Trixx Project: Custom Tamiya TB01 Rally

[Trixxx]

Hello everyone! Quick intro... Ive been into RC for many years, started with a Tamiya Astute i got for xmas back in 1989. Anyone remember that buggy? Awesome car and i still have it in pristine condition.. Mech steering and all. Some years later I got my next big ticket RC... A Team Losi LST2. That thing was awesome and wish i still had it. I have a strong passion for micro RC and modding and making custom parts and stuff. My last project was converting a Rustler into a 1/8 buggy which is posted here: http://traxxas.com/forums/showthread.php?8901054-Rustler-Buggy-4 ... I also have many builds across several other forums. I am a huge fan of Dr. Kustoms build threads and since recently joining rccrawler i have really been enjoying TURTLE's rally threads. I came over to this forum when i decided i wanted to move toward 1/10 rally and have found the most useful info in these forums.

........ With a budget of approx. $300.00 i went to work surfing the net for the perfect platform to start with. I really wanted the HPI WR8 but it is rather pricey and it is RTR, i really wanted a kit car. Next i fell in love with the XV01 and after googling some info on it I first discovered rccrawler and TURTLEs XV01 thread. I began to read each of his threads on all the different rally cars and did further research on all of them all over the net....... I made a decision. The TB01, which seemed to be a solid rally car and could be found on ebay for pennies on the dollar. I won a kit for $50.00 and that gave me a huge budget for upgrades. I already have a Spektrum DX3e and SR3000 tx/rx unused, and castle Sidewinder SCT ESC w/ a 4 pole 3800kv bl motor. After looking thru my spare servos i just went with an extra Traxxas waterproof 2075. So with all the electronics at hand i still had that $250 to play with. Here is what i got so far:

Tamiya 20, 21 tooth steel pinion set
Tamiya 88, 72 tooth spur gears
Tamiya spring set 53163
Tamiya urethane bumper 51124
Tamiya Subaru Impreza WRX STi Team Arai body 51500
Tamiya stabilizer kit 53354
Tamiya aluminum steering kit 53365
Tamiya aluminum motor mount 53403
Tamiya hardened joint cups x2 53218
Hard steel front and rear CVD sets
Aluminum front and rear knuckles (If I hadn't saved so much $ I would have just gotten fronts)
Aluminum C-Hubs (Not sure i'll use these initially)
Aluminum wheel hexes
RcScrewz TB01 Stainless hex screw set
Dust cover (which wasn't in the TB01 kit)
Tamiya Rally block tire sets x4 50476
Wheels Suby Gold

I also got a bunch of 4-40 ball studs so i can switch out to the RPM 4-40 ball cups all around. Since i still had $ to spare i got a few extra sets of stock A-arms front and rear.

** a couple items i would like to get but not sure if i want to spend the $$$... The G-made shocks and the Tamiya light weight carbon drive shaft. What do you guys think ?

Here is the Tub. I like to fit my electronics in before I build to see how I want to route the wiring.

I haven't received all my parts yet but these showed up today. There are the XTM 4-40 ball studs. Also my Sidewinder, 3800kv BL motor, traxxas 2075 servo and SR3000 rx.

Just the wheels, tires and foams. All Tamiya. I also order a set of gold Suby wheels.

More to come..... I can't start building until my RcScrewz arrive, so I'm hoping they get here soon.

 

[sweli]

Great looking start!
Thanks for sharing the detail on what you are going to put in it!
Helps if anyone wants to build a simular rig!

 

[Tonysmini]

If you're after longevity, stick with the original steel prop shaft, the lightweight ones tend to round out the drives at each end where as I've never had a stock one fail, and I've got four TB01's.

If you can find it, the Long Arm kit (53430) improves the cars handling no end, but these are few and far between these days. You can build one by tracking down the parts individually but it costs a lot.

All I do to mine are steel pinions, alloy motor mount and steering, adjustable top arms, foam bumper and TG10 wide front bumper and the TG10 sway bar kits. Then I try bashing them to death which is almost impossible. The bodies get wrecked but the cars just keep on going.

 

[TURTLE]

Awesome man! Looks like a great start. I never did it with the TB01 but I would highly suggest looking into a long travel shock similar to what I did with my XV01. It works extremely well in the dirt and acts more like an off road vehicle then a tarmac car. Don't get me wrong I love the TB01, but more suspension travel was always one thing I wanted more of in the TB01.

