Turtle's Modified DF03ra

[Rebelspawn]

THANK YOU TURTLE!!!

I really appreciate your posts here and as soon as my Df03ra arrives I will come back here for inspiration.



Reb

[TURTLE]

Originally Posted by Lukescb7

Heres a pic with the hpi rally tires and wheels, The rally setup is way funner than the onroad/drifter setup. This is my only car with 32p gears so i need to order some bigger pinions.

Looks cool man, now get some sponsors!

Originally Posted by Rebelspawn

THANK YOU TURTLE!!!

Reb

Your welcome.


So I realized I forgot to do the rear differential write up so.

Rear Diff Mod
The rear differential of a DF03, is problematic at best., its a ball diff that has the tendency to melt down when too much power is applied.

So after some internet searching I found a cure, though the cure does end up locking the rear end, so the car does drive differentially.

The first thing you do is get these three items (and hang on to the old diff and parts with it)

Tamiya rear diff (part number: 51369)(comes with spur gears and idler in pack)

And this: Traxxas slipper pegs

And finally this: Yeah racing all metal outputs (DF03ra front outputs will work as well, as will some other brands of metal outputs, some companies also refer to them as steel rear diff joints).


Now all you do is insert the Traxxas slipper pegs into the holes in the diff where the balls would generally go. Try not to mushroom them when pusing them in it is a tight fit, but they do go. If you are having issues getting them in use a exacto knife to taper the end a little and something with a big flat surface to gently push them in.
Then assembly the diff as per the instructions.
Then instead of following the instructions tighting advice tighten the differential down, make it tight, but remember it is just a 2mm screw so don't go crazy.
Put it back in the car and thats it. No more worrying about rear diffs melting down.
And the best part, besides having to work on the car all the time? Sliding around corners like a real rally car.

[sally1800]

Ty

Do you have to use 05 Pinion Gear?

[TURTLE]

Originally Posted by saydee1800

Ty

Do you have to use 05 Pinion Gear?

It is a metric 48 pitch pinion gear, same as 90 percent of Tamiya vehicles.

I think it is a .06 though. I would have to double check it though.

[DRW-FJ40]

Hey Turtle, Great thread. I found it searching for info on Rally car/Df03ra. A lot of my friend are building SC tracks and while I've been pretty tempted by the SC trucks.... something about that 240z has gotten under my skin. This may be a noob question but I know so many people who have SC trucks & nobody who has a rally. How does the Df03ra compare to say... an box stock SC truck? I've been wanting to build a track in my scale ORV Park... just feelin' the need for speed but I'm addicted to scale... so I can make all kinds of cool little rally things for a track. plus, I've got a thing for Tamiya kits.

[TURTLE]

Originally Posted by DRW-FJ40

Hey Turtle, Great thread. I found it searching for info on Rally car/Df03ra. A lot of my friend are building SC tracks and while I've been pretty tempted by the SC trucks.... something about that 240z has gotten under my skin. This may be a noob question but I know so many people who have SC trucks & nobody who has a rally. How does the Df03ra compare to say... an box stock SC truck? I've been wanting to build a track in my scale ORV Park... just feelin' the need for speed but I'm addicted to scale... so I can make all kinds of cool little rally things for a track. plus, I've got a thing for Tamiya kits.

Legitiment question I will try to answer to the best of my ability.

For comparison I have had a Slash 2 wheel drive, SC10 and SC10 4x4. First of all the scale is a big difference, the SC trucks tower over the rally cars. The next thing is the amount of suspension and track width also is far greater then the rally cars.

On to the handling though, because of the larger size of the SC trucks they are able to handle better with higher speeds in straight aways, corners and jumps compared to the 1/10th rally cars. The rally cars handle like touring cars on dirt with more belly clearance (that is really all they are).

With that said I have sold my slash and SC10 4x4 because they were just not as fun to drive and didn't look as good as my rally car kicking up dirt everywhere.

Small bumps that would cause a rally car to buck wild seldom do anything to SC trucks and for me that was the problem. I love the technical driving that is involved when driving the rally cars, there is seldom a place where you can mindlessly punch the throttle and not worry about the outcome like you can with a SC truck.

In a race (depending on the size of the track) a SC truck would win 90 percent of the time. But I bet the guy driving the rally car is having more fun, because he is actually driving to his fullest abilities, working to keep the car on the track and when you manage to get a perfect dirt drift around a corner there is nothing like it. By no means are rally cars impossible to drive there is just more too it. This is the main reason we built a track to bring the level of challenge up a notch.

If your buddies are getting SC trucks it will be fun, it is always fun rubbing fenders with your buddies, but maybe having a rally car for some solo driving would not be a bad idea either. Plus you never know you might just get your friends hooked on the rally cars. Besides you can never have enough toys.

So what I would do is try to pick up a less expensive SC used and blow the rest of your money on a DF03RA or TB01 (TB01 the next rally write up I do).

Hope that helped.

[DRW-FJ40]

That helped a bunch. Thanks for taking the time. As far as my race budies go, they are mostly 2wd brushless. It's getting harder & harder to keep everyone in the same class. I have 3 kids too, all boys and the DF03RA has 4 body styles available, how convinient. one guy is trying to incorporate rally into his SC track & has some sort of modified drift car.

