Thanks andsetinn!

just a few more questions...

How does it handle out of the box? does it still want to get up and go even though it weighs in atclose to 60oz.??? Is the car receptive to suspension changes??

Thanks, the car sound just right for what I plan on doing with it!!

anybody found on-line parts support for the t-spec? How about a method for decifering the parts list?

Thanks Larry

Can anyone put some pics of their own T-Spec???:sweat:

Sorry needed to revitalize some interest in this car! I have been running it whenever there are enough of us to have a class and although it handles well mine is just so much more slower than a few of the others. It is not the gearing or the batteries but just finding a good spec motor. I have trued the comm, shimmed the arm, polished the bushings, and tried a few different spring combos but nothing seems to work! A friend of mine at the track tuned one of mine and did a before and after dyno and got approx 1200 more RPMs out of it, while it is faster than it was out the box it is still slower than a few other cars on the long back straight approx 175' Any ideas, currently have the car geared at 64/28. I have been charging the spec batteries at 6 amps right before the heat/Main and that has given it a bit more punch. Any other ideas? I have been running CS-27s as we are allowed to use any tires with it. Foams seem to slow the car down as it is an asphalt track and the foams really grip it well! Any other ideas? Or am I reduced to getting a few more of these motors until I finally get a better one?

The Spec motors are hit or miss, I have 4, one of them is clearly better then the other 3 and no amount of tinkering has changed that....it is just that way....

As for the car handling....Out of the box mine was good...I moved all the caster clips to the back and that helped it even more. I have also lowered the car some and that helped, I will probably rebuild the shocks and add internal limited to lower it even more (want it around 5mm)...

Also, I will be running a 60/30 for gearing, that seems to be the sweet spot....

One other thing, if you have the time take all your bearings out and clean them, they are lubed with a THICK oil from the factory, get them cleaned out and spinning free, that will help some....

I think if I have time I may take apart the diffs and do the same as above to free them up some, they seem a bit tight....

Otherwise it is a great class to have fun with....

As for part support...Trinity has all the spare parts, the hobby shops just need to order / stock them....

Thanks TigeRyan,
I figured that was the case with these motors. I did have to tear apart the diffs though as they had a very gritty feel to them. The rings are pretty cheap as well and I turned them around to get the better other side. I used the associated dif lube and it feels a bit smoother. I just hated to practically tear the whole car apart to get at them! LOL. I had to adjust mine out of the box as when I checked the settings they were a bit off all the way around. I am running AE green springs in back as the stock springs were a bit too stiff. I actually gave the car more negative castor by putting the clips up front it seemed to handle better for me that way. This car is a bit hard to lower as the droop stops are plastic and want to bend if you use too much. I will have to try the shock internal limiters as I want to get it down like my TC3 which is at 4.5 and 5. Overall very durable car the plastic has alot of give and only using a 21T it does not get the speed up to really tear something up if I tap the pipes or boards!

Picked up another one for my son to try. He wound up breaking both front knuckles one in each heat! Luckily one of the other T-spec guys had a pack of knuckles to sell me! LOL I have not broken anything on my car and I have been racing it for 6 months now. I also have the fastest car on the straights since the guy who had the quickest motor rebuilt it and now it runs slower! I have mine geared with a 64/29. I think I could probably gear up to the 60/30 but really no need right now. Besides with the spec pack if you do not have a fully charged battery you would be hosed. Our 5 min heats/races I have about 30 seconds left on my batts after a run. This class is a blast though and is always very close. Just about all the racers run 12 laps with maybe one TQ with 13. I would be happy to do that with my TC3 19T! LOL I always seem to break something on that car though!

what can i say, there trash. I have owned one, my friend owns one and two or three at my track own one. they are made from crap plastic and the diffs are total trash. they are heavy, the screws strip out easy the dogbones are cheap bendy sloppy crap. i only raced it in 540 and i still had trouble with it. i only had mine for around three months and i did ok with it but the comp was weak. they are pretty cheap and crappy. they look good in pictures but its all down hill from there. i would try and steer people away from them. to me spec racing should be down to set up and driving skill, but i think it will come down to who can keep their diffs together the longest. and the rear droop screws bend the chassis down rather than change the droop.

