'll be getting the knuckles as well as the aluminum steering crank shaft, and probably a few other parts to replace those that have worn out.

Have fun! :)

[steadyc]

hey baka....what source are you using for the front knuckles?..I would love to get some for my storm..as always thaks for all your info.

[bakabaka]

Hi steadyc,

I'm going through RC-Champ, their website's here:

http://www.rc-champ.co.jp

They can take orders in English, but you'll have to read through their catalogue in Japanese. They have a fee for accepting PayPal, which is probably the cheapest way to do the currency conversion. If you buy enough items, you'll probably end up saving money vs. the usual venues since their prices are very reasonable (for Tamiya items.)

Don't be fooled into thinking you can get a Tamiya kit for $50 less than Tower Hobbies though, the shipping from Japan can more than make up for the difference ;)

Have fun! :)

[bakabaka]

I just installed a new set of metal-sealed bearings in both the DF-02 and the TT-01. Although the TT-01 isn't hopped up aside from the bearings, they're on a bit more equal footing now. I'm going to find out which one's faster this weekend. I'd imagine it would be the TT-01 since it's lighter overall and is built for speed. It should be interesting though, since the DF-02 is a bit more hopped up.

Have fun! :)

[bakabaka]

As suspected, the TT-01 is a little bit faster than the DF-02. The DF-02 gave the TT-01 a good run for its money though. ;) The top speed tables will turn once the brushless gets back, but that answers the question as to which one's faster with the stock motor.

Have fun! :)

[bakabaka]

Well, the brushless just got back from Novak. Pre-soldered no less, hopefully no more problems with the wires coming off due to my poor soldering jobs. Back to terrorizing the Nitro guys again ;) What are the rest of you doing with your DF-02s these days? I'm thinking of a few more mods I'd like to do at the moment, and attempting to strip the paint off the Rising Storm body so I can re-paint it. I used plastic rather than polycarbonate paint before, which apparently explains why the paint started cracking so quickly. :o

Have fun! :)

[Aluma]

waiting for the new wheels/tires/pinions... :)

[steadyc]

I just got some kind of traxxas buggy wheels for my storm and some buggy 4wd tires...still need to glue them though...you don't need to use the tamiya hub hex..just remove the plastic hex and install the rim to the hub pin...will post some pics soon...I'm gonna take it to the race this weekend in bakersfield...the only aftermarket hop up I don't have yet is the front aluminum knuckles...and the 67 spur...by the way the storm runs great at the tracks....it always catches people off guard....granted it is alot more expensive to hop up than just buying a losi 4wd buggy...but it's great to see the look on peoples faces when I place well....oh yeah you can use the associated buggy front aluminum shocks on the storm and I just bought the tt-01 metal battery hold down and I had to modify it to get it to work.....and also I bought the tamiya brand metal motor mount and it also has fit issues(it has slop..therefore useless)hope this helps and I can't wait for this weekend!!!..Im gonna run the storm and the losi mf2..oh yeah the M11 is a great controller!!!

[montrealer]

Hi,

Just found this board and took about two hours going through the DF-02 thread and found it quite usefull. So far, I have upgraded my buggy with the following:

- Griffin Peak Racing 12 turn motor
- Tamiya TT-01 alu shaft
- Square DF-02 aluminum universal shafts
- Square DF-02 aluminum cupjoints
- LRP no limit ESC
- Tamiya aluminum turnbuckles
- Tamiya aluminum damper shocks

I must say I love this buggy. I just took it to a mountain bike terrain where I could get it to jump until I drained my 4 batteries. I had a policeman stop and he agreed to track it with his radar and the thing topped at 71Kmph !!!. I must say the Griffin 12 turn motor is quite a little rocket. I am waiting for a set of front and rear knuckles with aluminum kingpins as I cracked on of the stock ones a week ago.

Just can't wait!!!

[bakabaka]

Hi montrealer!

How long does the battery last with that motor? That's quite quick. I just got back from vacation, and oddly enough I went to Canada. Well, the Canadian side of Niagara Falls at least. I'm currently considering what other evil plans I have for the DF-02, at least two things are on the drawing board at the moment.

First, I'm going to cut up a bit of foam (urethane type) and put it in the outdrives. That should quiet them down a bit, I just got a TB-02 on-road kit and it uses pieces of urethane in the outdrives as well.

Second, I'm going to get a new set of the bevel gears that go on the end of the center driveshaft. It looks like they've worn down quite a bit from the constant bashing with the brushless, despite being metal. The buggy's become quite noisy and they seem to be the source. I haven't found a source for them in the US yet, so I may end up having to get them from Tamiya or a Japanese vendor.

Have fun! :)

[montrealer]

[QUOTE=bakabaka]Hi montrealer!

How long does the battery last with that motor? That's quite quick. QUOTE]

Hi Bakabaka,

Yup !, a lot quicker than I ever expected this thing would be, you should have seen the officer's face too (satisfied/worried/amazed?!?)... :p . The battery drains pretty quickly. Depending on what I do (long accelerations, short accelerations, jumps etc...) I can't get more than 10 minutes from a 2400Mh battery so when I go out, I bring four packs.

By the way, I'll be trying this tip from one of the members here, to rise the damper shafts a bit by screwing computer motherboard posts at the end, seems like a neat trick that should help the buggy when landing to avoid the chassis scraping the ground. I also try something pretty neat with the body by putting small crews on both side and holes in the shell that enable me to snap the body more closely to the chassis on both sides. This modification allows a lot less dust and rocks to get into the shell. Second modification I made is a little air scoop with a plastic bottle to allow direct ducted airlow to get to the motor. Don't know if this mod helps but it sure looks cool.

M.

[paulicat]

Just to let you know, Im pretty sure Bakabaka is the member in question who came up with that little suspension trick! ;)

[montrealer]

Just to let you know, Im pretty sure Bakabaka is the member in question who came up with that little suspension trick! ;)

I'm not surprised, he seems to be quite the expert on the DF-02 chassis subject. Anyways, I tried and for sure, it is a jiffy to install the things. I had probably a couple of hundreds of these things in many different lengths in a bag since I build many PCs during a year.

the only problem I could find, and I haven't fiddled much with the concept other than installing and making a quick run with the car before leaving for work, is that the angle of the suspension arms is indeed steeper and it gives a lot more clearance from the ground but the dogbones now seem to grind a bit more on the differencial cupjoints. I'll probably push the ball hex damper attachement a few hole further just to smooth the angle a bit, and lengthen my adjustable turnbuckle upper arms to set the wheels flush to the ground again.

I'll let you know the results tonight (if it doesn't rain...)

Bye now !

M.

[paulicat]

Baka's the man!

That problem is common with that mod, most people (including myself) have lengthened the slots in the outdrives to allow the dogbones some more vertical movement, and if you have the money, you can go with the universal drive shafts (I think they call them CVD's).

Hey Baka, did the TT-01 outdrives help with this problem?

[montrealer]

Baka's the man!

That problem is common with that mod, most people (including myself) have lengthened the slots in the outdrives to allow the dogbones some more vertical movement, and if you have the money, you can go with the universal drive shafts (I think they call them CVD's).

Hey Baka, did the TT-01 outdrives help with this problem?

I do have the universal drive shafts from square (came straight from Japan...)and the universal joint works marvels but it is the regular connection to the cupjoints on the other end of the shaft that is causing some concern here. I am waiting for the aluminum uprights, rear and front (is this the same thing as the outdrives you are talking about ?) and I doubt these would solve that problem, however, I expect these to stiffen the universal joint/upright looseness I am experimenting, not to mention the fact that one of the stock front uprights was loosing it's kingpins all the time cause I had the tightened too much.

Now I just wish they made aluminum front wheel hubs and lower suspension arms, then I'd be REALLY satified... :rolleyes:

M.

[paulicat]

Sorry, which end are you referring to? The wheel end or the diff case end?

[montrealer]

Sorry, which end are you referring to? The wheel end or the diff case end?

Diff case end. Just in case, the universal shaft is not the problem, nor is the differencial case cupjoint, it's the angle of the whole suspension arm that makes the dogbone pins hit the cupjoint's receiving slots when I raise the length of the damper shafts with the motherboard raiser posts (gee... I sound so intelligent and technical... hummm, must show off these new skills in front of my brother in law...he sucks muhahahahaha, muhahahahaha).


hope this helps.

[bakabaka]

Hi Paulicat!

I haven't used them to be honest, I actually sold the TT-01 when I picked up the TB-02. I'm still using the Tobee cup joints/outdrives, which seem to work pretty well. I don't have a problem with the universals touching the cup joints, even at full extension. The only issue I had was the dogbone portion of the universals making a clicking sound as they fell downward on each rotation of the outdrives. Putting a thin piece of foam in the front outdrives and a somewhat thicker piece of foam in the rear outdrives seems to have solved that, it's quite a bit quieter now. I'll have to add that to the FAQ when I get a chance.

Have fun! :)

[bakabaka]

Hi montrealer!

I had the same issue after installing the standoffs when I was using the stock dogbones and cup joints. Lengthening the slots in the cup joints (preferably diagonally inward to maintain structural integrity) helps quite a bit. I imagine you've seen the links I've dropped here from time to time for the DF-02 FAQ, but just in case here's the URL:

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

Everything I learn about the DF-02 goes into there, although some articles get written quicker than others. ;)

Have fun! :)

[Aluma]

just got the twindetonator wheels/bowties and they fit PERFECT! pics later.

[montrealer]

here are the tires I got today too :eek:

Street tires call speed hawgs, the car runs real good in the street, drifts on the baseball fields and is scray as hell shen you see it jump your way with it's big paws..

Took a while to get used to but I really like them now.

[montrealer]

Here's a side shot :D

[Techpriest]

Got my Gravel Hound finished today! I have been working my way through this forum and am just about caught up. Great info and the main reason I bought the buggy.

My GH has a Lightspeed dyno tuned 19turn motor, Novak XRS speedo and JR metal gear servo. I use an MX3 radio to control it. I have Associated shocks on the front (had them already) and a full bearing kit throughout. It has the ball rear diff since I like to hill climb and the gear diffs tend to do a poor job of getting power to the wheels that need it. The front diff is the stock gear but I packed it with automotive bearing grease to try and give it a little posi. I mostly run 3300 packs I buy used from the local mod-buggy racers.

