Building a Rally car
 

Have decided to bite the bullet build a Rally car, mainly for hacking around the yard but also I do occasionally go to offroad meets, and heck I had fun taking a TT-01 out in Novice and NOT coming last :)

Have settled on a TL01 just based on strength. (ORdered a HBX varient for $100)

I have 8 Polymide bearings and the rest are metal shielded, which are best suited to the drive train and which for the wheels?

Would TL01-LA Arms give much more suspension travel than standard?

Am planning TRF shocks just so I can adjust the height, have a S3050 Futaba on steering duty, Rally block's on Tamiya rims. Planning an Evo Shell, and just got an Mtronics RVMax Waterproof ESC (15 turn limit) Power to either be a Trinity Stock or a Chamelion 19 motor on the lowest gear ratio in the TL01 (19 pinion I think)

Any other suggested upgrades?

Are universals worthwhile?

Basically I want to bulletproof this thing!

locally the guys call it Rally-X
It looks like a lot of fun.
Have a look at http://www.oneten.co.za/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1354
theres is some nice build tips for TT01 chassis conversion and also for the Mini.

A little off topic, but nexxus i see you're perth based. Where abouts? I'm very much a newbie and am looking to find a club/racing mob to join and hopefully learn a few things. Any ideas?

If your in perth check out
http://www.teamadrenaline.net

the LA version gives no extra width to the car, IMO not worth it, its more fragile but then again almost everything this side of a brick is. :ha:

With the dog bones you will find that you will not be able to raise the ride height by much, universals are a bit better. look for some TB01 parts, they are generally cheaper and fit.

I have a TL01 and made it a monster truck, with big tyres and everything, if you need any help just ask.

Car itself is pretty bulletproof, you might want to have a spare chassis, if you take several BIG hits the rear arms have a tendency to tear the chassis. Upgrade the servo saver and mount receiver and ESC inside like mini owners do, with smallish electronics it is possible

I'm also getting ready to try rally racing. I've got a Tamiya TL01 and a TB02 for my son and I. There will be a local rally race coming up in a few weeks with limited hop-ups allowed: bearing and oil shocks (stock springs only) are the only hop-ups allowed.

Any hints or tips on set-ups would be much appreciated - hard or soft tire inserts, shock oil recommendations, driving hints, "dirt-proofing" the electronics advice, etc.

Thanks.

Am going to run a Spectrum receiver on it and mount it inside, so there is no Antenna damage possible, the ESC is a tough looking bugger and water tight so should be able to take a bit. Picking up a spare MSX as parts for my racer, so the shocks will go on this project, what servo saver is a good substitute? Are TB01 universals a direct fit? Should I bother with the quick releace battery thingo?

nexxus - check these guys out:

http://drccentral.com/yabb/YaBB.pl

There are a lot of guys that have done rallying with the tl01 - personally, I think the tt01 would be better suited ;)

Yeh tried the TT-01, nowhere near the suspension travel, and it's a bit more fragile, the wide tub bottoms out and the rear diff housing flexes on jumps, causing it to snap out of the chassis.

Tried it, the TL-01 looked tougher!

I have been in rally for a couple years now, have tried a lot of cars, but the best by far (that I have tried) is the HPI rally. Too bad the kit is not available anymore, but you can get it on ebay at a very good brice. BULLETPROOF CAR. awesome handling. good suspension travel. spare parts still in tower.

:nod:

What about the Tamiya TB01 rally car? What are the advantages and disadvantages compared to the HPI?

Thanks.

if you really want it to be bullet proof, the TB01 is the way to go. its a tank, (and it has the weight of one too :smile: )

I must agree that the HPI Rally was probably one of the best rally cars.

The TB01 is a solid design, but it does come at the price of its weight and also parts availability. I've rallied with a TL01RA using standard 1/10th wheels (basically same as TL01LA) and if you're running in a stock motor class or sport tuned motor, then the car works pretty well. Not to mention that it would make a pretty good drifter. The TA04 universals (39MM swing shafts w/ TA04 axles) are the ones that you would use on the LA kit, but the original TL01 uses different universals and I'm not sure which ones.

One of our friends converted his TT01 into a rally car, not sure exactly what he did, but it seemed to work pretty well. I think the main issue with the TT01 was getting more suspension travel & changing out the propeller shaft for the aluminum one.

anybody here tried the team associated TC3 Rally conversion?... it's no longer available...but I'm looking for opinions

What about the Losi Rally Weapon? Isn't it just a xx-4 only narrower to fit TC bodies? I would give that a look too, it's also discontinued (I think) but I see them around.

Definately upgrade to universals in the front, dogbones can bind if ya turn it sharp enough, if you can, go ahead and get MIP CVD's for the front. the rear, dosnt really need them since they dont turn, but if you put universals or CVD's in it will eliminate most of the play (very general statement).

of course, if the car is 2wd you dont need anything in the front, but if 4wd, the above applies.

The tc3 rally kit was good, but the tc3 does not get along very well with dirt. It performed very good but little rocks samaged the steering. Better handling than the tamiyas though.

TB01 Universals are a direct fit I run them on mine (short arm version)

Servo saver, anything is better than the kit version, the HBX kit may have been improved, do not bother with the quick release battery, the packs have a tendency to pass the clips and fall out.

fyi I saw that my local hobby town has a tc3 rally conversion in stock and I think 40% off

this is my first post here, but has anyone seen this yet? http://www.ultimatetraxxas.com/4tecrally.html

or do people tend to shy away from traxxas?

Just had a look at the HPI Rally looks nice, but a belt drive on offroad?

And the spur seems in a very open place.

Isn't that asking for trouble?

TT-01 Rally!
 

Bro, i've flipped and bashed my TT01 rally lots of times. recently i've filmed a bash where it flipped and did many 360s. will count and let you know how many times it crashed but still came out strong. will post the video too. : :smile:

and with TRF shocks, it does not bottom out. got good ride height too! ;)

here's where i post. http://www.rctech.net/forum/showthread.php?t=114013

TT-01 Rally bash - 18 minutes in total
 

1st 10 mins of the bash!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uaBhHPRzITA

Part 2 of the rally bash!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2s6RqFod_u8

:sweat:

Nice, just started on my TL01 Rally project.

Have put in full bearings, TRF Shocks, Alloy Hex Hubs, Tamiya Rims with Speedmind Rally tyres and Inserts, Team Orion Stock motor, M Troniks Waterproof ESC, Futaba S3050 Servo and bunky AM radio for now (will chuck a Spektrum in there)

Evo 7 Shell :D

Will post pics when I have painted it all up!

Its funny that there should be a thread about this. I bought 2 HPI Rally kits a while ago. Built one which I eventually sold and I have another one new in the box ready to go. I'm just going to build this one up and use it for a bit of fun cause I love rally style racing. The belt drive on offroad isn't really much of a problem because the drivetrain is fully enclosed as there is a normal rally body shell, plus an internal body shell and undertray keeping it enclosed for the most part. Its an awesome looking car when its all built up so I'm looking forward to doing it again. :-)

Finished Pic, last time the shell will look this clean!

Tower has them...just picked one up for my FT TC3, along with an HPI Focus body.