Hi, they handle really well....well now they do, not so much in the beginning while stock! Lol!
I used some build guide tips, mostly from nbTMM's guide on tamiyaclub.com.
>/https://www.tamiyaclub.com/forum/index.php?/topic/90391-tmms-tt02-tt02b-garage/<.
All of them are shimmed just about everywhere.
One tip I refused to listen to was to leave the motor cover off! Everyone said it traps heat, but if anyone paid attention to the screw holes for the air intake scoop they are exactly 30mm×30mm....PERFECT for a fan! So that's what I did, and the motors run VERY Cool and it looks Cool!
The stock steering is a mess and totally ruins the handling!!! Can't keep a straight line, or steer properly because way toooo much play. I replaced all of them with different brands of hopup steering upgrades. The ones with ball bearings work best. I replaced the stock steering pivot screws with longer countersunk screws and m3 nylon lock bolts attached underneath the chassis. I used spacers on the servo mount screws to push the steering servo forward so it was parallel to the pivot arm, all the cars have low profile servos. I made plastic covers to place under the steering linkage because rocks get trapped there and can block your steering ability, I used wallet gift cards for the material and covered them in matching vinyl sticker sheet material.
Another handling trick was to push the wheels out for a wider stance. I got the cheap metal/aluminum CV axles, but they ALL broke at the joint on the Aluminum side (don't get ANY aluminum+ CV axles for this car, they SNAP!). I found one of the cheap aluminum CV manufacturers on eBay used much longer steel Stub Axles! Longer threads meant I could use wider wheel spacers and more offset! But these axles like all the others quickly gave out at the aluminum joint! So I ordered Yeah Racing Hardened Steel Axles, took them apart, and put the longer threaded stub axels from the no name brand axles on the Y.R.'s, making some VERY tough and very long axles! I haven't broke any of them yet and I'm tracking wide!
Yet another mod I discovered is Sway Bars!
This is a sore spot for TT-02 owners as there simply aren't ANY sway bars sold for this car!!!!!!!!!!!
Well yes there is, I found an unadvertised set of sway bars sold as a replacement part for the "Yeah Racing #TATT-S04 - Tamiya TT02: Competition Touring Level Upgrade Kit", phew...what a mouthful! (That's what she said!)
So this is a complete front & rear sway bar kit but it is made specifically for the #TATT-S04 kit, meaning the sway bar links have attachment points meant to attach on the kit included suspension arms. So I had to come up with a few different installation modifications since I'm using several different A-arms across the cars. That was the fun part though. The sway arms are ball bearing raced and work very well. I ordered some different diameters of piano wire for
modifications and for adjustable anti roll tension.
For pavement bashing fun I added 38shore 26mm Contact foam tires to the front and 40shore 30mm Contacts in the rear for better hook up. The Differentials are shimmed and packed with anywhere from 20,000 to Kyosho 1,000,000 Silicone oil. Haven't had any issue with Differentials, but I still ordered TT-01 Diff cases and TT-01 metal gears, one car has the TT-01 Diff setup, others will get if they ever break.
I think the only other thing I did suspension wise was to add 2.5° to 3° Toe-In rear hubs and adjusted the front to about 1° to 1.5° toe-out. I upgraded them all to have aluminum hubs front and rear, as well as all aluminum adjustable upper arms (I would recommend turnbuckles for uppers though, especially on the front) and I adjusted the camber. I run stock lower arms since the lower aluminum arms get beat to hellO & back and bend so easily.
I added all aluminum propeller shafts and shaft joints and I used micron tape to shim the shaft bearings.
∆"Version 1:The Red 1" is the Tamiya Motul Autech GT-R. It has all Red upgrade parts and shocks and a SkyRC Ares Pro V3 8.5t motor w/ HobbyWing Quickrun BL120 120amp ESC. It's my shelf queen as my wife bought it for me. It handles very well. I have the Yeah Racing Qutus shocks on it.
∆"Version 2:BLUE" Has all blue and purple upgrades. It has a V.3 6.5t Surpass Rocket motor w/ a HobbyKing X-Car 120 amp ESC. The
X-Car 120a is a HobbyWing XeRun 120amp Version 2.1 clone so I flashed it's firmware with the HobbyWing XeRun firmware unlocking Turbo and BOOST functionality. I have the blue, all aluminum, RCJazz Touring shocks on it. This thing is a rocket. It will beat a Traxxas Drag Slash RTR SHAMEFULLY! And is a great speed run car. I use a Ford GT body for speed runs and a killerbody blue Skyline GT-R R34 Body for drag.
∆"Version 3:Third da Turd" (named affectionately) was supposed to be a scrap pile of parts but has turned out, over time, to be a tire destroying, un-flippable, screaming demon!!!!! It has a HobbyKing Trackstar 13.5t motor (soon to be replaced with a new Trackstar 9.5t just delivered) w/ a Trackstar 80amp Turbo ESC which is also a HobbyWing clone. I have Tamiya CVA shocks on it and it handles beautifully!
∆"Version 4:"the nameless one" has been a test bed & jack of all trades, it has had an original Astro-Flight Drag motor in it! It had the rather rare Tamiya TT-02T Sand Shacker Racing Truck parts on it, I found the kit parts trees on RCMart a while back! I have since retired those parts and body since it seems to have been discontinued. It had a Tamiya TT-01 one way diff in the front and a Yeah Racing Diff lock in the rear with the Yeah Racing Drift Steering kit on it making for some drifting fun!
And now it has had it's hubs flipped over and it's Arms reversed to make it taller and tighter. It's soon to have Rally tires (on their way from RCMart). Need to choose a Rally body though!
Do you have any opinions? Looking at a Hyundai i20 WRC, the Phat Bodies V-Rally body, or maybe the Tamiya Subaru Brat body!
I hope any of that history of blood, sweat, money and tears (and smiles) helps you. If you have any questions, ideas, or opinions PLEASE reply!
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