The buggy looks much better in real life, the sides are pearl white and the top is emerald green metallic. I used high quality automotive paints, this is a test to see how well they will stick to lexan. So far the scraps we painted have held up well, now I will see if they survive the Hound. There are a lot more colors available in auto paints then in RC paints and it would be great if I could use them. On the hood is the Kanji symbol for "power". It is done in chameleon green.

http://www.hphobbies.com/media/pictures/pics/gh1.JPG

Here is a link to some more pics of the car, including a close-up of the samurai. In case you picked up on it, yes Samurai Jack did pose for that picture for me.
http://www.hphobbies.com/media/pictures/gallery3.htm

[montrealer]

Here is a link to some more pics of the car, including a close-up of the samurai. In case you picked up on it, yes Samurai Jack did pose for that picture for me.
http://www.hphobbies.com/media/pictures/gallery3.htm[/QUOTE]

Went to your site and I must say your GH is superb, however your cat looks kinda weird :D

[Techpriest]

Went to your site and I must say your GH is superb, however your cat looks kinda weird :D

Thanks!

I have not seen this mentioned before, sorry if I missed it, but I tried a XXX4 body tonight and it did not fit. It fit length and width, but the height of the XXX4 is quite a bit shorter then the GH. I could not get it to sit low enough. The spoiler will fit however and those can be purchased individually. On my XXX4 I still have the body I started with but am on my 2nd wing and it needs replaced. I rarely paint the wings since they get tore up so fast.

The ferret's name is Raffles and you can see more pics of him, and his friends, here...
Pet Site (http://www.ourlair.com/pets/)

[Aluma]

okay...SSOOOO much wider...about 310mm vs 330mm for a 1/10 electric truck...which isnt bad considering the 1/10 trucks have a slightly longer wheelbase too.

[Aluma]

I wish tamiya would have done this to begin with! It looks so right...no clearance issues either. Cant wait until tomorrows race to see what it can do.

Oh yeah...I can fit one of the original front wheels under the chassis now...talk about having "clearence" without binding the bones from too much droop.

[bakabaka]

Hi Aluma!

Looks great, just be sure to drop the gearing as low as you can. The ESC and motor are likely to get much warmer than usual with those wheels, and you'll want to avoid a meltdown. ;)

Have fun! :)

[Aluma]

LOL...yeah, I thought I had by doing the 67/17 ratio which is 10.3 Final and the T4 recommends a 10.4 Final so I figured it'd be okay for the sport tuned I had in there...after 2mins smoke started coming out...but no fire.

Now it has the 70/16 with a 19T motor, but I haven't run it outside yet.
I just hooked up a battery and hit the throttle to see if it worked...it lifted straight up off the stand! LOL scared the heck outta me. :eek:

I hope I can eventually get a brushless in there. Although I wonder if that ratio wont burn one out.

[trakhak]

I am sure this has been gone over before but I dont have the time to go thru 50 pages...what is the lowest turn motor that you have successfully ran on a Futaba MC230 reversable esc? I just finished building the Rising Storm and this rig needs some serious HP for it! I just love building a Tamiya kit, it brings back fond memories! Bought this to build to hold me over until the Hornet is available, also ordered the lunchbox too! Bought this so I can PLAY with something, all my other cars are racing only and wanted to have some bashing fun again!

[bakabaka]

Hi Aluma!

I think it's the gear diffs/lack of slipper clutch that cause it to get warm quicker. On the other hand, the gear diffs in the DF-02 are tough enough that they can handle the kind of mistreatment that I dish out to it, e.g. jumping and pulling a wheelie immediately after landing. I think you'd probably be ok with the Novak 5800 brushless if you set the gearing all the way down. I typically run 67/19 with one and it gets warm, but I haven't had a problem with it yet.

Incidentally, I found where the clicking sound was really coming from in my Gravel Hound. Apparently the pin that holds the spur gear doesn't fit very tight, so the spur moved around a bit too much. I put a little electrical tape over each side of the pin, and pushed the spur gear back over it. It fits rather tight now without any slop. I'm going to give it a test drive soon to see if it performs any differently. I've also put a bit of the urethane foam that I put into the outdrives in the cup joints for the center drive shaft. Those fit a bit better too.

Have fun! :)

[bakabaka]

Hi trakhak!

I haven't used the mc230 myself, I actually passed on one a few months ago since it's only supposed to handle down to 20 turns. Incidentally, the Hornet re-release has been available for some time - I know for certain that a hobby store in Berkeley, Calif. had a Hornet kit the last time I stopped by there. The grasshopper's out on eBay as well, although it hasn't landed at any of the hobby stores around here yet.

I agree about building the kits, sometimes I wonder if I'm not having more fun tinkering with them than driving. Of course, driving around a vehicle that you just built with your own hands is definitely a good feeling.

Have fun! :)

[Hound in Oz]

Hi all,
It has been a while since I last posted, Ive been having too much fun with my LST, excellent trucks. However my gravel hound still gets used a lot. Ive now got an unlimited esc and a venom fireball 13t motor, it is quite quick. I was wondering what motor would be good for it? I dont want anything too expensive just something better and quicker than the venom, I am also going to start racing it.

another question, when I crash the gravel hound sometimes the turnbuckles pop off, that would really suck in a race, what could I do to prevent this happening? Also with bakas motherboard standoff mod the plastic ball end at the bottom of the shock where it joins the standoff pops out in a heavy crash, do I need to loctite it in?

One last question, is there an easy way to get another shell for my GH other than buying a new kit because mine is really beat up now ( i bash hard ). I dont want to rock up to my first race with my hound looking shite. thanks for reading. :)

[trakhak]

Bakabaka, The reason i am waiting for the hornet is I work at a LHS and my dist. are out of stock right now, and I wouldnt want to buy from another shop! I opted to use om of my older GM racing X12s so I can run like a 12 turn, I am so used to running gas that I need a low turn motor to fill my need for speed.
I agree there is something about building a Tamiya kit that brings out the fun again, maybe its the pure simplicity of it, not alot of tuning options so you just drive it or sit at the bench and make parts!
First on my list of parts to make are some shock towers, I know some are available from Square but I feel its more fun to just make the stuff! I will let everyone know how it goes.

[bakabaka]

Hi Hound in Oz!

Most people I've talked to have told me that a good Reedy motor will be much better than anything Venom. They're a bit more expensive, but if you're looking for speed then cost probably isn't your primary concern.

It's definitely a good idea to locktite the standoffs on. I had it pop off several times and ended up using a bit of teflon tape to hold the threads a bit tighter. I've found cleaning the ball ends after going through heavy dirt tends to prevent the turnbuckles from popping off, but there's little else one could do aside from replacing worn ball ends.

Getting an original shell is unfortunately a bit more difficult. I still have that Rising Storm shell, and someone from the UK posted one on eBay a while back, but that's about all I've seen unless you're willing to deal with a Japanese vendor. I suppose I could contact Tamiya USA again to see if they have any Gravel Hound shells if you want. OTOH you might want to look into the Pro-Line Crowd Pleaser XXX-NT body that Aluma placed on his DF-02. It takes a bit of work to get it on there, but the results do look rather nice.

Have fun! :)

[MattRX]

Hi Hound in Oz

I would not worry to much about the turnbuckles comming off as that is not always a bad thing.

In trying to remove some of the huge amount of slop that is built into the steering I replaced all the Tamiya ball joints with koyshio ball joints. The steering is heaps better, but last time I clipped a wall I bent a steering arm and tore the servo horn off.

I am thinking of having a Tamiya ball joint on the uprights only so I have a simple to fix failure point.

As for the body shell its part number is 1825294. Try ordering it from your LHS and see what happens.

Matt

[S3VEN]

Hi guys!, has anyone here tried the GPM aluminum dampers for the GH? I'm divided on which one to buy, GPM or Tamiya. FYI, GPM Damper bodies are threaded and I think they have shaft covers. Anyway, theres alot more hop-ups for the GH on ebay now! check it out!
By the way!, theres going to be a new 1/10 4WD electric buggy from KYOSHO. I'm sooo excited!!!! :D here's the link http://www.teamorion.com/global/global_news.asp?id=3047

[devilfish303]

Hi,

this is my first post on here, but i have been a bit of a lurker and read most of the posts, but i do have a question.

I want to keep the original wheels on the car but run treaded road tires.

can you guys point me in the direction of an internet site that sells front tires that will fit the standard wheels that have a road tread pattern.

a link to the tyre i requre would help me out loads as i'm having difficulty identifying what i want, as the fronts are narrower than the rears...

something like road hawgs in design but narrower.

Thanks in Advance


Devilfish

[bakabaka]

Hi S3VEN!

Cool, more hop-up options are always good. Not sure how the GPM dampers perform since they seem to be quite new, new, but the Tamiyas are pretty good. A lot better than what came with the buggy originally. The price on the GPM units is slightly cheaper, about US $10 less for the full set. Not bad at all.

It's great to see that they're making a front C hubs. The plastic ones on mine are a bit warped from the crashes and jumps, and the blue ones (at Dinball's RC Mart web store) look like they'll go nicely with the Tamiya hop-ups.

Have fun! :)

[bakabaka]

Hi Devilfish,

You might want to try the Pro-Line Dirt Hawg III 1/10 buggy tires in front, and the Dirt Hawg I tires in the rear. They're not exactly on-road, but for the DF-02 chassis (which is really intended for off-road surfaces) they're pretty close.

Have fun! :)

[S3VEN]

Hi bakabaka thanks for your insight! you the man! Anyway, I'm having a little problem with my GH. I just bought a new spur gear (67t) and installed it in my GH, this is my set-up Spur 67T, Pinion 19T, Motor Reedy 19 spec quad mag(pretty fast!), ESC LRP AI super reverse digital(not bad). I installed the new spur gear and after just a couple of minutes of test running I accidentally touched the wires connecting the ESC and the motor and they were really hot! I'm not sure if I should change the wires to a lower guage wire(bigger), change the bullet connectors to Deans, or just go back to 70T spur gear. I just wanted to get a little more speed from my Reedy motor before I move to brushless, any ideas anyone? Thanks!!!

[bakabaka]

Hi S3VEN!