 

[Trixxx]

Thanks guys. As someone who surfs forums and the net for info and ideas i understand the importance of good detail, product numbers, photos etc. i will be sure to include all that info otherwise its pointless.

I did read alot about the Long arm kit and will consider it later on after i drive this a bit. I also cant wait to play with modding, particularly the suspension, steering and mud guarding the chassis. Expect to see all that, and ill be taking some q's from TURTLE and other projects ive seen. Ill be sure to give credit to all those modders aswell.

Dying to get my rcscrews and other parts to start building. I did close up the motor vent hole on the underside.. Ill post some pics later today.

PS- im US Navy and live in Italy, so im on a totally different time zone. 6 hrs ahead of EST.

 

[Tonysmini]

I'm recently Ex British Army mate, odd time zones are our lives, lol.

Does your car come with the inner body and driver/co-driver set? I can't see any Velcro on your chassis. This is what's best about these cars, although they do tend to keep the heat in too.

 

[Trixxx]

I cut some plastic to fill the motor vent.

These showed up today.. I went ahead and built the stock shocks. The highest wt oil I had was 35 so I have to wait till the new oil I ordered gets here to fill them. To start out I'm going with TURTLEs' recommendation of 50 frt/30rear with soft sprint frt/ med in rear.

Because i'm impatient, I went ahead and cut the parts from the trees and staged them for when my RcSrewz get here.

 

[Trixxx]

@Tonysmini... No my kit came without the lexan tub cover, the drivers, tires, body decals or original box. Other then that everything was there like new. I did order a lexan tub cover on ebay though. Here is a link if anyone needs one. (seller is in Canada) http://www.ebay.com/itm/TOP-DUST-CO...racter_Radio_Control_Toys&hash=item23150c3f47

 

[Tonysmini]

Does it have metal diff rings? If they are plastic then you have the F40 kit, the steel ones are the rally cars. The plastic ones are almost as good but they do wear out faster.

Plus the metal gears sound better, just use a decent grease, I use motor cycle non fling chain grease on mine, I spray the metal parts in a bowl, then build up the diffs and gear boxes.

 

[Trixxx]

Yeah it has metal gears.. Its definitely the RA kit. I have some Tamiya black grease and white here.. Not sure which to use as all my others have ball diffs.

 

[Tonysmini]

Black on the metal parts.

 

[slegh]

ok, you got me on pins and needles here cant wait to see what your going pull.

 

[Trixxx]

I hope it doesn't disappoint you most of the build will primarily standard build up with option parts where needed. I am hoping to come up with some different ideas for weather proofing the chassis. I like what TURTLE did with the bike tube, i may try fabricating something simple but effective to accomplish the same end point. I will do lot of driving and will test suspension and steering with a goal of refining them and removing any slop. I would like to attempt getting some more suspension travel without actual buying a long arm kit (which i found online for........ $99.00 ;() i will probably cut some custom shock tower with higher mounting positions aswell. (i work alot with cutting CF parts)

 

[slegh]

unless your doing a box stock build you will not disapoint me. you could say i am easy to please.

 

[Trixxx]

Im expecting my stainless screw set to get here on monday (fingers crossed) so i can get started. Unfortunately all the other stuff is coming from Japan so it will be a bit longer. Even though I'm in Italy the military address works a bit differently, it all gets processed in San Francisco, California... So it goes from Japan, all the way to California then out to the east coast to New Jersey then to the base in Italy.... Horrible.

 

[slegh]

Im expecting my stainless screw set to get here on monday (fingers crossed) so i can get started. Unfortunately all the other stuff is coming from Japan so it will be a bit longer. Even though I'm in Italy the military address works a bit differently, it all gets processed in San Francisco, California... So it goes from Japan, all the way to California then out to the east coast to New Jersey then to the base in Italy.... Horrible.

wow that sucks i live in CA. i have ordered parts from japan and tower hobbies wich is in IL at the same time. parts from jap came in a day before my tower hobbies shipment did.

 

[Trixxx]

I know, the stuff from Japan is shipped fasted to the states. I was stationed in Ventura, CA and ordered from japan too.

 

[slegh]

if you want some more tb-01 info do a search for tb-01 resource thread. you will find me babbling on there but there is alot of good info on that thread.
just a heads up i ordered a tb-evo3 spur gear adapator i going to mill that baby so it will fit my tb-01. can you say good bye to tamiya gearing."thumbsup"

 

[Trixxx]

I did the search and it brought up nothing. Can you post a link?

 

[slegh]

here you go
Tamiya TB-01 Resource Thread!