Toolbox™

Hello all,

For the first time since I was a child and had a Tamiya Hotshot in the mid 1980's, I got myself a new Tamiya Enzo Ferrari and finally finished building it. Now, the 4WD option is nice but am I right into thinking that the car will run a tad bit faster and be less controllable if I took out the center driveshaft and gearbox on the frontend effictively making it a 2WD road car?

From an engineering standpoint, it seems to be alright but I don't know what the pros and cons are in doing this and am hoping to get some of your input on the matter.

What I want to achieve is less control on the car making it more fun to play with. I will not use this on the track and want it to run a little faster without having to buy a new motor and speed controller. I also find the car very noisy in spite of the amount of grease I used for all the parts. I want it to run quietly.

And as far as modifications go, are there paper gaskets I can get for these toys or do I have to make my own? This way, I can seal the differentials and use straight weight motor oil to quiet it down even more?

I apologize if these are all such unorthodox questions but please understand that I haven't had an R/C in 22 years. The last one I owned was the one I got for my 10th birthday.

Cheers.

DirkB

Not to rain on your parade but going to 2wd from 4wd isn't as much fun as in theory. It could just be me but i did the same on mine and all it achieved was a wrecked set of tyres and a damaged diff. but, it could have also just been me, try it and see for yourself.

I don't know of any commercially available gaskets.... sorry.

Have fun, let me know what you thought

Toolbox™

Actually, your theory seems to make a lot of sense. If I remove everything from the front, so much more torque is going to go to the rear and might shred the gears. But, was your car modified? Mine is purely stock so maybe the motor isn't powerful enough to do that.

Hopefully others will have more info on this.

Thanks for replying... much appreciated.

DirkB

At the time it was absolutely bog stock. I'd only had it for about a month. Just thinking about your gasket/motor oil question to, with those diffs there tends to be alot of leakage where the little doobie that slides in to accomadate the drive shaft. so even with a gasket the oil would more than likely end up coming out anyways. making the diff noisy again... I've found that Castrol Molybdenon grease works very well with the noise, and sticks a bit better than the hobby store stuff.

have fun playing. I know i did

GroffBall

iTrader: (10)

Get a bearing kit, tamiya speed tuned black motor, and some drift tires this will make it faster and less controllable. Should get it to be the way you want. and a TT01 will always be noisey if you fill the gear boxes with oil all it will do is leak and cause more drag. try a good quality white grease.

Toolbox™

Thanks guys. I've decided to try and make into a 2WD but not put any oil in the diffenrential anymore. Too much trouble plus, I'm OC about dirt.

Thanks and I'll let you know in a month if I screw anything up.

koinonas

I actually tried this a while back. My thinking of going to 2WD would be a little faster, but easier to drift and be a little more interesting to drive. The conversion was basically to take the front dog bones and drive cups out, and then tape up the holes to stop dust getting into the front diff.

If you've got a TT01, you'll find that the centre driveshaft also powers the rear diff, which means you need to leave it in (and you can't cut it as the length of the shaft keeps the pinion to the rear diff in place as well).

My setup was a stock TT01 with the silver can motor, ball bearings all round and I think a 27T pinion and 52T spur from a F201 type kit. So nothing too wild.

The results weren't what I was expecting. Maybe I'm just can't drive and no good with the throttle. But what I found was that any bit of braking (you only have rear brakes in 2WD) or anything more than half throttle with any steering lock and the thing would swap ends.

I ended up going back to 4WD after a few packs because it was just so hard to drive. I think for interest the ball bearings and gear change was much better value and fun (especially with the slippery stock kit tires) than the uncontrollable 2WD.

Freewheelin4eva

GroffBall has got the right idea, swap out all your bushings and put bearings in, that will help on the noise, also you can get tuned gears. which are also quieter, put some pvc pipe on your rims, and go drive it, and you should be out of control. the 2WD does not work, the touring car is not like a real car, weight is all different, so what ever you do you can not get it to act like a real RWD car.