Are the motor and ESC getting too hot as well? If not, using lower gauge wire and swapping the connectors for something better like Deans' certainly lowers resistance. That gives you less current loss to heat in the wires. If the motor's getting very hot, you might want to consider a heat sink if you don't have one already.

If the ESC is too hot though, short of getting a fan for it there isn't much that can be done aside from buying a model intended for higher loads. It's probably best to go back to the 70t in that case. All this assumes of course that you've already gone for full bearings.

Have fun! :)

[Techpriest]

I have a similar problem to S3ven, I am running my GH with 19turn and Novak XRS ESC. Batteries are 3200 NIMH packs. Gearing is stock, that's 19-70 if I recall. The ESC has thermal shutdown issues. ESC worked great in other vehicles so don't think it's bad, it just gets HOT in the GH, as does the motor.

I plan to go to brushless (Novak Super Sport) within a few weeks so don't want to hack up my body and mount heatsinks and fans for this ESC just yet. Was wondering if anyone went to a smaller pinion and noticed a drop in temp? What size gear is recommended for this motor? Yes, I do have bearings throughout and the drive-train rolls very smooth.


There is a race coming up this weekend and I was wanting to enter the GH. It is a once a year race and is ran in a grass field, not a real track. They cut the grass short and drop some dirt in piles to make jumps. That sounds perfect for my GH wearing the factory spikes! I can't have it shutting off in the middle of the race though. I can get some pinions in time but need to make sure and get the right ones. If I order now I can get the gears by Thurs, but after they come in it will be to late to order again.

I want to say that besides the heat issues the GH has ran flawlessly. I have been jumping, bashing and doing Olympic quality cartwheels and it has always come back for more. So far total cost to replace broken parts $0!

Off-topic but I ran my Thunder Tiger 1/8th scale buggy with HV-Maxx brushless power and 12 cells for the first time last night. WOW! Crazy fast! Run-time could be better, will try some different gearing.

[S3VEN]

Hi Priest!

It seems that the heat problem on my GH just went away after several more runs. The wires would heat up but only to a certain point then it wont go any hotter so no worries about melt-down. The ESC would get hot like normal but not burning hot, you can still touch it and that was after like 10-15 minutes of running. I guess something in your GH is binding or locking the wheels. Could be a string wrapped around the axel or a super tight screw or what not. I once fried my stock esc when some string got wrapped around the rear wheels/axel of my GH(really sucked!). Changing to a smaller pinions would definitely help cool down the motor and the esc, as tried by me on my Mini-T (basically the same for all cars). Also since you would be racing on grass you would need a fair bit of torque so you could drop to a smaller pinion(I find 19T torquey enough, but you decide). Best thing to do is check out the track and decide from there whats better. Anyway, I didn't know there was a 1/8 elec buggy. Cool! :)

[bakabaka]

Hi Techpriest!

A smaller pinion should help, if you have an 18t or lower you may want to give it a test run to see how warm things get. I haven't tried a modified motor in my gravel hound since I only have the stock ESC and an inexpensive 19t "taser" ESC aside from the brushless system. Anytime you decrease the load on the motor and ESC through, you lower the temperatures. If you let me know what gearing ends up working for the ESC/motor combination in your hound, I'd be happy to add an entry for it to the FAQ.

Have fun! :)

[bakabaka]

Hi S3VEN!

I wonder if the issue wasn't the lubricant being spread more evenly throughout the diff gears. Varying weights and amounts of grease definitely has an effect on how the differential performs from my experience.

Have fun! :)

[Techpriest]

I had the local shop order me a three gears smaller then the stock one, 13, 15 and 17 I think. Should give me some options and hopefully one of them will work out. Will post results.

I have checked drive train. Without motor it spins very freely. I have another 19 turn motor I think I will drop in there and see if that does anything as well.

Nobody makes an electric 1/8th that I am aware of. I bought an old nitro buggy without motor, used some parts from my Twin Force and made some parts myself.

[bakabaka]

Hi Techpriest,

The only thing I would mention is that the DF-02 can only take between 16t and 19t metric pinions with the 70t spur gear, and 19t through 22t pinions with the 67t spur. I'm not aware of any larger spur gears for the DF-02 at the moment, although I'd imagine the smaller spurs from the TT-01 would fit such that one could use larger pinions. I have no idea how useful they would be, since the stock motor and 5800 brushless system both seem pretty happy with the 67t spur and 19t pinion.

Have fun! :)

[Techpriest]

I wish somebody would make an adjustable motor mount. A hole at the bottom and a slot a the top so I can put any pinion on it I want and set my own gear mesh. I wonder if I could make one?

I see GPM is making metal shock towers. Anyone tried them? Are they the same dimensions as the plastic ones or do they improve the suspension geometery?

I put in a different motor (still 19turn) and moved the electronics around to try and get more air to the ESC. Will try it tonight and see if it will run without shutting down from heat.

Anyone know someone with a Tamiya Nitro Thunder or similar 1/10 nitro buggy? I am curious if their bodies would fit, but not curious enough to buy one just to try it.

[bakabaka]

Hi Techpriest,

I know that ThunderTech Racing makes adjustable motor mounts for a number of Tamiya chassis, however they don't have anything listed for the TT-01 or DF-02. Their motor mount page does say "Call about applications for other vehicles." Perhaps if someone (or maybe more than one) were to ask them nicely they might put something together for the DF-02/TT-01 chassis.

http://www.thundertechracing.com/motormnt.htm

Have fun! :)

[Wellington]

Hi

You people are really contagious! I have decided to order everything necessary to run my own Gravel Hound, and that is purely thanks to your passion. Mind you, I gathered my first pieces of information last May, and spent all summer trying to resist and to convincing me that I should not buy one, but the heart will get the better on me!

So thanks for the information about the list of main hop up parts that seem indispensable. I would be very grateful if you could just give me some more details. Does the kit come with:
- grease for the gears?
- oil for the dampers?
- foam for the tyres?

This thread is a real mine of advice, so I would not feel lost about grease and oils, but I know nuts about the foams and would be a bit annoyed if they are not included. My point is that I would like to order all that is necessary at the same time and not have to wait for another order to complete what could be missing.

I have close to no background in R/C. I have an electric Tamiya Lotus 107B that was my first car but I almost never ran it, and got discouraged very early after buying it. I should have started with a buggy and that is what I intend to do 11 years later.

Thanks in advance.

[bakabaka]

Hi Wellington,

The kit does come with grease and oil, however it doesn't come with tire (sic) foams. I'd imagine foams for any 4wd 1/10 scale buggy would work fine. I don't know for certain, since I haven't run foams in the stock buggy wheels just yet. The foams that came with the Dirt Hawg tires, which I'm running on HPI Super Nitro wheels, work great though.

Have fun! :)

[S3VEN]

The kit comes with grease for the gears, oil for the dampers. And NO foam for the tires. Hopefully you wont be discouraged this time, it's a really FUN buggy to bash!

[Wellington]

Hi Wellington,

The kit does come with grease and oil, however it doesn't come with tire (sic) foams. I'd imagine foams for any 4wd 1/10 scale buggy would work fine. I don't know for certain, since I haven't run foams in the stock buggy wheels just yet. The foams that came with the Dirt Hawg tires, which I'm running on HPI Super Nitro wheels, work great though.

Have fun! :)

Thank you!

Does that mean I could run the stock tires without foam in off road conditions?

As you mention Dirt Hawgs tires, which one do you use front and rear? I rear and III front or I on both axles? Do those rims need adjustment to fit the hubs?

[bakabaka]

Hi Wellington,

I can and do, they work well enough given that the buggy is massively overpowered with a brushless system. It still slips and slides from time to time due to the sheer amount of torque. Foams probably would help, but they're not necessary. I've been using the same wheels front and rear, with the wider Dirt Hawgs. When I need serious traction in the dirt, the stock tires go back on. The Super Nitro wheels fit the hubs with no adjustment. The HPI Super Nitro apparently also uses 12mm hex hubs.

If you haven't yet, you might want to browse through the (new and improved software version even!) DF-02 FAQ (http://xyzzy.dyn.dhs.org/df02/). It has lots of information about the configuration I'm using, various hop-ups that are available, and information which has been generously contributed by others from this forum.

Have fun! :)

[Techpriest]

I am smarter then I thought, got 16, 17 and 18 gears not the 13 and 15 like I thought. Can use them all with stock gear mount.

Race was rained out, has rained a lot around here lately, but I did get to try it on Sunday and still overheats with 17 tooth. It is my speedo. If you want to add to the FAQ that I do not recommend the Novak XRS ESC for this vehicle because of it's lack of heat sinks, feel free.

[bakabaka]

Hi Techpriest,

I think Novak sells heatsinks that you can add onto speed controls, it might be cheaper than buying another one. I'll add a note about that to the FAQ though. One data point, he Novak 5800 brushless system doesn't get too warm if I use stock gearing. It does get a bit toasty with the 67t spur gear.

Have fun! :)

[bakabaka]

Wow, I just had a look at the XRS on Tower's website... Not much opportunity to add a heatsink on that case ;) I guess it's just not the ideal ESC for this buggy.

Have fun! :)

[Wellington]

Hi!

Well, now the Gravel Hound is in the mail. Here come 1-2 weeks that will test my nerves!

I have had a look at the parts breakdown and I see that there seems to be 3 different locations for the spring/damper units ball connectors on front and rear lower arms. Has anyone experimented with the different settings?

[paulicat]

Hi Wellington,
The only big drawback with the gravel hound is the suspension is to soft/low and the chassis will easily smack the ground.
There are ways to fix this though, and bakabaka's site has a really good cheap way to do it. http://xyzzy.dyn.dhs.org/df02/ Check it out, lots of good info there.
Another way is to get better shocks. I havent gone the shock route, so I can't tell you which ones to get...

[bakabaka]

Even without modifying the suspension, using the red (hard) springs in the back and the yellow (medium) springs in the front with suitably heavyweight damper oil for each seemed to fix the issue for me. It's not ideal given, but it does work. Longer dampers should work. but only slightly longer due to the angle which the dogbones will be connecting to the outdrives.

I've found that when I use the standoff modification, the rear dogbones can sometimes pop out of the outdrives during large jumps or landings. I'm not sure which just yet. This has almost lead to me losing an outdrive a few times, so I've been looking into ways to keep them in a bit more securely.

