I'd like to but that's a $120 servo/reciver. Already spent about $50 on motor and ESC. Hoping the $30 SR215 reciver will be all I need. The LHS told me they use these S6180 servos with the TNLE02 ESCs and never had any problems. I should get that reciver by Thursday. Hopefully that will fix it.

They're lots of fun completely stock.

It's worth building it with a full ball bearing set (tamiya part #54476 or a set from the multitude of 3rd party vendors) because the standard kit comes with plastic bushings which wear out quickly.

Oil filled shocks (tamiya part #54753) might also be worth getting which will make the suspension less bouncy, especially useful if you plan on driving it over a rough ground. They will also handle more dust and dirt than the standard friction shocks before they need to be rebuilt/cleaned.

Depends, are you racing it or driving it for fun on parking lots?
-I'd recommend full bearings for both situations,
however when I first built my TT02, I built it w/ the intention of driving in the parking lot. I built it w/ bearings otherwise it was 100% stock. It runs great and handles well for parking lot fun in nearly stock form.
A year or so later my older son (who was about 10 at the time) started expressing that he wanted to race RC cars w/ me. I converted my TT02 for his use in a novice race class. At this point and if its used for racing I would at minimum: 1) upgrade the shocks to oil filled shocks w/ adjustable collars ...this is really a must if you want it to handle well on a track. 2) I upgraded the top A-arms front and back to adjustable camber links (pivot balls w/ threaded links), ...this is a must too as you'll want to adjust camber front and back. 3) I upgraded the steering linkage to aluminum (from the stock plastic). This is less important than 1 and 2 above, yet it will help give more precise steering which again is helpful when racing. 4) less important, but i'd make sure your drivetrain is using the aluminum parts (not the stock plastic ones), aluminum motor mount w/ adjustable mounting options is also nice to have (not the one w/ the holed slots, but the one w/ the ability to slide the motor forward/back then tighten ..I think Yeah Racing makes it). Get a good set of tires too! Oh, almost forgot, I also put a brushless 21.5t motor in it (I turned the throttle EPA down initially and slowly increased the speed as my sons got better w/ the car).
My son used our TT-02 in the above setup for about 2 seasons, he's now almost 13 and is using a TC7.1 for VTA class. My youngest son is now using the same TT-02 (he is on his 2nd season w/ the car). Point is the TT-02 is a GREAT car for beginners, its strong, parts are not expensive and its easy to work on and fix.

-Hoyle33, don't forget to post some photos of your build and finished car!

Any worthwhile radio system is going to be 3-4-6 channel. Steering servo... well local shops tend not to have great selections. You can go cheap, and at first you won't notice the difference, but a "good" servo makes a huge difference as you get better.

The manual will tell you the paint you need to replicate the box art. Budget some masking tape too. And buy white or silver paint to back up the color you paint the body. Since you're going to be bashing, pick up some e6000 or shoe goo, and fiberglass drywall tape. If you're feeling froggy, some aluminum duct sealing tape is a good idea too. You use the aluminum tape where the tires might rub. You use the glue and tape where the body might crack.

You'll want a 4-7000mah 2s lipo pack. And a charger. A "b6" series charger is probally what you should hunt down.

The skyrc D100 is perfect.

Radios are a religion. I drink the Spektrum KoolAid. The new DX5 radios do all the things you need. Others like Futaba, some frsky. Sanwa seems to be more popular for the ground guys than air people.

Your charger is perfect and completely capable of charging 2S lipos. Just plug balance lead into 2S port on balance board and set charger up for 2S balance charge. Lots of good batteries out there. I have had great luck with protek Batteries. Iwould recommend staying away from cheap radio system. I run and recommend Futaba stuff. The 3PV isn't too expensive and has lots of features. Sanwa and Spectrum also have descent entry level stuff too. Savox servos are descent, but my recommendation is the new Protek HV servos. Pricey but worth it imo. Gens ace batteries are also a great value and I have had some last several years.

Assuming you're budget conscious, building a stock TT02 kit:

Radio:
https://hobbyking.com/en_us/hobbykin...io-system.html
Servo:
https://hobbyking.com/en_us/tracksta...09sec-57g.html
Batteries - search Hobbyking for "7.2V stick pack". Any of the Sub-C stick packs will fit - note the higher capacity packs are heavier. Personally I've got a few of the turnigy 2000mAh packs (https://hobbyking.com/en_us/turnigy-...ries-nimh.html) which should give you 10+ minutes run time on a stock motor
Paint - search "Tamiya PS"
Battery Charger*:
https://hobbyking.com/en_us/turnigy-...v-capable.html
Tamiya battery plug to banana plugs cable for charging with above charger:
https://hobbyking.com/en_us/tamiya-a...g-adapter.html

Have personally used all of the above and can recommend them for the price. *For the Accucell battery charger you need to buy a suitable 12V DC powersupply if you don't already have one. I use a laptop power brick style 12V DC, 5Amps: https://www.newark.com/powerpax/sw37...14_US%2Fsearch
Might need to cut and splice the barrel jack cable included with the accucell to your powersupply because the accucell uses a DC jack with a 2.5mm pin rather than the more common 2.1mm
Could probably get away with a cheaper wallwart style trickle charger if you plan to only ever use NiMH packs, but the accucell is definitely worth it if you want to fast charge larger capacity packs and future proofs you for LiPos.

