Considering a CC-01...suggestions for upgrades?

[fyrstormer]

A lot of Tamiya builds seem to focus on "look at my cool paint job"; that's nice, but appearances have always been secondary to performance for me. If I can't make it work well, there's no point for me to make it look nice. With that in mind, I'm looking for suggestions to improve the performance of the CC-01 chassis, and I'll worry about whether to get a Landfreeder or a Unimog or a Pajero later.

I know about the Junfac 4-link kit and steel rear-center driveshaft, and I know about the GPM aluminum steering kit, but thus far that's all I've managed to figure out regarding necessary upgrades. Are there steel transmission gears and diff gears available? Longer shocks? Steel skidplates? Anything else worth getting?

[apsilon]

IMO if you're after performance over looks then the CC01 probably isn't the best choice for you. They're capable but the front suspension travel and "the brick" are two factors that hinder it. Both can be modded but you end up doing a lot of hacking and mods to get to a level a different chassis starts at.

Don't get me wrong, I have a nice CC01 which is pretty capable but I could've easily built something else which would be more capable in terms of crawling performance.

[eddievedder]

The CC01 is a "FUN" rig and can be very "realistic" depending on the body you run. Unimog body= not so realistic based on the independant front suspension, etc. FJ Cruiser body= realistic based on the IFS. The chassis itself has some great trail rig capabilities and with a few mods and the right tires, it can almost be a "go anywhere" type of trail rig.

To answer your question, definitely upgrade the suspension and steering. a nicer rear 4 link set up will help too. Tires are a big help. Broken in RC4WD Mud Thrashers are a good tire that isnt too big.

Check out some build threads here to get ideas.

[fyrstormer]

Originally Posted by apsilon

IMO if you're after performance over looks then the CC01 probably isn't the best choice for you. They're capable but the front suspension travel and "the brick" are two factors that hinder it. Both can be modded but you end up doing a lot of hacking and mods to get to a level a different chassis starts at.

Don't get me wrong, I have a nice CC01 which is pretty capable but I could've easily built something else which would be more capable in terms of crawling performance.

Well, I already have a Wraith so my "hardcore crawling" interest is satisfied. I'm just looking for a decent trail rig that can handle driving over smallish rocks on occasion.

How can the front suspension travel be improved?

Originally Posted by eddievedder

Check out some build threads here to get ideas.

That's what I've been doing. I haven't seen the kind of in-depth information I'm looking for.

[apsilon]

Originally Posted by fyrstormer

How can the front suspension travel be improved?

I gave up on the idea so I'm no expert. You can do some tweaks and make holes in the chassis and new shock mounts to mount longer shocks but there's no way around the short arms and they're the real limit.

You can get a little more travel by grinding away some stops or using GPM parts and I did manage to cobble together some shocks from various Tamiya parts that allowed me to take full advantage of that but I decided that was as far as I could be bothered going.

The Junfac stuff at the back makes a massive difference when combined with longer travel shocks, there's heaps of travel and flex available.

There's an easy way to lock the diffs by just repositioning one of the bevel gears in each diff which helps. Get some nice wheels and tyres to replace the hard Tamiya ones (got to be some of the worst tyres I've seen from Tamiya) and you've got a fairly capable scale rig.

Bearing kit is a must as they come with bushings (unless there's been updated kits I'm not aware of).

Lots of people recommend steel pinions but I've never seen the need. Pinion choice is very limited so lots of people including myself run gear reduction units (GRU) which is an easy mod with a little chassis cutting to get nice slow scale speed.

Steering is sloppy and there's no fully off the shelf fix. I've got the GPM steering kit and it's a bit of a disappointment and could've been stronger and better IMO but that along with GPM steering links does help.

Lots of people cut away and mod the front of the chassis known as "the brick" which significantly helps approach angle.

That's about all I can think of. These do make nice scale, realistic looking rigs but there are better choices performance wise.

[OSRC]

Everything you wanted to know, in 1 easy location.

CC01 tech thread. - RC Rock Crawlers & Scalers @ URC Forums

[fyrstormer]

Originally Posted by apsilon

These do make nice scale, realistic looking rigs but there are better choices performance wise.

Thanks for the information.

It's kind of disappointing that the CC01 isn't a very capable chassis. The other idea I had was a Mountain Rider, but a few people have told me it's even worse for real off-roading than the CC01 is, so now I'm just stumped. I would've thought a leaf-sprung solid-axle truck with a 3-speed gearbox would be great for off-roading.

Originally Posted by OSRC

Everything you wanted to know, in 1 easy location.

CC01 tech thread. - RC Rock Crawlers & Scalers @ URC Forums

Thanks, that's a great thread.

[apsilon]

Originally Posted by fyrstormer

It's kind of disappointing that the CC01 isn't a very capable chassis.

I wouldn't say it's not very capable, it's actually not bad with some mods, it's just that there are better options from a performance perspective.

I'd suggest checking out some vids of CC01s out trail running and see what you think.