I've got a natural spot in my yard that I think will work well for a track. I'll plan to start a thread here so as not to hijack yours. I found this track site in Hawaii:

R/C Rally Racing, Track Design and Computer Assisted Laptimer

He had some good info on scale lenght but not width. I'll be looking for specs of real tracks and typical side line banners, cones, bridges, etc. to replicate. I've never followed real rally racing much so I don't know a lot of the specifics & I enjoy making scale stuff to compliment the track and want it to be realistic.

[TURTLE]

Originally Posted by DRW-FJ40

That helped a bunch. Thanks for taking the time. As far as my race budies go, they are mostly 2wd brushless. It's getting harder & harder to keep everyone in the same class. I have 3 kids too, all boys and the DF03RA has 4 body styles available, how convinient. one guy is trying to incorporate rally into his SC track & has some sort of modified drift car.

I've got a natural spot in my yard that I think will work well for a track. I'll plan to start a thread here so as not to hijack yours. I found this track site in Hawaii:

R/C Rally Racing, Track Design and Computer Assisted Laptimer

He had some good info on scale lenght but not width. I'll be looking for specs of real tracks and typical side line banners, cones, bridges, etc. to replicate. I've never followed real rally racing much so I don't know a lot of the specifics & I enjoy making scale stuff to compliment the track and want it to be realistic.

And even more bodies fit the 190mm sedan platform. I have used 4 different Subaru Impreza bodies now and there is one or two more out there. Tamiya is also coming out with a new Ford Escort WRC body that will fit this platform as well. Plus there are some other bodies out there like a Peugot, Citroen, Audi, Lancia, other fords etc. And those are just the rally cars. I think 99 percent of 190mm sedan touring bodies will fit this platform, so really the sky is the limit as far as bodies go.


As far as the track width Our HOON 470 track it is 18-24 inches wide, a few spots have gotten wider just due to cars sliding wide, but that is the general size. We also have a few hair pin turns, a chicane, some rolling jumps that are right next to 90 degree turns, a bridge, cattle guard, a few burms and some really fun linked corners.

Personally I think the fun is in the technical areas where speed does not do anything to help you win. faster then 15mph on our track and you are off. Which is nice because that means it doesn't take a big budget to win (good electronics) just good driving.

Good luck with your project I look forward to seeing it.

[sally1800]

Originally Posted by TURTLE

Note:

Yeah racing CVDs for the DF03RA are junk.

Do you have a part number for the Tamiya good ones?

[TURTLE]

Originally Posted by saydee1800

Do you have a part number for the Tamiya good ones?

The stock dogbones (measured as 39mm) are the same for the TT01, TA04, TL01, TB01 and DF03RA. so the CVD kits for any of those models should work for the DF03RA, but some of them have splines and not a pin style so be careful with what you buy.

I believe part number 53792 should work.

[Grizzly4x4]

Originally Posted by DRW-FJ40

That helped a bunch. Thanks for taking the time. As far as my race budies go, they are mostly 2wd brushless. It's getting harder & harder to keep everyone in the same class. I have 3 kids too, all boys and the DF03RA has 4 body styles available, how convinient. one guy is trying to incorporate rally into his SC track & has some sort of modified drift car.

I've got a natural spot in my yard that I think will work well for a track. I'll plan to start a thread here so as not to hijack yours. I found this track site in Hawaii:

R/C Rally Racing, Track Design and Computer Assisted Laptimer

He had some good info on scale lenght but not width. I'll be looking for specs of real tracks and typical side line banners, cones, bridges, etc. to replicate. I've never followed real rally racing much so I don't know a lot of the specifics & I enjoy making scale stuff to compliment the track and want it to be realistic.

Watch some of these videos to get some ideas for tracks and banners. These guys are hardcore.

from MonkeyRacing on Vimeo.

[binaryterror]

Turtle, I found the one way shaft really fixed the lightness of steering and allows the ball diffs to work more effectively.

[ev0l]

Some truly great shots, I love the action ones with the dirt frozen in the air.

[TURTLE]

Originally Posted by binaryterror

Turtle, I found the one way shaft really fixed the lightness of steering and allows the ball diffs to work more effectively.

Are you talking about a center one way or a front?

Im not a fan of the one way, you loose braking and reverse. The car doesn't feel as responsive to me, but I have only had a front one way.

Plus this car is just a loaner now. I drive the TB01 basically full time.

Originally Posted by ev0l

Some truly great shots, I love the action ones with the dirt frozen in the air.

Thanks man.

[binaryterror]

I run the center one way, really like how much better the car is. Though I've raced dirt for years in 2wd, so the loss in braking I can easily overcome and I drive differently than most do with 4wd vehicles. And when we ran 4wd I always put in one ways to bring back the steering that 4wd removes.

[TURTLE]

Originally Posted by binaryterror

I run the center one way, really like how much better the car is. Though I've raced dirt for years in 2wd, so the loss in braking I can easily overcome and I drive differently than most do with 4wd vehicles. And when we ran 4wd I always put in one ways to bring back the steering that 4wd removes.