Have fun! :)

[Techpriest]

Tried the Hound on a super-sticky indoor track (where I still am, aren't laptops with wireless cool?). It was making a racheting noise. I pulled the gear covers and the metal bevel gear on the back end of the drive shaft has all the teeth worn to an angle. The odd thing is that the metal gear is the one worn, the nylon gear looks fine. The gears are cheap and easy to get to, but I don't see how it will hold long with a brushless if I wore it out with a 19 turn. I did lube the gears as per instructions. Any source for stronger gears? Has anyone shimmed the bevel to get a tighter fit? I even have the plastic drive shaft still as I was hoping the flex would reduce the stress on the gears.

I have been jumping a lot, I know that is hard on the gears, but man this thing flies great! And when I don't land so well, nothing breaks.

Come on eBay, 2 days left on my auctions! I needs me a new brushless!

[Hound in Oz]

Hi all,
Ive finally managed to break the square rc front shock tower!!! Has anyone else had this happen? I hit my ramp at full speed (13t motor 67t spur) and landed very badly :eek: I have also broken the rear gear casing where the shock tower attatches, this is the second time now. It must have something to do with the sqaure rc rear brace making the tower too stiff and not allowing it to flex, the next weakest point is where the shock tower and gear case join, I may take it off. Hey Baka im having the some problem with my outdrives coming out, ive already lost one :( I love the extra ride height but I dont want to keep replacing the outdrives( the tamiya tt 01 ones) they are not cheap. I may try the hard springs and firm oil, it probably wont handle that well in the rough dirt though.
thanks

[Aluma]

thats why i got the BIG 2.2" truck wheels/tires...lots of ground clearance and traction a plenty for brushless cuz of the increased width of the tires.

[mrfudge]

This model seems very close my Tamiya Rising Storm electric buggy, they are TONS of fun. I was bashing it around my street yesterday, made it jump a 6 foot gap when I hit a jump on the street :D

[trakhak]

Car is cool, but I need something more, anyone interested e mail me for info

[TipsyMcStagger]

Never got around to posting a finished pic...here it is :)

Thanks for all the help.

http://imagehost.computingzone.net/userfiles/tipsymcstagger/DF02.jpg

[S3VEN]

Cool! what wheels and tires are you using?

[TipsyMcStagger]

Cool! what wheels and tires are you using?Thanks. I’m running HPI Super Star wheels with Pro Line Dirt Hawg I’s on all 4 corners.

Other hop-ups are the Robinson 19T pinion and Tamiya 67T spur, Tamiya TT-01 aluminum prop shaft, DuraTrax 5x11 SS bearings, Tamiya TT-01 metal motor mount, Tobee Craft universals, Square front carbon upright damper stay, Square damper ball ends. I think that’s pretty much it.

http://imagehost.computingzone.net/userfiles/tipsymcstagger/DF02A.jpg

[S3VEN]

Thats really cool! Looks like you solved the bottoming out problem. Looking at the pictures it looks like you have at least 1" of ground clearance. Anyway, I think the rising storm shell looks cooler than the gravel hound!

[Techpriest]

Got a bunch of stuff on order. Novak SuperSport brushless, complete set of Tobee Craft CVDs, GPM battery bar, Tamiya motor heat sink, GPM hex adapters, Tamiya drive shaft and some gears to replace my worn one and to have a spare on hand, and I had them throw some extra screw in just in case.

Tried to chase the prairie dogs today but the grass was to thick to get any real speed. A friend loves to chase them with his Revo and catch air off their mounds. Don't worry, you can never hit one, they drop in their holes before you get close. It does not make trying any less fun. Like a super-sized version of "Wack-A-Mole".

While talking to Tamiya today I was told they had Hound bodies in stock. Forgot to ask about the Storm. The wings normally break first, Tower has a lot of 1/10 lexan wings, most any should fit.

[TipsyMcStagger]

Well, I just had a great bashing session that lasted all of 12 seconds. I took a jump that resulted in an end-over-end tumble. The result was the right rear B6 assembly cracked where it connects to the C2 arm. It literally split open where the screw passes through B6 into C2 (couldn’t even find the screw!).

I think the self-tapping screws really are the weak link in the plastic. I’m going to consider rebuilding with a nut and bolt.

Anyway, what’s the best way to get my hands on a new B tree?

TIA.

Tipsy

http://imagehost.computingzone.net/userfiles/tipsymcstagger/Picture%20001%20%28Large%29.jpg
http://imagehost.computingzone.net/userfiles/tipsymcstagger/Picture%20002%20%28Large%29.jpg

[Techpriest]

Now might be the time to cosider aluminum rear uprights. It will replace the bearing carrier that you broke. I just checked eBay and the GPMs are going for about $11+shipping. They come in colors and will look good with the open wheels you have.

If you want plastic, I don't have my manual but on the back cover are the part numbers for the various trees and parts. If your in the US you can call 1-800-TAMIYAA (826-4988) and give them the part number and credit card number. They are in California so keep the time zones in mind when calling.

OOHH!! My sedan wheels fit on the Hound! They look silly, being so small, but they do fit. Going to drive it on the local indoor carpet track this weekend. Will have to give it a good cleaning first to keep from getting dirt on the carpet. Will get some pics.

[TipsyMcStagger]

Now might be the time to cosider aluminum rear uprights. It will replace the bearing carrier that you broke. I just checked eBay and the GPMs are going for about $11+shipping. They come in colors and will look good with the open wheels you have.I didn't even realize these were available.

It's the "alloy rear knuckle arm," correct?

Thanks.

Tipsy

[Techpriest]

I didn't even realize these were available.

It's the "alloy rear knuckle arm," correct?

Thanks.

Tipsy

That should be it :)

[teenflon5]

My brother in law has one of them. it is really fast, but it dosent have the default tamiya motor as shown on the photo. I love it but I wouldn't part with mine! It's the most annoying thing in the world to clean, but then again so are most Low RC cars! It's really cool on gravel (Hence gravel hound!), as it creates loads of dust whick looks cool, but is a mess to clean up. as you will know it is a 4 wheel drive car, with a bar down the center (sealed in a tube), It's shell is really cool and I don't usually like buggys but this one is the best!
it has a 9-8/10 from me!!!

[bakabaka]

Looks like Square has a few more parts out for the DF-02 chassis now. One of them is a carbon fiber plate, "Front Carbon Stiffener", to clean up the steering a bit. The other, "Carbon Rear Underplate", is a replacement plate for the back of the DF-02. Perhaps more importantly, it includes a replacement for the U-shaft that holds on the rear suspension arms. The original plastic plate held the U-shaft on, this looks to be a better way of holding it on.

Have fun! :)

[S3VEN]

Sorry for the noob question but does anyone know if the dirt hawg I/III tires will fit in the stock Tamiya rims?
I really have no idea how to match wheels and tires, I don't know what these numbers mean 2.2", 22mm etc. And Im not sure if I can mount just any wheel on the buggy . I'm really confused :confused:
Help anyone? Thanks!

[Wellington]

Sorry for the noob question but does anyone know if the dirt hawg I/III tires will fit in the stock Tamiya rims?
I really have no idea how to match wheels and tires, I don't know what these numbers mean 2.2", 22mm etc. And Im not sure if I can mount just any wheel on the buggy . I'm really confused :confused:
Help anyone? Thanks!

Like TipsyMcStagger, I have ordered HPI SS 5 spoke wheels to match the Dirt Hawg I. You may have seen that configuration here and there. If I am not mistaken, those rims are cheaper than the Tamiya ones, but I cannot say about their strength. The area where the spokes meet the rim looks quite large though, so I am not overly worried about that.

My Gravel Hound has in the mail for the last two weeks. I cannot wait for getting it!

[teenflon5]

Sorry for the noob question but does anyone know if the dirt hawg I/III tires will fit in the stock Tamiya rims?
I really have no idea how to match wheels and tires, I don't know what these numbers mean 2.2", 22mm etc. And Im not sure if I can mount just any wheel on the buggy . I'm really confused :confused:
Help anyone? Thanks!



2.2" Means 2.2 Inches

[S3VEN]

thanks guys! :)

[S3VEN]

I tried fitting Dirt Hawg I tires on my stock Tamiya rims (rear) and they fit fine if not perfectly. Haven't tried fitting Dirt Hawg III on my front rims yet but I have a good feeling they fit. It's just too bad that my Tamiya rims are not perfectly round anymore so Im going to change my rims after all :mad: . Don't get me wrong, I don't like the stock Tamiya rims it's just that money is an issue.

[MattHiggins]

This last weekend, I raced a very stock Gravel Hound in the 4WD Open Mod class at my local track. I dropped in a Reedy Spec 19-turn motor and changed nothing else. Fellow editors Peter Vieira and Kevin Hetmanski also raced. Pete had an equally stock Rising Storm (Trinity Chameleon 2 powered) and Kevin piloted a completely tricked out Baja King that Pete had built as a project. I had more fun racing these than I've had in years!

[bakabaka]

Hi MattHiggins!

Cool, how well did you do? Always interesting to see how people end up placing with the DF-02.

Have fun! :)

[MattHiggins]

We were thrilled with how well we did. Kevin and I both made it into the A-main and I never looked to see the final standings, but neither of us finished last. Our goal is to start a spec class with bone stock DF-02 chassis at our local track. I'm temped to do a low budget project racing DF-02. I think with the right mods, it could hang with the true racing 4WD buggies.

[bakabaka]

Sounds like fun, sure wish they'd start something like that around here. Where's the track if I might ask? Eotz placed 2nd against a few XXX4s last I heard, although it's been a while since he's posted. You might want to take a look at the DF-02 FAQ I'm maintaining. There's a reasonable amount of info there that's been distilled over the past several hundred postings along with a few contributors from this forum:http://xyzzy.dyn.dhs.org/df02/ Anyway, good luck with starting the spec DF-02 class.

Have fun! :)

[bakabaka]

Hi S3VEN,

The Dirt Hawg III tires should fit the front, since they're intended for the 2.2"/57mm front buggy wheels. As for those wheels, Tamiya has a full set of dish wheels that fit the buggy and are quite inexpensive at $10 for all four wheels. They're part number 53728, but I've had trouble finding them anywhere but Tamiya's website. A shame really, I may end up ordering a set or two from them directly.

