New Tamiya buggy

[Landcruiser]

Where would be a good place to race an electric buggy like this one? Are there there some guys around who race electric?

http://www.tamiyausa.com/product/item.php?product-id=49401

[GoFaster]

Mikes or maybe k&M. Mikes would be the best though.

[AHR43]

Buddy, buddy, buddy - that buggy's gonna draw a crowd no matter where you take it! Good to see Big T taking 4WD dirt serious again.

I've always liked M&M for shakedown runs. It's a short track where you don't have to walk a mile to recover a new buggy while getting it set up.

//AC//

[Landcruiser]

I got one on the way. I hope it does not take me forever and a day to find time to build it.

[Landcruiser]

Well, I got my new toy yesterday and I could not wait to open her up and start the build. Got the center bulkhead assembled and the rear and front diffs installed and the belts ran to the front and back. Tonight I hope to wrap up the front steering and suspension and finish the rear suspension.

I think I may need some help with the diffs and slipper clutch. I don't know where to set them with just hand feel for the initial set up. Maye some of you guys have worked with this type of set up before and can give me some pointers. I just want to get it close so I don't have to break everything down just to adjust the diffs and clutch so they somewhat work right out of the gate. I can fine tune from a good starting point, but I don't know where that point is. I hope I made myself clear.

Also I will need paint help. Anyone in town know a good paint person? I kind of have an idea in my head as to what I want the sceme to look like, I just need someone who knows how to lay it down for me.

[mongo88]

That thing has some interestnig features. Slippers on each diff?? Are they externally adjustable or do you have to set them out of the car? Sounds like you can dial in the diff action with those like you do an 8th scaler does with different weight diff oil. Be sweet if its externally adjustable for quick changes.

Where did you order this from? Always forget who distributes Tamiya's stuff here in the US.

[Landcruiser]

You can adjust them externaly, if you release the suspension so you can get to the lock nut. The slipper clutch is easy to adjust with no breaking down of anything. I went throuhg the settings and got it set up a little better last night. I got to hang all the suspension arms and shocks and stuff and I will be finished. Well, I still need a new motor and ESC and some new batteries.


I got the kit from RC Champ. I had pre-ordered it a couple of months ago and kind of forgot about it. They e-mailed me last week and told me the kits were in and ready to ship so I jumped on one. I have order from them a couple of times, and they have some fast service. Packages arrive in around 3 days from Japan.

[AHR43]

Hey Landcruiser,
Good news on you getting the BigT kit, and you were worried about how long it would take you to build it. Sounds like no problemo.

RCCA (Radio Control Car Action) featured an article 'how to: understanding differentials' in the Dec 2006 issue, p.232. They referenced Tamiya style diffs frequently in that article. Could be its too basic for you, but I fould it interesting and useful.

I can hardly wait to see the images you post of it. What are your plans for motor, ESC (Controller??) and Battery?
//AC//

[Landcruiser]

I will have to look for that article. Do they post past articles on-line anywhere? Any amount of info I can get will be helpfull to me. This is my first new RC buggy since the fisrt RC10's and 12's back in the late 80's. I seriously have not ran RC since back then, but just recently got back interested in building again. This thing is leaps and bounds above the old RC10's. I got some pics of my progress, but I don't have anyway to upload them to my comp here at work. I will get a CD made and post some shots.

My plan is to run the Transpeed MS motor http://www.rcmart.com/catalog/product_info3.php?cPath=293_944&products_id=17988&osCsid=acc235b7b083efce1fc043547167dd03

and VOLAC MS ESC http://www.rcmart.com/catalog/product_info3.php?cPath=36_51&products_id=12496

I got a new Spektrum DX3.0 radio, and I might go ahead and get the new pro reciever for this new buggy. I have 2 of the regular recievers for the radio, so that would work, but after this much, I might as well go first class. I'm thinking about the Intellect IB4200WE batteries. http://smc-racing.com/

That should get me running. Now I need to figure out how to paint the thing.

[AHR43]

Hey Landcruiser,
Here's the RCCA website: http://rccaraction.com (http://rccaraction.com/)
There were feature articles posted online; but not the diff article. If you can't find the article locally, PM me an Email and I will scan it and send to you as an attachment.
The motor and ESC look like good choices to me, but then all my off-raod experience is dated. The SMC link is interesting. I didn't have that one. Thanks.
//AC//

[cjtamu]

Man, I've been waiting for that buggy to come out. I haven't done anything RC related in weeks, didn't even realize it was here. The motor you're getting looks just like a Pavidis Edition Orion, which you can get for about $15 less here. I would recommend the Team Checkpoints over the v-brush, I have a couple and I lve them. Smiley is running them also. KO Propo makes good stuff, but you'll want to run a Schottky diode and a power cap for 4wd, they really tend to heat up the motors and speedo. I know Dave Carter still has his 4wd and a few other guys at K&M run them. Not sure about Mike's, but the rumor was several guys were going to buy 4wd.

[Landcruiser]

Thanks for the info. I will look into other motor and ESC choices. The ESC I was looking at has been discontinued. I definately need some direction on the right chices for this set up. This is my first 4 wheel drive RC buggy. It sure is a nice.I can't wait to get it all ready to run somewhere.

[cjtamu]

Doesn't matter what speedo you run, you're still going to want a power cap and Schottky diode. 4wd puts a lot of demand on the motor and speedo. You'll need a power cap for your receiver also if you're running Spektrum. Bigmax can show you how his is set up. Novak GT7 and GTX are good speedos, as are the LRP 7.1 and QC and QC2. I also love my GM SX12W, but it's pricey. Any of those speedos will work great.