i'm looking at converting a M03 to a wider buggy style car. Which suspension arms would fit to give me the width ? FF03, TA03 ?
thanks

If you can find some, TL01 arms might work.

Yes, TL01 arms, slightly longer dampers and 39mm dogbones. Just did one. If you also add the correct chassis spacer, you'll have an FF02.

Many thanks - when you say 39mm - is that just the bones ? what about full UJ length ? Would a standard TC one do the job ? 50 or 52mm ?

Hey guys, I've been having some issues with traction rolling. Running an M05 on sweep tires, 40's up front with 33's in the rear. 40wt oil in TRF dampers, 3-holes front and rear, I ran red springs up front with blue in the rear, and then swapped to blue front and yellow rear. Arms level to just below level front and rear.

So I'm thinking about running the sway bars. I've got the light bar installed on the rear, nothing up front currently. Has anyone had any luck with the "stabilizers", or any other suggestions? Thanks

Not sure what standard TC axles are, but 39mm is usually the length listed for the dogbone section on Tamiya axles. If they're standard TC stuff, you're good to go!

BTW guys: I had a 6.5T brushless stuffed in one of my minis last week. I used a 16T pinion. It spun the tires for 40' on grippy carpet, got traction and launched like a scalded rabbit. FUN!!!

I doubt the sway bars will be the answer to traction rolling. I can't say that the front sway bar does much at all, the rear sway bar does seem to improve the car in most conditions.

Key to traction rolling will likely be the tyres (supergluing up the sidewalls is a big help) and careful droop settings (I run my car at the bare minimum, <1mm of shock extension above ride height). Also get the ride height down as low as the rules will allow. A tighter front diff should also reduce the traction roll because it will take some of the steering away.

Where does that put your damper length when you adjust for such minimal droop? I usually build to 55mm total length, which gives me a bit more droop than that. I suppose it would be a little different, as I'm running on 60d tires.

I've settled at 56.5mm all round with the Sweeps (a 55D tyre), that gives me 3.5mm ride height at the front and 4.5mm at the rear with minimal droop.

If all else fails.... a fellow racer once gave me a thin piece of metal to put under my lipo. It was about half the length of the lipo, maybe a little longer. I taped opposite the motor. Car was heavier, but planted. Some batteires wont allow you to use it.

Chris

I think your shock oil is too heavy (dense). I would suggest go to a lighter oil first.

The issue of traction roll has been analysed many times here, and from memory some conclusions come up almost always (not necessarily in the following order):
1. you should make sure you have the right tire for the track
2. make sure you have the right insert
3. make sure you have the right ride height
4. make sure you have the right suspension setup

Glueing the sidewalls takes away traction and should be considered only as a last resort

I had traction roll issues bad in my early experiences with the M05. I managed to tame it by going to medium tamiya 60D's with stock tamiya black sponges inserts front and S grip 60D with black sponge tamiya insert rear. For a long time ran blue front springs and yellow rear. Also still run stock Tamiya black plastic shocks 2 hole piston 40wt oil. Pretty much solved my traction roll issues on all but the hottest days. On hot days just took it easier on the car.

Now I run Tamiya spec TCS A's up front with the firm insert and S grip Spec tires with spec insert on rear. Blue front springs and red rear springs. Same shocks and oil but will be putting TRF's on it this week. It ran well with this setup that last time out. Still has a hop issue when cornering but hoping the roll bars on order will solve this as has been offered up before. I run 4.5mm front and 5mm rear ride height because of track bumpiness. But i may be lowering it as the track has been worked on the last few weeks since it last ran and been smoothed out.

Jason

I've only built the TRF shocks for my Minis. These include early TC shocks to the #54000 Mini versions. Admittedly, those that did not have the 28mm shock shafts, were fitted with those shafts or piston rods as Tamiya likes to call them.

The point is that the minimum length for a TRF shock is 56mm and that requires you to wedge the lower spring retainer into place. You can build a shorter shock, but there is no way, using a stock or aluminum spring retainer that you can put a spring on it.

Please note that the above comments are for the Tamiya TRF shocks only. There is a way to build a shorter shock, but that involves grinding on the spring retainer, which is an illegal mod at least in TCS Racing.

Actually, no. Adding cyano to the sidewalls is one of the first things to consider. The single largest contributor to traction roll is the sidewalls rolling under and the car "tripping" on the outside edge of the tire. Cyanoing the sidewalls does two things. First it stiffens the sidewall so there is less of the tendency for the tire to roll under and trip. Second, when and if it does roll under, the cyano will stop the rolling of the sidewall by reducing the grip when the cyanoed part of the tire contacts the track.

You should carry the cyano from the rim all the way to the edge of the tread or to the transition point of the sidewall to the contact surface on a slick. Going past this line will reduce grip, but is better than not going far enough. A couple of batteries of running will trim the cyano back to the proper line.

Now I'm usually pretty close to the right set up and tire combos from years of experience, but the glue bottle seems to be one of the first things I reach for these days. Sometimes, all thats required is just a little touch up of cyano on the sidewalls, seeing that almost all of my tires for a Hi-grip track have already been glued.

Hey Bob, you can build a shorter shock and fit the retainers by backing off the lower ball end a few turns, installing the spring/retainer and zipping the ball end back on. I'm trying to get around this by locating my old Corsair Racing droop limiters. They've been out of production for years, but mine are still around someplace.