Yeah I got ya. But the tracks we race on are so tight that you really need brakes and there is no one good enough to get away without having reverse.

If we start racing on "real" tracks I may have to try one out.

[stormridersp]

Thanks for sharing all this helpful info Turtle. And nice photography man, great lightning, nice shades and clean background!
I came to this topic accidentally while searching for some custom build sway bars and mods for my new RC, the Lancia DF-03ra and being myself also a big rally fan and a freelance photographer and I to salut you.

Back to the topic, I've noticed you also have another Tamiya rally chassis, the TB-01. Compared to the DF-03ra, how good is it and why? Back to the DF-03ra, I've locked the rear diff by replacing its balls with those small pegs. How's the handling on tarmac after that mod? I reckon that using drift tires it might do good, but with regular grip tires, doesn't it feels a bit too stiff and locked?

Mine is still pretty much stock but I've got already a broken bearing, that MA26 which fits just outside the front ball diff. It was wierd because I didnt crashed it what so ever, I was gently shaking down on a smooth hard concrete surface. Although I plan on adding some hop ups and mods, I don't intend on going to far. Maybe a mild brushless a central one way, alloys parts like dampers and stuff. I'm looking for durability instead of raw perfomance. Is there any other hint and advice that you can give on behalf of durability?

Cheers man

[stormridersp]

Let me start by thanking you for sharing these great info and great photographs. Being a photographer myself, its always delightful to see great photos specially when they´re related to rallying and R/C.
Do you have a website or online portfolio where we can check out your work?

Regarding your R/Cs, how do you compare your DF-03ra and the TB-01? I recently bought myself the Tamiya Lancia DF-03ra and after my 1st run ever, collected a broken bearing, that MA26 that fits just outside the front ball diff. It was wierd cause I didn´t crashed it what so ever during that shakedown run.

I´m also planning to mod it, but am focusing on durability instead of raw performance. Perhaps some mild brushless, but always having those troublesome diffs in mind. Is there any other advice/hints that you can give us on behalf of durability?

Regarding that mod that you´ve done in the rear diff, by adding those pegs you´ve actually locked the rear diff right? How´s the handling on tarmac after that? Have you ever considered adding custom sways bars to this chassis also?

Cheers

[TURTLE]

Originally Posted by stormridersp

Let me start by thanking you for sharing these great info and great photographs. Being a photographer myself, its always delightful to see great photos specially when they´re related to rallying and R/C.
Do you have a website or online portfolio where we can check out your work?

Regarding your R/Cs, how do you compare your DF-03ra and the TB-01? I recently bought myself the Tamiya Lancia DF-03ra and after my 1st run ever, collected a broken bearing, that MA26 that fits just outside the front ball diff. It was wierd cause I didn´t crashed it what so ever during that shakedown run.

I´m also planning to mod it, but am focusing on durability instead of raw performance. Perhaps some mild brushless, but always having those troublesome diffs in mind. Is there any other advice/hints that you can give us on behalf of durability?

Regarding that mod that you´ve done in the rear diff, by adding those pegs you´ve actually locked the rear diff right? How´s the handling on tarmac after that? Have you ever considered adding custom sways bars to this chassis also?

Cheers

Thanks man I appreciate it.
I currently don't have a website, but it is in process. I have photos spread across the net. If you google search Ty Giebel it should pull up some stuff. On the homepage of RCCrawler.com is also a few of my images.

DF03RA VS. TB01
They are both great cars, but I prefer the driving characteristics of the TB01, it is more balanced and handles much better then the DF03RA. I also like the weight placement of the TB01 better, the DF03Ra is very rear end heavy. The gear diifs of the TB01 also seem to be pretty solid as far as durability. The ball diffs of the DF03RA are good, at least the front ones, but keeping the rear end in one piece with a hot motor does become a task if you are not willing to mod the rear diff.

As far as your bearing issue, it sounds like you just got a bad bearing, look for wollowing in the plastic, but otherwise the car is probably fine.

As far as durability of the DF03RA the rear diff is the largest issue, The mod that is in this thread does lock the rear diff, it is probably possible to keep it open, by using all metal outputs and balls instead of the pegs, but I tried the pegs and have not had any issues in nearly 6 months, so I didn't feel a need to mess with it. For tight rally tracks the locked rear end didn't seem to hurt the car, yes it was a little twitchy, but still pretty easy to control.

At one point I was thinking about adding sway bars, but then I got the TB01 and fell in love. I still have my DF03RA, but it spends most of its time sitting on the shelf looking pretty covered in mud.

[stormridersp]

Thanks for your quick reply Turtle. Yesterday my new pair of 1510 rubber sealed bearings arrived and for my surprise when I'd opened the front gear box, what if I tell you that with no use what so ever from the time I'd discovered that first bearing, the other MA22 (1510) bearing was cracked just like the first one? That plein wierd cause when I first checked this bearing was ok! One bad bearing is fine, but 2 of the same bearings in the same gear box also mysteriously broken can't be simply coincidence, can it?