STAY AWAY :nod:

While I can say they are not the best cars out there, they are for the price pretty good cars. While I probably would not run this car in anything other than Spec class it has been a very fun class to race in. All the cars are even and there is a very friendly competition going on at our track with these cars. Most of the drivers are all veterans with only a couple of us that are new to touring thrown in. I have raced this car in spec for 6 months now and even though it is crappy plastic I have yet to break anything on the car. (helps if you stay off the walls and pipes!) The diff ring does require periodic maintence and I have not stripped a screw hole yet. (helps if you use a regular screwdriver instead of a electric one!) There is one new guy to R/C and he has a blast with his car he has put good electronics in it and when he tires of Spec class he will be ready to purchase something else to run in our touring class. This car is very good for beginners to learn on as it is simple to set-up and run! Everyone has their opinions and I for one would recommend the car to anyone starting out wanting to be fairly competitive. ;)

We are having fairly good success getting people to run these cars. We had a traveling series race yesterday and we had 10 of them running. I broke my car car for the first time yesterday, twice...a front steering knuckel and a rear steering knuckle, also lost the dogbone on the track :(

People have to understand that these are not XRay's...you are getting a car, body, motor and tires for $129, throw in basic radio gear and ESC and a newbie can get going for about $225.00, that dollar amount can barely get you a TC Kit these days. The hobby needs a class where a new driver can get going at a low cost of entry, learn how to drive and setup his/her car and advance to stock touring. T-Spec should be the first stop for most new drivers, just my opinion of course....

I'd love to see a ready-to-race version from Trinity, foam tires, ESC, radio everything in the box for say $250.00, much like the HPI Nitro RS4's...

yeah I supose they aren't that bad for the price but for the trinity name I was a little suprised. they are about $140 AU , but here they are more aimed at cheap TC cars. when people look at them i always suggest a second hand car that is still a high quality car, but cheap cause its not the newest thing out, eg. HPI Pro 2 or 3
mission 1, TC3. still a cheap way to get started out and they have more potential if you want to move up a class.

I have been running a T-Spec for the last 6 race meetings at our club. We run on an asphalt parking lot which is blow off, but not treated with sugar water. The T-Spec runs with one of my team drivers in "Novice" class and is fitted with a Trinity 27 turn stock motor and a Duratrax Streak ESC. The kit tires were no use on this surface during cold weather, but we will try them again when the summer really heats up the asphalt.

The bottom line is that even with a novice driver, the car has (so far) had no breakages. This type of beginners racing is just what the T-Spec is great at. It even held it's own against the regular stock class cars during a "free for all" race recently, though it is a bit heavy.

I would recommend the car if you just want a tough car to bash around parking lots or to run in "Novice" type events. It is a great car for learning the basics of pillow ball suspension, ball diffs, shaft drive etc. without risking a huge wad of cash on a more advanced kit.

My only gripe has been with the diff thrust bearings, which came with really thin washers that were not even flat. I have had to rebuild the diffs twice, to flip over and then replace, the main diff rings. Does anyone know of a part number (from anywhere!) for better quality diff rings and thicker washers for the thrust bearing? Is there a built up thrsut bearing like Tamiya uses that fits?

I think I have solved the riddle of the part numbers in the manual, but it involves the use of a Ouija board and several very focused racers! Not sure why Trinity hasn't posted a cross refence or a link to a parts list that actually matched the car!

It would be great if we could keep this thread targeted on tech tips and advice and leave the venting to other threads.

Hola, sir.

The best fix for the diffs is to buy two HPI Pro4 diff kits (they sell the complete kit) and cross-breed them with the stock ring gear. Bascially you throw out everything from the stock car except for the ring gear - new outdrives, bearings, balls, thrust bearing, and washers. It will look like the diff balls are WAY too close to the edge of the washers, but it will work fine. This also completely transforms the handling of the car for the better.

The next big problem you're likely to have will be the diff gears (ring and pinion) wearing. But if you use the Pro4 diffs, this will take a lot longer to happen. Since the gears are also impossible to find, I'm working with a friend to make replacement shafts that will allow the use of the Pro4 ring and pinion gears as well. If I can get it to work, I'll happily tell everyone the dimensions to use to make a new one.

Good luck with the car. We have about 10 of them at our track right now, so parts support is becoming a major issue for us.

If anyone would be so kind, I know this kit is also sold by Robitronic in the UK. If someone from the UK could see if any Robitronic parts are available (diff gears and motor-mount clamps), I'd probably be able to put together a pretty sizeable order with anyone who's be willing to help.

Mike

Thanks Mike, that was great advice. I have all the diff parts for all the previous levels of HPI, but not the Pro 4. I will get some parts and try it out. I also want to shim the diffs to improve the mess of the gears. Does the sloppy mesh contribute to the wear on the parts? I would think that there was poor tooth contact with that much backlash etc. I will look what shims are available for the Pro 4, but do you have any other shim ideas. I think that Associated makes a shim kit for the TC3 diffs, wonder if that would fit, but probably not as the bearings are not metric.

What surface do you race on? Do you have any other set-up tips that might make a difference. I am more interested in reliability than outright speed. I use the pirelli tires from HPI and they seem to grip our dirty asphalt really well.

While I can sympothize with your agony over parts support (only one local facility actually stocks parts for these cars) using another cars parts will make them illegal in the pure version of the T-Spec rules...if you dont care about this look at Kyosho's cars, I believe the suspension and other parts are a carbon copy of an older Kyosho car....