barnettgs' experience on new CC-02 build

[barnettgs]

Hi, I bought a CC-02 kit recently and I have only just finished building it today. I haven't started on body yet as the paint has not arrived in post yet.

CC-02 was a very different Tamiya build but not without Tamiya's quirks, that's for sure. I only got our first CC-01 in late 2018 and this time, it's CC-02. The reason I got CC-02 is because of CC-01 I have and also this old chassis has been around for well over 25 years, which is quite rare in RC world.

On building it, I noticed that it can be very easy to get things wrong or lost so I had to double, triple check some things before moving on to next task. Also because I was a bit worried about body mounts not lining up having read OS's building thread but I just checked the mount points with uncut body and they lined up fine.

On gluing part, I didn't use any glue at all because when I started the build, I didn't realise the box doesn't come with Tamiya's glue and also that I didn't have any. However, during the building parts with nuts that requires gluing, I soon realised that glue was used merely just to hold nuts in place, to stop them becoming loose or falling off when bolting them in. So it was quite fiddly to hold/keep nuts in place whilst bolting them in without the glue so it all went ok, apart from one nut that rotates a bit on when I tightened bolt in!

Chassis rails were complicated but interesting and using bolts & nuts to hold them to the chassis, I understand that screws would not able to hold chassis/chassis rails tightly in such a force that bolts/nuts do and also that bolts/nuts were used, probably because the chassis rails are plastic. Had it been steel, there would be probably no need for bolts/nuts but it seems Tamiya has taken a completely different direction. Loads of steps needed to do just to assemble rail chassis, maybe Tamiya have other plans for this chassis in the near future, who knows.

On servo, I have Futuba standard sized servo, it turned out that it can not fit go in standard servo mount so I had to change it to upright at the end. Thankfully, just only needed to unscrew top of front shocks and then unscrew a couple of bolts & rotate the servo mount.

Regarding steering with front shock units, I just tested 3rd party 96cm tyre/wheel that was fitted to CC-01 Defender and it does touch the shock unit. That is strange but I think something as simple as a wider hex would sort it this out.

Overall, in term of realistic scale, CC-01 is quite a tough one to beat because it has IFS and bath-tub style chassis which is what got me interested in it in the first place. Great for realistic scale driving and similar to real life 4x4 chassis.

While CC-02 is better in crawling & trailing than CC-01, I'm not so sure about where it stands because without IFS, it basically pits itself against bigger & better rivals for similar money apart from bodies. However, I went for CC-02 because of Tamiya's support & longevity. Would be interesting to see what they plan to come up with CC-02 next.

Few good things I can say about CC-02 is that it has superior chassis articulation, better centre of gravity despite being higher, due to the location of battery and motor/centre gearbox, longer shocks, extra steering angle. But when you see CC-02 in flesh, CC-01 is looking quite old!

I hope to post some pictures soon when I get the body finished. Also without the body as well.

EDITED: Prior to building this kit, I have read a couple of CC-02 build threads in this forum but have not yet to hear about their experience running them outside?

[barnettgs]

All right, just had a few quick runs with it on flat ground today, without the body (still awaiting paint), to see what is it like . I was not convinced about CC-02 steering after I had built it (My first kit with front axle) but my concerns were unfounded only a short time after running it for the first time.

Got to say that CC-02 feels much leaner, sharper and quieter than CC-01 and kept straight lines much better than CC-01 in both forwards and reverse (seems very little if no slop at all), having it running beside CC-01 with its stock wheels/tires back on. Made CC-01 sounds very noisy...

Also it feels very solid, however, it's hard to pinpoint something but I have to say it surprised me and I was impressed. Just a quick climbing, it was more assured with plenty of clearance but of course, stock tyres let it down.

I have to say it is a very good chassis, just that it doesn't look like it when I was building it....just need to change to gripper tyres but got to find extra wide wheel hex clamps...to avoid touching the front shock tower when turning.

Turning radius is similar to CC-01 (with its hub pins clipped off) with both on stock wheels/tires. However, when I put grippy 3rd party wheels/tyres back to CC-01, its turning radius was enlarged a bit by 5cm-ish! Thought it was meant to be shorter...

Here are a few pictures of CC-01 and CC-02, you can see what they are like next to each other.

[nowinaminite]

Have you had a chance to drive it off road much yet?


I also assumed at first that it would best the 01 off road but perhaps not be as good on-road with the solid axle at the front but it seems to be pretty versatile and arguably better behaved on-road. From watching a few videos of it in action, the suspension seems pretty responsive even over mild terrain like rough tarmac and fine gravel. I thought it might lack refinement on those surfaces and make up for it off road but it seems to cope well on most surfaces. CC01 seems like it should be better mannered away from the trails but it's not really.

Despite initially seeming like it would have a performance more heavily stacked toward off roading, the CC02 seems to be a worthy successor and takes the versatility to a new level.

[barnettgs]

Originally Posted by nowinaminite

Have you had a chance to drive it off road much yet?

I also assumed at first that it would best the 01 off road but perhaps not be as good on-road with the solid axle at the front but it seems to be pretty versatile and arguably better behaved on-road. From watching a few videos of it in action, the suspension seems pretty responsive even over mild terrain like rough tarmac and fine gravel. I thought it might lack refinement on those surfaces and make up for it off road but it seems to cope well on most surfaces. CC01 seems like it should be better mannered away from the trails but it's not really.

Despite initially seeming like it would have a performance more heavily stacked toward off roading, the CC02 seems to be a worthy successor and takes the versatility to a new level.

Yes, had a run with it beside Tamiya CC-01 last month mostly on flat surface and a few climbs of slopes. The CC-02 chassis is way more capable with much better suspension and smoother & longer shocks.

I think there is no contest between them, tranmission is much smoother. I had to shim my CC-01 rear axle gearbox to mesh well. Didn't need to do anything on CC-02 gears.

In term of design, quality, materials, build etc, CC-02 is definitely a step up or two and with its huge ground clearance so crawling & trailing shouldn't be a problem. However, I still have not got around to getting softer tyres to fit on it to climb better.

However, I still like CC-01 and it has its charm, although it is more ideal for trailing and a bit of crawling.