Skip109: Ya, it does. I wasn't getting many hits on it so I stopped paying for the 'cool, neato' features and, well, now all I get are the stupid pop-ups. I've pretty much abandoned that forum.

Site is still up though.....

Tony, could you look into weather or not the outdrives are being made as long as they used to be? I recently bought a new set and they are at least 2 mm shorter than the old ones.

Also, we have been having trouble with the C Hubs not being the same size as they used to be, where they slide into the arm now requires shaving. This isnt just specific to my car, it happens to most of the guys at my local track. Both of these problems just started recently.

Thanks

Dumb question, but is there any way to tell by looking at the box if a FT kit is the new ones?

David
As far as I know, the new FT kit have the same box design and same ref.
You should ask your dealer to check before buying.

Nasty Tire wear on my TC3......Help!!
 

My left side tires develop this groove more to the inside from the center. I glued HPI X Patterns on my rims - but I didn't glue the foam inserts. I have been rotating the tires to help. Please advise, if possible Thanks!

Greg :D

Too much negative camber. The car is riding around on the inside of the tires. Make the turnbuckle about 1/2 turn longer, that should help.

Thanks! I was thinking about that. I am at about 2 degrees negative right now.

Greg :D

I just picked up a p2k2 and was wondering what to gear it at. I have the hoods aligned perfectly--absolutely no black marks on the brushes!!!!. Also,I have putnam brushes on it. Green on the + and blue on the -. I can't remember if they are in the correct polarity. Thanks --Al

Putnam Excessive Force brushes.
 

Big Al,

Green on positive with red spring and Blue on negative with red or green spring for a TC3!!! the Green has the higher silver content and works better on positive.

Ray

Canuck: I'll check tomorrow and get back here when I can (maybe tomorrow, maybe friday).

Alford: No real way to tell. It will be a running change. Sorry.

Hi TC3 Owners,

The TC3 has been around for quite sometime. I am thinking of getting the FTTC3 again. I understand the initial arms broke like cookies. What were the changes that actually make the arms stronger? Is there any rumour that the TC3 will be updated or a new car would be released (Of course AE would say NO!)? If not, what would be the estimated timeline?

Thanks.

Dang...
 

... that car is crooked.

I ran 5 packs the last two nights on my newly acquired used FT TC3. My impression is terrible: it's just un-fn'-believable how not square this car can be!!! :flaming: :flaming: :flaming:

I was in a hurry, and the suspension angles looked kinda symmetrical, so I just slapped some electonics in, adjuste the steering ETA's, and put the car on the track. I can't believe I thought my Axis wasn't symmetrical... I think I've never seen a car turn both sides so differently as my new ride!!! :cry: :cry: :cry:

I pulled it out, and disassembled the shocks. Let's check:
shock length: ok
droop screws: ok
rollbars: close enough, although not 100% perfect

I look for some sources of asymetry... and find another one. One of the front C hubs (the left one if I remember ok) prevents full steering throw... Let's shave some plastic off with an x-acto.

I reassemble the shocks.... and of them fronts is binding when screwed on the A-arm (I still have the old A arm and front schock tower). It looks like naturally the shocks would fall on top of the A Arm, not in front of it. I have to Xacto the shock cap to make it thinner, to allow it to rotate more in the longitudinal axis. I checked and shaft is not bent.

let's go to the Hudy setup board now.
camber: ok
rear toe: OMG! :eek: :eek: 3 deg left 2 deg right!!! :flaming:

I can't beleive it... after some research it seems a know defect for AE rear blocks... I still think it's unacceptable though.

Then, knowing by personal experience that there aren't two AE springs that are the same, I start screwing the shock collars on until the touch the spring. this is the only way I know of to setup a car symmetrically with unequal length springs. Let's to to the 4-scale board...
FL: 320gr
FR: 360gr
RL: 420gr
RR: 340gr
(not exact values, just what I think I remember, but to give you a ballpark)

:rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

And here I am, screwing shock collars all over the place to try to get this thing squared...

Needless to say, the car handles like a POS. It pulls to one side under acceleration, to the other under braking, it spins to the left, understers to the right. In other words, it's a pain. I kept running 'cause I was at the track anyway, but I had to compensate all the time.

I'll install some Losi XXX-S 0 deg rear blocks tonight and work on the tweak again. I'll let you know tomorrow if it's any better...

I have a big race coming on Nov 23rd... I'm feeling less and less confident, and seriously thinking about putting the electronics back in my Axis for that date...

Paul :cry: :cry: :cry:

You shouldn't shave the front C hubs.
The car is designed to have uneven steering throw left and right in order to counteract the torque steer.
The difference should be in the bumpstop on the steering arm rather than the C hub itself though.

There used to be an explanation about it by Cliff Lett on the CML site but its disappeared now.

Does the car have the original shock spacers, correct width nuts etc. mounting the top of the shock?
Correct A arms at each end?
If a rear shock tower is fitted to the front it may be neccesary to adjust the offset of the shocks but I don't know.

The other thing to check is the motor clamp, especially if it is an early car without the spring under the screw.
Assuming you have the original length screws they should just protrude through the nyloc nut in the chassis. If they are any tighter then the chassis starts to bend.

Check tyre diameters if you are running foam.

Also I stopped running the roll bars because I found they had a habit of popping out of the slot on one side which then caused strange handling.

DavidAlford :: I was passing through and saw you run last Saturday. I must say that was some polished driving. Your TC3 is dialed. I like the track you run on, tight and technical. I may make another trip up there to run with your bunch.

L8r.

Hi Guys. Greetings from Malta.

I've been following recent threads regards warped chassis, etc.

My son has run a very competitive TC3 for the last 3 seasons - 2 National championships out of 3, which I have always prepared for him.

It was one of the original chassis - in fact one of the first 100 cars to be exported to Europe. It is still on it's original chassis, and indeed quite a few original parts, including cardan shaft.

Yes it always did have slightly different toe at the back, and yes if you put the chassis on a glass plate it has a bit of a tweek, but we don't find these problems insurmountable .

The difference in toe at the rear is less than 1/2 a degree which makes as little difference as is unnoticible. I have checked out other cars and find the same.

The motor mount was the original type - without a spring, and i have left it that way. When the threads on the nuts went I pressed in some 3mm nuts and now use 3mm screws instead. I tighten them both down sensibly and don't find they do much to effect the handling. Certainly my son doesn't seem to find it any different from race meeting to race meeting.

Agreed, the shock adjuster rings aren't equal, and required a bit of fiddling till we got the car to turn equally, but again it's not difficult.

However console yourself in the fact that I was examining the car of possibly the World's most successful driver, at the Worlds, a while ago, and was impressed at the difference in adjustment of the two rear shocks. I reckon there was a good 2 to 3 mil diference in the positions the shock nuts were threaded. Yet his car was as balistic as ever. So i suppose if it's good enough for him it's good enough for us lesser mortals.

Just my bit.

regards

Joe from sunny Malta.