Turtle's Modified DF03ra

[TURTLE]

I have had the Tamiya DF03ra since fall of 2009 since then I have blown up differentials, spur gears, a knuckle, a slipper clutch, had steering binding issues and did I mention differentials.

But surfing the net and tinkering with the car over the last few years has allowed me to learn a few tricks to keep the car going with the "large" amount of power I like to put into my vehicles.

Through this thread I will try to show some of the mods and help answer all can about the DF03ra.

Plus if anyone else has some helpful guidelines about the DF03ra this might be a good place to put it.

[TURTLE]

This is a summary of what has been or is currently on my DF03ra.


Tires: Tamiya rally block and HPI pirrelli
Wheels: Tamiya- Ford Focus, 18 spoke, Lancer, 11 spoke
Battery: 5000mah 2S Thunder Power, 3000mah 2S Duratrax, 3800mah 2S Turnigy
Motor: 5700KV Castle Creations/Traxxas VLX brushless (3500KV)
ESC: Castle Creations Mamba Max
Servo: JR, Savox lowprofile
Trannsmitter/Reciever: Spektrum DX3R/3100, Futaba 4pl
Bodies: Tamiya 2008 Subaru Impreza WRC STI, Tamiya 2007 Subaru Impreza WRC STI, HPI 1998 Subaru Impreza WRC (190mm), Tamiya 2004 Subaru STI Impreza (190mm)
Shocks: Tamiya TRF Special metal dampers
Extras: Locked rear diff, Traxxas slipper pegs, yeah racing all metal rear diff outputs, 3Racing center shaft metal propeller joints


Body and wheel change.
























Tamiya 2004 Subaru STI Impreza (190mm)

[TURTLE]

So I finally took some body off shots.

I just changed the chassis out, the original developed a small crack that grew every now and then, so instead of it breaking while I was out playing I decided to replace it and add some yeah racing CVD's to the front and some metal steering components. I added the CVD's to the front for a couple reasons.
1.) To allow for increased steering throw, with the stock dog bones they would bind with too much throw, so the cvds helped with this.
2.) Sometimes in a bad crash it would pop a joint off and when this happens dog bones go flying usually never to be seen, the cvds wont go anywhere if there is a bad crash.
3.) Because I was unsure of the durability of these CVDs, I have only broken one dog bone so I knew they were ok to stay in the back where I don't have to worry about steering throw.

To also increase steering throw I shaved down a knob that was part of the chassis, it works as a stop for the steering, so to increase the throw it had to go.


Also you may notice that the gapping hole that the steering goes through is pretty non-existant. I used shrink wrap to fill this void to keep rocks from jamming the steering up. The shrink wrap is a single layer, cut to be flat and super glued to the corresponding area. If any parts have to be removed the shrink wrap can easily be cut off and a new piece re-glued. The shrink wrap allows the steering to move freely and keeps rocks out of the steering. I have been running this set up for almost a year and it works great, having almost zero issues with binding, as compared to stock where it binds almost constantly.


The center of the chassis has also bee dremeled out to allow room for larger batteries. The chassis fit a 6 cell NIMH battery perfectly, but with balance plugs and wires coming out of different locations with 2 cell lipos, its easier to remove some material from the front of the chassis then to force an oversized battery in, and in some cases damage the wires.
So far it has had no ill effect of the chassis, the area where it cracked was in the back under the motor, I only remove chassis material from the front, right behind the steering and inside the battery compartment also in the front.


I have a aftermarket motor plate with built in heat sinks for this, but with the stock spur/shaft combo (I.E. no slipper clutch) it will not clear the head sinks.


I use the VXL motor with this chassis I had to remove the wires and attach them to the outside of the motor, I also shortened the wires to clean up the look.



There is some heated generated fro the ESC motor combo, but most of the heat comes off the ESC rather then the motor, allowing for 10-15 minute cool down periods between batteries allows for some cooler running temperatures and longer lasting electronics.

Hexs:
You may have noticed that I am using the grey Traxxas "wide" hexs. I am doing this to get the tires a little farther out. Most of the bodies seem a little wide for the wheels, so to get a better look I pushed the width a little. But by doing this I had to go to a lower profile non-flanged nut to hold the wheels on. It has been a couple months with this setup and no issues yet.




Underbody:
The underbody keeps the chassis free of dirt, allowing for easier clean up and keeps debris off the electronics and center driveshaft.
This underbody is a dark impact buggy body, made for this chassis. The chassis has existing locations where body posts can be mounted, but to make it easier when doing battery changes and to keep a little more debris out I velcro'd the body to the chassis allowing for a tight seal on the chassis.



