DF-03a v. TT-01
 

How different are these two setups? I'm referring to the DF-03a that comes with the Celica body. The reason I'm asking is that I'd like to make my TT-01 into an offroad car like the DF-03a. I want to use the TT-01 chassis because I prefer gear differentials. I don't want a car however that drags the bottom of the chassis over uneven ground. Are suspension parts on these two models interchangeable at all?

The DF-03RA is a 4WD buggy chassis with shorter arms to fit under a Rally Car type body as with the Celica Body you speak of. The TT-01 is based on a touring car platform. I believe that the TT-01 has a little less ground clearance but is still capable of being a Rally Off road type car with the proper wheel and tire combo, just look up on youtube for RC Rally, and you'll see that the guys in Europe have made them pretty capable. With either chassis your not going to be taking on a 1/8th scale track but that's not the intended purpose of these cars.

Very different.

No, suspension is not interchangeable between the two.

Gear diffs are no advantage against balldiffs in any way shape or form. The perceived lower maintenance of gear diffs is not real at this end of the scale where the gears are actually made of antimony which wears down very quickly. If those gears were steel, it would be a different story.

The TT01 is just a cheap car with no other merit but appeal to the masses. That being said, I have seen TT01 cars tuned take with some success on the stock class in on-road touring.

Wow, I always thought that the TT-01 was very durable, that's why I bought one. I also know a guy who ran about 200 packs through his bone stock, plastic bushing TT-01 and then tore it down found virtually no wear of any kind. Anyway, thank you both for your comments.

^ That chassis will do just fine as a rally car. Don't hesitate on taking it to the dirt. The only thing I recommend is to make a chassis cover to prevent dirt from getting inside the drivetrain. You should check this out. http://www.rctech.net/forum/electric...r-c-rally.html

You stated above that you prefer gear diffs. My comment was only about that.

The plastic bushings don't have anything to do with the wear on gear diffs. If anything, it slows down the drivetrain so the diffs have an easier job going around corners. Tune your car up to have plenty of grip, put some decent driveshafts so there's no loss of power there and put a stock (or even a black can) motor in it and you'll see the diff wear show up instantly. Tamiya has built the car exactly for the use your friend gave it. With a kit silvercan and drivetrain is very unlikely the diffs will have a difficult job. As soon as you step outside the box things start falling apart.