Have fun! :)

[Eotz]

Hi.

Last sunday I race again with my DF-02. This time I finish at 3º place just after a Losi XXX4G+ and a Kyosho Lazer ZR but I finish in the same lap that the Kyosho. From last race I only changed the damper's oil weight. 25 at front and 35 at rear with tamiya's red coils at all dampers. And I dind't broke any part after 4 races :p .
I have just seen some new hop up options fot the DF-02 by Yeah! Racing and GPM at Dinball Store. I'm going to order all of they this week. I hope y recive the parts before my next race on day 25 of this month.

Bye. ;)

[Wellington]

Hi

I have finally received the beast and started to build it. Are there any assembly that should be particularly tight or loose in order to ensure the best behaviour or the buggy? All looks straight and fairly easy but I guess it has something to hide and I hate to learn things the hard way! Thanks!

[paulicat]

Only thing I would keep in mind, is if you plan on changing the spur gear, do it now before you build it...cause you have to tear it almost completely apart to change that sucker after!

[bakabaka]

Hi Wellington,

It's not performance related exactly, but be sure not to tighten the screws on the differential covers and pinion/spur gear covers too tightly. The plastic in those areas is fairly soft and has stripped for a few people here.

Have fun! :)

[paulicat]

Good point Bakabaka, as a side note, that happens on the tt-01 chassis as well...

[bakabaka]

I just had a look at Yeah Racing's hop-ups for the DF-02... They've added a few nice touches while engineering each part. Their hop-up front and rear shock towers each have 3 adjustment holes for the dampers, which is a nice change from the non-adustable stock parts. The lower rear suspension arms still have 3 holes, but they look a bit thinner than the stock arms. I think I'll be getting a few new hop-ups shortly, along with an extra entry for the FAQ. ;)

Have fun! :)

[S3VEN]

Got my GPM shocks 2 days ago and I'm really happy with it. To start it is at least 1cm longer than the stock Tamiya dampers +/- 1mm. It also uses a bigger spring(wider) completly different from the Tamiya springs. Performance wise it made a huge difference in damping. The buggy doesnt bottom out easily anymore especially the rear, the front is ok but I think the geometry is still the problem. My tires are also really bald now so it sits lower to the ground than before which doesnt help with the bottoming out problem. The dampers are pretty well made, looks killer too. Only downside is that the bladders can sometimes fall in the reservior if theres too much oil and if the cap is too tight. Also the shaft doesnt go back to all the way out when compressed. I believe all dampers should be able to do that. All in all Im really satisfied with it. It really responds well to a change in oil and it really improved the damping of the buggy. Really worth a try!

btw, can someone tell me how to post pics I really dont know :D

[paulicat]

The key to posting pics is the size limit...stick with 40 kb or so pics...I dont know the exact size limit, but thats what worked for me...oh, and dont forget to go advanced...

[teenflon5]

I tried fitting Dirt Hawg I tires on my stock Tamiya rims (rear) and they fit fine if not perfectly. Haven't tried fitting Dirt Hawg III on my front rims yet but I have a good feeling they fit. It's just too bad that my Tamiya rims are not perfectly round anymore so Im going to change my rims after all :mad: . Don't get me wrong, I don't like the stock Tamiya rims it's just that money is an issue.

How did you bend you'r rims? if it happens often you may want to get alloy rims as apposed to plastic. have a search on e-bay.

[Wellington]

Hi

So far assembling is okay. I only had one minor problem: the gear of the differential bell house had a bit of flash on its periphery interfering with the movement of the conical gear attached to the driveshaft. It was big enough to lift the whole differential from its chassis bed when I tested the gearing. The metal is soft enough though and I was able to simply cut off the parasitic flash. It has been an issue only for one differential. Unfortunately I am afraid I did not apply enough grease on the gears. I could not see how to go through the whole assembly with only 3 grams of grease, and I understand now I should not have been so shy. I guess I am in for an early check of the gears (winter is coming soon, that should not be a problem).

I did not notice the problem encountered by Taladas in post #829. I aligned the pignon 15 mm from the motor and it comes flush to the spur gear, engaged to it with all its width. I will keep an eye in case it loosens anyway.

[S3VEN]

The key to posting pics is the size limit...stick with 40 kb or so pics...I dont know the exact size limit, but thats what worked for me...oh, and dont forget to go advanced...

Thanks!

[S3VEN]

How did you bend you'r rims? if it happens often you may want to get alloy rims as apposed to plastic. have a search on e-bay.

I have a strong feeling that it happened when I mounted the stock tires on the rims. Maybe I was pulling the rims too hard, I really had to force it . For me that was the hardest part of the whole assembly.

[S3VEN]

This is the front damper.

[S3VEN]

Rear Damper.

[S3VEN]

Rear Damper.
....

[S3VEN]

This is the front damper.
....

[S3VEN]

My GH :D

[S3VEN]

My GH :D
....

[S3VEN]

....
....

[mikestoys]

hey guys... anybody know where i can buy a new body?

[bakabaka]

Hi mikestoys!

Tamiya USA apparently has some Gravel Hound bodies in stock, if you give them a call they should be able to send you one for their suggested price plus $7 shipping IIRC. Keep in mind that the decal sheets are sold separately. Alternately you could try calling your LHS and asking them to order one for you.

Tamiya USA doesn't list a price for the Rising Storm on their website though, and the last time I called they had none in stock and no plans to get them. I had to order the Rising Storm shells from Japan.

Have fun! :)

[paulicat]

Lookin' good S3VEN!!

[Wellington]

At last! The baby is alive and in good health! Well, that was just a little 5 min shake down in the basement yesterday evening, but everything seems ok so far. The motor makes a strange medium-pitched noise each time I press the throttle, but it may just be breaking in (nothing seems loose or grinding). The stock ESC is a beauty to set up.

I have had a nasty surprise when attaching the plastic fitting to the rear piston rod. It can only be inserted up to 2/3 of the piston filets but I discovered it the hard way. I tried to force it deeper and I must have damaged the filets of the insert. I found out when I probed its depth. At least it may prove to be a weakness only in extreme situations when the rear wheels are pushed down.

I just hope I will receive my paint cans very soon so that I can cover the beast and try some airborn time!

PS: the aluminum tape should be placed over the ESC, shouldn't it? (meaning the location in the manual is not an absolute one...)

[paulicat]

I put the aluminum tape over top the servo, when doing a full crank on the steering (cant remember left or right, Im at work :) ), the servo horn will actually rub against the body. So I put the tape right above the horn to help stop the horn from scraping the paint off...
Hope that helps, but maybe that was just me??

[bakabaka]

... I put the tape right above the horn to help stop the horn from scraping the paint off...
Hope that helps, but maybe that was just me??

That's what they did with the RTR, so I guess that's what it's for.

Have fun! :)

[mikestoys]

Hi mikestoys!

Tamiya USA apparently has some Gravel Hound bodies in stock, if you give them a call they should be able to send you one for their suggested price plus $7 shipping IIRC. Keep in mind that the decal sheets are sold separately. Alternately you could try calling your LHS and asking them to order one for you.

Tamiya USA doesn't list a price for the Rising Storm on their website though, and the last time I called they had none in stock and no plans to get them. I had to order the Rising Storm shells from Japan.

Have fun! :)


thanks for the info... the gravel hound body isnt too far from the rising storm, is it?

[paulicat]

Its fairly different, best is to check the pics in this thread, I know mine is in here somewhere!!

[bakabaka]

Hi mikestoys,

I have pictures of mine here, and a picture of one of the Rising Storm shells I picked up some time ago:

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

Have fun! :)

[growweirdstuf]

A few pages back, somebody mentioned converting the 4wd into a 2wd. How's that working out? Is there a noticeable improvement in acceleration?

[microrcdude]

No, nothing comapires to a 4WD buggy. 2WD buggys are just too much of a handful once you get used to these.

[bakabaka]

Hi growweirdstuf!

I believe it was jimbo_style who did that. If I recall correctly he mentioned that the primary gain was in battery life, with a bit more top end speed. Acceleration is probably better with 4WD on loose surfaces such as gravel and dirt though. You have better traction when 4 wheels have power. Even on high traction surfaces, 4WD helps with steering.

Have fun! :)

[kroutilm]

Hi all,
could anybody recommend me any tarmac tyres for my Gravel Hound? Preferrably produced by Tamiya. Do you know if tyres from Nitro Force fit to DF-02?

[devilfish303]

Hi!

My name is Chris and i've been lurking on here for ages thought i'd post some pics of my gravel hound showing some of the minor mod's i have done.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v612/devilfish303/CRW_1458.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v612/devilfish303/CRW_1457.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v612/devilfish303/CRW_1456.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v612/devilfish303/CRW_1459.jpg

Yes the front looks weird as i have cracked all of the plastic uprights/hubs and am waiting for my aluminium ones from the far east!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v612/devilfish303/CRW_1464.jpg

Rear star dish wheels fitted on the front... slight interferance but running it will wear it away - less than 0.3 mm really not a problem.

Tyres are Road Hawg 2.2" from proline fit well without glueing.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v612/devilfish303/CRW_1461.jpg

Fitted plastic/nylon nuts to suspension mounts to protect them when running upside down on tarmac! works a treat!!

and they fit front and rear!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v612/devilfish303/CRW_1463.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v612/devilfish303/CRW_1460.jpg

Final picture....

[bakabaka]

Hi devilfish303,

Interesting, are those Stadium Truck size tires you're using there? I didn't realize they'd fit that well on rear buggy wheels. HPI has wheels that fit both the front and rear of the buggy without any interference that you might want to look into, they fit the same size tires as the stock rear wheels. HPI also sells racing slicks for those wheels FWIW.

Have fun! :)

[mikestoys]

hey guys... im on dialup right now so im havin probs scrolling through this whole thread to search, but how can i regear this thing? the top end is ok with the 11double im runnin, but i want some low end torque... my 17 triple pede pops wheelies while my storm just kinda cruises...

[mikestoys]

oh yah, my buggy...

http://www.8x10proofs.com/Hobby/Buggy-0383a.jpg

[growweirdstuf]

Our GH comes with wide wheels on the back and narrow wheels on the front. I see many of you using the same width for both and front and back. What difference does that make? I'm mainly looking for quick acceleration, what do you recommend?

