AndreC

iTrader: (19)

Ahh..I see. Thanx. Who makes the aftermarket tires? Do they make a big enough difference in handling to make them worth buying?

hotdognobun

iTrader: (32)

I only know of TRG, Cross, Kawada, Ride, and Sqaure. Ride and Kawada uses good compound and last good too but overall performance is still base on good set up and driving. tires can only do so much. Just stick with the Tamiya foam and use a dremel to cut off the exposed plastic in the front

AndreC

iTrader: (19)

Word. Thnx!

Funky

iTrader: (28)

I was pretty excited to try out my F104 again today. Last night I rebuilt the diff with new rings and ceramic balls. I lowered the front and rear (S2 in rear and 1 large spacer below with 1 small + 1 medium spacer above the front axles). Installed the black suspension springs and the high traction t-bar. Finally I balanced all 4 wheels. They were pretty far out of balance which made the car vibrate with a lot of throttle. The more throttle I applied, the worse the car shook. After balancing them, it is MUCH smoother and it no longer vibrates/shakes at high speed.

Unfortunately, it still can't keep the rear end planted and almost feels a bit more loose than it did before the rebuild I should have changed everything one at a time, but its too late now.

With the hard ruubber front tires, it steers pretty good, but the rear end feels too loose. With the normal rubber front tires, the rear end holds slightly better (although not much) but the steering is horrible and I have to REALLY slow down to make tight turns. Either way, the rear end is way too loose and pretty easy to spin out.

Next I am going to change the rear spring, rebuild the shock with some light oil and replace the entire front end. I am getting 1 1/2 degrees on camber on one side and 3 degrees on the other side. Is there any way to fine tune this? I changed both upper arms and replaced the upper suspension mount but it still has the same camber settings (1 1/2 on one side and 3 degrees on the other).

My F104 with it's unfair competition... the TC4....looks like the TC4 won again

Foxxrocket

Have you tried adding a few rounds on the center shock? And did you make sure the diff was set right?

Z_SHUAI

Funky

iTrader: (28)

What do you mean by " Have you tried adding a few rounds on the center shock?" Do you mean to loosen the adjustment ring on the shock body itself or loosen the adjustment where the top of the shock mounts?

I think the Diff is set right, although I could be wrong... I rebuilt it with new rings and ceramic balls. It feels good... but that doesn't mean it is right

lightfoot

iTrader: (2)

http://www.charleslightfoot.com/UF1SD.html

Foxxrocket

Sorry, been watching too much nascar lately. What I meant to say; is did you tighten down the shock collar to get more bite from the rear tires? If not, move the collar down 1mm and run it. And keep on moving it down 1mm at a time until you feel the car has tighten up enough to your liking. I would also suggest getting Tamiya's soft T-bar (#54165), if you don't already have it.

Andysan

I'll come clean, its an F102 but the shell fits very well. Thanks to a good mate of mine for his tireless work on this bodyshell (you know who you are).

Redwings

iTrader: (4)

SWEET paint job. Now I know someone posted something on F201 tires on to a F104> could someone hook me up with that info>

Thanks

Andysan

Not saying that this isnt possible but I would be really suprised; the F201 is a 4WD car and not really a pan chassis. Still if it's been done I'd like to see how.

Cheers for your comments on the shell.

boro92

iTrader: (2)

Just wanted to mention that your car looks bloody fantastic.
If my eyes serve me right, this is the pro body with ferrari wings!
Looks like you cut out the air inlets on the side pontoons, is that right? It looks amazing. great choice of color also

Oortael

How did you do that? Which tools did you use?

Funky

iTrader: (28)

Thanks for the reply. I just installed the high traction t-bar for my last run. I am getting ready to go run it again now so I'll try adjusting the rear shock to see if that helps gain any rear traction. Ill also bring the tools to adjust the diff to see if tightening it/loosening it helps.

I used a magnetic prop balancer. I bought it for balancing some of my RC heli parts, but it also works perfect for RC wheels/tires. I used a few thick pieces of 3M double sided tape to get the balance right. If the tape isn't enough weight, you could also glue small nuts/bolts inside the rim to get it properly balanced... just make sure they are secure Luckily, mine weren't that far off so I was able to balance them with just a few pieces of tape on each rim.