Are these two Tamiya buggies worth it?

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Edit: Wait, did you film the video just for that reply?
No, that was filmed awhile back after I finished a bunch of mods to it.
Could you add some little metal flanged collar pieces or shims to fix it?
You probably could, but the real problem if you notice, the front upper arm isn't much of a triangle. It is just a straight bar basically. They would be better off if they had just used a turnbuckle there. But even then, the slop in the lower arms would still allow it to flop about.

It's just an all around sh!tty design that doesn't even hold up to toy grade standards, and to alleviate the problem would require more fabrication than I care to do at this time. I just got frustrated with the whole build after seeing that.

The original design using stock components had the arms/hinge pins as one complete plastic part with the pins. Those pins would just be rotating in holes embossed into the chassis and a piece that bolts to the diff cover, with grease as the only protection between plastic wearing out plastic. Really, really, really, really (continue really's for a couple miles) dumb design.

Sitting here thinking about this more, and I bet what happened was back in the 80's, Tamiya probably had guys with no engineering degrees designing their stuff. Just avid hobbyists with an eye for things. They came out with legends such as the Hornet, the Grasshopper, the Frog, the Bruiser, etc. Then comes retirement age and they were replaced by some guys who went to school for engineering at one of those blankets thrown down in an alleyway with everyone sitting on the blanket listening to some Billy Mays kinda guy teaching them product design 😜
 
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Phew, I was worried that you went through all that trouble just to film a short video for me! That arm/hinge pin design does seem to be weird...seems like it was just a quick concept to get the car running for testing, then some guy at Tamiya was like "Bah, I just want my paycheck and I want to get home to watch TV", and just gave that testing design as the final one. Just didn't think it all the way through, ya know? Now that I'm thinking about it though, designing/building an RC from scratch wouldn't be that easy, what with all the measurements, performance, durability, ease of cleaning, ect. and plus there are a boatload of RC hobbyists on the other side just waiting to pick your car to pieces lol!
 
Phew, I was worried that you went through all that trouble just to film a short video for me! That arm/hinge pin design does seem to be weird...seems like it was just a quick concept to get the car running for testing, then some guy at Tamiya was like "Bah, I just want my paycheck and I want to get home to watch TV", and just gave that testing design as the final one. Just didn't think it all the way through, ya know? Now that I'm thinking about it though, designing/building an RC from scratch wouldn't be that easy, what with all the measurements, performance, durability, ease of cleaning, ect. and plus there are a boatload of RC hobbyists on the other side just waiting to pick your car to pieces lol!
It is a design that deviates from standard practice just to be different, but it is a stupid design. I had plans to build sbout 5 more of those cars, but after seeing that, I can't even bring myself to assemble the 2nd one we bought.
 
No, that was filmed awhile back after I finished a bunch of mods to it.
Even guys on the TamiyaClub forum constantly complain about the TT-02. Everytime i mention it, i get told to go find yet another TT-01 (which, by the way is discontinued, but that has never stopped me before), and get rid of the 02 or use it for parts. I think the guy who designed it was actually one of their model designers, and he figured, hey, this works on the plastic models, why wouldnt it work on this too. Anything you want to know about any Tamiya kit you can find either on the TamiyaClub forum, or, from Tamiya Legends on YouTube:
This guy is literally everything Tamiya. I dont think he owns anything from any other company.
 
Even guys on the TamiyaClub forum constantly complain about the TT-02. Everytime i mention it, i get told to go find yet another TT-01 (which, by the way is discontinued, but that has never stopped me before), and get rid of the 02 or use it for parts. I think the guy who designed it was actually one of their model designers, and he figured, hey, this works on the plastic models, why wouldnt it work on this too. Anything you want to know about any Tamiya kit you can find either on the TamiyaClub forum, or, from Tamiya Legends on YouTube:
This guy is literally everything Tamiya. I dont think he owns anything from any other company.
Yeah, I watched that guy when I got the cars. He's a real fanboy there for sure. He has tons of Tamiya stuff.
 
It is a design that deviates from standard practice just to be different, but it is a stupid design. I had plans to build sbout 5 more of those cars, but after seeing that, I can't even bring myself to assemble the 2nd one we bought.
From what I've heard from the community, it seems that Tamiya kits focus more on the building rather than the driving. 5 more cars? Why did you buy so many?
 
From what I've heard from the community, it seems that Tamiya kits focus more on the building rather than the driving. 5 more cars? Why did you buy so many?
Oh, I only bought 2. But there were a few more kits that I wanted. I wanted the Subaru Rally car, the Ford GT, and the Porche. But I decided to pass.
 
Oh, I only bought 2. But there were a few more kits that I wanted. I wanted the Subaru Rally car, the Ford GT, and the Porche. But I decided to pass.
I cheated to get the '99 Subaru. I bought an XV-01 chassis kit, then bought the body separate, but, it hasn't even been opened yet. I also did that to get the Lancia Delta Integrate. Then I put Mitsubishi Evo bodies on my 2 TL-01 chassis.
 
If we want to talk major design flaws in tamiya products and I know this is a very dead horse but I still have to kick it...... the steering design on the clodbuster just plain sucks. Even the cpe vertical mount system I bought for it seems to suck mostly due to the fact you can't (or at least I can't) get the servo mounts to sit flush against the carbon fiber axle mount. Ended up using aluminum stand offs instead. Then you need to buy different steering links. It's just a mess. I'm ready to punt the clodbuster and the bullhead I have. One thing tamiya does really do well are the bodies. Even my txt-1 just sits on a shelf due to the poor quality in the gears. It makes a horrible sound that I can't figure out I've torn the transmission apart and taken the axles apart. Can't find the cause so it sits. I love the looks of the truck but won't run it anymore. Just my rant on tamiya chassis design lol
 
If we want to talk major design flaws in tamiya products and I know this is a very dead horse but I still have to kick it...... the steering design on the clodbuster just plain sucks. Even the cpe vertical mount system I bought for it seems to suck mostly due to the fact you can't (or at least I can't) get the servo mounts to sit flush against the carbon fiber axle mount. Ended up using aluminum stand offs instead. Then you need to buy different steering links. It's just a mess. I'm ready to punt the clodbuster and the bullhead I have. One thing tamiya does really do well are the bodies. Even my txt-1 just sits on a shelf due to the poor quality in the gears. It makes a horrible sound that I can't figure out I've torn the transmission apart and taken the axles apart. Can't find the cause so it sits. I love the looks of the truck but won't run it anymore. Just my rant on tamiya chassis design lol
I am glad I'm not the only one who has a gripe about it. Their bodies are beautiful, but that patented design they come up with for the 3 part molds (that Pro-Line is now using I think lol) to get the high inset front and rear facias leaves horrible mold lines in some of their bodies, right across the hood and rear deck or window (lazy designers). On the Mustang GT4, they aren't so noticeable (newer kit - less worn molds), but on the Ferrari F12 TDF body, it is freakin' horrible. If they took just a few minutes to rework that mold with a little putty, it would get rid of most of that.
 
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