[bakabaka]

Hi mikestoys,

Looks nice! I'm starting to find that minimal can be good when painting a body. As for the gearing, I put up an article on gearing in the DF-02 FAQ I'm maintaining which might be useful for you:

http://xyzzy.dyn.dhs.org/df02/index.php?sid=1142&lang=en&action=artikel&cat=4&id=2&artlang=en

The basic idea is that lower turn motors tend to have less torque, but higher top end. A good 27 turn motor, like Trinity's Monster Stock motor, can be very good for torque. If you want more torque with a given motor, you put on a smaller pinion and/or larger spur gear.

Have fun! :)

[Aluma]

well, I finally did it. I got to run the DF02 truggy conversion I did at the track. Talk about starting off badly...I ran too soft a spring up front and was hooking/oversteering/flipping over forward when braking...It was horrible. switched to hard fronts/hard rear and it helped a BUNCH. Now I just have to figure out the right oil to use. I think I have to go something like 25wt or 20wt out back and maybe the same up front or higher. Once I got the hang of the new huge 2.2 bowties, I was zipping around pretty quickly. Plenty of steering too. Only bad thing that happened was one of the rear drivecups split open and allowed the universal shaft to get out...at the end of the last lap, before the finish line. :P I got third I think in Gas truck class..oh well, maybe next time.

[kroutilm]

oh yah, my buggy...

Hi mikestoys,
which tyres do you use? Can you recommend me something like this for my Gravel Hound?

[Techpriest]

Finally got my brushless. It is the Novak Super Sport, you can get it direct from Novak for $165 US.

I also have the metal battery bar because I had problems with battery bars coming unsoldered with the plastic stap. The Tamiya Motor Heat Sink fits perfect on the Novak 5800 motor.

I don't like antenna's sticking out of the body so you can see in the pic the antenna tube goes forward, wraps around the front body post and head back where it is taped to itself. I used a lighter and a little heat to get the tube to stay bent in the form I wanted. While it may hurt my range, I find that with my MR-3 FM radio I can still get far enough away to not see what I am doing, so that's all the range I need.

I have a set of Dirt Hawgs here, but am waiting on rims.

http://www.ourlair.com/images/ghtop.jpg

[Techpriest]

For rear shocks I used a set of Thunder Tiger 1/8th scale buggy shocks. They are longer then the stock ones so when it jumps the arms drop quite a bit, then it has plenty of room to soak up the landing before slapping bottom. Since they were designed for a lot more weight they were overly stiff, even with 25wt oil, so I cut 3 more notches in the piston in addition to the 1 it had to begin with. The 4 notches let more oil pass with less effort so they work much better now. I was afraid they would look freakishly big, but I think they look pretty good. They are designed to have black boots covering the shaft, but they are all torn up so I am going to try and get some new ones. The shock is designed for a heavy 1/8th scale buggy with it's extra thick shafts so they should not have any trouble taking a beating.

http://www.ourlair.com/images/ghback.jpg

[mikestoys]

Hi mikestoys,
which tyres do you use? Can you recommend me something like this for my Gravel Hound?

dirt hawgs i think... on super nitro rs4 wheels... saw it on an earlier post in here and went with the same setup...

[devilfish303]

Dont get me wrong the rears do fit on the front ok they are very tight tho.. not much clearance!

what i really want is a saloon body for my GH, so that it looks better. I love the looks of saloon cars but where i run mine it is impractical (broken tarmac/concrete) thus having a buggy. monster trucks are out too as they handle like pigs and are slow too.

So any ideas on a more realistic body that would fit? i know the shock towers are tall on this car but i dont mind cutting the body to fit.. just want a more realsitic looking car.

Devilfish.

[mikestoys]

Hi mikestoys,

Looks nice! I'm starting to find that minimal can be good when painting a body. As for the gearing, I put up an article on gearing in the DF-02 FAQ I'm maintaining which might be useful for you:

http://xyzzy.dyn.dhs.org/df02/index.php?sid=1142&lang=en&action=artikel&cat=4&id=2&artlang=en

The basic idea is that lower turn motors tend to have less torque, but higher top end. A good 27 turn motor, like Trinity's Monster Stock motor, can be very good for torque. If you want more torque with a given motor, you put on a smaller pinion and/or larger spur gear.

Have fun! :)

thanks for the tip.... i just need to find a larger spur gear now... i have the 13t pinion already...

[bakabaka]

Hi mikestoys,

I think you've got it geared down about as much as possible given the spur gears I'm aware of. The TT-01 gears fit, but they're all smaller AFAIK. Maybe there are custom spur gears out there, but I'm not aware of them. I'd certainly like a spur gear somewhere between the 67t and 70t though.

You might want to consider bigger tires and a motor intended for more torque, but keep in mind that the DF-02 is a very low to the ground chassis. Wheelies aren't really it's forte, although with the Novak SS5800 brushless system I'm able to pull a little one when landing from jumps if I time it right. The brushless system has loads of torque.

Have fun! :)

[growweirdstuf]

Here's two pics of my GH :)
http://www.angkorhostingdesign.com/larry2/gh1.jpg

http://www.angkorhostingdesign.com/larry2/gh2.jpg

[mikestoys]

darnit Baka... oh well... hahah... i am happy with the new wheel and tire setup i have now... they grip great on packed dirt and short grass... not lookin to pop wheelies like my pede, but some aggressive launches are certainly welcome... guess i will just keep this as is for now and maybe go back to a 17 triple...

[Techpriest]

Mentioned before I was having gear problems. Looked into it some more with the help of a friend. I have the Ball Diff in the rear. It has a nylon gear and that is what has worn. I have gone back to the stock gears and that seems to have solved the problem. Anyone else running the ball diff and not stripped it out? I have the brushless now, but it stripped with the 19 turn.

[MattRX]

Hi Guys

A while ago I managed to rip both the front wishbone pivot mounts off my Gravel Hound chassis. I tried to use the technique of superglue and cotton wool to glue them back on, but it didn't last.

I figured while I am transferring all the bits over to a new chassis I may as well try and strengthen it a little so I don't have the same problem again and try and rectify the sloppy suspension setup that the buggy has out of the box.

Old Chassis
http://www.freewebs.com/mattrx/Oldchassis.jpg

1. Make new U-Brackets. I bought some 3.2mm stainless steel TIG filler wire from a welding shop and bent up new brackets (was actually 3.15mm dia) the new brackets are thicker and longer.

2. Make new U-Brackets fit. As the pivot holes in the wishbones had already worn the new u-brackets fitted perfectly. As the new brackets are oversize they did not fit in the holes in the chassis. a 1/8" drill bit was the perfect size and the brackets are now a tight fit. As the holes in the wishbones wear I intend to drill the holes out and press in some replaceable nylon bushes.

http://www.freewebs.com/mattrx/UBracket1s.jpg
http://www.freewebs.com/mattrx/UBracket2s.jpg

3. Drill into the chassis. I made the new U-brackets longer so the open end now locks into holes that are drilled into the chassis as per the pics.

4. Fix the sloppy axels. I assume that I am not the only person with the problem that all four axels are a sloppy fit in the ball bearings. By my measurement the axels are 0.2mm undersize. The slop in the axels along with the slop in the wishbones allowed horrible positive camber to be induced on the front and the rear while cornering. I tried to overcome this by making adjustable upper control arms but I couldn't dial in enough static negative camber as the dog bones were interfering in the drive cups. This was a bad idea anyway as I was changing one thing to overcome a deficiency in another.

Anyway the easiest way I could think of to fill the gap with the axel bearings was to Loctite the axels in place using Loctite 641. This is a low bond strength adhesive for filling gaps in bearings. I left a thin film of oil on the axels when I glued them and I hope they will come out with a light tap (fingers crossed).

I have not had the chance to run the car yet, hopefully things will have improved for the better.

Matt

Edit:- Having problems getting pics to work

Can't see the pics -> Try here
http://www.freewebs.com/mattrx/gravelhound.htm

[rczmjls]

Greetings!

I'm in the process of building a Tamiya Rising Storm, but found a problem with the Futaba radio kit I've got (it's a 2PL kit with a R142JE receiver).
The problem is the power to the receiver. The Tamiya ESC (TEU101BK) has a conector to power the receiver but the conector doesn't fit. Also, in the receiver specifications it states the power between 4.8 and 6v, but I've measured the voltage at the ESC conector and it's the same as the battery (around 8.2v with the battery charged).
Does anyone has worked a solution around this problem? It's only a matter of changing the conector in th ESC? Does the receiver acepts that voltage?
I think some time ago someone had this problem, but I think it was solved changing the receiver for onether model.

(this message is also posted in the RC Electronics forum)

Regards,
Manuel

[S3VEN]

If I'm not mistaken the kit should come with an adapter to connect the esc to the reciever. But if you can't find it you can just cut the small plastic ridge on the side of the Futaba style connector to make it fit. About the voltage, I think it's fine coz' I used to have a 2PL and never had a problem with it.

Greetings!

I'm in the process of building a Tamiya Rising Storm, but found a problem with the Futaba radio kit I've got (it's a 2PL kit with a R142JE receiver).
The problem is the power to the receiver. The Tamiya ESC (TEU101BK) has a conector to power the receiver but the conector doesn't fit. Also, in the receiver specifications it states the power between 4.8 and 6v, but I've measured the voltage at the ESC conector and it's the same as the battery (around 8.2v with the battery charged).
Does anyone has worked a solution around this problem? It's only a matter of changing the conector in th ESC? Does the receiver acepts that voltage?
I think some time ago someone had this problem, but I think it was solved changing the receiver for onether model.

(this message is also posted in the RC Electronics forum)

Regards,
Manuel

[bakabaka]

Hi S3VEN,

That adapter is for non-Futaba receivers, so you can connect the ESC without having to remove the plastic polarity ridge from its connector. The BEC connector is actually thicker than a standard servo connector. I made the same mistake earlier in this thread.

That being said, there are external BECs which you could probably use which could be used to power the receiver. I've been toying with an R/C Helicopter as of late, and the more advanced hobby grade electric helicopters often use a separate BEC. A helicopter BEC could probably be used, but it might be cheaper to just get a Futaba 2 channel receiver that has a BEC built in. Alternately one might just run with a battery pack, but there's not a lot of space in the DF-02 for something like that.