Futaba...
 

T3PV

I would also recommend Futaba stuff. I have T3PV in use for nearly 2 years and I'm totally satisfied. This thing ist well done, sturdy, range more than sufficient, use with multiple receivers in several Cars as easy as it can be.
Different setings can be confusing at the beginning, but you get used to it rather quick.

Michael

That's a good servo. I use it in my 4wd buggy and Mini. But, the battery recomendation isn't good. One of the biggest thigns that has made this hobby so much ~better~ are lipo batterys. He's also got a lipo charger already, so recomending a PSU, DC charger, and Nicad/nimh isn't to his advantage.

... I didn't recomend a servo because I was under the impression they were buying from the local shop.

Don't get any radio with driver assistance. Such as Spectrum AVC recivers. They don't play nice with the ESC that comes with the TT-02. Had it in one of my cars and I think it smokes the ESC and motors. Have another TT-02 with a Spectrum DX5R radio and a S6240Rx servo/reciver and it works great.

That should work. If you get into racing, I would get a DX5R. Think the new one is DX5pro. It has a faster response time then the one you got. You can go all out and get a Sanwa m12s, or the m17 they just came out with. The 2 things I look for when buying a radio is response time and expo option.

I cut the tamiya plug off and put 4mm bullet connecters on. Not sure what battery has a Tamiya connection. I'm sure you can get an adapter on ebay or local hobby shop for almost any battery.

Ratio help needed
 

So me and my buddy's just got into onroad racing,real grass roots but fun.
anyway as a big tamiya kit fan I bought a tt02 hoping all the others would follow suit.one did,but the rest of the guys flaked out and got the brushed traxxas rtr car.neat as it is I'm not a rtr guy.
issue is these things are smoking fast on lipo.I thought about just buying a traxxas esc and motor to even the playing field, but I can go brushless....maybe a 15.5.....but what pinion should I run and be safe with temps?14 16?
thanks guys.

If you buy the same motor.. your TT02 will be faster. You'll just need to match their FDR.

The factory esc will not pull a 12 turn 550.....I don't think so anyway.

Try it! worst case, you'll need to buy a $30 brushed ESC later. :-)

Has anyone tried a titan 550 12t on the tamiya esc?
hold on......ill try it and get back to ya....

The traxxas ratio is 9.49
I can get to that with a 19tooth pinion.....
ill run this thing hard on lipo and see what the esc says....

With that gear ratio, you should be fine.

you think just the 25 tooth pinion will keep up with the 4tec.....I tried the motor and with some mods it would work.but clapping the cover down,it wasn't happy.I pulled it out.
also Robinson pinion gears seem to be off from the tamiya mesh just a hair.had to put motor in 18 tooth holes to get proper mesh(cover off)
I literally done all this in 10 mind,ill mess with it more this evening and really see what the issue is with the motor fitment.

Tamiya gears are metric 48 pitch. You need to buy a metric 48 pitch gears standard 48 pitch won't work right.

"metric 48 pitch" is like saying metric inches. Metric gear pitch is expressed in module. The gears in the TT02, TT01, and Mini's are .6module. Smaller numbers mean smaller teeth. Module 0.6 is "close" to 48 pitch. Which sucks, becuase you ~can run them~ but it's ugly.

Robinson Racing makes .6 mod gears.

Metric 48 and .6 are the same thing I've heard them as both.

Had to grind away some material off the cover to make room for the longer shaft of the 550.
19 tooth tamiya pinion....and she's hot,super smooth.
ground off most of the steering stops,and we have a race car...
those traxxas guys will not know what hit them.

What base colour are you going with?

If it's meant to be bright and metallic, back the base colour with silver. If it's a dark colour, back it with black, light colour; white or silver.

For the windows, you can leave them clear, or dust them with some Tamiya PS 'Smoke' for that tinted look.

The only company in the world that seems to use the term "metric 48 pitch" is Robinson Racing and frankly the term is an oxymoron. 0.6 module is the correct name and the gears can be easily found if you search for them using the correct name or "0.6 mod" for short.

Fun fact: 0.6mod is ~42.33DP and 48DP is ~0.53mod, just as 1cm is ~0.394" and 1" is 2.54cm
If someone sold you 'imperial' 42DP gears, they would indeed mesh properly with 0.6mod gears.
https://www.engineersedge.com/gear_pitch_chart.htm