Fixed all pictures in this thread.

You are crazy!
I love it :lol:

I am? http://i.imgur.com/MKEvzTa.gif What did I do this time?

In a positive way ;)
By making this kit desirable with its blue bling bling and performance upgrades.

How the heck are you breaking ceramic bearings with just a brushed motor?

This car is awesome!

The bearing socket in the motor was crooked, and it was causing the bearing to bind-up just enough to make it wear out too fast.

Today, on an all-new episode of Fyrstormer Mods A Car That Nobody Cares About Anymore, I fitted a front swaybar to my DF-03Ra.

http://i.imgur.com/12MYkd9.jpg

I geared it up just for fun, and quickly discovered that the taller-than-stock suspension was not up to the task of keeping the car going in a straight line. It's always had a tendency to wander a bit, but after gearing it up, it wandered so much during a quick test drive that I was seriously concerned it would crash into a curb before I could bring it to a stop. In addition, this car has always been a little too easy to powerslide, requiring immediate countersteering as soon as the rear breaks free or else the car would just spin-out on the spot. So, a front swaybar seemed like a good way to kill two problems with one stone.

http://i.imgur.com/IXae2HB.jpg

The swaybar I fitted is a XV-01 medium swaybar, with the arms bent to a slightly sharper angle and trimmed about 4mm shorter. I also drilled a couple holes into the front swaybar mount so I could install set-screws, because for some reason Tamiya didn't include that themselves. Everything else was just stock XV-01 parts.

http://i.imgur.com/1JYfT2A.jpg

It drives much better now. It still powerslides easily, but all I have to do to rein-in the slide is let the steering return to neutral. And it goes in a straight line much more reliably now, too.

I just came here, a few good years after to say this was a great reference for my own build. I, too, appreciate an obscure left-field chassis that was not the best, but certainly on paper had a lot of potential.

I will admit the result is a bit underwhelming, compared to an XV01, let alone comparing it to a more modern and tons more capable, engineered and durable LC Racing PTG2(R), XV02 or any other modern rally chassis. But still, just for the novelty of it, I appreciate having my own DF03RA.

I only wish there were still more readily available spares and hop ups to continue enjoying them into the future.

Not sure if you're still around this forum, or even use the chassis, but I'm curious about your transmission. Did you have any issues with the aluminum gear, which is known to be a common wear point? What turns does your motor have?

I haven't had any issues with the aluminum input gear on the transmission wearing out. I grease all my transmissions though, even the ones that mostly have nylon gears. The thing about nylon gears is, even though they're a type of plastic, nylon is abrasive, so lubrication is important if nylon is going to be interfacing with a different material with different properties than the nylon itself. I bought a couple spare input shafts just in case, but I haven't needed them.

You might be interested in my other DF-03Ra build where I retrofitted a HPI electric 2-speed transmission: https://www.rctech.net/forum/chat-lo...a-2-speed.html