Have fun! :)

[S3VEN]

That's why it looks funny! Oops my bad! :D

Hi S3VEN,

That adapter is for non-Futaba receivers, so you can connect the ESC without having to remove the plastic polarity ridge from its connector. The BEC connector is actually thicker than a standard servo connector. I made the same mistake earlier in this thread.

That being said, there are external BECs which you could probably use which could be used to power the receiver. I've been toying with an R/C Helicopter as of late, and the more advanced hobby grade electric helicopters often use a separate BEC. A helicopter BEC could probably be used, but it might be cheaper to just get a Futaba 2 channel receiver that has a BEC built in. Alternately one might just run with a battery pack, but there's not a lot of space in the DF-02 for something like that.

Have fun! :)

[rczmjls]

Thanks for the answers. I now understand that the R142JE hasn't BEC :(.
Sadly the Futaba site state it does: http://www.futaba-rc.com/radioaccys/futl26.html.

I think I need a R122JE...

Manuel

[Techpriest]

Thanks for the answers. I now understand that the R142JE hasn't BEC :(.
Sadly the Futaba site state it does: http://www.futaba-rc.com/radioaccys/futl26.html.


From what I understand BEC recievers are able to reduce the voltage internally so that they "see" 6v even if being feed 7.2v.

If it was me I would plug it in and see if it works. If it doesn't the extra voltage might ruin the reciever. I would not care because any reciever that does not have BEC is useless to me anyway and goes in the trash regardless.

If your still cautious you could contact Futaba and ask them.

[bakabaka]

Hi Techpriest,

You should get $20 to $30 for the R142je on ebay, judging from a quick search on recently completed auctions. That could fund the purchase of a R122JE. Actually, doing a similar search on the R122JE seems to indicate that it isn't selling very well. I suppose one could make a profit in the exchange.

Have fun! :)

[mikestoys]

wooo hoooo... k... i dont know why i didnt do this sooner, but i dropped a 13double trinity speed gems in my df02 today... i been runnin the speed gems 17 in my pede and bandit and they rip, but was runnin a cheap orion havok 11 in the tamiya... big difference in the speedgems... i can actually get it to jump now and the torque is just right and top end is still there... just wanted to share the excitement with you all... hahah

[ClodzillaIIIMan]

here is a few pics of my DF-02 Tamniya Rising Storm Buggy and this chassi is one of the best that Tamiya has came out with in the past year:-)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v502/maximumrcforum/DSC01928.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v502/maximumrcforum/DSC01933.jpg


LMK what you think of my Rising Storm DF-02 Buggy guys?

[Hound in Oz]

Hi all,
been a while since I last posted, I thought you might like to check out these jump clips. Its running a venom 13t motor, and most tamiya hop ups. My rearshock tower snapped on the first clip, and in the second my unis popped out :)

Matt.

Click here to watch houndinoz (http://media.putfile.com/houndinoz)

[thundershot]

got some questions guys.

1. has anyone tried fitting the metal outdrives, dogbones, wheel axle, inner spiral diff gear from a tlo1b or twindetonator? the gh gear diff looks similar to other tamiya kits but has a squarish socket instead of the old grooved socket.

2. the stock kingpins look like they are the same as tlo1b also, ryt? standard lightweight touring cars are cheaper and tougher if they are the same.

3. will the tt-01 alloy prop and motor mount fit the dfo2? tamiya hasn't made one specific to the df02 yet i think.

[paulicat]

Well, Im not sure about your other questions, but as far as the centre shaft and motor mount, yes they are the same as a TT-01's...

[MattRX]

The Tamiya TT01 alloy motor mount is supposed to fit the DF02, but it is to small to be clamped properly and allows the motor to move.

I am running a Novak brushless with the plastic motor mount and have not had any problems so far.

Matt

[microrcdude]

is there a way to further reinforce the stock plastic motor mount?

[Techpriest]

1. It looks like you would have a LOT of work on your hands to pull that off. Look at the exploded drawings and you will see the diffs look nothing alike, the DF02 has far fewer gears then the TL01B.

2. I have not tried the parts you mentioned. Have not had a problem yet with those so have not looked for an upgrade. If you try it let us know how it works.

3. I am using the Tamiya TT-01 metal motor mount with my Novak Brushless and have used it with brushed motors as well and it does not wiggle, it fits very snug. I am not doubting anyones word, just making an observation with my particular vehicle. I read that it wiggled before I bought it and planned to use electrical tape to take the slop out, but in my case I had no slop. I opted to keep the plastic drive shaft until it twists or breaks. If it lasts a long time I may replace it with another plastic one. I like the idea of some flex between my front and rear diffs for uneven landings and cartwheels.

Ripped my rear shock tower (stock) off the rear gear cover today. Read that somebody else did a similar thing. I will be getting a new rear gear cover then drilling the screw holes through and using longer bolts and nuts.

Love my 1/8th scale buggy shocks on the back. Tremendous improvement and no more "tail slapping".

[thundershot]

Tnx for the reply guys.

1. Looking at the manual the only difference I see is the large bevel gear having a squarish socket. The star shaft, washer, small bevel gear seems to be the same as any other tamiya kit; tlo1,tbo1,mo3,ta02,etc.
So if you change the large bevel gear maybe you can fit outdrives,dogbones,wheel axle from tlo1b. In fact the whole diff and gear housing in the df02 look very similar to my tbevo1 and tgx. tbevo1 had plastic ring gear while the tgx had metal ring gear

http://img361.imageshack.us/img361/8862/dfo24zh.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
DFO2


http://img361.imageshack.us/img361/8845/tlo1b2as.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
TLO1B

2. kingpins look the same as twin deto, tlo1, mo3 so i'll try to use the lightweight version kingpins from them.

3. So tamiya tt01 alloy center prop is direct fit. Just wondered why only a few used it. Alloy motor mount is 50/50.

btw, you can download manuals here. not sure if this has been posted yet
http://www.tamiya.com/english/rc/manuals.htm
very useful for people like me who buy used kits. ;)

[thundershot]

If you can fit the inside diff parts from tlo1b then you can definitely fit the oneways from standard tamiya kits. That would improve steering.


Also. I've seen people use the pajero and humvee tires from tamiya and using standard touring 26mm wheels. The tires are really cheap I think.

[Techpriest]

1. Sorry, I was looking at the whole diff, not just the inside parts. The inside parts looks the same but don't have any to try to make sure.

3. From reading the posts here it sounds like the metal drive shaft is a very common upgrade. Other then the reasons I already gave, I think the people that don't use it don't see any reason to spend $7 on a part you can't see once installed and in many cases, does not improve performance.

[rczmjls]

Still regarding my problem with the R142JE receiver, I've found it works powered from 7.2 v but for peace of mind I've made my own BEC circuit with a 7805 voltage regulator.

[thundershot]

Greetings!

I'm in the process of building a Tamiya Rising Storm, but found a problem with the Futaba radio kit I've got (it's a 2PL kit with a R142JE receiver).
The problem is the power to the receiver. The Tamiya ESC (TEU101BK) has a conector to power the receiver but the conector doesn't fit. Also, in the receiver specifications it states the power between 4.8 and 6v, but I've measured the voltage at the ESC conector and it's the same as the battery (around 8.2v with the battery charged).
Does anyone has worked a solution around this problem? It's only a matter of changing the conector in th ESC? Does the receiver acepts that voltage?
I think some time ago someone had this problem, but I think it was solved changing the receiver for onether model.

(this message is also posted in the RC Electronics forum)

Regards,
Manuel

I've got a 2pl radio set and it has bec. You have to plug the esc to the 2nd channel of the r142je and not the battery slot. Just use a hobby knife to cut the thin plastic on the male plug of the esc so it fits the rec slot. If I remember right, futaba has not produced a non bec 2 ch am rec since after 90's. My oldest one had to be powered by 4 AA batts but that was in the 80's.

[growweirdstuf]

Since it's close to changing over to daylight savings, I'm thinking about night driving. Just for kicks, I stuck 1 LED under the body. Looks cool, I think I'll rig up a 4 LED system for more brightness.

http://www.angkorhostingdesign.com/larry2/glow_hound1.jpg

http://www.angkorhostingdesign.com/larry2/glow_hound2.jpg

[microrcdude]

dang thats sweet!

[MattRX]

Hi Guys

I took my Gravel Hound out to the local BMX track and did some filming.

I managed to some serious air time, but unfortunately also did some major damage. I ripped the front wishbone mounts off the chassis. It was going to happen anyway as they had been damaged in a previous accident.

Anyway I hope you enjoy. (note video is approx 20mb)

If people really want I can compress it more but the picture quality will be s**t.

BMX Track Vid (http://www.freewebs.com/mattrx/GH%20The%20Movie_Low.avi)

Have a look here for some preview pics.

BMX track jumpimg (http://www.freewebs.com/mattrx/tamiyagravelhounddf02.htm)

Matt

[thundershot]

Hi MattRX, those were some awesome jumps. What hopups and setup do you have on you rc? The file is a bit big for less than 2 min and grainy. Low motion divx is old. :D

[Vundergah]

Is the Gravel Hound suitable for driving through dirt and some mud? And does the shell actually stop the dirt from flicking up into the chassis?

[bakabaka]

Hi Vundergah!

Dirt yes, but don't put it through the mud. There are holes under the chassis that will let the mud in, water and electronics are not a good combination.

Have fun! :)

[MattRX]

Hi Vundergah

You can drive the GH through gravel and mud. For some reason Tamiya put big holes in the chassis under the battery and motor. This is great for cooling when running on asphalt, but it allows everything into the chassis.

When I am running off road I cover the base with duct tape and also run a loop of tape to help close the shell in around the chassis.

This does work because not long ago I was at a BMX track near a friends house that had one puddle in it. I hit a bump running over a jump that pulled the car offline and it landed in the centre of the thick muddy puddle with just the roof of the cabin above mud level.

I ran over and dragged the GH out of the mud ASAP. I was lucky the water was thick and muddy and I had everything taped up, the mud hadn't filled the entire chassis. My reciever was drowned but I mount my brushless controller up high (for just that reason) and it hadn't gotten wet . I had to pull the reviever apart and rinse it under a tap as it was full of mud and rinse off the GH chassis. I blew it all dry with compressed air and luckily it still worked.