This is the Tamiya 2004 Subaru Impreza STI body, recently discontinued, but still found online. The tires are a HPI X-Pattern road tire. They provide high traction on asphalt and concrete terrain, so much in fact the car will traction roll at high speeds. To help solve this I will be adding a rear sway bar and increasing the camber to of help off set this effect. I primarily drive on dirt, but after raising the ride height I have noticed an increase in traction rolling, but the advantages of the taller ride height in rough off-road conditions outweigh the disadvantages.

[Almighty Malach]

Bringing this out tomorrow? I'm sure we can find some cool jumps for you

[TURTLE]

Originally Posted by Almighty Malach

Bringing this out tomorrow? I'm sure we can find some cool jumps for you

Yeah maybe. If I remember to grab some old tires for it, that road eats through them fast. Went through almost a new set one battery a couple weeks ago out there.

[Grumpster1980]

Awesome Thread! Tons of good information here! I also own a DF03RA but mine is bone stock. I did add a couple of different bodies to it....


Same RC just different shells!

[OSRC]

Great mods and write up! I run a highly modded TT chassis for rally, and keep my mildly modded DF03 for on road only. Glad to see I'm not the only rally nut out there.

[TURTLE]

Originally Posted by Grumpster1980

Awesome Thread! Tons of good information here! I also own a DF03RA but mine is bone stock. I did add a couple of different bodies to it....


Same RC just different shells!

Thank you and Very nice! If I was not such a Subaru nut I would try out a Delta or the hard to find Stratos.

Originally Posted by OSRC

Great mods and write up! I run a highly modded TT chassis for rally, and keep my mildly modded DF03 for on road only. Glad to see I'm not the only rally nut out there.

Very cool I just can't get enough of the rally.
Here is the track I drive on most of the time.
Still a work in progress, but tons of fun.

[Grumpster1980]

Dam! I am coming over to race! That is one awesome track!

[Lukescb7]

Very very nice rally you have there, mind me askin what shock and spring setup your running, im working on converting a drift/tc to rally.

[brianw]

Originally Posted by Lukescb7

Very very nice rally you have there, mind me askin what shock and spring setup your running, im working on converting a drift/tc to rally.

Sometimes I like to read the posts instead of looking at all the purty pitchers. This was in post #2:

Originally Posted by TURTLE

This is a summary of what has been or is currently on my DF03ra.

Shocks: Tamiya TRF Special metal dampers

[TURTLE]

Thanks for the help Brian. I am also using a Tamiya touring/rally spring pack. it came with three different spring types, soft, medium and hard.

[Lukescb7]

Originally Posted by brianw

Sometimes I like to read the posts instead of looking at all the purty pitchers. This was in post #2:

Sorry about that, i was distracted by the mob of Subarus.

[will16]

Originally Posted by TURTLE

This picture look like its a real raly car!! Great Job!!

[Knytemare]

Love the paintjobs on those scubies!

[TURTLE]

Thanks guys!

Note:

Yeah racing CVDs for the DF03RA are junk.

Ok we all know yeah racing parts are not built to the highest standard, within the first few battery packs the pins on the diff side have been eaten away to paper thin slices of metal the shafts themselves have also been eaten away were they contact the cup on the diff side. Granted there is some backlash when accelerating and breaking hard, I don't see an excuse for the poor quality of the CVDs. The stock dog bones are 100% better then the Yeah racing CVDs, but do lack the steering I am looking.

After some research I think the TT01 and DF03RA both use the same CVDs through Tamiya, so that is next on my list to try. With any luck they will hold up as well as the stock dogbones.

Oh and a poser of RPMJ's and my DF03RAs after getting them ready for a rally event tomorrow.

[brianw]

now we need pics from the event!

[TURTLE]

Originally Posted by brianw

now we need pics from the event!

Enjoy.

Most of the photos everyone shoots get throw in this thread. We currently race two classes Open 10th scale Rally and Stock Mini Trophy Truck.

Interest in Rally?

[Lukescb7]

Well you officially convinced me i needed a rally car. Took a drifter and gave it more travel, got some rally blocks and some hpi rally tires. And just got done painting up my body. Did an 04 sti.
Edit for some not nearly as good pics, still has the drift tires on in this one, the rally's fill in the wheel wells way more.

[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.