[OSRC]

Bear in mind it was meant as a realistic, true to scale high-speed on road vehicle - originally released as the XC chassis in '93 I think (good lord, have I really been driving these trucks for 22 years??) These were around long before the word "Crawler" was a term in the RC world.

With a few basic mods, they do quite well - mine keeps up out on the trails just fine. But they are never going to outperform a purpose based crawler truck.

[stevetate12]

I have the pajero and the only mods I have done are gpm steering kit/tamiya cvd's in from 1.55 mtz's on 1.55 wagon wheels and gpm rear shock mounts for the purpose of relocating the mounting point of the lower link so they don't catch...cut off the brick and put on a skid plate and used an extra kit spider gear to lock the front diff.....mine follows scx10's all day only thing holding it back is ground clearance that can be fixed with bigger tires but I like it this way....on facebook our club is called "crawling tough news".....mines the blue one my buddy has the green one

[fyrstormer]

Originally Posted by apsilon

I wouldn't say it's not very capable, it's actually not bad with some mods, it's just that there are better options from a performance perspective.

I'd suggest checking out some vids of CC01s out trail running and see what you think.

That's actually how I found out about the CC01, from watching YouTube videos. I just want to have a comprehensive upgrade plan figured out ahead of time so I don't buy the truck and then spend months trying to figure out how to make it work as well as it possibly can.

[fyrstormer]

Originally Posted by OSRC

Bear in mind it was meant as a realistic, true to scale high-speed on road vehicle - originally released as the XC chassis in '93 I think (good lord, have I really been driving these trucks for 22 years??) These were around long before the word "Crawler" was a term in the RC world.

With a few basic mods, they do quite well - mine keeps up out on the trails just fine. But they are never going to outperform a purpose based crawler truck.

Fair enough. Wow, I had no idea the platform was that old. I wonder if it's partly responsible for the existence of crawlers these days?

[fyrstormer]

Originally Posted by stevetate12

I have the pajero and the only mods I have done are gpm steering kit/tamiya cvd's in from 1.55 mtz's on 1.55 wagon wheels and gpm rear shock mounts for the purpose of relocating the mounting point of the lower link so they don't catch...cut off the brick and put on a skid plate and used an extra kit spider gear to lock the front diff.....mine follows scx10's all day only thing holding it back is ground clearance that can be fixed with bigger tires but I like it this way....on facebook our club is called "crawling tough news".....mines the blue one my buddy has the green one

What kind of skidplate did you use? All the skidplates I've seen appear to be designed to attach to the "brick". Also, what are "mtz's"? I figure they're tires, but I don't know what the acronym stands for.

[stevetate12]

Actually its a custom one cut out of aluminum that I got from osrc on this thread....lol.....its kinda shaped like it should be lots of pics of it on our Facebook page"crawling tough news".....its the blue one......my buddy Sergio has the green one

[stevetate12]

Oh the tires are rc4wd Mickey Thompson mtz......they are the 1.55 version

[scalemadness]

The wife has a cc01 wrangler with the brick removed and a skid plate put in its place made out of .60 black styrene with the backside of the plate epoxy filled and the 1.55 mtzs are awesome scale tires imo on the cc 01 now to get the wife to actually run it and stop freaking out about scratches

[fullsizecrawler]

I sold my cc-01 pretty early on in the build , I did like the scale aspects of the truck . But it is small and give up a lot in the performance to cost ratio compared to it competition . The buy in is cheap but after you get where you were looking to go . you could have easily but something more suited to what you wanted . Now im not knocking the truck im just trying to give you the flip side of the coin

[scalemadness]

Originally Posted by fullsizecrawler

I sold my cc-01 pretty early on in the build , I did like the scale aspects of the truck . But it is small and give up a lot in the performance to cost ratio compared to it competition . The buy in is cheap but after you get where you were looking to go . you could have easily but something more suited to what you wanted . Now im not knocking the truck im just trying to give you the flip side of the coin

And i agree the cc01 is a fun little machine but even my leafed tf2 is more capable but also 2x the price but its a hell of alot easier to look scale out of the box with a cc01 than say an scx10 at a lower price tag. Just remember though the more scale you try to make any rig the less capable it becomes some rigs more than others lol tf2 is a prime example i tried to pull the trigger on a pajero last week but the wife shut me down something about too many toys not sure what else my selective hearing kicked in again

[stevetate12]

I dunno mine does pretty well on a range of diff things and I did spend much more ....i made and relocated the rear lower links for ground clearance that was free....i bought 4 tires and wheels gpm steering kit/cvd's/bearings......the brick/skid....all free to make mine and another one of us here keep up with scx10's all day......"crawling tough news" lots of pics of it.....mines the blue one

[fullsizecrawler]

keeping up with an scx10 is very vague , to say you truck does well is one thing . I had no problems at st pete's with my scx10 . I also climbed all the wraith hills . I don't thing think a cc-01 is that capable . but I will say a good driver can make up for what a truck might be lacking .