Thundershot
My GH has a Novak 5800 brushless and in the vid had 2.2" Dirt Hawg tyres. The tyres provide almost no grip but the ground clearance helps. I normally run the alloy DF02 shocks, but last time I was there I kept landing it on its lid and ground the top of the rear shocks off to almost nothing and ripped the rear shock tower off. Now I have a new rear wing that protects the top of the shocks and the shock tower.

Matt

[Vundergah]

Ah cool, are all the buggies on the DF-02 exactly the same except for the shells? Like the gravel hound and rising storm are exactly the same except for the shell right? Also, do the shells fit tightly over the tub to enclose it? Or are they loose and open like in touring cars? I've never owned an offroad car before :D

[thundershot]

Hi MattRX, did you hop up anything else besides the elec. shocks? how about some pics of your rc. :)
More vids please!! :)

[paulicat]

Vundergah,
You are right, everything except the shells are identical on the DF-02's.
The shell does fit pretty tight over the chassis, however, the rear of the shell is left open, presumably for cooling. But as someone (MattRX) just mentioned earlier, he duct tapes the rear closed.

[thundershot]

hmmm...this forum updates very slow. anyone know more forums besides rctech and radio control zone that has a df02 thread?

[vegasdrift]

Hi everyone,
I still have my RS. With these new hop ups that have come out from *Yeah! Racing and GPM, I'll probably keep my DF-02 and mod it some. I just have a question. Does andybody know if the aluminum arms from *Yeah! Racing will work with the aluminum C-hub and knuckles from GPM?

I can't wait to get my car running again.

[bakabaka]

Hi vegasdrift!

Great, good to hear you'll be getting it going again. I'm interested in the Yeah! racing parts myself, especially with all of the extra adjustment options they give. I've been busy dabbling with an RC heli and TB-02 kit as of late but I'm hoping to get working on modifying the DF-02 again soon. The parts look like they should fit together, and both are intended to work with stock equipment. I couldn't say whether they work for certain yet though.

Have fun! :)

[vegasdrift]

I guess I'll just try them and see. Or I may just stay with the stock arms, they're pretty beefy.

What do you guys think of the GPM aluminum shocks versus the Tamiya aluminum shocks? From what I understand the GPM's are longer but the Tamiya's are better quality. Will the extra few millimeters provided by the GPM shocks make a difference?

[szan]

Hi all,

I saw on Ebay that Dinball sells a complete hop ups set of Yeah! racing for 69.9$, it seems to be fine ! To be completed with some GPM hop ups...

Bye

Hi vegasdrift!

Great, good to hear you'll be getting it going again. I'm interested in the Yeah! racing parts myself, especially with all of the extra adjustment options they give. I've been busy dabbling with an RC heli and TB-02 kit as of late but I'm hoping to get working on modifying the DF-02 again soon. The parts look like they should fit together, and both are intended to work with stock equipment. I couldn't say whether they work for certain yet though.

Have fun! :)

[DMintscheff]

Hi Guys,
I am currently putting together a rising storm kit and have a question. I purchased the TT-01 Ball diff to put in the rear. Can anyone tell me how tight to adjust the diff before I install it? Right now I have it so it is pretty easy to turn. I will be running the sphere & Neo combo if that matters.

[Aluma]

Tighten it all the way, back off about 3/4 of a turn. hold one end and turn the other...check for smoothness...if its gritty..loosen it a little bit more. Now check to see if its actually holding by putting a L wrench through both outdrives and try to turn the gear itself...if it moves, tighten the diff a bit more. Do that, Back and forth until you get it just right.

[devilfish303]

Crashed it.....

Hit a concrete cirb whilst racing my mates rising storm, was pushed into it by him ;) on a corner....

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v612/devilfish303/Image00001.jpg

bent the connecting u pin.....

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v612/devilfish303/Image00003.jpg

Split and twitsed the upper diff case (front)...........

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v612/devilfish303/Image00004.jpg

tore the wishbone mount clean off!!!!!!!!!!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v612/devilfish303/Image00006.jpg

Waiting for spares!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[devilfish303]

Mark 2 Gravel hound.............

needed more ground clearance...............

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v612/devilfish303/Image00007.jpg

Mad Rising Storm... ;)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v612/devilfish303/Image00012.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v612/devilfish303/Image00011.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v612/devilfish303/Image00009.jpg

[thundershot]

Mark 2 Gravel hound.............

needed more ground clearance...............

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v612/devilfish303/Image00007.jpg

Mad Rising Storm... ;)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v612/devilfish303/Image00012.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v612/devilfish303/Image00011.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v612/devilfish303/Image00009.jpg

That's a cool bruggy. Are those blackfoot wheels,tires?
Does the stock shocks work for you? I thought everybody had issues with it.

[MattRX]

I took my Gravel Hound to an on road circuit to have a run against a friends V1S.

Unfortunately coming out of the last corner onto the straight on the first lap I kissed the wall. It was only a little love tap but it did quite a lot of damage.
http://www.freewebs.com/mattrx/GHNW1.jpg

You can see from the close up that where the king pins threads into the upright has cracked.
http://www.freewebs.com/mattrx/GHNW2.jpg

It was a real pity because a couple of guys with rather fancy looking (lots of carbon) on road electric cars turned up and I could have wooped their asses in an offroad (I enjoy doing that to people).

I took a few pics of the V1S as I have nothing else to do. Here is an action shot.
http://www.freewebs.com/mattrx/v1sPA130011.JPG

I have ordered some 'Yeah Racing' front and rear uprights and shock towers. Hopefully they will be able to live up to the abuse that I give it.

I will post some pics when it all arrives.

Matt

Once again i am having problems posting pics. You can see it all at Here (http://www.freewebs.com/mattrx/gravelhoundrepairsandmod.htm)

I have also made my video half the size (Thanks Thundershot) and it is avaliable here (http://www.freewebs.com/mattrx/tamiyagravelhounddf02.htm)

[devilfish303]

they are mad bull rear tyres and wheels. the stock shocks work fine for me!

[vegasdrift]

I took my Gravel Hound to an on road circuit to have a run against a friends V1S.

Unfortunately coming out of the last corner onto the straight on the first lap I kissed the wall. It was only a little love tap but it did quite a lot of damage.
You can see from the close up that where the king pins threads into the upright has cracked.


That's the exact same spot that I broke on my RS. It happened with a small impact for me also.

[vegasdrift]

Also, does anybody know what size ball cups the df-02 uses? I want to add some turnbuckles, but I need some that have the right diameter. Will 4-40s fit on the ball ends?

[Techpriest]

Also, does anybody know what size ball cups the df-02 uses? I want to add some turnbuckles, but I need some that have the right diameter. Will 4-40s fit on the ball ends?

I used RPM Heavy Duty Rod Ends (4-40 sized) and Lundsford Titanium Turnbuckles for the steering rods. Standard 1/10 sized stuff. The rod ends were a bit stiff at first but loosen up with use. Ends are $5 a pack, rods were just under $5 each.

Right now my Hound is down because I managed to bend on of the shock shafts on the 1/8 scale buggy shocks I am using at the rear. Most impressive. Hope to get it running tomorrow after a trip to the LHS.

[vegasdrift]

Thanks for the help. What length rods did you use?

[Techpriest]

I new that was coming next. The LHS has them in a box by size. I tried a bunch till one fit. I think it was 1.5". I will pull the ends off one and get an exact size in case anyone wants to order them over the web and can't eyeball them like I did and will post it. I will add it to FAQ as well.

[vegasdrift]

Thanks for the info.

[vegasdrift]

Can anyone comment on the difference between GPM aluminum shocks and Tamiya aluminum ones?

[S3VEN]

Can anyone comment on the difference between GPM aluminum shocks and Tamiya aluminum ones?

Hi! GPM shocks are a bit longer than the Tamiya ones, performace wise I'd say it is way better than the STOCK ones really helps with the bottoming out problem, it also responds well to a change in oil. I don't really know how it compares to the Tamiya aluminum coz' i don't have them. GPM shocks are also well made, the pistons don't wobble alot and it feels solid. Only complain is the springs on the GPM are much bigger than the Tamiya and I don't know if you can change the pistons to a different # holes, so you can't really tune it. Also I think the reservoir should be bigger. There also isn't any replacement parts for it in case you break something. I think the GPM shocks would be good for bashing and the Tamiya for racing, let's just put it that way. ;)

I also posted some pics comparing the two several pages back.

[Techpriest]

The following parts replace the Tamiya steering rods. They are much thicker and stronger. They also look pretty cool.

The Lunsford Titanium Tie-Rods I used were 1-3/8".
http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXY741&P=7

RPM Heavy Duty Rod Ends, 4-40
These come in a lot of colors. Search Tower for "RPM Rod End".

[Dr_Evil]

Hey i have stock shocks, i put all spring sizers on it and use the 1-hole pistons, all shocks filled to the top with stock oil, but for some reason the front shocks are a lot more sturdy than the rear shocks. The shock holder "nipples" are set at the inmost hole on the wheel arm, any suggestions why this could be?

[vegasdrift]

The stock rear shocks have to much of a gap between the piston and innerwall of the shock body. Too much oil is passing between that gap. The best solution is to buy aluminum shocks.

[Dr_Evil]

So are you saying this is a manufacturing fault, or is this done deliberately?

[Eotz]

Hi.

Last week I finally recived the GPM and Yeah's hop ups and yesterday I mount those options on my RS. First at all I must say that the car looks really cool. I'll try to show some pictures as soon as I can. About the options I want to say my impressions. All the parts fits very good on the car, in many cases better that the plastic originals. The GPM's parts seems strongers than Yeah's, but Yeah's shock towers have three different holes for the shocks increasing in this way the number of settings. GPM's shocks seems a lot to the 1/8 shocks and look strongers than tamiyas aluminiun ones. As I read before, the coils are widers than tamiya's, but I tried Schumcher's coils and fit ok on those shocks, so I think that will happend the same with Losi, Kyosho or associated coils. Those shocks are just a bit longer than tamiya's but just a few milimeters. I can't speak about the performance of this parts becouse I don't put the car on the track jet, but next sunday I have the last race of the year and I'll tell you after that race.

Bye :)